A Hall of Fame Marketing and Branding Effort Grows…

May 25, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Of all the “Halls of Fame” for sport, baseball is arguably the most well-known and perhaps the most remote.  The village of Cooperstown, New York doesn’t have the benefit of a cosmopolitan city like Toronto (as does hockey)  or Charlotte (as does NASCAR) or a major artery running through it (as does Basketball) or a thriving resort city (as does tennis). Even football, in Canton, Ohio, has more than a few cities in the general vacinity.  Yet baseball continues to grow and thrive and find new ways to expand its brand well beyond its walls and as a destination for all things baseball.  All summer the Hall of Fame has worked to create well orchastrated programs that will bring youth and senior events not just to the Hall, but to play on legendary Doubleday Field. The Hall takes a proactive approach in creating programs that touch every aspect of the baseball, not just as a sport but as a historic and thriving lifestyle activity.  In recent years it has taken on a roadshow with museums around the country, and hosts Hall-related events in many key cities to bring the building and the history of the sport to life for people who may not make it to upstate New York.  They have also started series’ of activities that connect popular culture and the Hall together, whether they are film festivals or book readings, all to make sure that the message of the Hall as a cultural phenomenon is conveyed to both the casual fan and the traveller.

Maybe Not A Homer, But McGwire Plan Hit Its Points…

January 14, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It was a long time in coming and caused many people a great deal of angst over the years, but Mark McGwire’s long-awaited and often doubted announcement that he used steroids was actually well orchastrated this week, and was effectively communicated on a number of levels.  While many will look back as to the quality of answers and what the future will be in terms of acceptance and media interraction between the press and the soon-to-be-St. Louis Cardinals coach, the fact remains that the major issue was addressed, addressed well in a strong setting, and the stage is set for McGuire not to be as major a distraction as he could have been without the admission when spring training starts.  Some of the key points in the strategy worth noting.

Hall of Fame Voting: A New Brand Through The Power of the People?

January 5, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

This month two of the strongest, if not the strongest, Halls of Fame will reveal their 2010 selections, the Baseball and Football Halls.  The annual selection issue always operates under stealth and the very tight control over the voters, and usually has more than enough intrigue, suspicion, and debate.  However with an ever shrinking number of potential voters on the baseball side, and the need for more overall recognition on the football side, could changes in selection be in the offing? The baseball side, which includes only votes by those in the Baseball Writers Association of America, is suffering from the loss of so many fulltime newspaper  jobs recently and may have to add other segments, especially broadcasters, in order to keep the legitimacy of those who actually cover the sport on a fulltime basis intact.  That of course does not also reflect the ever-growing and more influential bloggers choices, or for that matter, the input on some level of the fan.  One interesting move this year was a vote by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, a group of the top bloggers in the space,  to announce their Hall of Fame choices and the reasoning, in advance of the actual Hall vote.  It wasn’t in any way disrespectful, and it showed professionalism and great forethought, and could be a foreshadowing of a group that could be influential in coming years.  The opening up of fan debate and blogger interraction also gives rise to the notion that the voting system could be tied to a partner, with a full digital integration platform.  With the right safeguards put into place, and by providing all the right information, such a system could bring added revenue, more interest, more innovation and even greater visibility to the Hall, at a time when all institutions are looking to grow fan base and visitors year-round.

A’s New Partnerships A Sign of “Money Ball” On The Business Side…

January 11, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

A few years ago Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball took baseball fans inside the different views that Oakland Athletics’ General Manager Billy Beane had about the salary situation in baseball, and how it could positively and negatively effect a team and on field success.  While the reviews were generally positive, and Lewis’ writing stellar as usual, many in the marketing community felt that the onfield persona of building stars and then watching them leave would hurt brand value for the team.  That of course was before the current financial crunch, where now the goal is always to do more with less, create more experiential value for fans and partners and find new ways to engage and grow the fan base.  Along those lines, the A’s continue to look to find new ways to expand their brand in a challenged marketplace…one where their stadium is not great and the Giants across the Bay remain king, despite the A’s increased success on the field under Beane’s guidance.  So this week the A’s announced a partnership with the Japanese League team the Rakuten Eagles, to train, share information and explore other ideas to share and learn.  For the A’s this is a very smart move as the ever-growing Asian community in the Bay Area may take another look at them with a stronger Japanese tie.  Also as baseball grows globally, having ties to a fan base BEFORE they arrive in this country will also help, and by finding a growing brand in Japan…not the established Yomiuri Giants but a team looking for opportunities…the A’s have a nice upside.  Like their partnerships with the Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League and the San Jose Earthquakes, this may only help and not damage the brand.  Now have partships like this been tried before, like the Yankees and Manchester United?  Yes and they didn’t do well.  But the reason was you were talking about two mega-brands steeped in tradition and ways of doing business.  Here you have hungry brands looking to grow, and in baseball, the growing world marketplace for the game plays directly into what a hungry brand like the A’s is trying to do.  Good lesson with hopefully more MLB/non-American partnerships to come.    

Expecting The Unexpected: AFL Handles David Baker’s Resignation

July 27, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With another successful Arena Bowl on tap (featuring two good markets in Philly and the Bay Area), expansion possibly to Europe, improved ratings on TV and more market by market coverage, the AFL should have had a love fest this weekend in New Orleans for a sold out Arena Bowl.  As a matter of fact, longtime comissioner David Baker said as much on Mike and Mike this past Friday morning.  He was well messaged, hit all his points and for even the causal fan the outlook of the AFL from it’s top man seemed bright.  As we know in sports, things sometimes are not as they seem, and later in the day Baker surprisingly resigned from his post, throwing the league into immediate uncertainty and clouding what would have been a bright weekend.  As is consistent with a solid PR team, the AFL handled the crisis in stage one very well.  Baker immediately spoke to the biggest voice (AP’s Barry Wilner)  which got the AFL message out as positively as possible in an unusual situation.  Throughout the weekend all interviews from players to coaches to broadcasters, have spoken about nothing but the positives and the future of the AFL and Baker’s legacy and have deftly avoided questions of the timing of the announcement and what else could have gone into it.  Ironically the timing has probably played in the AFL’s favor…late on a summer Friday after a series of pressers where there was no indictation of an issue.  The board also acted correctly in naming associate comish Ed Policy into a governance role and giving Baker the ability to leave his post after Sunday’s game.  Now where the speculation and rumors go from here is anyone’s guess.  However in keeping all interested parties on message, getting the correct message out to the fans and the media and keeping everything focused on the athletes and the teams and minimizing distraction, the AFL scored big points in the news cycle.

NASCAR PR MAKES THE PITS VERY FRUITFUL…

May 9, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

PR Move of the Day:  The biggest thing brands always want, and fans do to, is access.  Not just access to the athletes to hear their stories, but access to the “inside” feel of what drive the passions of the sports brand they so closely identify with.  Thats why first person or insider access pieces given to the media are so valuable.  Not only do they provide the media member with a greater understanding of the intricacies of a complex business, but they give the media the chance to use their multitude of talents to find stories that even the publicist or the brand manager won’t see.  Case in point is today’s Wall Street Journal, where NASCAR gave writer Allen St. John full access to Ryan Newman’s Pit Crew.  It exposes the personalities behind the driver, as well as all the brands they work with, to a much wider audience in a light that is rarely if ever seen, and also gives the core fan even more insight into the goings on, and the success and failure, of those who they only see from a distance.  NASCAR and the WSJ also tied in video to the piece to make it a complete package that got bonus coverage to fans, business partners, investors and the sport.  Well delivered on all levels.