Nets Continue To Beat The Moving Drum

June 15, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The patriarch of one of America’s legendary families, Joe Kennedy, always preached to his famous sons “You Are Who You Say You Are,” and that creedo is a good example of how today’s brands can best pitch and stay on message. Remembering “who you are” and “what you do” and making sure everyone in the company is in line with that vision is the best way to effectively and consistently communicate. A great example of that consistent messaging, and the placing of a steady stream of information around that message, is being done by the New Jersey Nets as they battle every obstacle in their planned move to Brooklyn in the future. Despite the delays, the economy, and now the added pressure by New Jersey officials, Nets brass has remained steadfast and unwavering in their positioning on the Brooklyn move, and constantly find ways to keep the brand relevant and consistently messaged toward the goal of the move to Brooklyn. This week’s Sports Business Journal has a great piece on the “Brooklyn Brand” the Nets are building, which was preceded by pieces in the New York Daily News and Newsday, all without a shovel yet in the ground and the skeptical media continuing to wait to be shown that the move will actually happen. Every sponsor brought in, every community event created, is tied to that one goal of moving to Brooklyn, all well messaged and very believable for the day when that move does happen. In a skeptical time when it is not popular to always stay on message and be consistent, the Nets have been a model of straightforward, single minded focus on their goal.

Traditional News Outlets Going Quickly…

February 27, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As always happens in a society looking for change, especially in how we get our news and information, new ideas come and go, and the more “traditional” or established brands have to find ways to adapt, shift focus or decide to stay the course. Usually the more progressive brands are able to adapt, split fad from solid business, and re-invent themselves. It gives the entrepreneur the chance to excel in an open market, and lets brands on the marketing and communications side find new ways to connect directly with the consumer. One of the traditional stand-by’s has always been the printed newspaper. Even with the late adaptions that many have had with blogs, accompanying video and long form pieces online, the idea of the daily hard copy of a newspaper was one that brands knew could always reach a core group of casual consumers, especially in the sports marketplace. Hard copies are what many brands always looked for. However as dollars become more scant, production costs rise and information becomes distributed in various new media, especially on the electronic side, the local mass market newspaper seems to be dying very quickly. In the last 10 days the Rocky Mountain News is closing (Friday), the New Haven Register, Philly Inquirer, and Daily News and Minneapolis Star Tribune went chapter 11, and the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Post Intelligencer are having major issues financially. So what does that mean to the marketer and the communicator? Innovate and address the places where your fans and partners go to find their news, and develop those partnerships while creating new ones. Mark Cuban on his blog recently listed some ways to aid the newspaper business, working with satellite and cable services. Many organizations have taken to making their site the place where their core fan can go for detailed information, but even others are now using their site as a place to break news which normally would have gone to “mainstream” outlets. Does this mean that all dailies will become a thing of the past? No. The need for the hard copy still exists and the smart brands will augment, with many even now sharing content. However as the newspaper world re-defines itself it is VERY important for those looking to reach the consumer and gain marketplace be aware of what the new opportunities are to maintain relevance, get exposure and grow return. Some key ideas:
1- Local is Local: People still look to local newspapers for news in their community. If there is a story that has local relevance, don’t slight the coverage one can get there and its home online as well. The same goes for non-English publications and ethnic outlets in print and online. Merchandising that coverage through hotlinks and viral emails is also important. A good story placed is a good story placed.
2- Blogs: While major sports organizations find ways to deal with the numbers of potential blog coverage and regulation, the days of thinking blogs are not credible news sources that reach the consumer and can grow brands are over. Embrace the key blogs, who may have the new era of journalist writing for them, set policy like one would for any media outlet, and give those who are looking to cover the team or brand or athlete and tell the story the chance to do it. It is not dissimilar to when sports radio started. There was pushback, but eventually the brands figured out how to work together to grow.
3- Check the colleges: Another key to distribution that are often overalloked are college radio, print and now even TV and digital. The young journalists there are smart, eager to learn and would be willing to probably help tell the story you are looking to tell, especially to a young audience.
4- Radio: From the traditional to digital to podcasting, the sound of the spoken voice and the ability to have audio tell the story is still very important, and the ability to push audio content to key decision makers is growing in importance. Somehow many have forgotten audio as a driver, but now it has a wide impact and again can be very effective.
5- Sports 3.0: From twitter to short form video to chat rooms and interactivity, there is any number of ways to learn more about distribution of good stories. Will all work and be effective for an athlete, team or brand? No. but having a casual working knowledge of what is out there, what is cost effective and what others are doing, and finding ways to adapt that technology is also a key part of the plan.

Stuff Worth Reading or Sharing…’08

January 1, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

We hope everyone has a happy New Year and finds the positives in ‘09 out of the turbulence of ‘08…the jobs that were lost at places like the IFL, EliteXC, the AFL, PR agencies, MISL, AAFL, open wheel racing consolidation, brands cutting back etc.  can hopefully be offset a bit by better quality freelance work, new media oppts., and by rewarding people for their diligence…the fact the amazing writers like Shaun Powell, Johnette Howard and George Solomon don’t yet have a place to ply their trade is alarming for those of us who like to read and appreciate the work of good journalists…since we know there are many young people who look at the site, attached are the links to two pages worth nothing, the compliation of some of the better and more informative sports and branding stories of ‘08, and some good books to read…hopefully you find them interesting and can share them with others looking to grow and be more informed…as always we are looking for more blog items and best practices, so send em along…my email remains fatherknickerbocker1@yahoo.com.  Happy 90th birthday to J.D. Salinger and thanks to all my friends who helped me through a very interesting, sometimes scary but very interesting ‘08.  I’m pretty excited about the challenges that lie ahead both personally and professionally, and as always if there is anything I can help you with…just ask

Grizzlies Prove Minor Ideas Can Land Major Successes

September 26, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Last week we linked to Ben Hill’s milb.com blog looking at the best minor league promotions, and it was great to see the AAA Fresno Grizzlies landing the top spot for their mascot promotion pitting their mascot Parker against the Phillie Phanatic.  The promotion wasn’t the only one that Fresno came up with throughout the season and into the offseason to engage fans and create brand awareness.  The team is also creating and promoting a series of webisodes called “I Hate The Offseason,” involving Parker and members of the front office staff finding some very funny ways to get keep fans interested into the fall and winter.  While most teams step back and take a breath and distance themselves for a while to regroup the webisodes keep the Grizzlies brand fresh and their fans engaged, which will probably lead to more offseason opportunities (since the team won’t know its roster) and potentially more opportunities to engage sponsors.  Major opportunity to show how any brand, no matter how “minor,” can stay relevant and engaged year-round. 

Turning Up The Preseason Heat In South Florida…

September 20, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The month of September is usually the time for the winter sports pro teams to really start the hard push to get their brands top of mind again.  Especially given the added competition and the lack of disposable income, those teams on the downside in tough selling markets have to continually be more creative, more aggresive and show more value than ever before.  Case in point is the Miami Heat.  Sarah Talalay’s sports business blog this week point three big plays the Heat made this past week, addressing the casual fan, the young fan and the corporate client, each designed to get buzz and remind folks that even with a slow season last year, the Heat brand can deliver value on many levels.  The first piece highlighted the tryouts for the Heat senior dance team, the second talked about Dwayne Wade’s involvement with Pepperidge Farm’s goldfish brand to promote healthy lifestyles with kids, and the third detailed the Heat’s program where team members and performers create the Heat experience right in the workplace. All were innovative, timely and creative and as stand alones were great campaigns.  Combined they showed the concerted effort of the team to address issues head on and give fans a reason to support and patronize the team with their hard earned dollar.  Big points for the Heat for the effort, with more expected going into traing camp.

Attention Job Seekers: The Gaming Market Grows…While the Nets Make Chicken Salad…

April 25, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

While almost every entity in sports and entertainment continues to try and find ways to make the digital environment financially viable (and few have succeeded thus far), the one area that continues to be viable and lucrative, both for programmers and those looking to get into the sports field, is the fantasy gaming side.  Once again this week, another smart, savvy programmer found a digital niche in the sector and turned it into a windfall by selling off their property to a much larger platform looking to expand its content.  Today’s example, provided by Media Post, is the fantasy fotball site FleaFlicker, which has been acquired by AOL.  With AOL looking to increase its stake in the fantasy sports gaming world, FleaFlicker provided a safe entry point by providing semi-unique content and the ability to draw eyeballs, especially in the very elusive male demo.  The acquisition was not expensive and fit in the digital strategy of the online giant, who timed the announcement to run prior to this weekend’s NFL Draft.  Is FleaFlicker that different from many of the fantasy sites out there?  Probably not.  But the developers found the key ways to build an efficient network, aggregate content and spin their property differently than the thousands of other sites out there, and made themselves a good investment.  Whether it works or not remains to be seen, but FleaFlicker certainly set themselves up for a win with all the AOL media support now behind them.  Also on the digital side, Anthony Reiber of Newsday took a look at some of the issues local new York baseball athletes are having with their individual sites.  Many athletes, like Tiger Woods and Roger Clemens, have effectively used their sites to provide news and unique content to their fans and the media.  However the time and effort for an athlete to put into developing and running a unique site remains very ineffective on a daily basis, and the best sites on athletes remain fan sites and those run by large organizations.  Agents and athletes have yet to find ways to make most individual sites financially viable.  That being said, for the job seeker looking to get into the market there remains a huge void to fill in finding ways to make sites for individual athletes cash effective.  Its all a matter of investing time and effort to driving eyeballs with unique content.  Just ask the guys at FleaFlicker on how they did it for AOL.

Mixed Martial Arts Fights Its Way Toward The Mainstream With Two Big Thursday Moves…

February 29, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

For the last few years a host of sports marketers have looked toward the relatively new sport of Mixed Martial Arts with an interested by skeptical eye.  However the sport, which combines no less than five disciplines and has enjoyed great box office and pay per view success with the UFC, threw a pair of punches that may move the sport tword the mainstream.  First, EliteXC announced a series of events to be seen live in primetime on CBS (the first time the sport will be seen on a major broadcast network in prime time), and then the UFC announced the much-anticipated addition of Anheuser Busch (the Bud Light brand) as its newest sponsor (Darren Rovell’s blog has a good look at the deal).  The two moves, on the same day, will give the sport a nice boost of visibility (check out Adam Swift’s MMA Business blog for a nice macro look of the CBS deal) and give the sport a chance, if they can drive ratings and attract more sponsors, of succeeding.  Of course both moves were met with some skepticism, the best of which was Tom Hoffrath’s L.A. Daily News piece, while Yahoo’s Dave Meltzer’s Yahoo Sports piece gives good balance to the Elite-CBS move.  Still, for a sport looking to join the Dew Tour, the AFL, the Crocs AVP Tour and even the NHL to cut through the clutter and advance past its core base, it was a great day. 

Last Super Bowl items…blimps, radio calls, and a great book to re-read

February 4, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Just some quick links on Monday worth a read.  First of all, one little item to give a different perspective to a broadcast is to switch off the national audio and listen to the gifted home town radio broadcasters call those seminal moments.  For example, in 1994, while we were living in Princeton and working for the Sixers, I shut off the final ESPN call of the Rangers Stanley Cup win to hear the legendary Marv Albert call the final minute and it remains one of the greatest memories I have of that night.  Last night, I recorded and listened to both Albert’s call on Westwood One and my Fordham classmate Bob Papa’s call on WFAN in New York.  The perspective of those tied to the broadcast really gives a great window into the emotional ties we all have to sport.  The Daily News’ Bob Raissman had a nice piece Sunday on the radio broadcasters that is worth a read.  On the PR side, nice piece in Pottsville Public Opinion on Giants PR head Pat Hanlon, one of the most respected team PR guys in the business, and what his job is like.   A nice followup piece on our oddsmakers links from last week is the piece in today’s Las Vegas Review Journal on the bath the sports books took yesterday…that’s why you call it gambling!  Newsday had another of those offbeat pieces over the weekend that got a nice brand some exposure, with a ride in the Goodyear blimp (Goodyear PR head Ed Markey is one of the best in finding ways to pitch at big events), and Rich Deitsch’s Media Circus does a good balanced job of rating the broadacast yesterday. 

Titanic Effort To Get Exposure Nets Success…

January 24, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

PR Move of the Day:  The old fashioned approach of glomming on to hot successful trends has paid divdends for the New York Titans  of the National Lacrosse League today.  The team, which has to find a way to get exposure in Giants-crazed New York for its home opener at Madison Square Garden on January 31, invoked that all-powerful Eli Manning…well his name anyway…to create a promotion to drum up interest.  Any fan proving that their name is Eli or wearing a Giants jersey will be admitted free to the game.  The great idea (hatched by PR guy Randy Walker) may not generate sales on first blush, but it will get awareness, as evidenced by notes in at least three local papers today (Newsday, the Post and the Daily News) who are anxious to get anything “Eli” out there these days (and got the Titans exposure they would never have gotten).  The fact that the team jumped on the opportunity early (it was discussed Sunday night) and will have a great visual for followup after the game makes it even more of potential success.  The team also found some other non-event exposure points last week, teaming with world champion jiu-jitsu master Renzo Gracie to give two top players  a lesson to enhance their fighting skills (should they be needed).  Once again, more breakthough for the Titans, and more brand exposure, in the most crowded of markets.