A Cause Worthwhile…Athletes, Pols Step Up To Battle Childhood Obesity

February 16, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Big time sports and entertainment events draw big time advertising dollars. We all are more than familiar with the amount of sponsorship spent on Super Bowl, Olympic and NBA All-Star ads these past few weeks, and the payoff in exposure brands got with the largest TV audience of all-time for the Colts and the Saints last  Sunday. One of the biggest categories that support those events is snack foods.  People loved watching those Doritos commercials, and loved chowing down on bowls of the stuff as they were watching the game. The tailgate, the junk food, are all very much a rite of passage surrounding the great American sporting event.

Getting Past Tiger…Finding Athletes Who Get It…

December 7, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Tiger’s infidelity…Serena Williams nails a record fine for threatening to nail a US Open lineswoman…the Florida Panthers’ Keith Ballard takes out his teammate, goalie Tomas Vokoun, with a tomahawk chop to the head…so this is what we watch and who we want our athletes to be?

From the Mayors to the Players…MLB incorporates giving back and service into every message…

October 30, 2009 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Its the time old tradition…the Mayors of a city betting the obligatory food items and jersey exchanges for the big game. You see it everywhere every year and its cute, it gets coverage and its part of tradition. However not in baseball this year. The Mayors of Philadelphia and New York…Michael Nutter and Mike Bloomberg…changed a the wager from the traditional to the productive, and instead of exchanging cheese steaks and cheesecake only they will exchange working on a community service project in the other city. The idea fits perfectly in line with MLB’s continuous ties to giving back that have played out across the playoffs and the World Series in every city games have been played, from assisting with veterans to improving the lives of the impoverished. Even the on field awards ceremonies have highlighted community service, as evidenced by Derek Jeter winning the Clemente Award for his work Thursday night and the Detroit Tigers Curtis Granderson being honored with the Marvin Miller Award for his community work on Friday. Since the All-Star game, MLB has gone above and beyond to tie all their major projects at major events to bigger causes, whether that’s player programs or a partner like Bank of America rebuilding houses in St. Louis, and then using all their media…print, TV, digital, to promote the good works. In these challenged times it is a very smart play for the league to take not just a leadership approach, but a leadership approach that is properly messaged so that everyone watching is getting the positive story on all fronts (Terry Lefton’s SBJ piece this week had great insight into the ideas). Looking for negativity will take a great amount of work this time of year for baseball, as all efforts have been effectively pushed toward a positive outlook on the field and the good works off it. A very well constructed and clearly delivered and consistent message for a sport that appears to again be putting many of its larger issues behind itself and is making a strong play for its game, its partners and for its fans, to tell positive stories and merchandise those good ideas effectively.

Tigers The Best Brand Story In Baseball?

September 19, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Many skeptics looked to the baseball season this year as a sort of sponsorship and ticketing armageddon…a sure sign that sports was losing its branding and dollars mojo. Yet as we look down the stretch and even back across the season, we see lots of good news for the sport in terms of community involvement, solid ticket sales in a tough economy, good stories and fan interest, along with different types of brand activation. Were there hiccups? Of course, with perhaps the biggest ones being the continued steroid issue (from the past less than the present) and the Yankees pricing and suite issues, although even there the team has been responsive to adjusting and making progress. Still, the ability for baseball teams…both minor and major…to adapt, be more innovative and present a fair and fun social product is still a huge plus, and maybe a good sign of times going forward. One of those brands that has tried to do all the right things, both on the field and off, in a very challenged economy is the Detroit Tigers. From community events, to job fairs to tickets for unemployed workers to forgoing sponsorship dollars on their centerpiece fountain and keeping the General Motors brand attached to it, to honoring announcer Ernie Harwell in a very dignified manner, the Tigers have done everything they can to make sure they are a part of all going on in a city hit hardest by the recession. Plus…they are winning…and winning with athletes who have great stories and are reflective of the community they play in. Now why haven’t more brands attached themselves to the team and the players? Maybe they are not sexy enough and are in a market that obviously is short on consumer spending. However for brands looking to make the consumer feel good and find a way to reach millions as they ride into the playoffs…probably against the Yankees at some point with all that New York and national exposure…the Tigers just might be the smartest, and best buy for a brand this season. Great story with the best still to come.

The Player Blog…some good ones

August 1, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

I spent the last few days in various places with my colleague Josh Rockoff of Strike Interactive and the two topics that came up frequently were the growth of online gaming and the value of athlete websites, or with the second topic, the problems therein.  While most athletes, like most brands, feel that the outreach to the fan or the building of one’s own “brand” is essential, there are few that actually do it right.  One reson is the limit of an athletes time to come up with compelling content on a regular and consitent basis.  The other is that many times the sites are manned by others “ghosting” for the players, and the sites often come across as contrived with little insight into the athlete.  That is what the fan wants…not the happy go lucky thoughts of the athlete…the insight into what makes up the person, the slice of life of training camp or behind the scenes that gives the athlete character.  Does it have to be controversial?  No.  Is it always compelling?  No.  But thoughts of what goes on inside the clubhouse or the mind of the athlete…or what the athlete does away from the field…makes him or her more marketable, more interesting and easier to like and understand during the lean times.  Some blogs…like the Washington Wizards’ Etan Thomas’ blog on Huffington Post last year…were great.  But for whatever reason they suddenly stopped.  Same with Diana Taurasi’s blog…great insight into the WNBA and the famale athlete and then nothing.  Are some athletes paid to blog?  Sometimes, especially by the more commercial sites.  However the commitment to be consistent and work with someone to give the fans insight takes time and dedication but a precious few athletes…but those athletes will reap off field dividends in the long run.  Five blogs worth checking out…in baseball, Curt Schilling’s blog, even in an injury riddled year, gives fans insight of both on and off the field…another baseball blog worth reading on espn.com is the Tigers Curtis Granderson (will be interested in seeing the take on yesterday’s trade), while Donovan McNabb’s posts from training camp are also pretty good…the best remains Gilbert Arena’s blog on nba.com…even in the offseason he keeps the fans engaged with his offcourt happenings and otjher thoughts both in and out of basketball…especially for those rising athletes or those schools or smaller market teams looking to get more digital exposure, identifying athletes and coaches and helping push their personalities through the blog or simple websites remains a great opportunity to grow marketshare and bring in some extra dollars while identifying with a very hungry fan base…a little effort can reap a lot of benefit.