Why The Yanks Win With Hope Week…

August 21, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

Yes they are the defending World Champions and as so have a responsibilty to give back to their fans year-round.  And from expansive foundations run by Mariano rivera, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Joe Girardi and many others, the New York Yankees do find ways to give back all year round, just like many teams on every level in every market. However what sets Hope Week apart for the Yankees is the expansive connections each and every member of the organization makes with so many different organizations during the busiest part of the season.  The plan, which ranges from visits to having various groups and organizations come to Yankee Stadium, takes every part of the organization and exposes the brand to a wide variety of stories that will have a cumulatiive ripple effect way beyond the initial meetings.  It is Community Relations and outreach to the max, and as a result garnered exposure not just locally but nationally, with a full-length feature on the Today Show on Friday.

Bubblewrap’s Stunt Gives Jeter Some Protection…

May 7, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Promoting Bubblewrap, the airfilled plastic that protects millions of items each year, is certainly not an easy task.  It is kind of like finding a way for the media to do a positive story about brown paper bags or toilet paper…everyone uses them, they serve their function, but there is usually nothing newsworthy about them.  However the folks at the Saddle Brook, New Jersey company went the old fashioned way this week to get some ink…with a very timely PR stunt.  What did they do? They jumped on the Sports Illustrated jinx, took an off day for the Yankees and seized the opportunity of the team’s trip to Boston this weekend to come up with a way to get some ink.

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?

Can Jimmie Johnson and NASCAR win New York?

November 26, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Jimmie Johnson was in one of the few races this week that he has yet to win. The race to make his brand, and in a larger part the brand of NASCAR, relevant to the casual sports fan and the discretionary spender in the world’s largest marketplace, the New York tri-state area.

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.

Brand Jeter…

September 12, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

September 11, with thoughts of a day of service and reflection proposed by President Obama, may be turning the corner from negativity and grief to positive action (although we should never forget and many need to and still should morn the loss on that day). However on Friday night we were again reminded as to how sports can help be a salve on wounds, and take us to places we never thought we could get to emotionally. Case in point, Derek Jeter. MLB, through their Day of Service and Rememberence initiative, and their announcement of giving back to veterans, created a very nice platform for transition for fans on 9/11, and tied it into the red hats worn by all players. However the person who helped New York turn the corner was Jeter, who broke Lou Gehrig’s Yankee record for hits on 9/11, and gave all a reminder of what brand leadership by example is all about. Brand Jeter is not flashy…there is little digital marketing and splash to it. It has solid, longstanding promotional partners who build very effective programs around his persona…Nike, Ford and Gillette…and his “Turn Two” Foundation does more works of service quietly than publicly in many cases. Still the Jeter brand is one of control, and effective control. In a time where many athletes try to build and expand brands into something they are not, or try to attach themselves to products just for the dollar or for the buzz, the Yankee captain and his business team have remained steady, the quality which many brands in and out of sports should aspire to. Of course Jeter’s onfield longevity and consistency play a key role in that, as does his soft spoken nature. But it could be very easy for Jeter as a brand to try and grab more edgy sponsorships or lend the name to a quick payday. Thus far there has been no need, and as an athlete leadership brand, the bet is that the position will stay the same….and now he has even given us a reason to look back fondly on 9/11…for sports anyway.

Remembering On The Day…Sports As A Social Unifier…

September 11, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

I usually don’t make this personal, but today is a day that we all need to remember those we lost on that tragic day in 2001…and how sports helped us bounce back afterwards. First a quick second to remember those who we knew through sport who were gone that day, including all those in uniform who were such great fans, coaches and supporters of all we do in this business…not just those who died on this day but those in the military who we have lost since…that list includes many of my classmates and friends at Fordham University and Xaverian High School, including Carl Flickinger, who played Varsity B hoops at Xaverian and sat behind me in many classes for four years, Tim Finnerty, a great coach at Wagner and Fordham who went on to Wall Street but always kept coaching kids, Mike Armstrong, another Fordham guy whose lived with every move the Rams made on the field, and a childhood friend Gigi Calvi, who lived a few doors away and really loved soccer. That’s just a few of those we lost today and should be remembered. Ironically 9/11 came just two days after the end of my last US Open, and we had planned to take Lleyton Hewitt, the men’s winner, to Windows on the World for a photo op. on 9/10…but plans changed and we ended up doing the photo on the Brooklyn Bridge, while women’s winner Serena Williams did other events around Manhattan. Amazing how time flies. Still, coming out of 9/11 there were so many examples of how sports can unify us all, none better than the amazing HBO film Nine Innings from Ground Zero, which showed how the Yankees and their fans and the city united after the tragedy, and really helped heal wounds that continue to be re-opened even to this day. For all the dollars invested and time spent on the business of sport today, it remains a social unifier because unlike most other “social” activities, sport knows no social or language barriers, it gives us both aspirational and inspirational heros, it serves as a placeholder for some of the key events in our lives, it is multigenerational, and it can serve as a great relief, either through participation or through social involvement, from the daily stresses we have. Now are there all the issues with big money? yes. Are today’s professional athletes pulled and burdened with more than ever before? Yes. But end of the day, few people anywhere in the world, no matter what race, creed, sex, or color, can find some aspect of athletics or sport that they can cling to. That’s what makes the business of sport so interesting, and why on our darkest days it is a place we can turn to. God Bless all who were touched on that day…and now back to the game.

EA Sports, Gilette Team For a Glimpse Of New Digital Access For Fans…

August 29, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The fantasy space of playing in real time with your favorite athlete has always been the epitome of both brand activation and fan interraction.  Taking on Michael Jordan in hoops, Tiger Woods in golf or returning an Andre Agassi serve would draw interest from thousands of fans and get the sponsoring brands great exposure.  Now in the digital space, EA Sports and Gilette have worked together to take that participation to a different level for a wider swath of fans, having top athletes compete in real time online against fans, with the winners coming together to meet the stars who they have conquered, not just in their professional sport but in any of a series of events.  The Boston Globe outlined the program on Friday, and it could be a door opener for how top athletes can interract in the digital space. Great start, great brand exposure for Gilette as they continue to find new ways to activate their sports sponsorships.  

College Fanz Network Creates New Avenues For PR Oppts…

July 10, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Often attempts for Sports Information Directors at non BCS schools during football season to get live scores and information out to fans, alumni and media partners in real time are impossible.  Unless a fan or partner has access to a local broadcast or waits for scrolls on a screen, the updates just don’t come as fast, and for those Division II and III schools the real time results are almost non-existent.  However the College Fanz Network, has created a downloadable and easily updatable real time feature for SID’s to push scores and information  immediately, via their website collegefanz.com.  The site is already a home for social sports networking amongst many colleges, especially those on the edge or out of the mainstream, but this new platform is a boon to schools and will hopefully give fans a new option via the web to get real time results.  Nice job by one of the brands that see a large picture play for collegiate sports.