The Face

The Balearic Government appears to have buried the hatchet with Rafael Nadal. To recap. Funding for a tennis centre in Nadal's home town of Manacor was withdrawn by the current administration. It had been promised by the previous incumbents. Nadal took his racket home, and said that he would not participate in publicity. They seem to have kissed and made up. And so they should. If there is one person, one person above all, who should be the image of the islands and of tourism, it is Nadal. Not only is he known globally, he is also actually Mallorcan, which is more than can be said for previous "faces", some of whom, such as Paco de Lucia, were heralded with much fanfare and then disappeared as quickly as you could pluck a guitar string. The international totty that has been hauled out onto the marketing catwalk - Kournikova, Schiffer - may have had reasonable levels of recognition, but they, like Paco, were not from Mallorca. Nadal as the face is a no-brainer.

But now the government and IBATUR, the government's tourism promotional wing, seem to have netted the Manacor muscle, what are they going to do with him? One fears it will be little more than the "hi, I'm Rafa, fly me" nonsense. For all of Nadal's fame and appeal, the value of his celebrity alone is not enough to guarantee that it will be turned into a pot of tourism gold. It would be a massively missed opportunity if his name was not exploited in the best sense of that word.

Celebrity promotions can fail for various reasons, such as a lack of believability or a failure to connect with the chosen audience. Nadal, as celebrity and as a brand, ticks all the boxes, one would think. Marketers refer to "attributes", both of brands and of products. What are Nadal's attributes? Mallorcan, world renown, great sportsman, youthful, good-looking (some might say). One might argue that his relative youth might alienate an older audience, but he has the advantage of also being perceived as "a nice boy", certainly when compared to the moroseness of a Murray. Nice boys are winners with older markets. For a market nearer his own age, females have the hots for him and males can aspire to his body and talent (and may also, in some instances, lust after him). I'm not sure as to Nadal's international appeal to children, but the small boy next door may be indicative. When he's belting a tennis ball against the wall, he has his own running commentary in which "Nadal" features prominently. Nadal has pretty well all age groups covered. To not make good use of him would be a sin.

Nadal has recognition. He is in the same class as a Beckham in this respect. But for all that he is recognised, for all that he seems perfect as the wearer of the Mallorcan and Balearics promotional sandwich-board, look again at those attributes and now compare them to Mallorca as a product. A striking difference, in tourism terms, lies with the sport angle. For all that there has been the attempt to market Mallorca for its niche golf and cycling, the Mallorca product does not shout out sport. It is here that the Nadal brand and the Mallorca product diverge, and it is here that potentially the greatest opportunity exists as well as the potential for the greatest missed opportunity.

I go back to that piece about the golf development in Campos. Golf and more golf. The thinking is too narrow, too confined to a well-trodden fairway. I have a suggestion. Complexes, inspired by the Nadal name, of tennis courts and many other sports and activities, applicable for different age groups. Complexes that are integrated, with their own accommodation, entertainment and bars and restaurants, or are close to existing facilities. Complexes that are all-weather or have the possibility to be so - covered courts, enclosed pools, etc. The Nadal-isation of Mallorca. All-year centres. Three or four Nadal centres for all-year tourism around the island. The name alone would be enough to grab the tour operators' interest.

To make most of the Nadal brand, the product has to support it, the Mallorca product that is. I very much doubt that it will. Rather than hitting a winner, the tourist authorities, government and town halls will serve up another double fault. Even were they minded to contemplate such centres, it would take that long to ever get agreement, let alone get around to constructing them, that Nadal would have long retired and would have been superseded as the face by a string of bimbos or ageing musicians. What a shame and what a waste.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Corrs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzx7omiAmJQ). Today's title - different sort of question. "The Face" was the enemy of which '60s television character who himself lent his name to a punk/new wave act.

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