NBA Expands Into Hispanic Markets

The NBA has been into global expansion for awhile.  First, Europe's Eastern Bloc, then China, then South America.  But this year NBA is looking for expansion with in the US amongst Hispanic viewers.  Megan McCarty talks about the initiative below:

With the NBA starting in the next few days, its marketing initiatives are in full swing.  But it’s not just targeting the average NBA fan.  The NBA is trying to position itself within the fast growing U.S. Hispanic market.   Last year was the first attempt to try and target the Hispanic sports fan, and it resulted in a nine percent increase in its fan base.  These include increases in unique viewers, increase in overall viewership of television NBA games and startling increases in social media usage among Hispanics.   Because of the success of the program last year, the NBA is expanding its Hispanic marketing campaign, éne•bé•a.  This campaign includes an advertising campaign, an updated website, in-arena promotions, grassroots and community relation programs and different consumer products.  Here is more information on the NBA’s Hispanic marketing strategies.

 

This goes back to the discussion we had in class about the NBA positioning itself in the TNT market.  Our class thought that watching NBA games on TNT didn’t transfer back to watching TNT’s regular programming.  It seems to me that the NBA is trying to position itself within lots of different markets.  I don’t think that a brand as big as the NBA has a problem targeting so many different markets, but for a smaller brand, it might not be the best method.  A brand should be consistent, and too many conflicting target is not successful.

Mike Vick: Spokesperson?

It's just a matter time.  I think we all know that.  It has been proven many times that America is quick to forgive celebrity wrongdoings.  The reality is that our memory is even shorter if those celebrities are athletes who are performing at amazingly high levels.


Who would have thought just last year when the Philadelphia Eagles signed Michael Vick as a full time back up and a part time favor to Tony Dungy that halfway through this season Vick would be creating the kind of buzz that he is.  As Jonathan Merrill points out below, it's just a matter of time before this buzz is transferred to brands.  Now, if Tiger can just figure out his putting...

HE'S BACK

On Monday November 15, 2010 Michael Vick led the Philadelphia Eagles in a crushing victory against the Washington Redskins. In the last week sports media is buzzing about Vicks dominating performance and his reemergence as the leagues most talented offensive threat. Say what you want about his felony conviction, leadership, or inconsistent play, most would agree with me that he is the most exciting player in the league. I have always loved Mike Vick. 

I call him that because I heard him call himself that and I love it when athletes refer to themselves in first person. After seeing a recent poll conducted by ESPN regarding the best quarterback in the NFL, forty-eight states agreed that Mike Vick is the best. All this exposure and support for him makes me wonder when sponsors and endorsements will come knocking.  We all know how forgiving we are as a country and especially when the person is winning (i.e. A-rod). It is my prediction that in the near future Mike Vick will be approached by various brands and businesses that want a piece of his fandom. For a brand that has had a troubled past, could there be a better athlete to represent them in transferring their image? As a dog lover and owner, I could care less about his past and wish him the best of luck and success.

What Women Want: Big Sports is Trying To Figure it Out

It started earlier this year when the NFL began actively promoting it's line of licensed women's apparel.  Old Spice and other consumer product brands have continued the trend and now ESPN is creating an entirely new channel devoted to the woman sports enthusiast.

Sports programming for women has historically been focused on very traditional female offerings such as ice skating or gymnastics.  The reality, however, is that the number of women who are enthusiasts for male sports such as football have grown to over 30% of all TV viewers and big brands are taking notice. 

ESPN seems to have missed this trend in the launch of its new women's offering called espnW.  Rather than acknowledge that women are flocking to male oriented program, espnW's goal is to create more programming around women's sports, under the assumption that women want to watch women's sports.  Julie DiCaro of the very popular blog A League of Her Own strongly disagrees:

The idea that women need a "girlier" version of sport's programming insulting. This is the same idea that has caused sports marketing geniuses to try to sell baseball to women, who already comprise more than 40% of the fan base, by creating sparkly pink hats and bedazzled t-shirts.

Women already HAVE an ESPN. It's called ESPN.

Meghan Flanagan from class discusses the latest espnW offering below. 

I thought this topic was timely in terms of our discussion about women as sports consumers and wanted to dive into the topic of the launch of ESPN’s new network espnW, which will target a strictly woman demographic. I found some interesting dialogue on the announcement and it brings up some good questions I think that we as amateur sports marketers can try to tackle.

Although 40% of ESPN viewers are women, the only broadcasts in which females hold the majority viewership are the National Spelling Bee and cheerleading competitions. ESPN has realized the need for a brand initiative that will target the 18-49 year-old woman. Participation rates of female athletes have exploded in the recent past but the transition to sports fan has been less distinct.

ESPN’s current marketing plan consists of a grassroot program with reaches out to young girls with Girl Magazine, published 3 times a year, along with ESPN Rise Girl Edition which is available online. The idea here is to reach a young audience early, and have them transition over time into espnW a female-specific business.

The expected launch is this fall, starting with a blog and more digital content next spring.

“If activated successfully, you can imagine the potential impact, not only in effectively serving a new audience, but also in acquiring new advertisers who want to reach this audience.”

But the demographic they want to target may be a challenge. ESPN isn’t going after the female fan that already receives what she wants from the original network.

Instead they’re looking to a diverse group. “They have a lot going on in their lives – they’re in graduate school, cultivating professional careers, trying desperately to stay in shape, meeting their life partners, getting married and raising children. All of a sudden, their love for “sport” falls into many different types of areas – they might follow their college teams as an alum, watch men’s professional sports, play sports recreationally in the evenings, run 5K races and triathlons on the weekends, go to the gym every night, or coach kids.”

The announcement leads us to some questions.

How big of a risk is this launch?

Why is a brand like ESPN feeling the need to do this?

Do you see it succeeding? If not, what changes in strategy need to be made?

Hueter, Meghan. espnW: A brand for female athletes. Blogs With Balls.

http://blogswithballs.com/2010/10/espnw-a-brand-for-female-athletes/

Georgetown Midnight Madness: SEO Applied

Georgetown Midnight Madness going viral with Wale

Midnight Madness at Georgetown is one of the single biggest endeavors of the year for the Georgetown Athletics Department.  Pretty much every staff member is involved, many of whom will not sleep for the next 48 hours until the event is completed.  McDonough Gymnasium, which is home to 28 sports, will be overtaken by students, recruits, security, bands, concessionaires, TV production trucks and just about everything else you can think of.

The event has grown in popularity and ask any Georgetown alum and there is usually a fond story about Midnight Madness while they were in school.  All in all a great experience and no one does it better than Dan O'Neil, Brian McGuire and the staff at Georgetown Athletics.

So imagine if you had worked for years and years to build up a reputation for an event like March Madness.  Your entire staff works night and day, coaching staffs are trying to make sure recruits see the best of what Georgetown has to offer.  So much riding on the next 2 days.  And what if someone was trying to find information about March Madness, such as this really cool video featuring Wale that your (who will be performing at the event) department had spent weeks preparing and thousands of dollars to produce:



Now imagine you just realized that 90% of the content on the web is found via a search engine such as Google and when people type in "Georgetown March Madness 2010" your site does not come up at the top of the search.  Such is the case this morning when a search on Georgetown March Madness (a very, very specific search) returned four unofficial fan sites (3 owned by SB Nation) above the press release on the official GUHoyas.com site.  For a top Google sports search that could mean thousands of interactions that could be going to the official site that instead will end up engaging somewhere else.  Just a good example of the importance SEO plays in getting people to review your great content. 

On a related topic, we spend a lot of time discussing the publisher mentality and how good content is a great engagement vehicle in social media outlets OUTSIDE of your own properties.  Georgetown did a nice job of making the Wale/March Madness video available to social channels.  As a result, even though they may have missed an opportunity to reach someone directly through search, they were still successful in getting people to view their content.  In all of the blogs that were listed ahead of the official site in the Google Search, the Wale video was promoted.  Therefore the messaging was amplified much more loudly than if they had just created the content for their own purposes. 

Great application of the power of both SEO and the publisher mentality.

Logos on NFL Jerseys: Inevitable?

How much money could Peyton Manning, the Colts or the NFL make if they adopted a NASCAR approach to sponsorships on uniforms?  European Soccer embraces sponsor logos on uniforms and the consensus seems to be its a matter of "when" not "if" this is going to happen.  Ryan Pauley offers great perspective to the issue....

This is a divisive topic that has been around for the past several years in sports.  Selling “real estate” on professional teams’ jerseys seems to be inevitable in the near future. 

Referenced in this recent article (http://adage.com/article?article_id=146264), 20 English Premier Soccer Clubs generated $155 million in revenue by selling ad space on their uniforms.  While soccer is an international sport and the most popular sport across the globe, imagine how much NFL teams could charge for a small sponsorship on their game uniforms in the US!  I have accepted the fact that this new phenomenon is quickly approaching.  However, I do have a couple of questions/concerns.

First, where will this eventually lead?  Many in the industry have concerns about beginning down a slippery slope, with regards to sponsors on athletic uniforms.  How big will they be?  Will it take away from the aura of a franchise logo?  How many will be allowed on a jersey?  These are all questions that cannot necessarily be answered but need to be kept in mind.

Also, where in the hierarchy of sponsorship rights will this fall?  Initial thought is that the rights will lie with the individual teams.  However, I find it hard to believe the NFL will allow this without putting up a fight.  The league could try to generate a league-wide sponsorship similar to that of their TV rights deals.  And what about the infringement on players’ rights? If Axe Body Wash pays for a logo on the Baltimore Ravens’ jerseys, how does that affect Old Spice’s relationship with Ray Lewis? 

The time is coming, but many questions and concerns remain. 

What does everyone think? 

How does this affect future sponsorship in major professional sports?

Are there any other issues?

Gatorade Mission Control Center

Great find by Adam Raphael (@adam__raphael) on Gatorade's social media philosophy...excited to engage in this discussion.

In order to successfully market any brand, a company must first learn about their audience. As Gatorade demonstrates, businesses are now utilizing new technology in order to capture people’s utmost desires, needs, and interests. The undeniable leader in the sports drink marketplace, Gatorade does not so much utilize social media to gain exposure. Instead, they are using these outlets to capture the pulse of consumers.

Gatorade’s Mission Control Center, located at the company’s Chicago headquarters, tracks all social media activities and analyzes all fluctuations in real time. In a room that purposely resembles a military war room, five members of Gatorade’s marketing team monitor the blogosphere on six large screens. The program, created via a partnership with IBM, exemplifies Gatorade’s Evolution project. With new brands beginning to enter the increasingly competitive marketplace, Gatorade has been motivated to move beyond more conventional tactics.

Gatorade’s Senior Marketing Director of Consumer & Shopper Engagement, Carla Hassan, explains that the company aspires to ““take the largest sports brand in the world and turn it into largest participatory brand in the world.” In monitoring the pulse of social media, Gatorade can gain feedback about commercials, print ad campaigns, and even new flavors. The real-time commentary allows them to react promptly and cater the brand to what their target market covets. In doing so, they can maximize the brand’s appeal to consumers.

The strategy, although untraditional, has caught the attention of other companies owned by the umbrella company of PepsiCo. Bonin Bough, Director of Social Media at PepsiCo, feels strongly that the tactic may soon be adopted by other brands, “We believe what we’re building here is an example of a sandbox of tools and processes we can use across the organization.” The Mission Control Center allows Gatorade to attain information that previously would have been available only via consumer surveys. 


Gatorade, always at the forefront of strategic marketing, has also utilized social media to engage their consumers. For example, during the Super Bowl XLIV, Gatorade used Facebook and UStream to connect their fans with a number of their most visible athletes. Their technology allows them to evaluate the success of such marketing campaigns once complete.
The attention --- and money --- that Gatorade has devoted to this project provides evidence of the ascension of social media. It also demonstrates the brand’s militaristic ambition to dominate the sports drink marketplace. While the Official Sports Drink of the NFL, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, and US Soccer --- just to name a few --- already owns approximately eighty-percent of the market, they remain committed to enhancing their product. 

Since its launching by medical researchers at the University of Florida in 1965, Gatorade’s brand has been associated with innovation. Its marketing strategy has always been at the forefront and has very often been replicated by other companies in the industry. With its recent attentiveness towards social media, it can be expected that this strategy will soon be imitated as well.

And honestly, who could blame them?

Team McNabb: Building a Personal Brand

This sent to me by Josiah Castro about a WaPo article a few weeks ago.  McNabb is always relevant in DC but particularly relevant to our conversation last night.  Great insights on McNabb: The Brand and how he is positioning himself in a business to business strategy as McNabb: The Tactic.  Enjoy...

When we think of a “brand,” companies such as Nike, Gatorade, BMW come to mind. We really don’t think about our personal brand. I have been told for the past year that I should be developing my personal brand and be conscious of it, but have never really thought of my brand as a business until now. 

In a recent article in the Washington Post, new Redskins QB Donavan McNabb was discussed, not in the sports section, but in the business section. The article talked about “Team McNabb” and how as soon as McNabb was signed by the Redskins his team off the field started working on aligning him with predominate businesses inside the beltway. 

No stranger to endorsements, McNabb is looking to expand his reach and be a visible member of his new city. "Playing in the nation's capital gives Donovan access to a vibrant business community, a very committed philanthropic community, as well as the opportunity to work with the White House," Chicago-based attorney Andrew Stroth said in the article. Stroth serves as a business adviser on Team McNabb. 

Reading the article made me think more about my brand and how I hope to someday be able to leverage it in my career. If you have not read the article I highly recommend it (www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/10/AR2010091003667.html) it is a great example of a brand that we don’t typically think of.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Time for Talk is Over

This piece was sent to me by Ryan Smeets.  Its a good find and Ryan poses some interesting questions.  Enjoy... 

Timberwolves President David Kahn has been criticized over the past few years for a variety of moves. The criticism has been warranted as the team continues to struggle since the departure of former franchise superstar Kevin Garnett.  In the 2010 season The Wolves won just 15 games and missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

Expectations continue to be low for the coming 2010-11 season for a team

Last Monday, the Minnesota Timberwolves  purchased a full page ad in the Star Tribune. Below is the text:

“The time for talk is over

Okay, not quite. Right after this long-winded letter. Because we do have a lot of good things to talk about.

Fourteen months ago we laid out a plan: First, we would become a running team that plays an exciting up-tempo style of basketball. Second, we would get younger in order to build a team that could improve together and compete for a number of years. Third, we would instill a culture of hard work throughout our organization. Fourth, transparency. We’ll always let you know exactly what’s going on, occasionally via long-winded letters.

That was our plan over a year ago and it hasn’t changed one iota. In the off-season we added young, athletic wing players Wesley Johnson, Martell Webster and Lazar Hayward. They join Jonny Flynn, Corey Brewer and Wayne Ellington as guys who can get up and down the floor quickly and shoot the ball from the perimeter. We re-signed Darko Milicic and added Nikola Pekovic, giving us two more up-tempo big men to run with one of the best outlet passers in the game, Kevin Love. We took advantage of our cap room to acquire a potential star in Michael Beasley, who was the number one prospect in his high school class of 2007 and averaged 26 points and 12 rebounds in his one college season. And finally, we added Luke Ridnour, a push-the-pace player who becomes the team’s elder statesman at the age of 29.

We now have more shooting, athleticism and depth at every position, which will make us a better team this season. So will we challenge for the NBA championship this year?

Not likely.

Ouch. This honesty thing is a bit painful. But the reality is, we still need that one dominant player.

It’s possible that that player could already be on our roster. We have eight guys who were selected in the top seven picks of their respective drafts, and the average age of those players is 22. So the potential is there for someone to emerge. But in case that doesn’t happen, we’ll continue to manage our salary cap so that we have the flexibility to make that one move that can change a franchise.

We are confident, however, that this team will be exciting to watch. For the first time in years Wolves fans are going to feel like they’re missing out if they aren’t in the arena. So in addition to player development we’re working hard on fan development, starting with variable pricing and Flex Pack ticket packages that let you pick the games and seats that you want. The bottom line for fans is: We’re making it easier than ever for you to be part of our turnaround.

There’s been a lot of talk this off-season. The naysayers certainly have been vocal. And while we can understand a certain amount of skepticism, we know we’ve turned the corner. And we’re anxious to get after that first tipped ball so we can start to prove it.

Enough talk. It’s time to play.

Oh, wait. We forgot to talk about Rubio.

Next time. “

What do folks think of this action by the Wolves organization?

As a fan how would you react if your favorite team publicly admitted that they were not as good as other teams in the league?

What type of message does this send to the athletes on the team?

From a marketing strategy, is this a tactic that you would utilize for a losing team?

Old Spice: This Is Not Your Grandfather's Shaving Lotion

Old Spice has become an internet and advertising darling over the last 9 months and they are buzzing again with the new Old Spice NFL campaign featuring Ray Lewis.   The brand had become irrelevant until the Old Spice Man campaign launched during last year's Super Bowl which was very well received.  However,  the brand catapulted to internet legend with the Old Spice Man Replies campaign which still holds the record for the most viral video views in a 24 hour period.  President Obama's victory speech from Grant Park in Chicago is second, with over 1.2M views LESS than Old Spice Man Replies.

The latest installment in this campaign is the NFL version of Old Spice Man except this time it features Ray Lewis from the Baltimore Ravens.  This is a classic reverse engineering opportunity to break down the brand, the tactics involved, the target audience, the primary distribution vehicle and a ton of available research to inform the process.  Consider the following questions:

How has Old Spice adopted the "publisher" mentality in creating engagement opportunities for fans of the brand? 

Why Ray Lewis?

The Ray Lewis brand has risen dramatically since his legal problems in 2000.  Can you think of anyone else who has emerged from a murder trial to national brand spokesperson in such a short time?

Who is the target here?  Be careful, its not as obvious as you might think.

Engagement is optimal when brands actually become the conversation.  Some great examples here and here.

Interested to hear your thoughts. Enjoy...

Nike Pro Combat Uniforms: Reverse Engineer This...

There is a lot to dive in to here and I don't have time to do it in this post.  Nike Pro Combat was on full display during Monday night's Boise State-Virginia Tech game and it has sparked a lot of conversation across the web. 

Don't fool yourself into thinking this is about fashion.  Nike has spent years investing in college programs and owns about 80% of the D1 market.  Responding aggressively to Under Armour's claim on the performance apparel space, Nike is flexing its sponsorship muscle by basically just using uniforms as blatant advertising, much to the ire of hard core fans.  There are a lot of articles on this topic - here (thanks Meghan @megflan2), here and here.  Expect more on this later...

US Soccer: What's Up Next?

During personal introductions last night, it struck me that the number one sports memory from the summer was the World Cup.  There were some interesting versions of the same memory.  Alicia, from Brazil, gave the Americans in the room some simple context: "What if the Super Bowl was held once every four years?"

Megan described a social setting in which she remembered the Landon Donovan goal to become Group C champs but she couldn't remember who the US beat in that match.  Others shared similar sentiments acknowledging how special that moment was. 

Andrew Sharp (SBNation.com), one of the hottest young sports writers on the web,  distilled it this way: "USA-Algeria:  And Now A Whole Lot Of Americans Are Soccer Fans".  The entire piece can be found here but this quote captures the feeling we all felt that day:

On the brink of elimination, with American sports fans all across the country watching, we got a moment that we'll remember forever. As a sports fan, that's the holy grail—when something happens, and you know right then, for the rest of your life, you'll remember where you were for that moment. And isn't that true of the Landon Donovan's goal at 90:46?

The U.S. gave us one of those moments today. And now, instead of "What the heck was that?" we can say, in between catching our breath, "That was... Everything we could ever want from sports."

And of all things, soccer is what gave it to us.

...And just like that, it's a good bet that a whole lot of Americans just became soccer fans.

So now what does US Soccer do?  It's four years until the next World Cup and there are no guarantees for US success in those matches.  Football starts tomorrow - NFL football that is - and with the start of that season, Landon Donavan's gift to US Soccer will be placed on the shelf of nice memories, far, far away from the momentum it had just a few months ago.

If you were in charge of US Soccer, what would you do?  Big challenges but smart people are working on it...stay tuned.

And just for fun...

Welcome to My Sandbox

Welcome to Field of Play - my pet project designed to start conversations on the marketing of sports.  It is my contention that as a rule, the sports industry is by and large full of lazy marketers.  Lazy, not in the sense that they don't work hard.  They do.  Any one who has worked in sports for any length of time has certainly logged their share of hours.  The lazy aspect comes in the form of an overall failure to think outside of ticket programs (how many ways can you bundle games, seats and concessions), advertising campaigns (what picture and slogan will be used for the billboard this year) and in venue promotions.

There are some amazing things being done in marketing these days.  With the explosion of technology and social media, the opportunities to reach people in new and interesting ways are endless.  So why, generally speaking, do we as sports marketers always find ourselves following instead of leading?  Lack of resources has been the typical response to this question and while this may be true in many instances, shouldn't that fact alone drive more innovation?  Hierarchy and stringent rules, especially in the college ranks, is also an easy excuse but that doesn't reconcile with the fact that some of the most explosive marketing ideas around today have come out of these environments.

Which brings me back to my premise that we are lazy.  It is the intent of this site to ask some questions, raise some issues and have a whole lot of dialogue about how we who are in the business of marketing sports, can become better sports marketers.  It is my hope that the few who drop by and engage will be interested in challenging and not defending the status quo.  We may end up in the exact same place but I don't think so.

So here we go.  First question.  Why on earth would you start a new sports blog?  There are hundreds of thousands already and many of them focus on the sports marketing angle.  That is an easy one - you guessed it - I am lazy.  It is much easier to ask a question than answer it....let the conversation begin.