Maybe the most moribund franchise in North American sports, the Tampa Rays underwent one of the best turnarounds on the field in recent memory. As the accolades for the front office staff and players pour in as the playoffs move ahead, the downside of losing and lack of brandbuilding was still evident as the season wore on. However, the changes that have begun to take place, and will hopefully build for the future regardless of result on the field success, are now taking hold, as pointed out by Jeremy Mullman in Ad Age. By bringing on a former P and G brand manager, the club ha.applied all the touch points of a successful package goods brand.and added in the emotion of sports. It was a smart hire and applies logic and good sense for the Ray.makeover, and coupled with the onfield success can spell a business upswing for the team for the future. Now would all the good branding in the world have worked if the team remained in las.? Maybe not. But by setting the business climate correctly, the franchise was much better positioned to reap positive results.
Some other good reads…speaking of P and G, the Wall Street Journal today has a piece on Gillette's new razor and their brand approach to sales in a downside economy…given the play with some of sports biggest stars, the adaptation of the product to sports should soon be coming…Media Post has a good piece on Kodak's latest promo to have people make Super Heros out of themselves…the Times of London has a piece word reading on FIFA president Sepp Blatter's crackdown on foreign ownership of Premier league teams…Roanoke Times has a solid feature on Pam Rickard, a runner featured in Liz Robbins upcoming book “A Race Like No Other” as she uses marathoning to overcoem alcholism.
