Tennis Continues To Have An Empty Cup…While WTT Scores Locally.

July 14, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Coming off of an epic Wimbledon for the second year in a row, it would seem that tennis, with all its global promotional arms, the power of the USTA and the other three Grand Slams, and some strong personalities would be poised to make a strong followup showing leading into the US Open Series. After all, this past week had the best team-based tennis event in the world…one that showed that the sport could be played not just as individuals or even as doubles partners, but in an event that fans could understand and experience and that each match would count for toward a season long finale, just like other sports. Yes that team format did deliver with some fun matches, a great digital play, a good experience on site for all and even some amazing press coverage. The only problem for the sport is the team format that got the exposure last week was Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss long-running World Team Tennis entry, as opposed to the often-maligned and much forgotten Davis Cup brand. Here’s a look at both in the week that was. Once again Davis Cup, arguably one of the best on site experiences in sport, got lost again in the scheduling shuffle. The week fell after Wimbledon and at the same time as the women’s US Open, the NASCAR Chicagoland Sprint Cup Series, the run-up to the baseball All-Star game, UFC 100 and even the World Series of Poker. Add in that top American Andy Roddick couldn’t play because of injury and the limitations on travel budgets for most mainstream media, and the Davis Cup as a brand was lost in the shuffle on almost all points. Making things worse is the continued confusing schedule and the lack of any major brand activation in the early rounds and one of the best events in all of sport virtually disappeared. Now juxtapose that with WTT, which grabbed some great coverage in USA Today and the Washington Post (their Washington franchise was home last weekend), tied in charity events with some name players, and found enough squeaky wheels (Murphy Jensen) to effectively use social media to also drive some interest. Given a brands’ ROI, those aligned with WTT easily got more short term and lower cost exposure than those associated with the higher profile Davis Cup event for the week. Can Davis Cup ever go through a brand restoration? Tough to do unless the oft-talked about format change happens. If not, one of the legendary team sports could continue to fall behind a slightly slicker and more efficient cousin run by a legend who know how to make the game fun for new generations.

Social Networking For A Profit? Blue Claws Show How…

June 2, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

They have already done a Cash For Gold Night that gave local jewelers a chance to earn some money and drive traffic, they give away food for kids on Monday nights, and now the Lakewood, New Jersey Blue Claws have effectively used their Facebook and Twitter feeds to give their fans a special pop and move distressed inventory. The Phillies South Atlantic League farm team took their party deck on a recent weekend night, and went directly to those who subscribed to their Twitter and Facebook pages with an immediate call to action…an online response within a requested period would net those followers access to the party deck and all its free food and drink for the cost of a regular ticket. It also gave those subs a chance to do something oh so rare…meet face to face with others who used the medium and had a common interest…following the Blue Claws. The result was a 100% response rate that filled the deck and rewarded the social networking followers for their diligence. The promo was done without warning or reason for a signup, and the plan is to replicate the move again for future games when inventory is available. The potential result? Word of mouth drives new signups, which can now be captured for traditional e-blasts and other data mining. Those who subscribe and didn’t check now will have a much more frequent reason to check the pages and tweets for info and offers. More interestingly is it opens up potential sponsorship, not on the Facebook or Twitter posts, but to the Party Deck nights to brands that are looking to target first adopters and social networking fans who are also avid sports fans. It is a great example of how teams can use the platform to instantly drive revenue, create buzz and fill distressed inventory while sending people back to the social networking sites and looking for deals. Next potential idea? Twitter only or Twitter free zones at the games? Or speed twitter replacing fan trivia as a promotion.

Controlling The Message: Jerry Jones and Tiger Woods

February 22, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Today’s media cycle is always clamoring for more access. Fans, business partners and the media are constantly craving in both sports and entertainment to get more info., more access, more angles in the never-ending search to follow the celebrity. While that is important for brands that seek the spotlight to grow, the elite brands are put into a difficult situation. When is enough enough and more importantly, how do you control the information flow, either to make sure the information is accurate or to make sure the information put forth is done so in the manner that the newsmaker wants it to be. This past week we watched as the Yankees fed the media monster daily with key team members being available for the press around the Alex Rodriguez controversy. Each day led to a different story line, with key players speaking on different days. Orchastrated and put forth in the order that the newsmaker chose. The Yankees also did a more than credible job of speaking with one voice by the administration, and a majority of the players followed suit. So along the same line, we saw two other megabrands…Tiger Woods and the Dallas Cowboys...both take measures to control their message this week. Woods announced his comeback not with press conference or conference call or personal appearance or even a call to a key media member, but on his regular way of communicating to the media away from tournaments, on his website. The website has become Woods’ regular way of communicating with the media away from the Tour, thus (in addition to driving traffic and publicity for the site) easily getting out his message as he and his management team see fit. Now Woods is accessable during required periods at events, but by using the site as a way to break news, the media is limited in response and the idea of his team speaking with one voice holds true. Great for Woods, probably not so great for golf or the media. The Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones informed the media this week that coaches were no longer to be available to the media, including head coach Wade Phillips. The team’s view is the lack of access will control news and the subsequent leaks that come out, and have the organization functioning with one voice. Although this may not be uncommon with other organizations who limit access, the issue was that Jones was not available for the media during the early days of the NFL Combine, creating a bit of a circus for those media that were there and were seeking info about America’s team. Now again is “One Voice” a smart thing to control a message? Probably. Just so long as the message is communicated to the media, and thus to fans and business partners, effectively. Can it control “leaks” or rumor? To some extent but not as well as one would think, especially with an organization the size of an NFL team. There are ways to be consistent and control the message without setting off paranoia, and effectively communicating procedure is probably the first way. Regardless of the procedure, both Woods and the Cowboys again showed their ability to convey who the messenger will be.

Not Bowled Over By College Football ROI…

December 23, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

A host of articles today bemoaned the lack of interest in the non-BCS bowls this past weekend, and the toll they will take in the wake of exposure for many of the programs.  However Yahoo Sports had a great two part series this past week on the cost/benefit for the schools going to non-BCS bowls, and where all the money actually goes. Josh Peter’s piece had a  list of the positives and negatives, or necessary evils, that growing progams must endure on the way up the college football ladder.  Once again “the economy” factors into the figure of lack of innovative promotion, creative ticket sales or brand awareness that is quickly becomeing the rule in college football.  The amazing thing is that it seems like the lesser bowls are lacking in their own attempt to give schools an ROI on their investment of travel and brand awareness as well.  Now could it result in schools at some point doing a cost/benefit analysis and turning down bowls, like some have done with the postseason NIT in hoops, if the cost on the bottom line outweighs the benefit?  Perhaps.  But the lack of creative promotion and effort to get the non-BCS bowls exposure when there is a lack of college football going on for fans is both alarming and an opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to capture that market, even incrementally.  Until the BCS system evolves into a championship series the non-BCS Bowls will remain in flux, and there is no reason why creativity cannot find its way back into the promotion of the games as way to both drive awareness and brand building for all involved.