MARKETING

What I learnt… about benefiting from Eden Hazard’s mistake

Charlie Morgan with the footballer Eden Hazard, who kicked him when he was a ballboy
Charlie Morgan with the footballer Eden Hazard, who kicked him when he was a ballboy
The Times

Charlie Morgan, 28, is chief executive of AU Vodka, the flavoured vodka brand based in Swansea, which he set up with Jackson Quinn in 2015. It made sales of £54 million and a pre-tax profit of £10.4 million last year. In 2013, Morgan was a ball boy for Swansea FC and held on to the football when his team were playing Chelsea in a League Cup game. The former Chelsea and Belgian international Eden Hazard tried to prise the ball away but kicked Morgan in the process and was sent off. Swansea went on to win the cup. Eleven years on, Hazard, now 33 and retired, offered to revisit the incident to help build AU Vodka’s brand.

Hazard’s manager, who looks after his brand deals,