The State of Rutgers Gets Some Great Guerilla Exposure

September 18, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Saturday Rutgers will take on Florida International University in Piscataway, New Jersey but despite the result, the two biggest gains in popularity for the school may have been made away from any court or playing field this past week. First, on Tuesday night’s Jay Leno Show on NBC, award winning documentarian Michael Moore sported a Rutgers hat for his time on stage with Jay. Then later in the week, urban designer Mark Ecko announced that he was creating a line of Rutgers-themed apparel in honor of his alma mater. Moore has been wearing the Rutgers caps as a tribute to Scarlet Knights grad Ann Sparanese, who started the letter writing campaign to save his first book “Stupid White Men,” which criticized President Bush, while the limited edition Ecko line pays homage to the designer’s time spent in New Brunswick on the Rutgers campus (he is an alumnus) and will be sold online at Shopecko.com.

Tennis Is A Beach…And The USTA Starts The Open Season.

June 12, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With summer like weather in most of the Northeastern USA this week, we had to throw some attention to one of those niche sports that is gaining marketshare through some solid PR and grassroots work…Beach Tennis USA.  What started as an offbeat idea has gained solid groundswell support both on the branding and the participation side, grabbing coverage in publications like USA Today, The New York Times,  and  Entrepreneur Magazine and regional coverage of athletes and the sport in places like Tampa and other cities where events are held.  By creating a niche for the growing number of tennis players at low cost and combining with the fun atmosphere of the beach, Beach Tennis has found ways to gain sponsors, get media coverage and take a game that has struggled with a younger demo and make it more appealing.  Will it ever challenge traditional tennis or even well established beach sports like the AVP Crocs Tour?  No, but it doesen’t have to.  As a hybrid and a niche for the casual fan, it has all the elements, including cost containment, to make the branding story an effective one.