In light o.South Florida's continued football woes (0-11 FIU and the winless Dolphins) we thought it would be useful to point out the value…at least short term…of being worst. Unfortunatel.I speak from a bit of experience here havin.endured winless college football seasons at both Iona (0-11) and Fordham (0-11), having spent nine years with tw.marquee NBA brands (the Knicks and Sixers) during somewhat dark years when neither ever saw a playoff win, and having witnessed first-hand such other highlights or lowlights as the 19th and final consecutive record loss for the Mets Anthony Young, the last no-hitter in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium (11-0 by the White Sox.and the only win (at Shea Stadium against the Jets) for the 1-15 New Orleans ‘Aints.?Now we all know how much fans, marketers and the media love the clinching win, but the gallows humor, and sometimes the short term PR opportunities, of being worst can also be intriguing. No one remembers the 7-7 1976 New York Jets, but they do remember the lovable 1962 New York Mets. Mediocrity of team or individual performance is sometimes the worst thing for the sports publicist or marketer. The fan and media mentality to follow the car wreck of a woeful season can sometimes generate good opportunities to tell the underdog story. A great example was in this past Monday's Miami Herald, which detailed the great stories of the ill-fated 0-14 Tampa Bay Bucs, and compared them to the current Dolphins. The breaking of record losing streaks by Northwestern and Macalester CollegeMedia Daily had an interesting piece on Kroger's expansive NASCAR branding campaig.?. Kroger will work with an astounding 50 brands in all its nationwide stores as part of the largest NASCAR branding campaign ever. Worth a read.Marketing Daily has highlights from yesterday's 8th annual Motorsports Marketing Forum, run by our friends at the Sports Business Journal. One of the highlights was pointed out by Champ Car PR head David Higdon, who warned about the problems of mismatching teams and brands. Higdon pointed out while he was at the ATP Tour, tennis star Andy Roddick signed a deal with the French company LaCoste, a big problem given the comany's traditional French roots and Roddick being so quintessential American.
