The Military, Don Cherry and Ugly Jerseys Create A Hit In Kingston…

October 25, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Much has been made of the NFL’s use of anniversary AFL jerseys this season. The created buzz and although luckily most of the Denver Broncos striped throwback socks won’t be at retail, the jerseys raised some extra interest. Whether that buzz is needed for the NFL to raise awareness who knows, but it certainly created a little more water cooler talk. However many other leagues and brands do need buzz, and one, The Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League, took three big steps this past week in helping a cause, identifying with a legend and creating some great exposure for the brand and for hockey in general. The Frontenacs hosted a Military Appreciation Fundraiser and brought in hockey legend Don Cherry on the same night, using Cherry’s appearance to move tickets and raise money for Soldier On, a charity which assists injured soldiers. However the team went one step further by creating a Cherry ugly jersey, looking like one of the legends, suits, and auctioned off each one, signed by Cherry himself, as an added fundraiser both online and in arena. The result…by creating a collectable, it was a “one time game used wear,” the team created buzz, and coupled that with a strong grassroots fundraiser that the community could rally around…to make this promotion another great example of how even in the smallest of markets a great idea promoted well can get national play.

Tennis Continues To Have An Empty Cup…While WTT Scores Locally.

July 14, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Coming off of an epic Wimbledon for the second year in a row, it would seem that tennis, with all its global promotional arms, the power of the USTA and the other three Grand Slams, and some strong personalities would be poised to make a strong followup showing leading into the US Open Series. After all, this past week had the best team-based tennis event in the world…one that showed that the sport could be played not just as individuals or even as doubles partners, but in an event that fans could understand and experience and that each match would count for toward a season long finale, just like other sports. Yes that team format did deliver with some fun matches, a great digital play, a good experience on site for all and even some amazing press coverage. The only problem for the sport is the team format that got the exposure last week was Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss long-running World Team Tennis entry, as opposed to the often-maligned and much forgotten Davis Cup brand. Here’s a look at both in the week that was. Once again Davis Cup, arguably one of the best on site experiences in sport, got lost again in the scheduling shuffle. The week fell after Wimbledon and at the same time as the women’s US Open, the NASCAR Chicagoland Sprint Cup Series, the run-up to the baseball All-Star game, UFC 100 and even the World Series of Poker. Add in that top American Andy Roddick couldn’t play because of injury and the limitations on travel budgets for most mainstream media, and the Davis Cup as a brand was lost in the shuffle on almost all points. Making things worse is the continued confusing schedule and the lack of any major brand activation in the early rounds and one of the best events in all of sport virtually disappeared. Now juxtapose that with WTT, which grabbed some great coverage in USA Today and the Washington Post (their Washington franchise was home last weekend), tied in charity events with some name players, and found enough squeaky wheels (Murphy Jensen) to effectively use social media to also drive some interest. Given a brands’ ROI, those aligned with WTT easily got more short term and lower cost exposure than those associated with the higher profile Davis Cup event for the week. Can Davis Cup ever go through a brand restoration? Tough to do unless the oft-talked about format change happens. If not, one of the legendary team sports could continue to fall behind a slightly slicker and more efficient cousin run by a legend who know how to make the game fun for new generations.

A Presidential Sports Brand.

May 2, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Last January, with Scott Price’s Sports Illustrated piece on then-candidate Barack Obama, we wondered if other candidates would take to sports to try and pull in the casual male voter who may not really be interested in politics but would put a guys guy in the White House. Price’s piece was followed by the now well known series of sports-themed shots and pieces about the President, while the other candidates never really looked to sports as a catalyst. John McCain golfed a bit and ventured to NASCAR races, and then-Senator Clinton never even looked to young women as a way to garner the support of young athletes. Since the election, the play with sports and the President has continued, as was outlined in the Wall Street Journal this week. Is it a smart idea? It is because it seems very genuine and not forced, and in these challenging times will probably give those on the fence on the issue of popularity a few more reasons to buy the President some time. Now he is no more of a sportsman than President Bush was, although his favorite swaps basketball for baseball. But if the President can help motivate young people to address childhood obesity and keep us all active, then maybe his legacy will be as much about healthy bodies than a healthy economy, or maybe one can lead to the other. Presidential Nike’s anyone?

The Dog and Pony (or Dog and Dog) Show…A Great Example of “If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It”

February 11, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

With all the ARod hype in New York this week, it would take a mega-news piece to break through the clutter. However, the event that garnered the most news…again…is the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden. Why? It is an annual (one time) event that is unique and well timed, has its set traditions, appeals to its core audience and the casual “fan”, has some unique story lines and never tries to be what its not. While other shows using show animals have come and gone, and sports using animals (the PBR, horse racing etc.) have moderate success and have to try and re-invent and re-pitch every year, the Dog Show comes in, uses its great stand-alone stories and goes after the audience for the unusual like no other. A sampling as the show wraps up included a great LA Times piece on ugly dogs, a Times Herald Record piece on “Tiger Woods” , and a funny wsj.com feature on “Best In Show.” Does the show have NASCAR-like activation for sponsors? Yes. Does the PR team hired for the show go out and actively solicit unique stories and pair them to media? Absolutely. But in the current economy to find an event that combines sports a bit and entertainment and the offbeat a lot that can deliver such mass appeal remains very unique. Could the show go on the road and be successful? Or have multiple mega-events in New York? Probably not (there are many regional shows but none like Westminster). However like the US Open in tennis, the Dog Show hits the same week on the event calendar each year and never really tries to be celebrity driven, internet splashed, chasing the male demo spectacle that most events try to be after finding initial success. It sticks to its core message and brand, finds the unique stories, and delivers big time.

The Goalie Mask, The Bases, The Batting Helmet? The Next Place for ROI?

December 7, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As teams and brands struggle to find more unique places to generate buzz and sponsor interest, and as the last four major sports in the United States still try to keep uniforms clean of advertising for team branding, new options for expermentation will abound.  This weekend, Gary Smith, the co-author of Saving Face, the history and uniqueness of the hockey goaltender mask, was asked about the space on the goalie face as a creative license or a branding opportunity.  Earlier this year the Tampa Bay Lightning tried with some success (and great creativity) to use the masks of goalies Mike Smith and Olaf Kolzig as advance publicity for the movie Saw V , which was produced by Tampa owner Oren Koules.  The masks were eventually raffled off for charity and while some media questioned the commercial viability of the images, the result got buzz for a brand that can struggle.  Several years ago MLB did a deal with Marvel to make the bases in stadia look like webs as a promo for Spiderman, and were vilified by the press.  The result was good buzz for a one shot promotion for Marvel and a one-time test for MLB.  So the question remains, how do you find space that is tasteful enough with an ROI that is valuable in a shrinking marketplace.  Alternative uniforms work for the big four, so maybe there are one-offs that can be created for charity and sponsor buzz?  Advertising on jerseys is OK in the rest of the world where the team brands may not have that stigma, and the minor leagues can look for unique ways to brand and get exposure, so why can’t the majors?  Does it cheapen the product?  Do the brands have to stay clean?  can you do funky branded batting helmets for one game?  It all comes down to dollars and planning, and what the sponsor believes will be worth the return.  Saw V was a good test for the NHL…will be interested to see what comes next on the faces of our favorite goalies.  

MLB, Howard, Take Fans Behind The Scenes In The Video Game World

November 2, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The Phillies Ryan Howard is probably still celebrating the Phils World Series title from this past week, but the folks at mlb.com gave fans an even better look at the star this past week, working with Playstation to create a great viral video that takes fans behind the scenes of the making of the video game.  The piece scored points on a number of levels for MLB…first it showcased a star coming out of the Series at a time when his casual value to the sports fan may be at its highest…it gives fans an inside, off the field look at one of its biggest stars in an unusal environment, it gave gamers a cool “inside” looks into game creation, and it married it all together on a great digital platform, combining the story with the video on mlb.com at a time when traffic coming off the Series may drop a bit.  Great timing, great opportunity, well hit piece that keeps the baseball beat going into the offseason.