William and Mary Takes The Brand Choice To The People…

June 30, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Usually with expansion teams in sports, mascot or naming contests will be held to sample the local flavor and see what ideas can arise that brand marketers hadn’t thought of. Usually the name or logo still comes from a well positioned, well thought out plan intent on making sure that the merchandising rights, colors and traditions of the area are kept in tact. The choice, especially in this era of maximum return on the investment, is never random. So the College of William and Mary took a bold step, and one that certainly got them some solid publicity, in opening up the choice of their new mascot not just to local fans or alumni but to anyone interested in providing an idea. The school had to change mascots, but not nicknames, becuase their long-standing mascot was a misrepresentation of an Indian, which the NCAA ruled in appropriate for institutes of higher learning. The choices came from all over the country, and although the University President will make the final call, the Williamsburg, Va. school will get to unveil the final choices on ESPN Tuesday, again getting some great name recognition for one of the few Division I schools never to make it to the NCAA Tournament. In this digital age, most schools are still struggling to correctly embrace new media, so William and Mary’s choice is a great one, and could open the idea of other schools/minor league teams opening up “naming rights” for teams for a day, a year or for a permanent change at the right time. Smart, calculated investment, good payoff in exposure.

Blazers, NBA Still Show Promotion Is Worth Effort…

January 17, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Even in a challenged economy, the ability to find creative ways to grow and enhance your brand exists, and recent proof is again provided by the NBA and its teams.  This week, Henry Abbott on ESPN.com gave the Trailblazers props for their annual fun all-star pitch for their guys (this time LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy) with a package of “stuff” sent to key media. While many teams and some select athletes have taken to the digital play to garner votes (here is the YouTube piece with the Nets’ Devin Harris playing off the shoe throwing incident with President Bush) the combination of digital and a good old- fashioned props pack to media is still a great play.  Now in the digital world how many votes will Portland’s pack bring in?  The answer is who knows?  What the package does is simple…it gives added fodder for beat writers to think about writing about these guys and the team when they may not remember to, it shows the athletes that the team is making the effort to support them in many ways, it gives the fans water cooler talk and it helps show business partners that the team is just not sitting still to promote even in a chellenged economy.  As colleges and other leagues cut back on promotion, once again the NBA shows that the little investment in the “little things” goes a long way to build brand and confidence.  Great example that others on all levels should emulate, as creativity doesn’t usually need a big dollar spend to be effective.