NASCAR Gets a Novel National Pop…

August 25, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the great elements of sport is its ability to join divergent backgrounds and put together some of the more unique pairings of those who play…and those who watch.  Such is the case of the cover of this week’s Parade Magazine, which pairs best selling novelist Janet Evanovich and her two favorite drivers, Tony Stewart and Jimmy Johnson.  Evanovich tells the story of her devotion to NASCAR in the piece, and explains how she is able to weave her favorite sport into her novels, all interesting stuff that once again gives the casual fan insight into the NASCAR world.  However the true beauty of the piece is in the branding shot itself…Evanovich the fan unites her two favorite drivers…and two of the home improvement business’ fiercest brands…Lowes (Johnson) and Home Depot (Stewart) in the same shot.  Maybe Coke and Pepsi can be next.  Great placement, great casual fan activation, great brand integration.

Patriotic Musings…Olympics, Big Flags and Randy Moss With NASCAR…

July 4, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The July 4th weekend seems to be the official bell ringing for Olympic brand ramp up, between the swimming and track and field trials and mega international events such as the Tour de France and Wimbledon all running together in what is naturally a quiet week for news.  A look at the Olympic landscape saw McDonald’s roll out their pre-Olympic campaign with new in-store activation points (via Promo Mag), and adidas announcing the opening of their mega-store in Beijing to battle Nike’s Olympic plans (via WSJ).  Then conspiracy theorists will have a field day as Michael Phelps pulled on his VISA hat accidentally at the swimming trials (accidentally or not it was a great ambush marketing play) while the Arizona Republic has a good piece today mentioning all the ambush marketers trolling the mixed zone at the swimming trials.  Top it all off with a good story in today’s New York Times on the business of making huge American flags, and you have all the All-American branding ideas you would want for a holiday. 

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.

Brand placement ON the athlete…its all about time and place…

May 15, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The actual “branding” of athletes in the U.S. continues to get more and more interest as the phyiscal surface for ads, from the playing surface with real and virtual ads to the NASCAR-like infusion, gets more filled.  MLS has certainly been the trailblazer in the American landscape with jersey branding (the latest being the VW deal with the DC United) and this week comes another step forward with McDonald’s being added to the front of select WNBA jerseys as part of a multitiered branding campaign.  The logo is certainly not overly intrusive but it is another step forward for an area in traditional American sport that has always been pristine, and if all goes well will move to other lucrative deals going forward.  Also on the branding front, some props should go out to the Phoenix Coyotes on their great sponsorship and logo placement of PGA Tour golfer Jeff Quinney.  The logo and the brand of the NHL team got amazing viewership this past week as Quinney finished third at the TPC.  Here a team took an unconventional step with a young athlete outside its sport and caught lightning in a bottle, with the timing and the placement for the logo paid a huge dividend. 

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.