Matching The Brand And The Athlete Not A New Challenge…

August 19, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

Recently writer Michael Sokolve had a piece in the New York Times about the issues today’s iconic athletes have from a public perspective. Sokolove’s argument is that today’s greatest on field athletes…Tiger Woods and LeBron James included…needed to tell the world themselves how great they were to build a public, and very lucrative persona.  The iconic athletes of the past, he argued, let their achievements and those around them judge success in the public sector, and the need for self-gratification on achievements was not needed.  While it is easy to make that assumption, it is hard to say how the elite athletes of the past would have adjusted to the media trends and demands of today, and conversely, how today’s elite athletes would have done with different, and sometimes less, pressures of past generations.

My friend Jay died Monday…

August 10, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 8 Comments 

On Monday coming home on the train I got an email from my colleague Rich Sandomir of the New York Times who asked me if I had heard Jay Larkin died.  It was so very sad news.  Jay was one of the few mentors that I had…I learned more from him in a little over a year about learning to manage people and grow  business at the now defunct International Fight League than I had in countless years at Madison Square Garden or other stops.  He was a legend in boxing, a gentleman and a Brooklyn native with a killer instinct and business savvy that as he put it, made Showtime a strong Avis to HBO’s  Hertz. More importantly, he was a devoted father and husband who knew when to have a good time and when to work.  He helped bring professionalism to the most brutal of sports, and he always spoke his mind.

On The Record…Sort Of…

August 5, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

This past week has seen two prominent sports names…LeBron James and Brett Favre…dragged into the middle of controversy by being invlved in stories that were sort of on the record sort of not, but both show the continued issues media have with ethics, the battle to get out unique content and the growing rift between those who want coverage and those who have all coverage thrust upon them.  The first involved ESPN reporter Arash Markazi and his trailing of James and crew in Las Vegas. The murkiness over whether James’ team knew who Markazi was and what he was doing in a public place trailing the soon to be Miami Heat star is one issue, the fact that the reporter really didn’t find much and reported as such is another.  It is clear that Markazi never clearly stated or showed that he was a member of the media when he started asking questions to the group, but whether some people knew or didn’t know is the issue.  He did go to Las Vegas to see what he could find, and the resulting story, which ESPN did remove when it caused some controversy, was the product of his trip.  Should he have clearly said why he was there and asked for access, should James’ crew have known why he was there, should ESPN have removed a pretty benign story or should they have posted it in the first place is all the source of the debate.

Asking Forgiveness Not Permission: The Dallas Braden Tee’s

July 6, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 2 Comments 

As baseball heads into the All-Star break, teams with distressed inventory continue to find innovative ways to rally fans and generate buzz, whether or not they are doing well on the field.  Case in point   is this week, where the Oakland A’s are looking to create some buzz and fan support around the visiting World Champion New York Yankees making their one trip to the Bay Area. Yes the Yanks are always a draw, but there remain distressed tickets to be had and a team to be supported after the Yanks leave town.  The solution?  Create and sell t-shirts for fans re-addressing pitcher Dallas Braden’s dust up with Alex Rodriguez earlier this season, when Rodriguez crossed the mound on his way back to the dugout at Yankee Stadium, and Braden took offense publicly at the move.

SME Shows How To Build A Brand…

May 21, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

In the day to day struggle of making ends meet and achieving ROI, companies can lose focus as to what their core message and mission is.  The ability to grab little pieces of a financial or sales pie, or to satusfy a business partners immediate as opposed to ling term needs, can get a company offtrack, and sometimes that simple distraction or change in vision can prove very costly for the long term.  The lack of consistency of message and branding and mission can really determine what competive companies are successful in their space, and what companies can fall by the wayside.  Now it is true in today’s challenged economy that one does have to be flexible and answer to many, many masters from time to time.  Creativity is key. However flexibility does not have to mean being inconsistent with messaging or look and feel.

More Expensive Real Estate Up For Grabs For Brands? NFL and WNBA…

April 23, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The continued quest for landing valuable real estate in the sports space got another nice pop this week, when Microsoft’s Bing became the latest brand to make its way to a WNBA uniform, landing a partnership with the Seattle Storm.  The jersey signage, especially for MLS and the WNBA, has been a boon to sponsorship, and last year patches made it on to the front of NFL and NBA practice jerseys as well, bringing some brands additional incremental value and teams some added revenue. While the four major team sports still are backing off from jersey signage which is common elsewhere, it is starting to seem more like an inevitability that the integration occurs, the question is porobably where, when and at what price.  Would it start with minor league baseball and hockey, like it already has for the UFL and the D-League?  And who would be the first to test the licensing waters?  All to be seen, but certainly the backlash from the WNBA and MLS has been minimal (although it is true neither has invested the millions in brand development that the four major leagues have over an extended period of time).

CRONS prepped for the spotlight…and got a part of it…

March 19, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It almost happened Thursday…almost.  Robert Morris University almost threw Villanova a knockout punch in the first round of the NCAA Regionals in Providence, but in the end too many close calls gone the other way and one shot too few sent the Colonials back to suburban Pittsburgh.  However, as pointed out in Thursday’s New York Times, the apparel brand coach Mike Rice’s team brought to the Dunkin Donuts Center may have been one of the bigger winners in the first round.  CRONS, which stands for Come Ready Or Never Start, was one of a handful of teams not to wear Nike or adidas in the field o0f 65 and is the only brand not available at retail.  It was also the only brand to not just score coverage with its unique story, but in delivering all the right messages and merchandising the story (a newsletter to all its coaches and partners that followed an email with a link and call to action earlier in the day) to give the story legs well beyond wtaherver RMU did on the opening day of the tournament.  The brand also positioned itself for followup with partners should RMU have pulled the upset, which would have given CRONS at least two additional days to re-tell the story, which links Rice, a former assistant at Pitt to company founder Pat Cavanaugh, who played for the Panthers and runs the company from Pittsburgh. The value of the story as a launch point for the brand to grow will be intriguing and seems like the next logical step in their growth process…from a grassroots brand to finding a niche with small colleges to Robert Morris to a deal with the Big South Conference…all the while occupying the same space that many of their clients also fill…that of the underdog.  It’s a great example of Cinderella showing up and bringing along a friend, and after her ball ends, the friend continues on thanks to a very nice boost.  A good story amongst many for the first round, and perhaps one of the better off-court collegiate branding stories in a while.

Be It Snow or “Sol,” Niche Sports Continue To Struggle To Build Brand

February 4, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Even as we move to some of the most lucrative, buzz-filled and highly anticpated events of the year in the next few weeks…Super Bowl, Daytona 500, Vancouver Olympics, NBA All-Star Game…the struggles for second tier and niche sports continue.  This past week, the Los Angeles Sol, arguably WPS’ most successful franchise in year one, folded despite leading the league in attendance.  Then a story in Wednesday’s New York Times pointed out the financial struggles of one of the world’s biggest niche sports…The Iditarod…which has now lost a great deal of its sponsorship and its television contract. While not seemingly linked, both losses show that especially in challenging times, the need to over deliver on brand value is bigger than ever, and the idea that even the most loyal investors will continue to put dollars into an event on an emotional or passionate buy are long gone.  The Sol’s problems are endemic of any start-up league or brand. Despite a solid product and a significant one year investment, the parent company did not see brand growth in the future and decided to cut its losses without finding a buyer in the marketplace.  The troubling thing is that the team is perhaps in the most marketable area, in a soccer-specific stadium and with marketable stars.  Like the recent demise of the Houston Comets and Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA, both franchises that seemingly had all the outer appearances of success, ownership made the bold decision to cut losees and move on.  What does this say for the future of WPS?  Chalking the loss up to churn would be OK if it wasn’t in the second largest media market in the country.  The question will be answered over the course of this summer, when soccer mania heats up with the men’s World Cup.  Seeing if WPS gets some of the halo effect with brands is going to be very important to see if the league grows, or if it sets, just like it’s Sol.

The Nets Keep Making Chicken Salad…

January 29, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

You only worry about the things you can control. That should be the slogan for the Nets this year.  Their sales and marketing staff cannot worry about the injuries, the fired coach, the record losing streak, they just have to find a way to keep a brand relevant in a year of transition and uncertainty.   New owner, a Russian billionaire, new city and arena, first maybe Newark and then maybe, finally Brooklyn. To date, four wins…three of which have been on a full moon (I looked it up). Yet with all that, an argument can be made that the casual fan in the New York area may have more exposure to the Nets than all the other teams playing this winter in the area combined. In the last few weeks, the Nets marketing plans for a 4-40 team were featured in the New York Times, ESPN Magazine ran a contest to let a fan draw up a play and run it during a game, their dancers have been on countless morning shows and on and on and on.

Beach Volleyball Gets A Collegiate Push Toward Building It’s Brand…

January 16, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Beach volleyball is unquestionably the darling sport of the Olympic Games. Every four years the men’s, and especially the women’s competition, draws one of the largest windows for NBC and has helped make pop culture stars of athletes like Misty May Treanor, Holly McPeak, Karch Kiraly, Kerri Walsh, and many others.  More importantly, the AVP has used the Olympic platform to effectively build a North American tour that even in a slow economy has one of the best examples of sponsor activation and integration of any sport, from Barefoot wines and former title sponsor Crocs to Paul Mitchell hair products and KFC . One could spend a full day at any AVP event and literally move from sponsor to sponsor and never run out of activity until sundown.  Still, even with that platform every four years and a lifestyle sport that thrives in warm weather, the Tour, like any sport,  goes through cycles of high and low activity, and is currently looking to develop the next wave of crossover stars to keep sponsors happy, ticketsellers coing, and TV partners interested.  Also like most sports, the AVP needs a healthy developmental program to fuel that growth and interest, and last year got a much-needed boost when the NCAA approved sand volleyball as a sport starting in 2011.

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