PGA of America, WNBA Promotion A Hole In One…

June 24, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

PR Move of the Day:  One of the issues that the WNBA has always had to battle was playing indoors during those great summer months, and then finding ways to engage the casual fan who would love hoops but just didn’t want to spend time indoors.  The usual promotions are hit or miss, and although the league has done a solid job in building a core of stars recently, the issue of pulling in the casual fan with a little something extra remained.  Today the league partnered with the PGA of America to come up with a very strong way to address the issue, stepping outside of the basketball framework to deliver on a solid promotion.  By providing free lessons with the top club pros (part of the PGA of America), the WNBA gives casual fans a great reason to come to a game and get something they could never have gotten before in the WNBA environment…help with America’s big leasure time activity…the game of golf.  Given commissioner Donna Orender’s golf roots, the connection is a natural, and announcing it the week of the women’s US Open makes even more sense.  Another great element that fits is that it gives the core WNBA fan a little extra as well…logic says if you are interested in women’s hoops, your affinity for other sports is probably high, and now you have the chance to try yet another activity you may have never tried before.  The PGA of America, as the club pros, makes more sense from a branding standpoint than the LPGA as well, so there is little battle for star power.  The “star power” is on the WNBA court, the athletic activity of the day is learning golf.  Well hit, well placed, well timed…maybe tennis can be next.   

New Activation Partnerships, New Crossover Stars…In An Olympic Year…WNBA Tips Off Strong…

May 18, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Many times over the past dozen years marketers have looked at the WNBA as somewhat of an enigma.  Clearly the breakthrough leader in women’s sports, the league has enjoyed strong support with a product that has become better every year.  Still the mainstream interest has been up and down depending on the year, and with local ownership the league now has to hope that each team has staff savvy enough to activate and build stars by market.  This summer however it looks like the WNBA future is bright as ever, due to smart, new cutting edge partnerships, the momentum of an Olympic year and some solid crossover stars that can continue to appeal to make the great game of BASKETBALL, not just women’s basketball, a popular go-to sport year round for interest and activation.  Some of the reasons for the bright future are outlined in Mel Greenberg’s overall piece in the Philly Inquirer  , Kurt Streeter’s great profile of rookie star Candace Parker in today’s LA Times, Dave Weekley’s story in the Charleston Gazette Mail that tells local fans all the ways they can follow the Detroit Shock’s rookie star Alexis Hornbuckle, the New York Liberty with a local star in Rutgers’ Essence Carson, and mutiple stories on the WNBA McDonald’s partnership which not only includes activation online and in market but gives the worldwide brand logo placement on the front of many WNBA jerseys.  Tie that in with the fan program Discover Card does with the league, some very strong online spots (head of officials Dee Kantner has a  blog that will give basketball fans a different look at the game) , and there are many, many reasons why the league can grow from all aspects this summer.  A couple of push points to really put it over the top…local stories…the league must push the local teams to find and tell every possible story across all mediums, including taking advantage of every opportunity in the digital space…that local momentum needs to be there to show everyone strength in a cumulative fashion.  The other point is talking about basketball.  Many times women’s sports get caught up in the uniqueness of being just that…a women’s sport.  However the level of crossover appeal and athleticism now for the WNBA is even bigger because it is good basketball that appeals to all hoops fans.  Riding the great success the NBA is having into June won’t hurt, and talking about great hoops, with a solid leader like Donna Orender, is a very smart move.