So We Now Move On…

July 10, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

Stephen King was once asked who his audience is for his novels, and his answer was that he writes for everyone who slows down to look at accidents. It is the sense of spectacle that makes events, no matter how bizarre or contrived they sometimes seem, that draws everyone to them.  Case in point was the past week, or month, or year, and all the information, misinformation, rumors and talk about LeBron James and free agency, all of which came to a head with a huge audience on ESPN Thursday night.  So now that the world knows and is debating winners and losers, what is it that we really know today that we didn’t know yesterday about James’ move to South Beach?  Some thoughts…

Who Will Win The Battle of The Busiest Weekend On The Sports Calendar?

February 11, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It is a good thing the NFL moved the Pro Bowl to the week prior to the Super Bowl this year.  The game got much-needed attention and a record crowd, and won’t have to deal with being an after-thought on perhaps the busiest big event weekend on the sports calendar.  Yes a week after the Super Bowl became the most watched television event of all-time, three major events…the opening of the Winter Olympics, the Daytona 500 and the NBA All-Star Game, will all battle for eyeballs, sponsor return and casual sports fans within 72 hours. Who will win?  The battle has already begun.

End of the Day, Live Events Make Sports, Brands, King…

November 5, 2009 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

The debate has gone on for several years as to what the value of the live event is with regard to sports. In this age of instantaneous, multimedia applications with hundreds of applications, why do we need to watch anything live or be there in person for it? After all we can google, youtube or TiVo any event and watch it when we want to watch it, right? Yes that is true, and the options do present those challenges to event marketers, teams and brands.

NASCAR Plays The Education Card To Build More Bandwidth…

April 5, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

We have often talked about the new ways NASCAR has derived in a down economy to reach the consumer and work with their partners. This week brought another series of innovations, the biggest of which is a new education module tied into science to reach students who love invention and innovation, but may never have gotten near a track, a driver or any of the brands around the sport. The Science of Speed , an online teaching component available free to all teachers, marries NASCAR’s racing and engineering experience with simple experiments and programs for science teachers to apply in their curriculum to students. The programs are multi-level, adaptable and really give the casual follower another reason to watch and identify with the brand. Combine that with NASCAR’s rollout of a Prilosec campaign based around barbeque (another smart marriage of food and a heartburn medication) and an announcement that Libby’s signed Kim Burton…the wife of driver Jeff Burton…for a series of promotions onsite, and you have a week where the brand has hit emerging fans (children and teachers), die hard fans (the barbeque eatin, brand buying) and the female audience (the casual and the diehard) in one fell swoop. Most importantly, all these activation programs take NASACAR TO the constituent in a time where constituents may not be looking for them. Great outreach with not just short term, but long term brandbuilding components.

Ultimate Integration…Or A Horse By Any Other Name Is…A Lizard?

February 13, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Innovative brand integration is become more key as partners count their dollars more efficiently. Logos on apparel, nets, side backboards, virtual signage are all accepted and used now, but the NBA this coming weekend will take naming rights to a new place, renaming the most popular part of TNT All-Star Saturday Night from HORSE to GEICO. Now is it a cheesy sellout, as Barry Horn pointed out in the Dallas Morning News, or is it a bit more innovative as Darren Rovell seems to think. If you are the NBA and the brand, neither matters. What matters is that the partner gets the ultimate in integration during the show, is alighted directly with the stars of the game and has created buzz that lifted the sponsorship off Saturday and into the brand pages. A little hoaky, a little break with tradition, a little more push of the envelope but end of the day, a great example of more unique integration in a big event by a league that finds ways to grow sponsorships.

Mets Do A Good Job Of Spreading Positives In A Down Economy

October 13, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

We have all seen the effects and fear and potential cost cutting measures that teams and brands are putting into effect to safeguard profitability should the economy worsen.  Now while many have taken the prudent approach to guard their best assets and look for more ROI, some have chosen to move ahead with long term plans, and show the value of the  brand in the marketplace even in a slow economy. Neil Best has a good overall look at the New York economy and how local teams could be affected, but the best news put forth this week was by the New York Mets, who despite another disappointing end to the season continue to crank out good news on brand support, this week announcing they have sold out of suites in CitiField.  Darren Rovell had a solid q and a with the Mets Dave Howard about how it is possible and what this says about the value of the Mets brand in the area,  despite all the negative financial news and some projects for slow spending by the consumer.  The messaging and the timing were solid for the business, and showed how well placed stories, even in the most difficult of times, can give the fan and the business pause for a positive outlook ahead.

Telling The Story To Those Who Want To Hear It First…WCSN and others…

March 30, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the biggest problems with promoting and branding sports and entertainment properties today is that everyone wants to be “Like Mike” (the old Nike slogan with regard to Michael Jordan).  The problem is that many emerging brands and properties try to grab that brass ring before they are ready, or don’t look to aggregate all the “smaller” opportunities to tell their story.  The growth of sports on the web has been both a blessing and a curse for emerging brands.  The opportunity is there to tell ones story to a mass audience, yet the emerging brands in many cases are more concerned with the big hit than the series of steady steps  to build to get to the big one.  Two examples of  groups doing their best to help those emerging brands find their market are World Championship Sports Network and the Horizon League.  WCSN is quickly emerging every day as THE place to go for Olympic sports (especially leading to Beijing) that the casual fan and the ardent follower can’t find in the mainstream every day.  The same with the Horizon League, which is one of the few “mid-major” league to effectively speak to its core audience of alumni, families and student athletes (and hopefully sponsors) with a steady flow of hard to get very targeted live and taped video pieces.  What do these emerging sources for information find?  Steady market share for their core audience, which in turn makes them the trend setters which hopefully leads to larger non-core audience which leads to sponsors which leads to outside media coverage and capital.  However by aggregating the core fan first, both groups are finding away to grow in the niche, and lead to the mainstream.  Fish where the fish are.  You have to tell the stories to those willing to listen and view first before you can go and get the others.  Both groups do that very well.

Blogging, Branding, Basketball…From High School To The Majors…

March 12, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Two stories which we feel will be pretty compelling issues over the next year came to light around the country in the last few days…the issue of what to do with bloggers, and the ever-growing issue of corporate support and commercialism with regard to high school programs.  The latter was the focal point of a piece in Sunday’s Bergen Record, which documented the success that companies were having in branding fields and programs in central New Jersey as a way to offset budget restraints and restore programs.  The philosophical issue of what is over the top – marketing directly to kids – and what is a strong grassroots support system (no one questions billboard advertising or the names on the backs of Little League teams) is the big play, as well as where the money rasied ultimately goes.  High schools in Texas, where football is king, are addressing the issue as a way to create extra funding.  Invariably this will lead to the discussions of over-emphasizing and over- publicizing and marketing the high school (and then maybe the grammar school) athlete, but if it puts much needed funds in a professional manner into academic programs, and helps inner city music and arts programs as well as sports, the professionalism that can be brought to running these school programs should be welcomed.

Globetrotters Go Back To The Basics To Build Brand, While The Obama/Sports Connection Continues To Gain Steam…

March 3, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the hallmark brands in sports and entertainment that had lost its way in the internet crazy, flash and dash 24/7 world was the Harlem Globetrotters.  Like the circus, the rodeo and many of the other circuits (even professional indoor tennis) that traveled on a tour to cities across America and around the world, the Globies, who once graced primetime television, cartoons and the movies, had fallen on hard times because  of the ability to keep the fan and family friendly act fresh.  However in the last year, a new rebranding campaign, combined with a great city by city PR boost (led by the folks at Coyne PR), have produced a series of business , sports  and promotional exposures for the brand to let the consumer know they have re-established themselves as fun and in many cases, hip and cool entertainment for those of all ages.  Recent exposure in their New York stop included a great all-access piece given to CNBC’s Darren Rovell, the opportunity for local TV anchors like Channel 55’s CJ Papa to practice with the team, along with the outreach to local celebrities and influencers to help make the brand relevent again.  The access, the outreach, and the re-explanation of the brand as something which adults could identify with from their past, and what young people can build memories with (much like the way baseball brands itself as a family lifetime expereince), combined with the ability to create very nice YouTube-like video packages, are all part of the Globetrotters resurgence in 2007, and should help them regain the “tour” foothold when returning to cities, in many ways like the PBR has done to reinvigorate the rodeo/cowboy experience of days gone by.