Football vs. Football…Parity Not Always Needed To Grow The Brand

August 29, 2010 by Joe Favorito · 1 Comment 

With the Premier League now going in the UK and the NFL just a few weeks from kicking off in the United States, it is interesting to look at the two monster branding organizations and see how they run in parallel tracks in some ways and are apart in others still. Both have global aspirations, with soccer’s foothold as the world’s largest and most popular sport helping buoy the marketing, digital  and branding rights for the top EPL clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea for years.  Tours to North America for clubs like Tottenham and Manchester City this past summer also help raise awareness amongst casual fans looking for a bigger soccer jines than MLS can sometimes provide, especially in major markets, and the trical following for most EPL clubs keeps awareness attendance and local and regional value going.  The aggressive push for additional outside ownership for clubs like Liverpool has been an issue as the global economy shrunk, but overall the global awareness of the Premier League, what it stands for and for many of its clubs has never been higher.

A’s New Partnerships A Sign of “Money Ball” On The Business Side…

January 11, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

A few years ago Michael Lewis’ book Moneyball took baseball fans inside the different views that Oakland Athletics’ General Manager Billy Beane had about the salary situation in baseball, and how it could positively and negatively effect a team and on field success.  While the reviews were generally positive, and Lewis’ writing stellar as usual, many in the marketing community felt that the onfield persona of building stars and then watching them leave would hurt brand value for the team.  That of course was before the current financial crunch, where now the goal is always to do more with less, create more experiential value for fans and partners and find new ways to engage and grow the fan base.  Along those lines, the A’s continue to look to find new ways to expand their brand in a challenged marketplace…one where their stadium is not great and the Giants across the Bay remain king, despite the A’s increased success on the field under Beane’s guidance.  So this week the A’s announced a partnership with the Japanese League team the Rakuten Eagles, to train, share information and explore other ideas to share and learn.  For the A’s this is a very smart move as the ever-growing Asian community in the Bay Area may take another look at them with a stronger Japanese tie.  Also as baseball grows globally, having ties to a fan base BEFORE they arrive in this country will also help, and by finding a growing brand in Japan…not the established Yomiuri Giants but a team looking for opportunities…the A’s have a nice upside.  Like their partnerships with the Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League and the San Jose Earthquakes, this may only help and not damage the brand.  Now have partships like this been tried before, like the Yankees and Manchester United?  Yes and they didn’t do well.  But the reason was you were talking about two mega-brands steeped in tradition and ways of doing business.  Here you have hungry brands looking to grow, and in baseball, the growing world marketplace for the game plays directly into what a hungry brand like the A’s is trying to do.  Good lesson with hopefully more MLB/non-American partnerships to come.    

AFL Springs Into Season With Great Viral Effort…as well as some additional soccer items

February 22, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

PR Move of the Day:  The post-Super Bowl football frenzy in the U.S. has continued from National Signing Day through this week’s NFL Combine and the  on-going melodrama of the Patriots videotape gate, and with the fledgling AAFL starting up shortly (nice piece in the Houston Chronicle)  and the AFL in camp, there is more for football fans on the horizon.  However in order to cut through the clutter of March Madness, baseball opening day, NASCAR, MLS getting going and the winding down of the NHL and NBA seasons, non-NFL offseason football still needs to find unique ways to draw interest.  This week’s solid effort comes from the AFL who, along with their partner ESPN, have started to produce and distribute a great series of behind the scenes training camp pieces featuring the Philadelphia Soul, and their co-owner Jon Bon Jovi.  The pieces show the personality of the athletes and do a solid job of bringing in both the hardcore football fan and the casual one who happens to be hitting ESPN.com for any number of reasons and is a great example of a brand leveraging its media partner for exposure.