Sports Marketing and Public Relations -- Sports Management Marketing -- Sports Event Marketing » Miami Dolphins

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

Joe Favorito — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:43:21 +0000

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.

However Mark Cuban, in a recent BlogMaverick post, had some great points to the contrary, and at the heart of his post are a few facts which should always be remembered when looking for the reasons why people love sports and even live entertainment. We should never forget that the live event always plays to the emotion…the chance that we will both see and experience something for the first time in real time that we may never get to see live again as it happens. It’s the reason why CNN followed “balloon boy” a few weeks ago. Yes the tape will be replayed millions of times, but the fact that one could witness and experience something live, whether in person or on a big screen, is something that taped shows and movies can never have…that sharing of a communal experience that plays on the emotions.

The just completed World Series is another great example of why, even with all the choices available, the live event is still king. Despite all the choices, the live sporting event still ruled the evening and remains the topic of choice amongst even the most casual of fan the day after. Now is the audience more fragmented than in previous years? Yes, but that’s not because the event is less compelling, it is because there are just more choices for the few that would like them. Still even with all those choices the live experience remains number one in viewership and participation. We continue to see that in college football, the NFL, and hopefully in the NBA and college hoops this winter as well. So what does this mean to all those looking to sell or find the right way to reach the best audience for the biggest bang? Same as it has been for years. The plan…whether it is for effective communications, branding or sales…has to be integrated across all mediums. With all the buzz about social media, there is not one brand or team or event that can point to social media as the leader in how they make money and drive extended interest alone. Build buzz? Yes. Lead toward an event? Yes. But without the reach of the masses…and that mass audience leads to the live event which has to be in the plan, any program will fall short. For all the buzz that Shaquille O’Neal drove with Twitter, if he wasn’t playing live games on TV in front of millions of people, the interest in him would have been nil.

The great opportunity that now exists, as Cuban pints out, is that the internet has shown to be a great driver back to the live event and the live tune in. All the other pieces…streaming video, phone applications, taped shows, twitter, YouTube…have become key integration pieces to drive the masses to watch the live event, and no other entity has the ability to consistently deliver an emotional live event like sports. Reality shows? Maybe. Concerts? Maybe. However no platform, night in, night out, exists around the world that is as large, as powerful or as emotional as the live sporting event. It is what continues to drive a billion dollar industry and what hopefully will continue to help define how brands can grow exposure into the future.

Some other good reads…the site Celebrity Acquisition has a well time list of baseball marketing winners and losers... the Florida Sun Sentinel’s David Hyde had a solid business profile of Dolphins owner Steve Ross… and Barry Janoff’s NY SportsJournalism site has a worthwhile q and a with Dr. Bill Sutton on the state of the industry.

Military Speaks Right To The Sports Core And Get Results…

Joe Favorito — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:42:06 +0000

The ability of brands to show ROI is sometimes very tricky, as so many different aspects go into monitoring consumer trends and buying habits. Yes it is a very intricate science and buying habits can be tracked, but the actual last second decision as to whether to choose product A or product B that can be driven by just one ad, or one activation program or even one key spend is still very hard to justify. Unless you are the military in the United States. There are very few brands that spend more on activation in sport outside of the United States Armed Forces, with the goal being both public awareness…hearts and minds…and recruitment. From boxing to college football, NASCAR to the NFL, the call to action and awareness for the military is pervasive and very detailed. Its messaging is clear and its goal is simple. So when it was announced this week the every branch of the military exceeded their recruitment goals for the year for the first time in decades, it should come as no surprise that there was a strong tie to their detailed marketing plan on how to reach that core young audience…advertising and activation around sports. Did the unemployment rate and the economy have something to do with it? Of course. But there is no doubt that the military knows its market, was able to concentrate their messaging to that market, and was able to show a direct ROI on their spend. A success all around. Now what will be the result of this sports branding success? In all likelihood budgets will be cut, as there is less of a need over a cycle to keep hitting those high numbers of recruits, since the military cycle for a new recruit is more than one year and the churn from year to year with today’s active military is lower than in peace time. Now that is obviously not good for properties who welcomed those spending dollars, but it does speak well to the premise that if you know your want to reach a young acticve crowd and spend efficiently, there are few activation platforms better than sports. If you want to know for sure, just ask the men and women in uniform.

Some other good reads…the New York Observer had a good piece on the survival of newspapers in New Jersey.…USA Today had a good profile of Dolphins owner Steve Ross… and si.com’s Rich Deitsch had his media power rankings for September…

Getting Along and Working Together To Grow…South Florida Sets The Pace…

Joe Favorito — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:59:58 +0000

The idea of teams in market working together has been a foreign idea for a long time. Most major market teams would rather act in a vacuum than share data, sponsors or branding opportunities, and often times attempts at shared events…especially on the community side…often ended up with arguments about top billing or conflicts of interest and ended creating more harm than good. However in recent years we have seen teams in market start to work together…the Blackhawks and the White Sox, the Indians and the Blue Jackets…to co-promote, co-market and co-brand. It is a smart thing to do…share expenses, approach brands as one, give added value to fans and partners and keep brand top of mind in the offseason. Now the South Florida sports community has taken that approach one step further, as Sarah Talalay reported in the Sun Sentinel this week. A number of teams and events are banding together to offer discounts, merchandise and special events to fans in the area, ranging from the Dolphins to golf and tennis events, a year-round, comprehensive offer for the fan. It helps move distressed inventory, creates a platform from which the teams and organizations can share data and gives each of the brands a little more shelf life when they are not in season. Could these lead to all the brands working together to find some common sponsors in categories and giving brands some added value? Could they tie in media and social networking platforms for off-season get-togethers? Could there be an outreach to travelers and other communities offering packages to multiple events for visitors to South Florida? How about even including arts programs and other areas where competition for the dollar is at a premium? Even better, maybe there could be education or community tie-ins across all the brands, or links out of market to other teams looking to run special promotions…maybe there is an Amtrak tie which connects teams in New York, Boston, Washington and Philly? It all makes great sense in these challenged times, and for even the most elite brands to worry about “damage by association” is just silly and shortsighted. Yes in good times maybe teams scale back offers, but by no means should partnerships be eliminated. This partnership and others around the country like it, is long overdue, and it is great to see the South Florida sports community leading the way with an idea that has applications in every level of sport where discretionary dollars are needed.

Hard Knocks A Smart Move By Bengals Brand…

Joe Favorito — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:43:35 +0000

They have been a lost franchise on the national scene for well…almost forever, even with a Super Bowl run, the Icky Shuffle and Ken Anderson, a great underrated QB. So giving the access to HBO’s Hard Knocks was a great move for the Cincinnati Bengals brand, and eventhough it is a risk for HBO and the NFL, it gives the show a different look than in previous years, especially coming off last season’s Dallas Cowboys run. Already the Bengals brand has gotten national exposure in what would norrmally be a quiet offseason for a small market team with a 4-12 record, and with a Spongetech practice jersey sponsorship on the table, the team has scored some much needed additional visibility. Let’s also not forget the national interest in Chad Ochocinco, and the way he will be able to use his tweets and branding skills to also drive interest to the show, along with the casual interest for football fans in hearing president Mike Brown and head coach Marvin Lewis, perhaps for the first time. HBO’s quality production with NFL Films could also stir interest in the team, at least for the first few weeks of the season, and give the franchise a much-needed boost. It is a bit of a departure for the series, but in terms of using the power of the NFL and the vision of HBO to try new things and give a franchise a lift, it could be a very smart move for the long term, especially if the team performs well and the story lines and drama effectively transfer to the show.

Some other good reads…Yahoo’s Kevin Iole has a good profile of female MMA star Gina Carano…AP has a good profile of new Dolphins business head Mike Dee…and for those who missed it, Greg Bishop’s piece this week in the New York Times on NFL players and divorce was also very well done…

Black Knights of the Hudson Look To Build Brand, Seize The Apple…

Joe Favorito — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:24:34 +0000

It has long been one of the mysteries of sports branding. New York, the centerpiece of the sports branding and business world, has been a college football graveyard. Yes, bars full of displaced college alumni flock to watch games with friends on Saturdays, the Heisman is housed there, and there are many other things to do on a Saturday, not to mention the perception that it is a pro town with two NFL teams. The casual sports fan in New York has never been engaged by local college teams in almost 50 years, save for St. John’s terrific runs in hoops in the 1980’s. The last team with any local cache on the football side was Fordham, a program which lost its national stance in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. So can a local team capture the audience, the branding and the media attention? Judging by announcements this week, Army my just be making that push. The Black Knights of the Hudson, just 30 miles north of the City, have long been one of the jewels of Saturday college football, not for their onfield play but for the pageantry and patriotism that comes with games at Michie Stadium. This week, along with the Yankees (who need to fill suites more than seats), Army announced a series of college football games with Notre Dame, Rutgers and Air Force at Yankee Stadium beginning in 2010, which will give Army a great local stage to compliment their games up the Hudson. Now can it parlay into great new branding and revenue for Army? Maybe. It will become a great non-baseball sales tool for Yankee Stadium because of the opponents as much as Army. But with this week’s announcement of a presenting sponsor for Army-Navy, a new coach, a huge void in a football team to root for in the New York area (Rutgers too will still try and fill that void), maybe just maybe the Black Knights can become New York’s college football team.

Some other good reads…the Washington Post had a good profile of Ari Fleischer.…Foxsports.com’s Matt Cronin has a good look at American tennis hopeful Sam Querry…the New York Times had a good profile of the Dolphins’ Ricky Williams…and wsj.com’s Matt Futterman looks at how Pele can still be able to cash in on long-ago success.

New Ownership Looks To Keep The Fins Fizzing…

Joe Favorito — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:02:04 +0000

Because the NFL is so much the American spectacle and a weekly destination watch for much of American, we often forget that several franchises still need to work in case of those rainy days to build brand value year-round, keep fans and business partners interested and engaged, and find new ways to generate revenue despite lofty ticket prices, PSL’s and TV money. For every sold out stadium there are a few still figuring ways to make sure market value grows. Perhaps the best example of that this offseason is the Miami Dolphins, under new owner Steve Ross. The fins have seemingly made a move every week, whether it is in fan access programs, new seating plans, altered colors, different naming rights deals and most recently, celebrity owners. Even with a much improved playoff team last year, the Dolphins ownership change, not to mention the sluggish South Florida economy, kept the teams brand building in flux, and with his hefty investment to buy, Ross and his management team have looked to every possible avenue, assuming nothing and taking no one for granted, to make sure that the Dolphins brand value ascends not just in South Florida, but in a national buzz and relevance quotient that is reflects in increased merch and ticket sales and a grander place in the NFL hierarchy. All the offseason buzz generation is a very smart move for the first year owner, and they have played to every segment of a potential audience to grow marketshare. While some may say, “Its the NFL, what do they need to sell themselves for?” the answer is simple….as an owner trying to invoke change you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and in this economy taking anything for granted, especially in a market where discretionary dollars can go elsewhere, could be a very fatal flaw, even for the most solid of brands, sports or not.

Getting An Added Fix Of Fall Football…The UFL Or…The Lingerie League?

Joe Favorito — Sat, 30 May 2009 00:49:29 +0000

With the AFL gone and the AAFL never started, the quest for NFL alternatives to fill the void continues on. While most agree that the talent level for the secondary football gap between college and the NFL is there…and the CFL has done a good job of trying to assume that role…the model that is financially and socially viable remains a mystery that even the NFL with NFL Europe could not solve. . So now we move to the fall and the launch of the once-delayed, several times evolving four team United Football League, while the once tried, well pitched and curiously positioned Lingerie Football League has also garnered its own position. the question is…can the UFL find an audience, and would anyone really care…brands or fans…about the LFL? While many have snickered, the UFL has pushed ahead and has done a good job of stealing enough headlines, signing media deals and positioning itself as a serious alternative or addition to the college and NFL audience. The coverage it has received, from AP to the Sports Business Journal to the markets where teams will be, certainly creates the air of legitimacy, and all the executives have done a great job of looking forward and staying on message. Now whether fans will show up…the price point is right…sponsors will sign on and media will cover remains the literally million dollar question. Many “good ideas” have come and gone in the recent economy, and even mainstream well established brands have taken a hit. However one thing is for sure, the people behind the UFL are pressing on and showing the confidence in an idea that helps in an uncertain climate, and look like they will create a platform that brands and fans may lean on as a cost effective alternative once the ball goes in the air. On the other side is the Lingerie Football league, which has done a great job of marketing itself and gaining mainstream business and some sports press by pandering to male dominated media. Media outlets from si.com to cnbc have given the league concept some play, and although the numbers of 8,000 guys showing up, TV partners signing on and “celebrity owners” have yet to materialize, the credit has to go to whomever built the PR plan and catered right to the male demo with which the league is looking to go to. Whether the concept gets off the ground and actually gets brands to sign on seems like the longest of longshots, but the buzz generated is certainly worthy of any startup brand. In the end which will last longer? For those looking to grow the sports marketing space the answer is probably both, although the UFL will certainly open more doors for the long term.

Some other good reads…Darren Rovell had a great listing today for the sports twitter rankings…a piece of info which will surely gain ground and brand equity for his blog over time…Maxx Boxing’s Tom Hauser had a solid profile of former HBO and MSG head Seth Abraham… wsj.com had a good profile on what’s next for the biggest names in English soccer in a challenged economy…and the Fort Meyers News Press has a profile of new Dolphins head Mike Dee…

Fins To The Left, Fins To The Right…Dolphins Hit It With Short Deal…

Joe Favorito — Fri, 15 May 2009 02:35:58 +0000

Steve Ross is a billionaire or has made the Related Companies into one of the most successful commercial real estate companies in the world. He has purchased the Miami Dolphins, has shown savvy to find a way to keep Bill Parcells around, has let the team continue to grow after a surprising playoff season a year ago, and has a host of minority partners who he will tap into, including the legendary Jimmy Buffett. So this week the team announced a short-term deal to rename Dolphins Stadium after A-B’s Land Shark Beer, a Buffet brand. Eventhough, as Terry Lefton pointed out in the Sports Business Daily this week, the NFL will have the team remove the name for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl, the short term benefit to the small brand plus the good will and fun that will be built up through the summer of Marlins baseball and into the fall with the Dolphins will get the team and the area some much needed traction, spin and maybe a little bit of controversy in a down economy. This is not rent a stadium for the day, as some minor league teams have done. This is a smart, calculated move by some very savvy branding folks who probably have a bigger picture play involving the Buffett brand in mind, not to mention a great test market for Anheuser Busch. Will it “devalue” future naming rights deals? In this economy few are actually happening and none at premiums, and today when brands are looking to extract every ounce of added value into any deal, this one may be a bit cash poor but brand profitable. The biggest challenge will be to match branding and goodwill and fun for the new naming rights deal if Land Shark does go away. The images of The Coral Reefer Band may resonate deeper than a bank or other institution who may be willing to pony up after the season. Could it have been done earlier to give the Marlins more chance to adjust? Maybe. But there would have never been an optimal time and if played right, everyone will know where the action is for both teams. Fun, smart branding move for the Fins.

Some other good reads…The Wall Street Journal had a great fund raising piece on The Robin Hood Foundation and their amazing fundraising efforts even in a down economy, and how their new spin of social philanthropy may change the way charities raise… John Feinstein has a good post mortem on the Caps and their bright future in the Washington Post…and Chris Erskine in the LA Times has an interesting idea for a fans Hall of Fame...in this era of tainted heros.

Winning Helps The Investment…The South Florida Gridiron…

Joe Favorito — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:28:05 +0000

A year ago South Florida football was in the dumper…the Dolphins, the Univ. of Miami, FIU, Florida Atlantic all were at the end of miserable seasons, and as the economy started to sag, there were lots of questions about the market as viable for tickets and branding…what a difference a year, and winning, can make for those involved in the buisness. Sarah Talalay takes a good look at the high hopes for those involved in branding, selling and marketing events in the area, with two Bowl games and the Dolphins all within ten days this week. Now does it all about winning? No. The reason for the South Florida pop this week (also throw in the potential Super Bowl and Pro Bowl) comes because of smart planning and investing by those in the area for the long term, who are finally getting ROI on the investment they made. There would still be bowl tourism dollars made regardless of team success, but being there to capitalize on the buzz for brands is important, and the resurgence in interest in South Florida is a good example of how brands can make a turnaround when winning kicks in…and in the cyclical world of sports, preparing for the sun is as important as preparing for the gloom. Hopefully the success and interest can spin off into spring training and the World Baseball Classic, which the Marlins will help host in March.

Some other good reads…Darren Rovell had a good piece this past week on the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and why it was one of the few brands that gained relevance in the non-BCS Bowl matchups…good primer for others…Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post bemoans the lack of interest in New Year’s Day Bowl games…Roy Johnson on his blog takes a look at where this year’s North Carolina Tar Heels may rank among teams of the past…AP has a good piece on Kentucky walk-on Landon Sloane and his sudden success…and the New York Times had a good piece this week on how the NFL continues to use the chain gang in a world of high tech innovation…

Caps May Have Found Innovation In Experiential…

Joe Favorito — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:56:12 +0000

Now it may have happened by accident, but an interesting development this past week for the Washington Capitals actually gave a front office staffer a few seconds of a lifetime on ice close to game time, and could unleash a new round of experiential marketing for teams and fans going forward, especially for the minors. An injury and a late arriving backup forced the Caps to petition the NHL to have a third goalie, that being web programmer Brett Leonhardt, off his computer and into uniform for warmups until Simeon Varlamov could arrive from minor league Hershey. Now Leonhardt had played in college and had actually worked out with the Caps in some practices, but whose to say a team couldn’t give a relatively competant fan a chance as a coach for a half inning, a batting practice pitcher or a chance to skate a shift on game day outside of the regular prep. It again gives the fan a chance to have that ultimate experience, is totally sponsorable and would gain media play and in this day of looking for every ounce of justification of dollars, could help lure a new brand or two, especially in markets just below the top rungs. Does it create distraction or a circus mentality? Perhaps. But so did mic’ing coaches, guest ballboys and fans sitting courtside at one point. But by filling a dire need, the Caps may have opened a door and it will be interesting to see if any brand can walk through.

Some other good profiles abound…the New York Times has a great profile piece today on the Giants’ Justin Tuck… the LA Times has a very nice profile of two sports legends…editor Bill Dwyre and Hall of Fame coach John Wooden, who hosted an event this past week…the Miami Herald also has one on the relationship between Chad Pennington and coach Tony Sparano…and in last week’s Boston Globe, Dan Shaugnessy had a look at all that has gone wrong in the state of Washington with sports…the anti-Boston…