To Keep or Not to Keep the Vuvuzela
An Entrepreneurial Dream
Who had ever heard of a vuvuzela before last week? Now it seems to be all that we can hear, even the players on the pitches during World Cup 2010 can’t hear each other plot their attack because of the almighty roar of the vuvuzela and when you look into the crowd there are vuvuzelas dotted everywhere – so where did they all come from? Someone somewhere has got to be making lots of money from the sale of the vuvuzela!
Today, the UK Premier League announced it would not be enforcing a ban on the vuvuzela during matches in the UK venues which means the instrument could very well be here to stay. Even though some have voiced concerns over the effect the instrument can have on hearing and others have complained of the nuisance it causes for players and referees, there are a number of entrepreneurs who are definitely very thankful and not in the least annoyed by the presence of South Africa’s most famous musical instrument.
Since the 2009 Confederations Cup which was also held in South Africa, the vuvuzela has grown in popularity as a supporters call at matches. The Times Live writes:
“The ubiquitous plastic trumpet, embraced as an emblem of the World Cup by South Africans and visitors alike, sells for between R20 for a simple Chinese import and R60 for a more contoured instrument, produced locally. ”Our vuvuzelas have the purest sound and they are the easiest to blow. A two-year-old could play it,” said Cape Town-based Neil van Schalkwyk, who claims he developed the vuvuzela seven years ago. Sales have grown from 500 a month to 50,000.”
That’s a pretty impressive increase in sales, even with the influx of the World Cup spectators. The sale of vuvuzelas has really been a retailer’s dream, with more and more producers creating merchandising options for teams and businesses to emblazon their logo or crest on to a suitably coloured vuvuzela – wouldn’t we just love a nice blue one with the Franchise Direct logo along the side!! Merchandising is something which can really boost brand prominence and is a great way to get your name out there. Emblazoning a business’ name onto a vuvuzela won’t necessarily help if they’re being handed out at a dignified business conference – unless you think the clients would be into “that kind of thing”, however personalised pens, sticky notepads and other office stationery can often be a welcome gift for clients and will mean that a business’ name stays on their desk all day long…each time they go to write a sticky note, the business name can be what they see on the top of the page!
So if you think you may like to sell personalised vuvuzelas, or maybe just settle for personalised pens, take a closer look at some merchandising franchise opportunities available on the UK market today. Here’s a video on how to play a vuvuzela - maybe turn the speakers down!
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