Say what you want about Jeremy Lin controlling New York, this week could belong to celebrities big and small, that have little to do with the orange and blue. Two New York area institutions at this time of year, both strong global brands, will look to capture their own slice of the marketplace. The first is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, the annual parade of pooches that takes over Madison Square Garden for two days. The Dog Show has always had its own cache in New York, full crowds and unique characters, but now major brands like Subaru have found ways through the viral and the digital world to work with the NBC family of stations to extend the tie between man and dog well beyond those in attendance.
The Dog Show appeals to almost every demo, and pulls in ratings on USA Network that bring in solid ad dollars in the most challenging of times. Now with the advent of the Puppy Bowl as a lead-up during Super Bowl week, companies realize that the show is about the people and the personalities as much as the dogs and have found ways to draw a larger ROI during the few days with consumer brands that appeal to emotion, not just to pet products. Sure there are lots of grooming and health products for dog lovers, but now those who just like to watch from afar get to participate with cars and consumer goods who may not have looked at the show as an activation point before. NBC has found a niche to grow dog and cat shows in recent years, drawing decent numbers on other events around holidays when people are switching channels and may not have a specific interest in traditional sports. However the Dog Show remains the Indy 500 or Super Bowl of pet events, and that was made even more clearer not just on a local level, but on an international level with the way that social and traditional media have flocked to embrace the event this week like none other.
Then we have the Globetrotters. Always looking for a new angle, the traveling troup this year decided they needed a big change to embrace fans. The result is Paul “Tiny” Sturgess, who at 7 feet 8 inches is the world’s tallest professional basketball player. As if that wasn’t enough, the Globies also have paired the British-born Joining Sturgess with Jonte “Too Tall” Hall, the shortest player in Globetrotters history at 5-2. Naturally, he will be known as Too Tall. Whether or not the pair can play that well is not that relevant. What is relevant is the way the team and their brand continues to annually re-invent themselves in a way to have families continue to come back and experience the show in an era when such “traditional” annuals like the circus and the ice shows are doing a slow dive. It is not fast paced digital over the top instant action. It is traditional and always served up at the same time of year in the New York area, this time with a little more size to add to the show, one that is all about sight gags and less about athleticism than it used to be. The Globetrotter brand remains strong around the world, albeit with a little polish added on every year.
Like the Dog Show, the Globies are throw back entertainment in a digital world. Maybe they are not for everyone, but by continuing to find new wrinkles in an old formula, both seem to be working and finding ways to draw attention in a crowded marketplace set all atwitter by the latest Knicks star and the Super Bowl champion Giants.
