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For All The Segmenting and Shrinking, Broadcast TV is Still King For Big Events…

February 9, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Maybe it was the bad weather that blanketed much of the Middle Eastern states, or the rain that hit the Western United States.  Maybe it was the allure of a quarterback who has been able to flourish as a marketing maven for brands like Oreo and Direct TV despite being in a small market.  Maybe it was because America wanted to see a team from a devastated region rise higher than the flood waters did that tragic August day.  Maybe it was because we wanted to see Betty White and Chevy Chase again.  Maybe it’s because football is really America’s game. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t matter.  The record crowd that tuned in…made even more amazing in this 30 second, HULU infused, Twitter possessed world…showed once again why we love sports as a release, and why the industry and the medium used to show it…broadcast TV…remains king to brands.

Are The Colts The Model NFL Brand?

January 23, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Jon Wertheim’s great piece on Colts owner Jim Irsay this past week in Sports Illustrated has stirred a bit of a debate as to whether the Indianapolis Colts could now be the model franchise for the NFL.   Without the flash and dash, and the oversized suites and prices, of the Dallas Cowboys, or the tradition and big market cache of the New York Giants, or even the celebrity buzz of the Miami Dolphins, the Colts have hit on a number of areas…community, tradition, consistency, even social media growth, that has somehow landed them near the best in show of the NFL. Now do they have a national footprint overall in terms of licensing and branding or even PR?  No. What they have done is an amazing job of one of the first rules (and one of the most forgotten rules) of solid brand growth: take care of your core.  They have steadily made themselves the NFL team of choice of the Midwest, through grssroots outreach, consistent branding and a proven commitment to company success.  Then they have the second piece:  The breakthrough star that transcends the sport.  Maybe when you have Peyton Manning you don’t have to seek out Good Morning America or Dancing With The Stars, his marketing team does that for you. But from Oreos to direct TV, manning is as marketable a face and personality as there is in sports today. They have consistency of brand. If you live in Indiana, you know who the owner is, the president is, and who the coach is.  If someone leaves they are replaced by a person who fits the system, and the system works.  That is a rarity in today’s system of immediate gratification.  The colors and the logo remain the same. No third uniform or color helmets.  the Colts, through Baltimore and Indy, have remained the same. They are consistent with the media. No flash, no games, no innovation.  The Colts provide what they need to, service the media and stay consistent with their policies. They speak with one voice. Whether its Irsay the owner or president Bill Polian, everyone pulls from the same script.  less drama, more progress that way. Lastly, even by being traditional, they found ways to embrace social media, connect with fans outside the stadium, and drive interest and revenue through a solid, and consistent web 2.0 campaign.  “My Colts” is not a flashy program, but it provides information, access, and special features that many teams should follow.  Not huge bells and whistles, but it is a program that gives fans what they want and in return they draw a following.

Sports Books Worth Reading And Giving From 2009

December 20, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

I will be the first to say I am not a strong critic, nor do I read every book out there. However I do read a great deal and try to figure out what are the books that teach me something, even of some of the most public of figures, that I didn’t know before and what can I take away from this that can apply to work, personal life or friends, colleagues or family. Also, what do I think are just really well written stories. So below I have highlighted a list of some of the books I have gotten to and enjoyed, and others may enjoy too. Some are on most people’s lists…some are a little more obscure, but all are well written and have great value. I also have to admit I have not read Bill Simmons’ book or Chris Ballard’s on the NBA, or the Agassi book or my friend Jon Wertheim’s book on tennis this year. That is my bad, but that’s what the holidays are for. These are also in no particular order, other than Marty Appel’s name started with A and thats the first one I thought of. Feel free to send along other suggestions to me at fatherknickerbocker1@yahoo.com

MLS Cup Sets Template For Future Soccer Success…

November 24, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the most significant games in the history of professional soccer took place in the Pacific Northwest in the late summer of 1977, when the New York Cosmos, led by the legendary Pele, won their first North America Soccer league title by defeating the original Seattle Sounders 2-1 in Portland Oregon. This past weekend, perhaps the most important game since then in the evolution of professional soccer in the United States again took place in the Pacific Northwest, where a crowd of over 40,000 saw Real Salt Lake defeat the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 on penalty kicks to take the 2009 Major League Soccer title?

Garden Growing New Partners, Ideas Again…

October 27, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It has been tough times in recent years for patrons of “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” The lack of on court success, a slowing economy, an aging building and a weak public perception had caused a good deal of the shine to come off of Madison Square Garden and perhaps lower the perceived standard of excellence the building and the organizations housed in the building had long held. However, steadily it appears that perception, consumer confidence and new and innovative promotional partnerships may be returning the business of MSG back to where it had resided for so long, in the upper echelon of sports and entertainment marketing and branding in the world. The announcement of a long rumored renovation, the ever improving on-ice play of the New York Rangers, an enhanced outreach through digital media and an ever-growing unified community presence for all the Garden brands have led the uptick in interest and buzz as the NBA season approaches this week. On the business side, a just-announced landmark airline deal with Delta Airlines, complete with Garden icons Mark Messier and Willis Reed filling the captains outfits, new entertainment sponsorship plans, and brand extensions to other Garden-related properties are all contributing to an uptick in interest, new best practices for partners and a more entreprenurial overall atmosphere than has been seen in some time above Penn Station. Now can all go sour with bad teams on the court and on the ice? It certainly won’t be a positive. However what is being seen is the aggressive ability to effectively tell good business and branding stories to all constituents, much like the cross river rival Nets have been doing so well, and that sort of business buzz can help insulate partners if the athletic performance falters. Even with problems on the athletic side, all the moves are smart and solid and send great messages to partners that the Garden is more than willing and ready to solidify and create new business than ever before.

In Search Of The Ultimate Fan Experience…

October 23, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The ying and yang that goes on between discretionary dollars fans can spend and getting premium access for those dollars is a battle that is only increasing in intensity for teams, brands and partners. With access to social media, much of which is free, teams have to continuously justify prices, knowing that the revenue stream for those dollars to the bottom line is more important now than ever as the larger pool of advertising spending goes south. So how does one create an effective, attractive and unique fan experience with limited resources and in the face of stiff competition…something which is truly unique for a fan, not cookie cutter…but still justifies both what the fan can spend and what the team, or even the partner brand, can justify as worth the investment.

Military Speaks Right To The Sports Core And Get Results…

October 15, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The ability of brands to show ROI is sometimes very tricky, as so many different aspects go into monitoring consumer trends and buying habits. Yes it is a very intricate science and buying habits can be tracked, but the actual last second decision as to whether to choose product A or product B that can be driven by just one ad, or one activation program or even one key spend is still very hard to justify. Unless you are the military in the United States. There are very few brands that spend more on activation in sport outside of the United States Armed Forces, with the goal being both public awareness…hearts and minds…and recruitment. From boxing to college football, NASCAR to the NFL, the call to action and awareness for the military is pervasive and very detailed. Its messaging is clear and its goal is simple. So when it was announced this week the every branch of the military exceeded their recruitment goals for the year for the first time in decades, it should come as no surprise that there was a strong tie to their detailed marketing plan on how to reach that core young audience…advertising and activation around sports. Did the unemployment rate and the economy have something to do with it? Of course. But there is no doubt that the military knows its market, was able to concentrate their messaging to that market, and was able to show a direct ROI on their spend. A success all around. Now what will be the result of this sports branding success? In all likelihood budgets will be cut, as there is less of a need over a cycle to keep hitting those high numbers of recruits, since the military cycle for a new recruit is more than one year and the churn from year to year with today’s active military is lower than in peace time. Now that is obviously not good for properties who welcomed those spending dollars, but it does speak well to the premise that if you know your want to reach a young acticve crowd and spend efficiently, there are few activation platforms better than sports. If you want to know for sure, just ask the men and women in uniform.

Fantasy Is The Reality Of Good Brand Activation…

September 3, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The question often asked with social media these days is a simple one…how does it make money? With all the work being done to give fans more insight and access to athletes and properties, very few if any can prove that the efforts on their own can translate into hard sponsorship dollars. Increased visibility? Yes. Buzz factor? Absolutely. ROI for the spend. Still very questionable, especially for big brands and mainstream properties. It is good to see the NFL setting their social media policy this week, and it remains frustrating that colleges and other properties still fail to see social media as part of a bigger picture media strategy in many cases…just like sports radio was in its infancy…but the answer to how it all justifies time spent and dollars allocated remains a mystery that is slow to unravel.

Marveling At A New Opportunity For ESPN…

September 1, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It was only a few years ago that Marvel Entertainment caused an uproar amongst baseball traditionalists by trying to put spider webs on the bases at MLB games as part of their promotion for the first “Spiderman” movie. The backlash caused MLB and Marvel to scale down the promotion and saved the “sanctity of white bases” for the time. Flash forward to today’s more challenged times, where outfield signage and in game promotions dominate as a way to gain more ROI for partners, and MLB is now one of the leaders in finding ways to integrate unique content and promotions into their games and production, albeit still not on the bases.

How To Deliver The Message…

August 14, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Two week’s ago Sports Illustrated’s George Dohrmann had a great piece on the amount of useless recruiting mail top hoops recruit Roberto Nelson received during his high school days, and it brought to light one of the biggest problems that marketers, salespeople, and communications folks deal with every day. How to cut through the junk, decide whats the most effective way to deliver a message and who is the best person to deliver it to. In the easy world today of spamming emails and press releases or sales pitches, or in this case, volumes of recruiting mail, the personal touch is lost, and with it goes the relevance. Many times people get caught up in trying to do things because “thats the way its always been done” instead of trying to be more innovative and effective with a personal touch. The digital world today has made it easy to hit send and hope to deliver a message, many times without knowing if the recipient ever reads, is interested or even knows the sender, or even worse, if the info is relevant to the recipient at all. In the “old days” editors and reporters would get deluged with faxes of press releases or volume of mail, but today’s world makes the deluge even bigger because there is no real cost to blast or spamming email. The cost lies in reputation of the sender. Many times the inexperienced will not personalize letters or note, send to people no longer employed in a position or with a company or outlet or even worse, pretend to know someone when they really don’t. So what’s the answer? Simple. Personal touch matters. Take the time to know who is on the beat, covering the story, selling or marketing the product or making the decisions. Are there points for mass distribution? Of course. Are there times when you send info to try and remain relevant or top of mind? Yes so long as the info is useful. Is snail mail…a personalized hand written, note or item sometimes still the most cost-effective way to set yourself, your brand or your sales pitch apart? You betcha. The worst thing you can waste is your reputation for doing well and knowing your business and someone’s precious time. Even asking periodically if someone wants to stay on a list, or if information that is being sent is appreciated or useful, is also a good idea. In these days of not just cost efficiency, but time efficiency, personal contact goes a long way in delivering the right message, and quality usually wins over quantity.

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