How To Keep The Olympic Athlete Fire Burning? Partner Winter and Summer Together…

February 28, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

Over the next few days and weeks the debate as to who the biggest marketing “winners” from the Olympics will be played out…Shaun White, Apollo Ohno, Lindsay Vonn, Julia Mancuso, even Shani Davis…will all appear on the watch list, make the TV rounds etc etc. with all the requestite experts chiming in.  Then spring comes and we are on to baseball, soccer, NASCAR…the faces we see, hear and relate to every year and find a strong allegiance to.   The Olympians, despite their powerful platform and their inspiring stories, seem to get tucked away until the next cycle. Is there a way to find a link to keep that cycle going, thus keeping these great stories engaged and top of mind even if their biggest stage is still four years away in Sochi?  For one idea, we can look to Michael Phelps. Many thought it strange that Subway, and even in some NBC promos, linked Phelps to the goings-on in Vancouver.  However he is a transcendant athlete, away from his season and exposure point, and is link to the games raised the tide and perhaps got the Vancouver Games a little more buss going in.  Prior to the Games, USA Wrestling, obviously in their transition time between Beijing and London, found ways to cross-promote with the USA Women’s Hockey Team, using some of their marketing and branding muscle to get the team some additional exposure while they were a bit dormant.  So with the Winter and Summer Games in two year cycles, why can’t a winter sport find a summer sport to work with and share marketing and star building power during the complete four year cycle?  Could swimming work with spped skating to cross promote athletes?  How about Beach Volleyball working with skiers? BMX and snowboarding?  The athletes have a common ground.  they understand the rigors of training and get the Olympic lure.  The Federations struggle when they are not front and center during the games to find ways to promote their athletes.  Why not partner to work together on platforms and for brands that would give great return for summer and winter?

Loving The Comeback…Phelps, Watson, Armstrong…Even LeBron…

July 29, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One thing the American sports public loves, especially in challenged times, is the art of the comeback. Even the biggest star, once shown with feet of clay, somehow moves up the popularity and sympathy list, when he or she starts the road back or finally gets toppled. Like the evil Mafia dons turned benevolent dictators, we seem to soften images, and often times brands are there to take advantage of the return to popularity as the once iconic become iconic again. Now does it “just happen?” No. Obviously the commitment from the athlete has to be there, and there has to be a solid marketing plan behind the brand reinvention, but with the commitment from both the athletic side and the business side, the re-image can sometimes be more popular than the original. Three cases in point from recent weeks. First Tom Watson. His unlikely run at the British Open, one where Tiger Woods again slumped, helped re-engage fans in the possibilities of what-if, even when he fell off the lead on the final day. Watson’s partners, which included Adams Golf, had a nice bump, and eventhough TV numbers were not record, his unlikely run gave the event some sustainability and probably re-energized his brand for a slightly older demo, as well as connecting him to many newer golfers for the first time. Second, Lance Armstrong. Eventhough there was the public falling out over the final days with teammate and eventual winner Alberto Contador over the timing of the team Radio Shack announcement , Armstrong again went through an amazing brand re-invention during his amazing Tour de France run. He twitters, embraced fans, softened a once hard image, avoided the pratfalls of the doping world and connected with the fickle French fans like never before, giving the sport and his brand going forward another huge boost. Third Michael Phelps. With his marijuana episode in the rear view mirror, the folks at Octagon have repositioned Phelps as the athlete America loves while most of us are jumping again into summer swimming pools. Even better for the future of swimming, Phelps actually lost a race this week, to German Paul Biedermann,a swimmer using a soon-to-be-banned swimsuit, which sets him up for even more watercooler talk going forward. Last is LeBron James...although with little damage really, James NBA playoff antics, and the mystery of the dunk film from this summer, showed some chinks in the LeBron armor, just small ones, which probably made him just that more interesting at this stage of his career to draw in even the small group of casual fans who may not have been that interested in all his positive work over the last few years. Now where can these brand re-inventions go in the future? A lot of it is up to the athlete, but with Phelps already looking ahead to 2012 and Armstrong back on the top of his racing game, the different demos that they speak to and the brands they engage should have some nice pop. For Watson, it may be more quiet endorsements and speaking around his golf, but all will be positive in the slightly older demo he speaks to, and for LeBron…how high can one go? After all, the elusive NBA title still awaits, after his upcoming Nike-sponsored world tour. We do love the comeback.

Through All Of The Hype, Even Reaching The Youngest Active Demo Still Needs The Right Mix…

July 9, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

One of the most elusive searches for traditional sports and entertainment properties is the quest to get younger…to identify with and activate against that very active audience that may have already grown tired of the traditional and looks elsewhere for its thrills. For an audience more interested in the half pipe and BMX than baseball or football, the ways for brands to reach them have changed in some ways, but in many ways remain the same. For all the social media activation, the core decision makers and those brands still need live events and television to complete the package, even if the potential audience (and the numbers that go with it) may show that those participating would rather be out doing than sitting inside and watching. The video game insertion play has made sense for some brands, and this week Doritos unveiled an “interactive bag” which, when combined with an online program, gives you new ways to watch a concert by Blink 182 (which means an adaptation to sports probably isn’t far away). So if the TV numbers are slight, and the live events are primarily freebies in terms of gate, what is the area where brands can get their activation profit bang? This week’s Bergen Record had a big piece on retail and the products the ways marketers are hitting their goals through promotion, using TV and the event costs as loss leaders to promote that will lead to product sale. In many ways this is the classic play that boxing, wrestling and most recently MMA have drawn their large numbers, although the goal was a pay per view event vs. moving product. You use the TV as the promotion to draw fans and lead them to the place where they will spend money…in this case retail. Thus far the brand loyalty for this group…similar to NASCAR…lies in the product first and the event second, with TV and digital a very distant third. The irony in that sequence is that the older marketing cognoscenti still scramble to figure out and throw money at, all the social media bells and whistles, sometimes at the expense of the traditional.

More Major Moves For The Minors…

February 17, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Even as pitchers and catchers report in the States for Major League Baseball, our master marketers in the minors continue to be innovative and find ways to keep their local brands active, alive and relevant to the consumer, their partners and the media. Aside from the host of promotions announced taking off on the ARod and the Michael Phelps issues the past few weeks, there was the Fort Meyers Miracle, who immediately jumped on the story Julio Osegueda, the college student who questioned President Obama last week about benefits and then said he wanted to be a DJ or an announcer, and hired him to broadcast the Miracle’s home opener. Ben Hill broke the story on MILB.com, which has since made it to NPR and a host of other news organizations, garnering the Miracle great exposure outside of the market. Throw in the Lancaster Barnstormers, who turned their field into an ice rink (reported by Brian Gainor) for their season subs, and thats a great set of activation and brand growth in the minors that any innovator should take note of.

Gettin Figge With It…Spinning A Great Story…

February 9, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As last week began with Michael Phelps and ended with Alex Rodriguez, a great human interest story played out in the waters off Trinidad, and some smart spinning and careful wording turned this niche story into some solid worldwide press. The story was about 56 year old Jennifer Figge and her goal to swim across the Atlantic. Figge’s story was aptly captured and told around the world, as befitting a great athletic accomplishment. However what made the story from a branding and media standpoint was the way it was crafted and then played out with Figge’s media team. With AP there in both print and video from the start, the play got worldwide attention and the proper spin. Then as Figge made her voyage complete, the piece didn’t just end with a Hurculean feat. There were never talks of “World Records” or records of any kind, because in fact swimming the entire Atlantic may actually be impossible, as pointed out in the Guardian. However what was highlighted and pushed was the story and the endurance, and the fact it was a “first” for a solo swim. So by spinning correctly and highlighting the core of the story…no hyperbole…not overblown…the endurance story told itself accruately. Even when the “shortcomings” were brought to play, the Figge team explained carefully the feat, which in no way was diminished. Great example of finding the right mass connection, carefully playing the story with the facts, and then capitalizing on the moment of triumph.

Spinning The Phelps Issue One More Time…

February 6, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The NBA, perhaps the most image-conscious of all the sports today, announced Friday that they have promoted Kathy Behrens to the great new title of EVP, Social Responsibility and Player Programs. It is greatly ironic that the new title comes the same week as most of the sports marketing world is discussing the “social responsibility” of Michael Phelps, the brands around him, those who sculpted his image and what lies ahead.. Thursday Christine Brennan in USA Today had a great piece on who is essentially guiding Michael Phelps with his social moves…and her answer was it appears like no one close to him is willing to publicly step up and say he was wrong. Michael Wilbon and Sally Jenkins in the Washington Post both jostled back and forth on the Phelps social responsibility side, with Wilbon coming down on the discipline side, while Jason Whitlock on Fox Sports.com had a great piece on the sports double standard, or lack thereof, with regard to Phelps in light of other athletes and people in the public eye. Some have asked where is his management company to take a stand, when they were so outfront when Phelps was signing deals after Beijing? So last night the third party who could take a public stand and is associated directly with Phelps, USA Swimming, came forth with their three month ban and clearly explained their position on why this is more a social issue than a marketing one. It was a good, safe public move for USA Swimming, considering Phelps won’t swim anyway until after the three months (akin to suspending a baseball pitcher for the three days between starts but still sending message to the general public). The other “public stance” was taken by Kellogg’s, who has already ended their USOC relationship and whose actual deal with Phelps was up at the end of this month. Again, the brand spun their stance correctly for themselves, telling the general public that they denounced the stars’ actions but never really disclosing whether or not they were going to renew their deal anyway. So who ultimately has the biggest social responsibility factor with all this? Michael Phelps himself, who appeared on TV last night and answered the questions again about his role, didn’t hide and will have to face the music himself with his own future actions. Now would his management company, Octagon, step up and take a stance? In a time when every dollar is important and the long term “cred” with athletes is probably more important than a short term slap on the wrist for a client, the answer is no way. Does that mean Octagon has not worked behind the scenes to find third parties and negotiate deals to minimize damage and get everything back in order? No it does not. So as the court of public spin plays out with Michael Phelps, what is next? Ironically as we said earlier in the week this may open him up for some additional deals with a little edgier side, and it plays already to a great comeback story for a guy who hasn’t lost anything athletically and may have his best days ahead of him in the pool if he chooses. We end up with wrist slaps, a show of solidariity by those brands like Visa who have invested heavily and a great big hold of the breath to make sure that Michael Phelps inhaling and exhaling stays in the pool and not around a bong going forward. Would some have liked to have seen others chastise Phelps publicly? Probably. But although it may make good moral sense, it certainly wouldn’t make good business sense to be so outfront. Once again it will be interesting to see the long term outplay after such a whirlwind short series of moves that got swimming more exposure in February than it has ever gotten before.

Hitting The Minor Homers…

November 26, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., the minor league drum beating for great activation in baseball continues, as Ben Hill’s Minor League baseball blog singles out the best promotions of the past season, and rewards the Ogden (Utah) Raptors as the team with the best minor league promotions of the year.  In a struggling global economy, sports and entertainment brands of all sizes can continue to look to American baseball’s minor leagues as a source of inspiration and innovation not just for the offbeat, but for the ability to engage the consumer and produce quality and affordable entertainment on a nightly basis.  The baseball minors also do a great job of year round activation and engagement with their fans and business partners, squeezing every opportunity to keep the casual fan interested with the brand even when the games are not going on.  In many ways that is the secret of their local success…since most times teams do not have year-round marketable players to build a brand behind they need to sell the experiential.  It is a great lesson that those in higher ranks are continuing to adapt to, and Hill’s columns give great insight into the sports best practices.

Phelps Doesn’t Lose Rosetta Stone In The Translation

November 11, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

My friend and colleague David Schwab came up with a great example of product placement and a home run for both an endorser and an edosee on his stellar First Call blog recently.  The story shows the true value of messaging clients, providing a compelling visual for a product and just plain old luck that a newsperson or emcee just happens to follow through on helping get the “plug” in.  The story, as detailed in the blog, involved the Rosetta Stone translation method with endorser and Olympian Michael Phelps and his appearance on “The View” with Whoopi Goldberg.  Phelps found a way to work in the product at the right time, and it went so well as the two chatted that Goldberg gave the product not just an endorsement but encouraged the audience to purchase and use the product.  For a promotion that was questioned coming out of the box as to what the fit was, the Rosetta Stone/Phelps relationship seems to be one of the better angled and better pitched ones for an Olympian coming out of Beijing, and for an untraditional partnership it appears to have delivered some of the most tangible results to date. 

George Foreman Grill Uses US Open Platform For A Knockout Pitch…

September 10, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The recently completed US Open has been a tremendous marketing and PR platform for most of its larger sponsors who have the ability to activate in multiple ways in the months leading up to the event.  American Express, Canon, Olympus and Chase all create multi-level partnerships both at retail and in strategic spots regionally and nationally to make the Open…the only annual championship held in New York at the same time of year eavery year…the financial and activation bonanza that it is.  However in addition to the top-level long term partners, a number of additional brands have been able to step up with very unique campaigns to grab their own level of activation and exposure as part of the Open limelight.  Case in point is the George Foreman Grill.  Although at first glance the grill may be disconnected to the tennis world, the brand found a very unique way using print, digital and a celebrity endorser (Monica Seles) to tell their story of good eating habits and healthy living through their product on a day (the second Thursday of the Open) where most of the sponsors have completed activation.  What made it even more compelling was they were able to execute without using the product namesake (world champion boxer George Foreman) in the “Knockout The Fat” promotion.   Well placed, unique execution, good sponsor awareness to cut a niche in a mega event.

Capitalizing on a Bet and the Possibilities That Go With It…Michael Phelps vs. Braylon Edwards

September 8, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Yahoo Sports has led their section on Monday with an offseason, pre-Olympic friendly wager between the Cleveland Browns Braylon Edwards and Olympic hero Michael Phelps…with Edwards placing a bet with Phelps’ pre-Beijing that he would catch more TD’s than Phelps would win gold.  Such a bet, if real or contrived, has great opportunties for Edwards and the downtrodden Browns as the season progresses, and could be a local media partners dream (it is already getting nice play on Yahoo obviously) and has some solid PR oppts. for the Browns, especially given the bad blood between the Browns and Ravens fans from the franchise shifts and the fact that the teams will meet twice in the regular season (with Phelps obviously being a Baltimorean).  Now could an enterprising brand find a way to use both the athletes in a campaign?  Perhaps, but given the high dollar amount attached with both the NFL and Phelps these days, maybe it can be left to a local brand to adopt Edwards and push him towards a fun challenge with Phelps across the fall.  Could have some nice guerilla potential as well, especially when Baltimore and Cleveland meet.  Smart publicity by Edwards and the Browns, interesting next steps.

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