Sports PR & Marketing Ramblings From Joshua Milne

Home Depot’s Sports Marketing Portfolio

2007-01-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

While Home Depot may have switched its CEO recently and had concerns with profit numbers, the company still understands the importance of sports sponsorship. They continue to find innovative ways to get in front of their target audience – men.

The company has become a major, major player in the world of sports sponsorships. They are on the same plateau as Coke, MasterCard, Visa and even Bank of America.

Sponsorships contracts include

* The Olympic Games
* Olympic Employment Program
* The Home Depot Center
* National Football League
* NASCAR Racing
* ESPN
* Six Flags
* The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award
* Federación Mexicana de FÏtbol (Mexican National Soccer Team)
* International Speedway Corporation
* Local team sponsorships: The Home Depot also has local team sponsorship agreements with the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks/Atlanta Thrashers/Philips Arena, Kane County Cougars Chicago ADI), Yakima Bears, Georgia Institute of Technology Yellow Jackets and University of Hawaii.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle noted the following additional sponsorships that were recently signed:

* Home Depot reported a multi-year integrated marketing partnership making it the "official home improvement sponsor' of the National Football League." Home Depot said its partnership includes marketing rights to the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, community affairs activities, NFL Network-related programming and designates it as the presenting sponsor of The NFL Experience theme park.

* Home Depot became the official postgame sponsor of NFL Network's eight regular season games, called "The Home Depot PostGame Show," which began on Thanksgiving night and ran through the final week of the regular season. Also under the agreement, The Home Depot obtains rights to NFL Kickoff, NFL Playoffs, Super Bowl XLI, XLII, XLIII, the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Pro Bowls.

Top 5 Super Bowl Advertisers: 1987-2006

2007-01-27T13:59:00.001-05:00

Top 5 Super Bowl Advertisers: 1987-2006

According to TNS Media Intelligence, below are a list of the top five Super Bowl advertisers:

1. Anheuser Busch - $250.8 million spent (20 years in game)
2. Pepsico- $190.0 million spent (20 years in game)
3. General Motors - $65.7 million spent (15 years in game)
4. Time Warner - $63.4 million spent (11 years in game)
5. Walt Disney - $43.5 million spent (7 years in game)

Top 5 Total: $613.4 million spent

Sponsorships Still Brings in Strong ROI

2007-01-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

Every company has their own feelings about sponsorships. With the amount of advertising in today’s economy, sponsorships can provide businesses with the opportunity to connect with a targeted audience. Below are some interesting factoid numbers about sponsorships in North America:

"North American marketers will spend nearly $15 billion on sponsorship rights fees this year, according to projections from sponsorship consultancy IEG, Inc. IEG estimates spending will hit $14.93 billion this year, up 11.7% from 2006. Spending last year was $13.37 billion, itself a 10.5% increase over 2005. Sports will capture the biggest portion of sponsorship fees, a projected $9.9 billion, up 10.8% from last year, IEG projects."

Top 10 Foods Eaten on Super Bowl Sunday

2007-01-27T13:23:00.001-05:00

Top 10 Foods Eaten on Super Bowl Sunday
% of dinner meals containing the following food

Vegetables ¬ 29%
Potatoes - 23%
Salads - 14%
Sandwiches - 13%
Poultry- 12%
Total Salty Snacks - 12%
Beef - 10%
Pizza - 10%
Bread - 10%
Soup - 7%

Source: The NPD Group/National Eating Trends

ESPN’s SportsCenter is like the Energizer Bunny

2007-01-27T13:15:00.000-05:00

Who would have thought back in the early eighties that SportsCenter would still be around? It’s been amazing to watch as the show continues to evolve. Interesting factoid:

According to Broadcasting & Cable:

"ESPN flagship highlight show SportsCenter will celebrate its 30,000th live episode on Sunday, February 11 at 11 p.m. ET. ESPN anchors Stuart Scott and Steve Levy will host the show, which will weave special retrospective segments into a traditional SportsCenter edition. Scott and Levy will be joined by current and former SportsCenter anchors including longtime SportsCenter staple and current Outside the Lines host Bob Ley."

NASCAR and Kelly Clarkson?

2007-01-21T15:58:00.000-05:00

I have always been impressed with NASCAR and its marketing initiatives. The league has some of the most passionate sports fans in the world and NASCAR sponsors know the fans will purchase their products.

While NASCAR has a foothold on the South, the organization continues to make inroads with the Five Avenue Crew in NYC. From the creation of the Chase for the Cup, to the new cap of teams, it could be argued that NASCAR is now one of the “Big Four” sports along with the NFL, NBA and MLB.

NASCAR decided to copy the other sports leagues by hiring a pop star, Kelly Clarkson, to promote the sport this season.

"Under the deal, Clarkson will be featured in a TV spot and make appearances at charitable initiatives and at an NASCAR awards dinner. She will also headline an at-track concert. The partnership begins Feb. 18 when the singer headlines a musical event titled the Nextel Tribute to America on the Fox network, NASCAR said.

In addition, Clarkson will be a spokesperson and ambassador for the fourth annual NASCAR day on May 18. There, she will appear in an ad campaign promoting the event for the NASCAR Foundation. The ad will break during the Daytona 500."

Here’s my question? Will NASCAR fans accept Clarkson? Historically, most NASCAR fans listen to country music. When NHIS in Loudon holds concerts after races, it’s always with country music fans. Hopefully, this relationship with Clarkson will help the sport connect with additional fans who may follow Clarkson on a regular basis.

Women and Sports Marketing

2007-01-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

While it has taken way too much time, it is refreshing to see that sports teams and leagues in general, are finally marketing their products to women. As we know, the NFL, NBA and MLB in particular have developed clothing specifically for women. In the past, it seemed, most items of clothing were almost the same as men’s clothing except for the size.

Spending a percentage of marketing dollars towards women is essential for any team – new revenue streams, easier way to bring families to games and if today’s environment it is almost fashionable in some cities to go on dates at sporting events.

According to research from Initiative Sports Futures, Initiative’s global sports consultancy division, "more and more women are watching the world’s top sporting events. For the top TV sports event of 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final (Italy vs. France), Initiative found that women accounted for 41 percent of the global audience, a larger share than ever before. Two years before, for the UEFA European Football Championship, women made up 40 percent of the TV audience. And during World Cup 2002, women were 39 percent of the audience."

http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_9593.asp

Super Bowl Ads Price Too High?

2007-01-17T20:53:00.000-05:00

I wondered when the day would come when the Super Bowl ads priced themselves too high for advertisers. CBS paid millions of dollars to gain the right to host the game. They know the game is one of the most watched events around the world so they can charge a pretty penny. Have they finally reached their breaking point?

According to an article in Advertising Age, "With just three weeks to go -- game day is Feb. 4 -- only 13 advertisers have fessed up to buying spots in the big game. And of those, just a handful -- Anheuser-Busch, Chevrolet, Doritos and Diamond's Emerald Nuts and NFL -- have hyped their presence with pregame marketing."

"Some of the advertisers just don't want to say who they are," one CBS executive said. "This has something to do with creative and the dollars, the publicity about spending $2.6 million on a spot."

This is a problem. In years past, companies spent a lot of time hyping up their commericals via PR and marketing before the big game. Companies now are looking at new ways to break away from the clutter.

From today’s USA Today:

"For most Super Bowl advertisers, the punch line of their big-budget ad is a closely guarded secret until it airs. Only hints about plot or celebrity stars are dropped to try to tease interest. Even more unusual, Nationwide plans to post the ad on its website on Jan. 29 — a week before the big game — and may post it elsewhere, too, such as on YouTube. Like most game advertisers, it put its 2006 Super Bowl ad online only after the game."

It will be interesting to see if CBS is able to raise the price for ads next year. There is going to come a time when Board of Directors and stockholders are going to frown if companies are spending three million dollars for one 30 second ad.

Visa Going Public? How Will This Affect Sports Marketing?

2007-01-15T22:03:00.000-05:00

Maybe I am behind the eight ball here, but I recently learned that Visa announced in 2007 it’s going to create a public company called Visa, Inc. Most people in the sports marketing industry know how involved Visa is with sports sponsorships. The company’s sponsorships include NASCAR, IOC, NFL, U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, USA Gymnastics, USA Track & Field and the Kentucky Derby.

Throughout the years, Visa has done an amazing job promoting its company through its sports sponsorships. Who cannot forget those Visa + Olympics commercials? I assume Visa has longstanding contracts with most of the sports industries.

Here’s my problem – once Visa goes public, sports sponsorships become a cost center and not a cost generator. That could become a serious problem to share holders and the Board of Directors. When a company looks at the bottom line at the end of the year, how do they quantify a dollar amount for the sponsorships? These sponsorships are for relationship building, generating company awareness, providing incentive opportunities to employees, etc. It’s tough to say the company secured X number of new cardholders because the sponsorships.

When things start to go south at public companies, what’s the first thing to go – sports sponsorships. You might say, “The company is committed since they have contracts.” I know from experience, you can buy your way out of a lot of contracts.
I know nothing about the inner workings of Visa’s sports marketing department, but it will be interesting to look back in two or three years to see how many sport sponsorship agreements the company still has.

MIT Sloan Business Conference

2007-01-15T21:37:00.000-05:00

Editor’s Note: I am not affiliated with this organization. I wish I was smart enough. I heard about this event and wanted to pass it along. If you are able to come to Boston, it should be an interesting afternoon.

The inaugural MIT Sloan Sports Business Conference is scheduled for February 10 th at MIT's Sloan School of Management. The conference is hosted by MIT Sloan's Entertainment, Media and Sports Club.

Conference Goals

To create a forum for discussing the increasing role of analytics in the sports industry. The conference will bring together sports industry professionals (executives and leading researchers) with students interested in the changing dynamics of the sports industry. This will be a unique educational opportunity and will provide exclusive occasions for learning, interacting, and networking.

http://sloansportsconference.com/index.htm

No Additional Blogs Until Jan. 12

2007-01-04T19:28:00.000-05:00

I am off to Park City to go skiing for a couple of days so there will be no additional blogs until Jan. 12.

Question of the Day for Dunkin Donuts

2007-01-04T19:27:00.000-05:00

Out of the plethora of Dunkin Donuts commercials that are in rotation at the moment, have you seen the one with Olympic snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler? Unless I have missed something, they never show her face in the commercial. That seems strange because Gretchen is attractive and an extremely nice person. She is a corporate sponsor’s dream, she is very articulate and an ideal person to represent any company. Editor’s Note: I have spoken with Gretchen in the past.

Now this may sound really strange, but would Dunkin’ have had to pay more to show her face? I don’t know. I would be surprised if they didn’t take the opportunity to show it.

Side Note: It will be interesting to see what role sports marketing plays with the revamped Dunkin Donuts marketing campaign. There were rumors this fall the company was going to create a sports marketing division, but this was put on hold indefinitely. I don’t know the exact details, but I’m sure the corporate office does not have a large marketing budget and individual regions across the country handle their own marketing.

Sports Marketing to Grow for Proctor and Gamble

2007-01-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

2007 should be an extremely interesting year for P&G and its role with sports marketing. In the past, the company’s sports marketing involvement revolved around its Tide sponsorship with NASCAR. The company offered a plethora of consumer products, but stuck with traditional marketing practices. Now that P&G purchased Gillette, the company will have the ability to learn from gurus on how to secure ROI from sports sponsorships.

In Boston, Gillette has always been considered a leader in sports sponsorship along with Bank of America, John Hancock, New Balance and Reebok. Now the leaders in Boston are New Balance, FSG, W. B. Mason and Reebok.

Eric Kraus has overseen Gillette’s sports marketing division for years. While I have never met him personally, I have heard nothing but great things about him. The company sponsors the football stadium at Foxboro and I believe they use to have sponsorships with the Celtics and Bruins, but that is not confirmed.

According to an article I read last month, "P&G has created a sports marketing ‘center of expertise’ to explore new opportunities--an initiative with roots in a ‘best practices review’ Gillette conducted before the merger. The results have been transferred to P&G."

If P&G is smart and they listen to Kraus, I’d expect them to sign some pretty impressive sports sponsorship deals this year.

Sports-Related: Strange Marriage Proposal

2007-01-03T20:41:00.000-05:00

First companies are offering fans the opportunity to develop commercials to be shown during the Super Bowl and now a gentleman wants to propose to his wife in a commercial during the Big Game.

According to Advertising Age, "The idea of proposing to his girlfriend through an ad on the biggest TV event of the year came to J.P. during the summer, and since September, he's been chronicling his quest on MySuperProposal.com."

Why did I blog about this? I understand the Super Bowl is a carnival with the commercials, concert and pre-game show, the game is almost an afterthought. Everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame, but this is a little much.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=114023

Grass Roots Marketing Really Works?

2006-12-28T15:57:00.000-05:00

When people write on their blogs, who knows if the person really knows what they are talking about or are just pulling ideas out of thin air. Interesting article from Monday’s NY Times entitled, "Online Chat Is a Grapevine That Yields Precious Fruit." It noted, "Word-of-mouth advertising — sharing information with friends, relatives and colleagues to propagate interest in a company or product — has been around for decades, but with the advent of the Internet, it has taken on new life. Companies like MD Moms are using online message boards and chats to get the word out for little or no cash investment. Web logs, e-mail newsletters and chat rooms have also become vehicles for promotion."

This is exactly what I have been saying since I started writing this blog. More sports teams need to grasp the word-of-mouth concept to generate more interest in their teams. It can’t be hard to have a couple of interns or kids just out of college handle all the buzz marketing activation programs. Cheap labor that can generate positive, long-term benefits.

Buying Ad Space on Fox College Football Games

2006-12-28T15:38:00.000-05:00

If I was a sponsor looking to get in front of sports fans, I would definitely buy ad space during this year’s major college football games. According to MediaPost, “FOX Sports plans to sell downloads of College Bowl football games in their entirety, the network said Wednesday. In addition, on Jan. 1, Fox will offer a live stream of the Cotton Bowl game for free.”

This will provide free advertising to companies who sponsored the games. Understandably, most people who download the game will fast forward through the ads, but there may be a small percentage who watch them. Not a bad deal if a company does not have a lot of money to spend on marketing, but wants to generate a lot of exposure.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=53081&Nid=26140&p=284003

Ensuring ROI Through Grass-Roots Marketing

2006-12-27T16:26:00.000-05:00

Someone e-mailed me the following question on the blog that I wanted to tackle: "What kind of promotions or grass roots marketing would a business put on to make sure they get a worthy ROI?"

This is a great question, but a little open ended. The first item to address is what is the final goal? Is it generating exposure in a company or product, securing sales leads or increasing product sales? That goal will help guide the marketing plan.

Another issue to consider is who is the target market? Is it teenagers, which means most of your marketing will be online, or is it adults, which means you may use more traditional forms of marketing.

From a grass roots perspective, from research and personal experience these are the activities that will generate the strongest ROI.

• Word of Mouth – it’s simple and easy and if done correctly, it can generate huge interest in a company. Tell a select group of “connected” people about the new product or business. Offer an incentive for them to tell all their friends. Did you hear about Wii’s marketing plan? Nintendo gave the product to a family, a game enthusiast and a soccer mom in 10 cities around the country to generate word of mouth exposure for the gaming console.

• Event experience – It’s amazing how much success a company can have by holding an event to introduce a product or generate sales leads. It can be something as simple as closing down a restaurant for the night, inviting potential clients and showing samples of the product. Now, if you have money to host an event at an athletic event, it’s possible to draw additional clients or even potential clients who are higher up on the food chain. People are always willing to talk business at a sporting event.

• Buddy Up to Bloggers – Like it or not, there are a plethora of bloggers out there who have the ability to "make noise" in a certain industry. They may have a loyal following who read their blogs daily. If you know of any bloggers who cover the space the business is in, introduce them to the business or product. Even better, invite them to attend a private event with other bloggers and media.

• Media Relations – If done correctly, it does not take a lot of money to generate press coverage in local media outlets or in vertical trade publications. Media relations should be a component of any marketing plan. If you have a product that can be reviewed and beta customers who are willing to talk to the media, this is an easy way to generate exposure and provide decent ROI for a company. The sales team can take the reviews to show potential clients the benefits of the product or business.

This is a basic list that you can never go wrong implementing, depending on all the factors of the launch. I believe it’s always smart to have one or two safe ideas as well as one "out of the box" idea to include in any marketing plan.

Anyone should feel free to let me know if I am completely off base.

What is Masterfoods Thinking?

2006-12-26T18:30:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, two days before Christmas Eve, Masterfoods announced it will "become the only sponsor to have two brands form the same company backing one NASCAR team after agreeing a second entry with Robert Yates Racing. Chocolate bar brand Snickers will be on the car driven by Ricky Rudd’s primary sponsor – in addition to its M&Ms brand sponsoring driver David Gilliland."

In the grand scheme of things, this news isn’t that interesting, but it is important to Masterfoods. Why did they announce this the Friday before the holidays? Let’s analyze further:

Last Friday, two days before Christmas Eve, Masterfoods announced it will “become the only sponsor to have two brands form the same company backing one NASCAR team after agreeing a second entry with Robert Yates Racing. Chocolate bar brand Snickers will be on the car driven by Ricky Rudd’s primary sponsor – in addition to its M&Ms brand sponsoring driver David Gilliland.”
In the grand scheme of things, this news isn’t that interesting, but it is important to Masterfoods. Why did they announce this the Friday before the holidays? Let’s analyze further:
• By Friday, almost everyone in the business world has checked out and I doubt most people would have read this news. NASCAR-related business news usually is able to generate interest since their fans are some passionate and want to know everything that is going on with the teams.
• Most reporters had left for vacation earlier in the week so I am surprised this even appeared at all. I bet they could have secured more traction if they waited until after Christmas. This would have been the perfect story to pitch between Christmas and New Years when the news cycle is slow.
• If Masterfoods wanted to get this news out, but didn’t want a lot of media interest due to a directive from senior management, then it was the perfect day to pitch the news.

While this news appeared on SportsBusinessJournal.com, if they waited until this week to pitch it, I bet they could have gotten articles in BrandWeek, Promo Magazine, etc.

I’d be interested in learning the media outreach plan around this announcement, if one was even created.

MLS to Accept Advertising on Jerseys

2006-12-26T18:04:00.000-05:00

The New York Times reported yesterday that MLS has accepted the fact that it might not be a bad idea to let companies pay a lot of money to put their logos on jerseys. The article titled, "M.L.S. Wants Your Advertising," reported, "But for M.L.S., a decision to sell space to sponsors on the front of the jerseys of the league’s 13 teams for a minimum of $500,000 a year is another way for the league to find a seat at the table in the global soccer marketplace."

I personally believe this is a smart move for MLS. They can use the money, teams in different sports around the world allow corporations to put logos on team apparel and it "might" help draw additional interest to the league.

Corporations will want to ensure they receive an strong ROI on their investment. The business will host events, promotions or other grass-roots marketing initiatives to draw awareness to the team and the business.

This is a win-win for all parties involved.

Smart Move by the NFL Network

2006-12-22T15:53:00.000-05:00

According to TV Week, “The NFL Network accepted Time Warner Cable's offer to put the NFL Network on its digital basic tier in the New York market for free for one week so that subscribers there can see Rutgers University play in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 28.”

This is an extremely smart move for the NFL to “wet the appetite” of the New Yorkers to show them what they are missing. Since the NFL couldn’t generate enough pressure from the media articles, now they are taking the issue straight to the people. It will be interesting to see how much pressure Time Warner receives once the week is over and people can’t watch the network anymore.

http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11252

NHL Might Finally Gain Some Legs

2006-12-22T15:36:00.000-05:00

While the NHL has gained momentum with increased ticket sales, the sport is still lacking with television viewers. One main reason could be that the national games are on Versus and very few people know where the station is located on cable.

I just found out that NBC is taking another crack at showing NHL games. I thought they had left the sport for good. According to Broadcasting & Cable, they have some interesting marketing/PR tactics:

* The new creative is set to launch during NBC’s Christmas Day broadcast of a National Football League game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, and will run not only within sports programming but also in other dayparts

* NBC’s strategy is to brand its weekend afternoon hockey games as a feature game, the "Game of the Week" in the NHL, similar to how it has attempted to brand its Sunday Night Football contests

* The network will try to push some of the young stars of the league that have yet to achieve mainstream name recognition, such as Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.

* NBC’s new campaign includes a two-minute promotional video that will run in NHL arenas and on the NBC Sports and NHL websites leading up to Jan. 13.

* The campaign also features print advertising, as well as promotional video running at retail outlets such as Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Costco and Best Buy.

Hopefully, the NHL is at the same place the NBA was back in 1980 when Bird and Magic joined the League. The NHL is smart to be putting their marketing dollars behind Crosby and Ovechkin. They two players have the potential to lead the league back to respectability.

Other items they should push include e-mail marketing and involvement with MySpace. They are already showing games on YouTube.

The NHL is on the right road, from a marketing/PR standpoint to gain more interest and traction with its passionate fans as well as general sports fans.

Wendy’s Receives the Star of the Day

2006-12-21T20:08:00.000-05:00

Wow..click on the following link to the NY Times article to read an "out of the box" idea from Wendy’s. This is either going to change how commercials are created in the future or will fall faster than J.D Drew’s popularity once he starts playing in Boston. Why or why are they still trying to negotiate a deal?

Usually I am totally against fast food restaurants – I knew I should never have read "Fast Food Nation," but I am excited to see if how sports fans react to them.

According to the piece:

"SPORTS commentators will not be the only ones remarking on Sunday's National Football League games. Animated raccoons will also give instant feedback in advertisements for Wendy's International that will be shown at the start of commercial breaks.

If the score is 0-0, an ad might start with a Wendy's raccoon standing in front of an overturned trash can, saying, 'I may be nocturnal, but this game is putting me to sleep.' … With three sections of the commercial inserted on the fly, viewers could see up to 11 versions of the ad. All will include a voice-over saying, 'Why eat junk at night when you can go to Wendy’s?'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/business/media/21adco.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I will definitely be watching out for these ads this weekend and will write a follow up grading them next week.

Announcing Super Bowl Ad Lineup

2006-12-21T19:46:00.000-05:00

The NY Post ran a story yesterday announcing some of the companies who purchased ads during the Super Bowl. Buying ads during the game can be so hit or miss. Companies like GoDaddy.com, Pets.com from back in the day, Monster.com, Careerbuilder, Budweiser and even Nike years ago have gained tons a free press from their amazing ads that resonated with fans watching the game. It was the discussion around "the water cooler" for days after they appeared. Then, on the other side of the coin, you have companies like ESPN and their cell phone last year who purchase commercial time and really do not gain a reaction from their target audience.

Over the last few years, the ads during the Super Bowl have definitely been lacking. I am always excited to see which marketing slogan will make its way into the general mainstream after it appears during the game.

This year, according to the article, "Motorola, Gillette, Aleve and Taco Bell" will not be purchasing ads, while Ford is still deciding. I understand why Taco Bell is not running ads, but the rest of these companies definitely need to generate more exposure.

One thing I have also disagreed with is how the NFL, General Motor's Chevrolet and Frito Lay's Doritos brand are letting fans create ads. I really, really hope they are a success, because I would not want to be the marketing manager who has to explain why they spent $2.6 million on a useless commercial.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12202006/business/its_supe_time_business_holly_m__sanders.htm

Boston Media is Slipping

2006-12-20T21:17:00.000-05:00

Interesting situation took place yesterday in which Boston sports media missed an important clue or decided to look the other way. The story in the Boston Globe discussed what was holding up the official signing of J.D. Drew to the Boston Red Sox. The article noted:

"Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein had no comment yesterday on the matter, and Boras said he was restrained by HIPAA regulations from responding to questions, including whether Drew had gone to see a doctor for a second opinion."

Really? Boras was restrained? When did Boras become a doctor? I received an interesting blurb from my dad who is definitely up to date on HIPAA regulations:

"This is a particularly clever distortion. HIPAA is a federal law designed to protect privacy by banning hospitals and doctors from releasing medical information without the patient’s permission. As long as Drew agrees, Boras can answer any question he wants to about Drew’s shoulder. What he's really saying is 'no comment,' but doing it in a creative way. Because a sports writer probably isn’t acquainted with the specifics of HIPAA, he got away with it."

That's why, as an agent, Boras handles media relations for his clients as well. Smart way to handle the media. Gordon Edes, who wrote the story, is usually on the ball so something may be going on behind the scenes.

Stubhub’s Interesting PR Plan

2006-12-20T20:54:00.000-05:00

According to the Boston Globe, Stubhub today announced the company is countersuing the New England Patriots. The suit states, "the Patriots have attempted to monopolize the ticket resale market by revoking the tickets of any fan caught reselling them anywhere but on the club's own TeamExchange website."

I don't know a lot about lawsuits, but I don't think this one will stand in court. What is will do is offer free publicity to Stubhub if the national media picks up the story. They will receive millions of hits to their site if top-tier publications write stories. I could definitely see Sports Business Journal and possible SI covering this news.

The lawsuit may be brainless, but from a PR perspective this is an excellent way to generate interest in the site.

Smart Marketing Move By SI

2006-12-15T18:24:00.000-05:00

According to Promo Magazine, "SI is sponsoring Takkle, a networking site that launched on Dec. 11 targeting high schoolers eager to connect with other athletes."

The social media market is still hot at the moment. This will offer SI a great way to connect with a new audience and hopefully secure lifelong magazine readers. SI has the money and name power to make this site popular with the younger generation. Hopefully, if they are smart, they will partner with Facebook and MySpace to generate additional interest in the future.

http://promomagazine.com/interactivemarketing/news/sports_illustrated_social_network_121406/

2007 Sports Marketing Predictions

2006-12-15T18:10:00.001-05:00

As 2006 comes to an end, it is always interesting to make predictions for the upcoming year. Below is a list of events I believe will take place in the sports marketing/PR world in 2007. Some of the bullet points on the list will be obvious while others may be a little more "out there." On to the list:

· VIP Experiences will be the hot topic in 2007 – More and more companies are developing VIP-related sports marketing experiences for Baby Boomers and Top 100 companies. People are willing to pay for the experience to have an opportunity to see what it's like to be a VIP attending a sporting event.

· The MLB All-Star Week sponsor will generate a lot of noise – With the passing of John Hancock as the All-Star FanFest sponsor, MLB will look to work with the new sponsor to really generate some additional exposure in San Francisco. Over the last two years, John Hancock did not promote its involvement with the event. While MLB can secure more than enough exposure itself, it can’t hurt to be on the same page with sponsors.

· Red Sox ticket prices, paraphernalia and sponsorship opportunities will go through the roof – With the expected influx of Japanese tourist to see Dice pitch; it is going to be a lot more expensive to purchase tickets off the street. It’s also safe to say that the Red Sox and FSG will not have a hard time filling up all its sponsorship openings this year.

· Boston sports teams will take the lead against scalpers – The Patriots recent push to go after scalpers could have a ripple affect throughout the sports world. I would not be surprised if the Sox, Bruins and Celtics ownership are watching how this plays out and may jump on the bandwagon against scalpers sooner, rather than later.

· The World Marathon Majors will generate noise in 2007 – Last year, the top five marathons around the world joined together to create a new marathon series. The series ends at NYC in November. Since they now have a point system in place, I think you will see more interest in the sport moving forward. Reebok recently announced it is planning to launch a national running campaign starting in April – in conjunction with the Boston Marathon (assuming here). The Marathon series will never attract a lot of mainstream sports fans, but it might become the hot niche sport for a season or two.

· No Top Five Golfer is going to care about the Fed Ex Cup after this season – I envision all the golfers will try to compete this season to win the Fed Ex Cup since it’s the first year in existence. Some golfers might even compete in 2008 to try to win the Cup as well. Once they win it, I doubt they will ever come back. The top golfers don’t need the money and only want to win the “majors” so it will be interesting to see if Federal Express is satisfied with their ROI.

· The NHL will make a comeback – The NHL is finally learning how to promote their sport after the lockout. They are profiling their younger players and signed an NFL executive to handle their sponsorships packages (I believe). What is amazing is the league had unbelievable success drawing fans to the games, but people didn’t watch the action on TV. Maybe, that’s because no one could find where Versus is located on cable.

There are definitely other predictions I could make, but I believe this is a good start. 2007 will definitely be an exciting year for sports marketing and PR.

NFL Copying FSG and the Red Sox

2006-12-02T15:24:00.000-05:00

The NFL is in discussions with "National Amusements Inc. and other movie exhibition chains about screening live sports in digitally equipped theaters. National Amusements president Shari Redstone screened high-definition broadcasts of Boston Red Sox baseball games at her Showcase Cinemas in several New England cities."

Now, in theory this could be a great idea for the NFL. The league could receive additional revenues from the events, continue to promote the league and make some additional money from having companies sponsor the events.

Here’s what is wrong with this idea:

• The Red Sox have had success with this type of business endeavor because Red Sox Nation branches all across New England. Fans don’t have the opportunity to attend games at Fenway since tickets are scare and it costs over $250 for a family of four to attend a game. A lot of fans don’t want to go to bars with their children to watch the games.
• Most football fans go to bars or have gatherings at their homes to watch the games. If you have a flat screen, are you really going to leave your house to watch a game at a money theater?
• The one way it might work is to promote the events to the youth leagues. The movie theaters could bring in athletes or coaches to talk about football during halftime. The NFL would be developing a new generation of passionate fans. The NFL could also create the aura that watching the games is a great family experience.

In theory, this idea sounds great, but the NFL will have its work cut out for it trying to attract a lot of fans.

Microsoft and ESPN are Bedfellows

2006-11-29T20:54:00.000-05:00

According to an article in today’s MediaPost, "Microsoft 'bought out' the flagship 11 p.m. ET version of 'SportsCenter' last night, airing seven minutes of commercials during the hour--down from the program's usual 15. The technology giant's initiative focused on its Xbox 360, which is facing a major challenge from the just-released Sony PlayStation 3 as the holiday season approaches."

This is a smart marketing move for Microsoft. They have the opportunity to reach one of their core audiences – sports fans – and their message is not diluted with other commercials during the show. As more shows allow companies to buy out shows, it will be interesting to see who takes advantage on the opportunities and markets their business or product correctly.

NASCAR Marketing in 2007

2006-11-28T20:38:00.000-05:00

According to a recent article released in AdAge, "After an unrelenting six-year streak in which it lapped all other professional sports except football in popularity and TV viewers.. [NASCAR saw an] average TV ratings for the 10 final races of the season, dubbed the 'Chase for the Cup,' dropped 10% from 4.8 to 4.3, and some 31 of the 36 races drew lower TV ratings this year than in 2005."

NASCAR has been a marketing machine over the last decade. Fans and selected media were up in arms about the 'Chase for the Cup' format and it provided millions of dollars in sponsorship revenue, a new television contracts and more fans. The sport recently signed an eight-year, $4.48 billion TV deal with ABC/ESPN -- some 40% higher than the previous agreement with NBC and Fox. The question is, what does the sport need to do now:

· Shorten the season. I know race track owners, businesses around the race track, sponsors, etc, might be horrified with this idea, but the sport has reached it saturation point. Fans get bored of seeing the races week after week. There needs to be more down time some they are counting the days to the next race throughout the year.
· Lower the prices for races. It costs hundreds of dollars for a family to go to a race, park, buy food and purchase souvenirs. I know it costs a lot of money to run an event, but changes need to be made.
· Continue to work with the smaller teams to make them competitive. In any sport, there are going to be small-market teams. Fans will support the underdog who makes a run at the Cup and that can generate additional media interest.
· Make sure to market the new international drivers signed on to compete next year. Hopefully NASCAR’s PR department won’t saturate the media with interviews, but will work with sponsors and high-level reporters to generate interest in the 2007 season.
· Continue to reconnect with your "old timers." A bet a lot of NASCAR fans think the sport is too commercialized. Find ways to promote the benefits of the sport to show fans that the commercialization will help the sport grow. People on the inside understand the benefits, but some people need to be hit over the head.

While I am not a huge fan of NASCAR, I definitely admire the sport in how it’s marketing itself in the 21st century. Every sport has a downturn once in awhile. NASCAR will be able to handle this bump in the road pretty easily.

Bank of America and Sports Marketing

2006-11-27T19:55:00.000-05:00

I have always said if I ever get the chance, I would definitely try to work in Bank of America’s sports marketing department. According to the Web site, "Our national commitments and activation activities focus on our major platforms, including baseball, the U.S. Olympic Team, NASCAR racing and golf."

Sponsoring NASCAR was the most recent addition to the organization. According to the AP, "Banking on NASCAR fans' sponsor loyalty to drive more retail business to their ATMs and branches, Charlotte-based Bank of America Corp. has signed a five-year deal as the official bank of the popular racing series. The bank shared details of the agreement with The Associated Press before today's public announcement."

This provides a positive strategic outlet for Bank of America to gain a stronger foothold within the sports industry. The company now sponsors five sports in the top ten in fan viewership. Hopefully, when their marketing team is thinking "outside the box", they will begin to develop cross-sports promotions that draw interest to the Leagues and the Bank itself.

It is refreshing to see that companies still see the benefit in sponsoring sports league. They may not see the numbers grow when looking at the bottom line, but from a relationship-building standpoint, it’s priceless. They can go after high net-worth individuals and almost guarantee they have sporting events tickets the individuals will enjoy. Banks want to create long lasting relationship and hosting hospitality tents at sports events offer an amazing amount of long-term ROI.

Wow…those sports marketing folks must be having a lot of fun in Charlotte.

No NFL on Turkey Day

2006-11-22T17:31:00.000-05:00

Considering the NFL supposedly has the "number one sports slot" with television viewers, I am surprised we have not seen additional national coverage on battle between the NFL and cable operators. A significant amount of NFL fans will not be able to see the games on Thursday. Sponsors cannot be happy with this arrangement.

In an article titled, "Dressler: No NFL Network Deal by Turkey Day," it noted:

"Time Warner Cable subscribers can forget about watching NFL Network’s Denver Broncos-Kansas City Chiefs National Football League game with Thanksgiving dessert, according to the MSO’s executive vice president of programming, Fred Dressler

Operators such as Time Warner, Cablevision Systems and Charter Communications -- which do not have deals with NFL Network -- would have to ante up 70 cents per subscriber and distribute the service on expanded-basic tiers in order to get the games."

Now, one would have to assume, that the NFL is not pushing the media to write about the story. Something just does not make sense. From what I have read, executives would rather people purchase Direct TV which will help the teams more financially in the future.

There is definitely some backroom dealing going on since this issue has stayed pretty quiet.

Manny Is As Good as Gone

2006-11-22T17:04:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed the two recent articles in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald on Manny Ramirez? It is extremely interesting that competing papers would both write the same type of column that it's time for Manny to move on.

Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/11/22/sox_should_make_move_on_manny/

Boston Herald: http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=168367

Reading between the lines:

· It's extremely rare for two well-known sports columnists to write the same type of story a day apart.

· The Red Sox want to prepare Red Sox Nation for the fact that Manny might be traded soon.

· Someone on the Red Sox tipped off the media and asked them to write this story. My guest is Dr. Charles Steinberg called in a favor, but I could be wrong.

· In the past, when popular player has been on his way out, the media always writes the stories about why the team is better without the player. It happened with Clemens, Nomar, Pedro, D-Lowe, you name it. The Red Sox worked with the Globe, their owners, and the Herald to create pre-emptive damage control before Manny is traded.

Keep your eyes open, but I after reading these two articles, I would be shocked if Manny is with the team through the end of 2006.

Own a Luxury Box or Sponsor the Team?

2006-11-18T14:58:00.000-05:00

If I worked in the marketing department for a large corporation who wanted to sponsor a sports team, there are many ways to secure measurable ROI through the investment. The organization can buy ad space in the arena, sponsor an event during halftime or a plethora of other activities. Another way to sponsor a team, since it costs the same, is to purchase a luxury box.

From Friday’s Boston Globe:

"Starting with the 2007 season, suites will cost between $250,000 and $350,000 per year depending on where in Fenway Park they're located, compared with an average of $215,000 last season. The team also is requiring suite owners to commit to them for at least a decade, seven years longer than the current three-year minimum. The capacity in the renovated boxes will increase from 16 to 22."

Considering most sponsorships can be upwards of $300,000 a year, I would recommend purchasing a luxury box instead or ad space in the park. Here’s why:

· The luxury box is a great place for the senior execs to schmooze with prospective clients, city officials or important people in the industry. Who doesn’t want to go see a game from the luxury box?

· The PR department can invite media to attend a game and chat with a senior exec.
· Having an opportunity to go to the luxury box would be a great incentive to the sales team.
· What about company morale overall? You can let different departments attend a game during the year.

Sponsorships with teams can definitely be beneficial to generate exposure for an organization. Sometimes though, companies can be more strategic by meeting with higher-profile people in smaller settings and the company can generate an impressive "word of mouth" campaign for the future.

This is a different way to market a business in the future.

Emerging Trends in Sports Marketing

2006-11-18T14:55:00.000-05:00

In this week's SportsBusiness Journal:

"During a talk on emerging trends in sports marketing, AEG president Shawn Hunter identified areas to watch including wireless commerce, broadband channels, secondary ticketing in sports and VIP ‘experiences.’"

There has been a lot of talk recently about how to handle scalping and secondary tickets. Personally, I don’t think anyone will ever be able to create a fair program. A lot of teams are trying to take secondary ticketing in-house, which I think is a good idea. I don’t agree with the idea Ticketmaster is pitching in that whatever organizations sells the tickets originally, should have the opportunity to sell the secondary tickets. Well, Ticketmaster sells a freakin plethora of sports tickets. They would definitely come close to having a monopoly.

In the future, watch the evolution of VIP experiences. This type of service is going to explode in 2007 – I guarantee it. The baby boomers want to attend sporting events, but they also want to meet athletes or play on the athletic field or attend a major league sports camp. They want to feel like VIPs. There is tons of money to make in this industry sector and a lot of companies are developing experiences as we speak.

Who Is Counseling Harold Reynolds?

2006-11-16T20:07:00.000-05:00

Harold Reynolds needs a new lawyer or at least a common sense manager. Earlier this month, it was reported that he was taking ESPN to court for lost wagers. Good PR move – not! Um…yeah…that’s like deciding to take Microsoft to court. Do you really want to go up against a 500-pound gorilla?

According to an AP article, "Reynolds is seeking the money owed to him under the remainder of his contract, including interest and lost earnings. He is also asking the court for damages for lost future opportunities."

Here are the facts:

* Everyone who I have spoken with who has met or worked with Reynolds says he is a great guy. They were surprised and shocked at the allegations.

* He is a well-respected commentator who could find work with another outlet.

* ESPN has had a long history of sexual harassment issues at the station. Numerous employees have been suspended or fired in the past. Don’t you think, you might be extra careful if you worked there?

* ESPN is taking the high road through all of this and have not thrown him under a bus.

Why doesn’t Harold take the year off, make money at appearances or work with his charity and come back strong in 2008? I just don’t think you should go poking ESPN to make them respond. Someone should tell him to lay low for a year. People in America get second chances, unless we don’t know the whole picture, I’d expect someone would sign him in a heartbeat in the future.

Great PR Move by the Red Sox

2006-11-16T19:30:00.000-05:00

You have got to hand it to the Red Sox PR team. Steinberg, Geffner and the rest of the crew are back on the ball -- finally. Did you see the interesting news that slipped past the fans today:

"The Red Sox confirmed today that the prices of premium seats will rise in 2007. All non-premium tickets, which represent over 80 percent of the Fenway Park seating, will stay the same in 2007. Only the premium ticket prices in the following locations will rise in 2007: private suites, dugout seats, EMC Club, State Street Pavilion Club, and field boxes ... The range of increase is three to five percent in most areas and $10.00 on field boxes."

Now the Red Sox have the most expensive tickets in all of baseball and some of the most expensive (average) in all of sports. With the fans and media on cloud nine about the possible signing of Matsuzaka, no one would make a stink about the raise in ticket prices.

The Red Sox are generating front-page news during the height of football season and the Pats still lead their division. This is one of the smartest PR moves this organization has made in awhile. I tip my cap to them.

Sports Sponsorship $20M a year for 20 years?

2006-11-15T22:25:00.000-05:00

I don’t know if you heard the news that Citigroup signed a naming rights contract with the New York Mets for $20 million dollars a year for 20 years? Yes, read that line again. It is, by far, the most money ever paid for a sports sponsorship.

The details of the contract have not been announced. According to MediaPost, some of the items could include:

* Typical sports stadium-naming deals include a litany of items from signage to luxury suites. In Citigroup's case, the deal was enriched by the opportunity to lock up exclusive marketing rights in product categories where it does business--including banking, credit cards, and brokerage services.

* If Citigroup negotiated to handle financing for the stadium or to provide financial services to Mets' management and players and their families, notes Don Hinchey of The Bonham Group, the amount would look like a grand slam for the banker.

Companies looking to spend $20 million dollars on sports sponsorships usually sponsor an all-star game or develop a national sponsorship -- they don’t work with one team.

New York is the financial capital of the world, so if the bank has a smart sports marketing team, over time, this could work. At this time though, the jury is still out.

51 Million for Matsuzaka?

2006-11-15T22:03:00.000-05:00

Commentators in the baseball community are going to be talking about this bid for the next couple of days. Will the Sox sign a deal, how will Matsuzaka do in Boston. What people don't realize is while the Red Sox did get the rights to sign a 26-year old pitcher, the other main reason was to start gaining traction by marketing in Japan and China.

While American sports fans are passionate, fans in the Far East take it to another level and baseball players are considered to be Gods. The amount of money fans will spend on Sox memorabilia will be enormous. When Hideki Matsui started playing for the Yankees, more than 150 reporters followed him on a daily basis. Now between 30 to 50 press follow him. How many reporters will follow Matsuzaka?

As we know Matsui and Matsuzaka are two of the more popular athletes in Japan and now they will be playing in the U.S. and will be competing in the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry. The Japanese fans will get “sucked in” to this rivalry as well.

From a business of sports perspective, Fenway Sports Group will do everything in its power to generate additional funds for New England Sports Ventures. The will develop travel packages to the U.S. to watch the Sox, they will have additional tourist come for Fenway tours, they will be able to schedule athlete events in other cities to generate more revenue. Over time, they will see a benefit from this signing.

The Red Sox can also expect to see Japanese advertisers who want to develop a relationship with the Sox and FSG. What about television rights for games in which Matsuzaka pitches? The business opportunities are endless

Reebok Losing Ground?

2006-11-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

There is an article in today's Boston Herald titled, "Adidas: Reebok no shoe-in—dramatic losses in co.’s share of market," that noted, "Reebok's German parent company will spend $64 million more than planned next year on marketing and other efforts aimed at revitalizing Reebok, which it purchased for $3.8 billion in January. Adidas, which originally had expected to see improvement from the Canton company in the current quarter, now doesn't foresee growth in Reebok orders until the second half of next year."

I have to ask – who is running Reebok's marketing department at the moment? Look at the deals Reebok has signed over the last few years:

· NFL's apparel license
· Shoe contract with MLB
· The NBA announced that Reebok had signed a 10-year deal to be the official apparel maker of the NBA, WNBA and NBDL in 2001

Um…do you think it might be a good idea to work with the leagues to create cross-promotion marketing plans? Why hasn’t the company developed some snazzy commercial that everyone starts talking about? Is the company posting all of their commercials on YouTube? Please tell me they have a MySpace page.

I understand the company needed to stay quiet as it integrated with adidas, but the marketing department should have spent the time creating ideas so they could have hit the ground running in October – when MLB was finishing and the NFL and NBA were starting up. It seems to me that would have been the perfect time to start the new and improve rolling thunder buzz campaign.

From the outside, it looks like Reebok has tons of firepower and tons of resources to gain more marketshare. While we don’t know what is going on internally, I hope they straighten things out soon.

MLS Cup and the New England Revolution

2006-11-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

Did you know the New England Revolution competed in the MLS Cup on Sunday? The next question for some of you is, do you care? Being a sports enthusiast, I was shocked to learn for the FIRST TIME on Sunday morning that the game was being played that afternoon. I understand MLS soccer may not become a mainstream sport, but shouldn’t the team have done a better job promoting it in Massachusetts? If any of the "Big Four" teams were playing in the finals, it would be front-page news for days and the lead story on every newscast. While the Revolution lost again on Sunday, they have done surprisingly well in recent years. According to the Boston Globe:

"The Revolution became the first team to lose MLS Cups in succession when they fell to the Houston Dynamo on penalty kicks, 4-3, Sunday. They have equaled Los Angeles's record of three MLS Cup defeats overall, the Galaxy having reached three of the first six finals before winning in 2002."

I understand the Pats were playing at home on Sunday, but the team or the league in general should have spent some money to promote the event. Here’s how:

· Take out full-page ads in the Globe, Herald, Lowell Sun and Worcester Telegraph promoting the game.
· Buy ad time on WEEI and negotiate a deal where the radio hosts have to spend some time talking about the game.
· Hound the local media to get them to cover the event, interview the coach – anything to generate some coverage.
· Last, MLS should have rented out some bars or restaurants where people could have gone to watch the game. Maybe certain restaurants in Boston showed the game, but I didn’t hear anything.

New England fans will back a winner, even if its soccer, but the team and the league need to do a better job promoting it to the general sports fan.

CT and Sports Marketing firms?

2006-11-11T16:44:00.000-05:00

Recently, I have noticed a rise in marketing firms in Connecticut. These firms work with consumer businesses that "play" in the sports world. Maybe they all decided to move from NYC due to high costs of running a business in the city. In Connecticut we have -- Velocity Sports & Entertainment, Norwalk, CT, Millsport, Stamford, CT, Octagon, Norwalk, CT and Stage Active Brand Marketing, Wilton, CT.

Recently Stage Active has been making some noise for New Balance with events that are targeted towards children. I wrote last week about NB’s relationship with Sesame Street. According to yesterday's Promo Magazine, "Stage-Active Brand Marketing, Wilton, CT, launched a 15-market tour with retailer JCPenney that brought to parks to life inside Simon malls. New Balance launched an eight-week tour, which ended in September, to boost its kids shoe line.

The agency staged a park-like setting outside JCPenney stores in malls, complete with blue skies, green grass, white picket fences and the sights and smells of a park. The effort was to boost New Balance's outdoors and physical fitness theme. Stage activated the senses with the aroma of fresh meadows and fresh cut grass and piped in sounds of singing birds and children playing."

If a company is going to spend money to generate exposure for their brand, then I agree with creating an "experience" for customers versus advertisements. Everyone is saturated with more advertisements than they can handle. Creating specialized events is a effective way to reach kids or adults.

I will definitely be keeping my eye on this marketing firm to see what other events they develop.

Top Payments for Naming Rights

2006-11-11T16:25:00.000-05:00

Top Payments for Naming Rights

According to Sportsvenues.com, below are the top payments for stadium and arena naming rights. Depending on what “extras” a company receives – tickets, access to athletes, access to arena, etc, this can be an extremely beneficial way to generate exposure for a business. The naming rights are costly, do get me wrong, but smart sports marketing and pr managers can effectively generate a positive return for any company. Oh yeah, any company needs a common sense manager as well.

Reliant Energy of Houston to Houston Texans football stadium:
$300 million

University of Phoenix to Arizona Cardinals stadium in Phoenix:
$154 million for 20 years

Staples for Staples Center in Los Angeles:
$100 million for 20 years

Dick's Sporting Goods to the Colorada Rapids (MLS):
$40 million for 20 years

Home Depot to Anschutz Entertainment Group for Home Depot National Training Center in Carson, Calif.:
$70 million for 10 years

Lucas Oil Products to Indianapolis Colts (NFL) home field:
$121.5 million

China Uses Olympics to Push its Own Technology

2006-11-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are going to be amazing on many levels. From the sponsors, to the media uncovering human rights violations and other issues to watching China win a plethora of medals.

Over the next two years, China is going to use the Olympics as a way to market the country and to gain leverage on issues the government wants fix.

According to Techdirt:

"China's really trying to take advantage of the Beijing Olympics to show off its technological prowess, particularly in wireless. It's been saying for some time that its 3G mobile networks will be up and running in time for the games, but it's continually pushed back (for what's going on four years) the government approvals necessary to start building and operating them, because its homegrown TD-SCDMA standard hasn't been ready. By holding back the country's mobile networks this way, and potentially forcing foreign visitors to buy new WAPI-compatible equipment to use WiFi at the Olympics, China's not demonstrating its technological ability; it's demonstrating that protectionism is still the order of the day."

Don’t get me wrong, I would have LOVED the opportunity to have gone to the Games – Damn you Manulife. I think the Games will be spectacular, but there is also going to be a plethora of drama.

Google Video to Offer NHL Games

2006-11-09T21:13:00.000-05:00

I know I discussed this news earlier in the week, but I wanted to add a link. From Friday, Nov. 3 edition of MediaPost:

"THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE'S DIGITAL arm has agreed to provide videos of full-length games to Google Video. The current season's games as well as a selection of old games will be available at: http://video.google.com/nhl.html. The deal includes current season games as well as a selection of prior seasons' games. In addition, the NHL and Google are working together to add user-generated content to the site."

This is a GREAT, GREAT idea for the League. I am psyched to see they finally got this off the ground. The NHL can add new sponsors since sponsors will have an opportunity to reach fans on the Internet. They can create highlight reels and other content for the site. They might be able to work with Google to have a company sponsor the main page.

From a sport that is struggling to make inroads with the general sports fan, this is a smart way to divert eyeballs of Internet viewers to the NHL.

Innovative Thinking by the Bruins Marketing Team?

2006-11-09T21:05:00.000-05:00

Wow – I didn't think this type of innovative marketing would come from the Boston Bruins this quickly. Some people might not think it's that grand, but trust me, from experience, it's a challenge to develop these types of events in season.

The Bruins cleaned house in their PR and marketing departments before the season began so I figured this season was a ramp up year. I have been told by people in the city that their new marketing director knows her stuff.

Today I received the following e-mail from the Bruins:

"Only one day left to bid on your chance to meet Boston Bruins great BRAD PARK on Thursday, November 16th when the Bruins take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at the TD BankNorth Garden! Auction package includes two tickets for game seats in the Boardroom, a new restaurant located in the arena. The winner and a guest will enjoy dinner and watch the game with Brad Park and other Bruins Alumni. The NHL Alumni Association and the Boston Bruins are proud to have worked together with NHL.com to present this opportunity to NHL fans."

Most of you are thinking right now, "who the hell is Brad Park?" While hockey is not my strongest sport, I have no clue when this former great Bruins' player was on the team. It doesn't matter what I know, but this is a great idea. Here why:

· While only two people will have an opportunity to spend time with Brad, the team and the NHL alumni association are trying to generate interest around the Bruins. The team needs to create different "out of the box" ideas because they sure aren’t winning.

· The Bruins understand they need to offer ways for fans to meet the players – current or former. Fans need to feel a reason to root for the team and convince their friends to follow the team as well.

· While I have not watched the Bruins seriously in a couple of years, it is refreshing to see them develop this type of auction.

The Bruins need to continue to develop these type of opportunities to draw general sports fans to attend games and watch the team. Offering the opportunity to have face time with athletes is a great way to start.

Smart Marketing Idea

2006-11-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

Below is an interesting blurb from an Ad Age article:

"Put a compelling commercial on YouTube and watch it take off without spending a penny--that's the lesson from Dove's 'Campaign for Real Beauty.' The 75-second viral film, 'Dove Evolution,' has reaped more than 1.7 million views on YouTube as well as free coverage from talk shows such as 'Ellen,' 'Entertainment Tonight' and 'The View,' and 'Today.'

The successful coverage on multiple media fronts of 'Dove Evolution,' which chronicles (at speed) the digital transformation of a pretty woman into a stunning supermodel, drove record traffic to Dove's site CampaignforRealBeauty.com, reaching three times as many people as the beauty care brand's expensive Super Bowl ad last year, according to traffic measurement firm Alexa.com."

Sports teams or leagues in general need to develop fun and innovative commercials to post on YouTube. Even a bloopers real might generate interest and over the long term could draw fans to the stadium or arenas, which is the ultimate goal. In the commercial is interesting and people forward it to their friends, the team will have seen significant ROI from their production costs.

In previous blogs, I have expressed concerns with fans creating commercials for corporations to run during the Super Bowl. I don't know if you will see a lot of ROI from purchasing ad time to show the commercial.

On the flip side, locally, teams should have fans create commercials. The teams can generate interest within the community, generate media exposure and possible have other fans vote on which commercial will win. These commercials will not be seen on a national stage. The commercial selection process can be drawn out over a month or so. There are endless possibilities to increase fans interest and ticket sales over the long run. Will a team take advantage of this idea? Nah…that would be too easy.

Nike's Soccer Goal: World Domination By 2010

2006-11-08T20:45:00.000-05:00

According to a Media Post article from Monday, "Nike is setting its sights on the world soccer scene, vowing 'global football dominance by 2010.' The company tapped Joaquin Hidalgo, who will continue as vice president of global marketing, to oversee its integrated growth strategy for football. 'Our goal is simple: to be unquestionably the No. 1 brand in the world's No. 1 sport,' the company said."

Hmm..is it really surprising Nike is concentrating its marketing efforts to secure a larger share of "soccer apparel spending?" Nike created its online soccer community during the World Cup and the site drew millions of fans. Thankfully, their common sense manager thought it might be a smart idea to spend more money with the sport.

Nike has cornered the market in basketball and has a strong presence in baseball and the college sports. While this may sound "out there", I believe Under Armor is going to make strong gains around football moving forward

At this time Adidas is the number one soccer brand. They do not have a huge market share in the U.S., but who cares if they have the number one spot in the number one sport. Adidas better be concerned when the 500-pound gorilla, a.k.a. Nike, starts making headway with soccer fans.

Local NH Boy Does Good

2006-11-07T21:05:00.000-05:00

When SI announced the 50 greatest athletes from NH, I don't know if Chris Carpenter, a starting pitcher on the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals was even on the list. Well, at this point, he should be in the top ten.

According to Promo Extra: "WHEATIES will put Chris Carpenter, pitcher for the World Series champs St. Louis Cardinals, on the front of cereal boxes that will hit store shelves nationally in two or three weeks. It's Carpenter's first appearance on a Wheaties box, part of the General Mills' brand's longstanding tradition of featuring top athletes with commemorative packaging."

I remember senior year in high school that local scouts and coaches knew he would be in the major league since his stuff was filthy back then.

Always have to be impressed when a NH athlete gains national exposure.

New Balance and Sesame Street?

2006-11-07T20:51:00.000-05:00

According to Promo Magazine, New Balance recently signed a multi million dollar agreement "with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit education arm behind the Sesame Street series, to sponsor the show and other initiatives."

The article noted: "The four-year deal, which starts this month, calls for the shoe company to sponsor Sesame Street and the U.S. broadcast of Plaza Sésamo, the Latin American co-production of the show, in select PBS markets. Starting today, New Balance will air a 15-second bilingual spot in English and Spanish at the beginning and end of the hour-long program on PBS. The TV sponsorship runs through December 2007. New Balance will also be featured at SesameStreet.com and at NewBalance.com, in print ads in Sesame Street magazine and in Sesame Street newsletters. New Balance is the first athletic brand to sponsor the Sesame Street series, the company said."

At this time, I am torn if this is a a smart sponsorship for New Balance. Here’s why:

· If the money is honestly used to help kids learn about creating healthy lifestyles and Sesame Street really needed to money to pull the program off – then kudos to NB.
· But, if NB uses this to draw kids to become "New Balance Club Members" to buy their athletic gear in the future, then I have a problem with this deal. While I know if happens all the time, NO ONE should be marketing to young kids. The parental watch dog groups will have a field day if people think the companu is advertising to children.
· I believe NB will gain some traction with the mothers, since a lot of them like to go on walks or exercise and will consider purchasing NB products in the future.
· From a sponsorship perspective, like it or not, NB is going to be able to mold some kids into life long NB fans and that will be worth all the money they spend.

NBA and NHL on Google Video

2006-11-07T19:53:00.000-05:00

I just read the following on www.micropersuasion.com:

"The NBA and Google Video have terminated their landmark partnership, which was announced to much ballyhoo earlier this year. All games, which had been previously available for a fee, have been pulled down from Google. This includes last year's NBA Finals.

In the meantime, the NHL and Google yesterday announced that hockey games are now available for free on Google Video. Even better, you can download them for your iPod. That's wonderful for consumers, but it points to Google's bigger problems when it comes to video.

My gut is that Google is having a lot of difficulty selling content on Google Video. If the NBA were making money with Google, you can bet they would have stayed there. In fact, they probably would have used it as a platform to promote their new League Pass Broadband service - but they didn't."

I disagree with this assessment that the NBA would have stayed with Google. Knowing the NBA, they are going to put all the content on NBA.com and drive people to the site. They have enough fans were they can create an economic structure to make money from their game video.

The NHL, on the other hand, made a smart business decision by signing this agreement. This is a great move for the League to continue generating exposure on the Web.

NHL Names Marketing Head

2006-11-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

According to Promo Magazine, the NHL has FINALLY named a new marketing director. One would think, with the NHL trying to gain new sponsors and fans, that this would be high on the list of items to address.

The article reported, "The National Hockey League has named John Collins as executive-VP, corporate sales and marketing. Collins will lead the NHL's corporate sales efforts in the U.S, focusing on development of new revenue opportunities, partner management and sales coordination with League network partners. Collins also will oversee all aspects of the NHL's marketing plan development and implementation, the NHL said."

The NHL has not been generating a lot of interest within the sports-media arena. There are the loyal hockey fans that will follow their teams until the bitter end, but how much does the general sports fan care about the game? These general fans are the ones who the NHL needs to go after. The NHL needs to work with its partners to develop innovative marketing plans to draw fans to games.

Locally, the Bruins are taking advantage using social media to draw interest to the team. Now the Bruins need to start winning. The NHL needs to be at the forefront of social media. It might be the only way to "break away from the clutter" in the sports world.

IOC – “Show Me the Money”

2006-11-06T14:23:00.000-05:00

There is definitely a perception around the world that Americans are arrogant. Have you ever seen an American tourist who doesn't try to learn the native language they are visiting or just assume the U.S dollar will work? And Americans wonder why people don’t like this country.

Well, once the Beijing Olympics begin, people around the world are going to be shaking their heads again. In an article in today's Advertising Age titled, "Why NBC Will Charge Dearly for Beijing Olympics Ads," the story noted, "In addition, NBC learned last week that after five years of talks, it has persuaded the International Olympics Committee to schedule two of the most popular sports -- gymnastics and swimming -- at a time that will allow the network to broadcast them live in prime time in the U.S. Events that begin at 10 a.m. in Beijing can be covered at 10 p.m. in prime time."

How many other countries are there in the world? The IOC is scheduling the two events so the Americans can watch it live. O.k., I understand a large percentage of marketing and sponsorship dollars come from the United States, but seriously, the events should be held in prime time in the host country. This is a slap in the face to Beijing and its residents.

NBC is trying to get around the fact that people DVR most shows and the network knows it can charge more advertising fees if these two events are held in primetime.

Things That Suck: TNT’s Basketball Producers

2006-11-06T13:56:00.000-05:00

So I am taking a page out of Pat Patterson’s blog to write about TNT’s "Inside the NBA" show I saw last week. The show kicked off the NBA season for the network. The host of the show was Ernie Johnson along with Magic, Barkley and Kenny Smith.

Some of you may know that Ernie Johnson has cancer and over the summer had some chemo treatment. For this reason, he is now completely bald, but is still able to work out the show. I might add, he has done a great job keeping the show moving for the last few years.

Now what I saw on opening night, and I need to watch it again soon, was so unacceptable. At the beginning of the show, TNT did a small tribute to Ernie to wish him well with NBA players offering their best wishes. They showed one up close show of Ernie. That was the last up close shot you saw of him during the show. Yeah..read that sentence again.

First they would show Magic offering commentary and then the camera shot would move to Barkley. When it was Ernie’s time to speak they would pull the camera away for a wide-angle shot and not lose up. I watched the whole show in disbelief and shock. What if a cancer patient is watching the show and has lost all their hair. It must not help their self-esteem if they continue to see the camera pulled away from Ernie Johnson.

TNT needs to handle this situation better in the future. I plan to watch the show in the next couple of nights to see how they are handling it.

Garden's New Jumbotron

2006-10-27T17:36:00.000-04:00

Holy Crap...while the Celtics and Bruins may win 60 games total this season, make sure to attend a game this year to check out the new jumbotron. I attended an event at the Garden this morning and was blown away. The management also updated the sound system so it doesn't sound like Charlie Brown's teacher is making an announcement if the base is too loud.

This morning, Charlie Jacobs, the president of the Bruins, stated he has heard from numerous fans that historically, the team has had a team salary large enough to field a competitive team, but never one good enough to win the championship. This is what I have always heard. Jacobs completely disagrees with this notion. The problem for Jacobs though, is perception is reality with a lot of Bruins fans. The hard-core fans are not going to come back until they see the team winning again and truly believe the management is putting a competitive team on the field. If I was in the marketing department, I would try to use the belief that the Bruins don't field a team to win the championship in some sort of marketing plan. Understandably, one would need to change the message that the Bruins want to win and don't believe in this notion. The fans could relate to this since this is the perception in New England.

If you go to a game this season, the product may be awful, but at least you can enjoy other items at the arena.

Sports Marketing Gone Mad -- “For Die-Hard Fans”

2006-10-26T19:18:00.000-04:00

I didn't have a chance to address this story last week. MLB, as we know, has a history of negotiating sponsorship or marketing deals for the most random things. From the Roberto Clemente Award winner to the Fireman (closer) of the year to the newest random deal – "Major League Baseball has cut a deal with Eternal Image to put team logos and colors for the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Cubs and Dodgers on caskets and urns -- starting next season. Each will carry a message saying MLB officially recognizes the deceased as a lifelong fan of that team."

Um…I don’t even know what to say about this. I personally think this is overboard even though I am a passionate Red Sox fan.

Sports Marketing Gold Star – Taco Bell

2006-10-26T19:16:00.000-04:00

"Yo Quero Taco Bell." I never thought I would see the day when I was impressed with Taco Bell and its sports marketing department. During Game Three of the World Series, Taco Bell announced the following promotion. "Taco Bell, the official QSR of Major League Baseball, will hand out free seasoned beef crunchy tacos to any consumer if any Detroit Tigers or St. Louis Cardinals player hits a home run over left or left center field during the game."

Millsports, a sports marketing agency in Milford, CT helped to create the idea. This promotion is a great "outside the box" idea and it did generate some coverage during the game and in selected areas around the country. More companies need to think of different ideas, like this to "break away from the clutter."

MLB Labor Piece Until 2011

2006-10-26T19:13:00.000-04:00

What is MLB thinking? Did you hear the news earlier this week that baseball players and owners finalized a new five-year collective bargaining agreement? All right, a show of hands of people who really care about this news. Hmm..do you think it would have been beneficial to hold this news until the winter. The League "should" be generating enough news from the snoozer of a World Series. Maybe PR thought this was the best time to make the announcement.

Considering the League almost when "belly up" during its last strike in 1994, you would think they would have made a bigger splash with this news. There were no threats for each side or emergency meetings. These negotiations were handled quietly.

MLB needs to continue to make noise at the national level and they should have held this news and announced it this winter.

Bruins and Celtics Mobile Touring Experience?

2006-10-14T18:01:00.000-04:00

For the last decade, the Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics have been sitting back and reminding fans about their glory days and assuming fans will attend games. This may an exaggeration, but seriously, how much innovate marketing ideas have you seen from these two teams?

Since New England is such a sports-centric region, most teams do not need to do a lot of marketing to attract fans, as long as they as winning. That has not been the case for the Bruins and the Celtics over the last few years. What have they done to generate interest with the fans throughout New England?

Sports teams in other parts of the country develop innovative ways to draw fans to the stadium. One thing teams do is to plan a mobile tour around a region that follows the team. Teams will bring selected players, a mascot and cheerleaders to hold events to create more interest. Why haven’t the Bruins and the Celtics done this? They may have, but it sure has not been promoted to the local media.

After the Red Sox and Patriots won the World Series and Super Bowl, respectively, they held events in VT, NH, Maine, CT and RI to thank the fans for their support. This is a great PR/marketing move for the teams. The events are easy to plan, cost-effective and the local fans will remember this event for a while.

As the Bruins and the Celtics continue to drive traffic to the Garden, they should have thought about planning mobile tour events throughout New England during the summer. Who really knows all the new players on the Bruins? Unless you are a passionate basketball fan, do you know all the new faces with the Celtics?

Think about it? How easy would it be to hold an event in Portland, ME, Concord or Manchester, NH, Burlington, VT and in Providence to reach out to the peripheral sports fans that know about the teams' rich histories, but maybe don’t follow the teams as much as they did in the past.

The Celtics and the Bruins must break away from the old-fashion marketing activities to create interest with fans today.

This Should Be Concerning to MLB

2006-10-14T15:00:00.000-04:00

According to an article on MediaChannel.com, "Spike TV said more men 18-34 tuned into its live Ultimate Fighting Championship card Tuesday night than to the Major League Baseball playoffs on Fox. Spike said the UFC card drew 1.6 million men 18-34, compared with 1.1 million for game one of the American League Championship Series on Fox, in which the Detroit Tigers beat the host Oakland Athletics."

MLB needs to pull out all these national TV advertisements before the playoffs begin to generate interest in the games, not during the playoffs. Wow…it's a sad day when baseball loses out to UFC.

Bruins Making Smart PR and Marketing Moves

2006-10-11T19:42:00.000-04:00

Many of you have heard of some of the changes the Bruins have been making lately. Heidi Holland, the director of PR, has been moved to a new position or is no longer with the team. I have been told, the organization has two openings in its PR department. The team is "cleaning house" and bringing in some "new blood."

Editor's Note: I am not applying to these positions due to other opportunities in the pipeline.

Thankfully, from a marketing standpoint, they are starting to promote their players to the city, which will help them sell tickets in the long run. It's been a while, other than the Leary commercials, since the team really marketed its players. The ticket office has been concerned lately since they haven’t sold as many tickets as they had hoped. Could that be because peripheral hockey/sports fans don’t even know who is on the roster?

Below are items from the Bruins newsletter which was sent out earlier this week and are positive ways to gain marketshare within the Boston community this season:

* Welcome the Bruins back to Boston as they face off against Jarome Iginla and the Calgary Flames. Don't miss great prizes, tee-shirt giveaways, and contests throughout the game. Plus, fans who register during the game will have the opportunity to obtain post-game photos with Bruins players!
Don't forget - kids 12 and under get in for free!

Offering post game photos is a great way to create an "experience" for children which will hopefully make them hockey fans for life. Think of the success the Red Sox have had when offering fans the opportunity to take pictures with their players. Also, it’s a smart idea to let kids in for free to create the family atmosphere.

* What's Bruin Around Town?
B's vs. Blues Viewing Party - Tomorrow!
Thursday, October 12th at 7:00 p.m. @ The Greatest Bar
Don't miss your chance to win Bruins tickets, autographed merchandise, and other cool prizes such as a new iPod or a Bud Light snowboard! The Boston Bruins, along with Budweiser are hosting a "Bruins Viewing Party" at The Greatest Bar, located at 262 Friend Street. Come meet the Bruins Ice Girls and watch the B's take on the St. Louis Blues.

This is something they need to do regularly in different parts of the city and surrounding towns to generate interest in the team. They receive very little media or fan attention. This is a cheap and inexpensive way for at least the Bruins Ice Girls to interact with fans.

* Celebrity Bartending with the Bruins
Tuesday, October 17th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. @ Sports Grille Boston
Join the Boston Bruins and Miller Lite for a night on the town! Come see members of the Bruins as they serve drinks on Tuesday, October 17th from 6 - 8:00 p.m. at Sports Grille Boston, located at 132 Canal Street in Boston. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door.
All proceeds benefit the Boston Bruins Foundation.

If the Bruins are smart, they will ensure television crews and even a radio station is at this event. The PR department really needs to market the hell out of this to fans. This is the one event before the home opener for the players to connect with the Bruins faithful. If the team is smart, they will host events like this in the future.

* Patrice's Pals
This season, Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is unveiling his latest community effort, Patrice's Pals. Throughout the season, Patrice will invite children and their families from local hospitals and non-profit organizations to Bruins home games to sit in the Patrice's Pals Luxury Box and receive the ultimate VIP game experience. Last week, Patrice visited Children's Hospital Boston to meet Cole Pasqualucci, a patient, and Patrice's first guest in the suite on the October 19th home opener.

Great community relations investment and they make fans of the families for life.

The Bruins are finally on the right track.

This Sure Wouldn’t Happen in Boston

2006-10-11T18:58:00.000-04:00

Interesting article in the Contra Costa Times regarding Oakland A’s playoff tickets.

"A flood of A's tickets on Craigslist, StubHub.com and elsewhere left online sellers, ticket brokers and stadium scalpers grumbling Tuesday, some of them nonplussed by the weak demand for a major sporting event.

Online brokers said they could barely unload many lower-priced tickets at face value. At McAfee Coliseum before the game, scalpers made half-hearted attempts to sell tickets at exorbitant prices before retreating to face value or lower and pleading for offers."

McAfee Coliseum, if I remember correctly, has less seats available than Fenway. The team closed off the third tier of seats to make it more "lively" during the games.

It always surprises me when I hear that playoffs games are no sold out. During Atlanta's many postseason appearances, fans could walk up and buy tickets the day of the game. This is just amazing.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/15730102.htm

Marketing High School Football

2006-10-09T18:52:00.000-04:00

Is it just me or has high school football become the new sport to promote and market? Over the last few years we have seen a rise in interest in arena football, poker and the NHL – well, after it came back from a year in hibernation. Each time the sport was promoted and marketing like crazy for a couple of years until it reached a saturation point with audience. High school football is on this track.

At the moment, sports fans can watch Friday Night Lights on NBC, read a weekly two-page scorecard in Sports Illustrated on the top high school teams in the country and now according to BrandWeek, "Toyota will sponsor 45-second vignettes to be broadcast during the NBC Sunday Night Halftime Show that examine the passion for high school football in the U.S."

The article noted:

"Hosted by a pair of 22-year-olds, 'Jon & J.J. Visit the Line of Scrimmage' will debut Sunday with a feature on a team based in Clovis, Calif., and run through the end of the year.

The pair will travel the U.S. to seven high schools, including campuses in Ohio, Georgia, and Texas, in search of football programs that stand out for their passion and, in some cases, oddball traditions."

From a sports marketing perspective, high school football is still an untapped market at the national level. Over the last year, ESPN has started to show high school games regularly during the season. The sport has passionate fans and boosters supporting their schools, parents of the athletes and football fans in general. If I was a company whose target market were males ages 15-34, I would be sponsoring and advertising like crazy at the national level. The NFL and college football have their "core sponsors" and I bet ESPN is looking to do the same with high school sports.

I just wonder though if people are putting to much pressure on these kids. Let them have fun until they get to college and football becomes their 9 to 5 job. I assume most of you have heard the story of Hoover, Ala., who was the number one high team in the country until they lost last weekend. This team receives so much money from boosters that they put the team in a hotel before home games? Are you kidding me? What for? The teams are not driving a lot of revenue to the school, just to football. They shouldn't (but are) be recruiting kids from other districts or states to play on the team. How much national exposure do they really need?

People continue to look for the next "great athlete" and maybe I'm old fashion, but marketing high school football seems a little much.

Game of Shadows and Sports Reporting Moving Forward

2006-10-09T18:31:00.000-04:00

Bob Smiley brought up a great issue that I am disappointed I didn’t address sooner. In his most recent post titled, "I don't recall," he discussed the unfortunate situation for San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams.

The fact these two reporters have to go to court to protect their sources is freakin absurd. These two reporters helped to shed light of a serious, serious issue and may have saved lives in the process? Saved lives you ask? A lot of children today want to emulate their athletic heroes. If Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi are using steroids to stay on top, some children may decide to try them as well. These two reporters should be given medals, not thrown in jail.

From a lawyer perspective, why can’t they just "plead the fifth" on every question that is asked of them? At this point, I will be shocked if they don’t get thrown in jail. What would be interesting though, is what if their source is someone like Jeff Novtony – the lead investigator for the government? That would be a PR nightmare for a lot of people in this country.

The President of the United States brought these two reporters to the White House to thank them for uncovering this amazing story. But then, on the flip side, he won't go to bat for them as the wait to determine their fate in court. Cases like this and the reporter from the NY Times is going to change reporting as we know it. Where does it end? Can the courts come after bloggers in the future?

Boston is a Small City

2006-10-08T19:34:00.000-04:00

Once we all moved to Boston, it didn't take long to learn that Boston is a small, small city. You see the same people at bars and then will randomly run into them on the T. When something interesting happens in the city, news spreads like wildfire.

Anheuser-Busch was not thinking clearly when it decided to sponsor a showing of the World Cup trophy in the North End. As Bill Simmons has written regularly, sports teams need to hire a "common sense" coach. Well-known corporations, like AB, need to hire a "common sense" manager.

It was reported that the World Cup trophy was the authentic article won by Italy in July. People paid five dollars to have their picture taken with the trophy. Politicians, including the Mayor, attended this grand event. Now, up to this point, this is a positive, feel-good PR opp for AB.

But wait, it couldn't be this easy. According to the Boston Globe, on Friday, "Anheuser-Busch said it was the trophy that will go to the winning team in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa."

Hmm…why not tell people from the beginning this was the case? Thankfully, they decided to be proactive since they knew Boston was a small city and people would find out somehow. If they had a "common sense" manager, this person could have asked the event management staff if they were crazy and were ready to handle the PR fallout.

In the grand scheme of things, there was very little PR fallout. Mayor Menino planned to write them a nasty letter. Anheuser-Busch "also pledged to donate proceeds from the photos to charity, to match those proceeds with a donation from the company, and to cover any city costs."

Who was involved with making this decision to not have the trophy won by Italy? Why not be honest from the start. People still would have come to see the trophy. Where is the common sense manager when you need them?

The NFL Has Lost It

2006-10-05T16:29:00.000-04:00

What is up with the NFL's marketing department? Have they gotten hit in the head too many times? Why in the world do they believe it's a good idea to follow in the footsteps of Doritos and GM? Maybe I don't understand marketing.

"THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE WILL invite fans to pitch ideas for the league's commercial that will run during Super Bowl XLI in February.

Following the rule of three, the NFL joins game sponsors Doritos and General Motors in welcoming consumers to conceptualize a spot that will then be developed by the client.

Brian McCarthy, a spokesperson for the NFL, confirmed the league is finalizing plans to 'launch a contest in which fans are invited to pitch us on their idea for an NFL-themed spot.' The commercial will air during the Super Bowl as part of the NFL's advertising time in the game."

When is the last time you saw a company take an audiences' idea for a commercial and then use it on television? You haven't, because it would be a PR and marketing nightmare. The viewers don't completely understand all the messaging and marketing issues that must be taken into account.

The viewers "may" be able to develop flashy commercials, but will they really drive additional traffic to the sport?

MLB Uses Lasorda to Woo Baseball Fans in Losing Cities

2006-10-04T18:38:00.000-04:00

According to Brand Week, MLB "breaks a campaign today starring Los Angeles Dodger fixture Tommy Lasorda traveling to different cities wearing a tuxedo and using 'tough love' to help despondent fans whose favorite teams are not in the playoffs."

Does he plan to come to Boston to convince some Sotuhie kid drinking Buds at the Cask that he should be watching the Yankees in the playoffs? Can we make this commerical "reality-based" to see what happens?

The campaign theme is "Real fans don't hide in October. They celebrate it!" "It includes three TV spots, print, radio ads and MLB's most ‘extensive postseason online media buy,’ according to a league official."

This new postseason media buy is all fine and dandy expect for a couple of items:

* One, if you have ever met Tommy Lasorda, you know he is not the nicest person in the world. When the cameras are rolling he’s great, but when they are off it's a different story.

* Why does MLB wait until the end of the year to pull out these campaigns? This drives me up a wall every year. The sport needs to watch how the NFL and NBA uses their media buys throughout the year. I understand more people are watching fewer games in October and the games are on national TV. It is an opportune time to reach a large percentage of their target audience.

* My issue has always been, why don’t they spend more money on media buys during spring training, when the league and its team are trying to generate interest and sell tickets for the upcoming season. At this point, most of the fans watching games are rooting for specific teams.

Someday I am going to work at MLB headquarters in NYC and find out what they are thinking.

A Sports Team Finally Sees the Light

2006-10-04T18:16:00.000-04:00

Wow…I was excited when I read the following article since it showed that sports teams are slowing understanding the importance of social computing and its role in marketing the team. It's taken them many years to finally join today's technology-focused society. How hard would it be to hire interns who live and breathe social computing to handle all the back-end issues for an organization?

Each sports team needs to continue to find ways to break away from the traditional media clutter.

Earlier this week, MediaPost wrote an article titled, "Bengals Kick Off Fan Video Site." The article reported:

"THE CINCINNATI BENGALS HAVE BECOME the first NFL team to launch a site where fans can post user-created videos. The new video site, hosted by technology firm ViTrue, which runs user-generated promotional sites for clients, will be part of the Fan Zone section of the Bengals team site (www.bengals.com)."

As I have ranted on this site regularly, this is a great way to drive traffic to the site. The Bengals need to find ways to divert the media and its fans attention away from stories about which of its players are headed to court or jail. This site could offer some decent PR if an exciting clip is posted online.

I also like how Vince Cicero, the Bengals director of corporate sales and marketing, is trying to be forward thinking and wants to take a risk to try to drive up ticket sales in the future. In the story, it noted:

"No advertising or sponsorships tied to the fan videos have been developed yet, but Cicero expects the site will eventually include some type of corporate sponsorship. 'This is all still new for us,' he said."

I would be shocked if local and national sponsors aren't calling Vince already to discuss ways to sponsor the site.

This is a smart, smart idea for the team.

Baseball Players Did Steroids?

2006-10-04T17:43:00.000-04:00

In the October issue of Editor & Publisher, "Senior Editor Joe Strupp interviewed more than a dozen beat writers and sports editors about what they should have covered as far back as 20 years ago when steroids are believed to have entered baseball at a measurable level. Overwhelmingly, the consensus was that signs of a problem, and potential proof of abuse, were there as far back as the mid-1980s."

Hmmm….you think there might have been a problem with steroids in the late 80s and early 90s? When Brady Anderson hits over 50 home runs in a year and never more than 30 any other time in his life? That should be a red flag. What about when Luis Gonzalez hit 57 homeruns in 2001 and never more than 28 in any other year?

Look at some of the homerun leaders in the 1990s:

1995: Dante Bichette (Col) 40
1996: Andres Galarraga (Col) 40
1997: Larry Walker (Col) 49

I understand these players batted at Coors field and the ball is lighter, the air is lighter, yadda, yadda, yadda. These players are not Hall of Fame-type material and never led baseball in home runs at any other time in their careers. Reporters should have stopped to say, "Hmm…there is something wrong with this."

Here are some reasons why they didn't address the issue?

* Most sportswriters love the game of baseball and do not want to believe athletes would cheat to ruin "America's pastime".

* Their readers didn't want to wake up in the morning and learn that their heroes are cheaters.

* There was no factual evidence. Who was going to talk? If a columnist wrote a story that steroids were used all throughout baseball, people would question it without the facts. Reporters and fans didn't want to believe it had entered the game.

Last, and most importantly, is the commissioner's office was doing nothing about this "black eye." If the commissioner’s office has a story it wants to get out, they can call a plethora of national reporters who will cover any news item. If they had wanted to, they really could have done a better job controlling how fans found out about steroids in baseball.

People thought the strike in 1994 would kill baseball. It's no where close to being dead, but the steroid issue will definitely leave a black cloud over the sport moving forward.

Sports Ramblings News and Notes

2006-10-03T21:39:00.000-04:00

It has been awhile since I’ve had a chance to blog due to my contracting projects at the moment. Below are a couple of quick items I have noticed recently:

Tom Brady Buys a Condo in NYC

It has been reported for a while that during the off-season, Tom Brady regularly visits NYC to go out in the city to relax. When was the last time you saw Brady in Boston? I can’t. Bostonians, for some reason, are more interested in their sports personality than the Hollywood types. Brady can’t go anywhere in the city without being mobbed. Brady can go to NYC and no one bats an eye. I believe that was one of the main reasons he bought a condo there.

As we all know, Boston is an extremely small city. Not much that goes on in this city stays quiet – especially if you are the quarterback of three Super Bowl winning teams. Why would anyone care about this? Professional athletes who move to Boston always complain that they can never go out in the city to relax – this needs to be addressed somehow in the future.

Fantasy Hockey – The Next Level of Fantasy Sports

You have to be impressed with the NHL’s marketing department. They are trying a variety of different ideas to generate interest in the upcoming season. I am glad to see they are starting to understand the importance of fantasy sports and its role in generating more NHL viewers. In a recent e-mail I received, the NHL wrote “And, most exciting of all, WATCH your players perform. NHL.com's free fantasy game is the ONLY on-line fantasy game that provides post-game highlights of the players on your roster!”

Do you really need to see game highlights of your fantasy players? Personally, I don’t, but if it draws traffic to sport and the NHL Web site, then it’s a smart idea.

MLB, Marketing and its History

One of the things I have never understood is why MLB does not do a better job marketing its history. The sport has more history than all the other American sports combined. Do they market this? No. And MLB wonders why the sport is not popular.

This year is the 50th anniversary of Larsen’s perfect game and Bobby Thompson’s “shot heard around the world.” Has anyone heard about these anniversaries? Any national sports articles or mentions on television? There is a reporter who just finished a book on Thompson’s homerun, but what have we heard about Larsen.

If MLB was smart, they would have a department that spent all its time marketing baseball’s history -- to baby boomers and young fans a like. This is definitely an untapped area for the sport.

Will Pats Fans Have to Choose Sides?

2006-09-28T09:27:00.000-04:00

As the football season progresses, it will be interesting to see how the New England Patriots and Tom Brady handle the less than stellar receiving corp. issue. At the moment, from a media standpoint, Tom and the lack of receivers are the hottest story for the team other than analyzing the weekly match-ups.

Boston media loves to start drama and controversy since it brings in money and “certain” reporters have slightly huge egos. It will be interesting to see how Belichick handles Tom’s well being with the media. We all know that Bill never wants to talk to the media and gives as little information as possible. Brady, on the other hand, is the star QB and talks to the media regularly.

In the future, if the Pats start losing (which is doubtful), could there ever be dissention in the ranks? Could Brady come out against management and say they never had a chance since they didn’t bring back their receivers? Who do the other players side with?

Now, how do the fans and media handle this? The fans have always said “In Bill We Trust” and have always backed Brady. Who will they choose?

From the media’s standpoint, which side are you going to take? The coach, who is bland, gives one-line answers and never shows his cards or the quarterback who is open, a down to earth, approachable person who shows some emotion.

I know this theory is a stretch, but if the Sox are quiet this fall, which is possible, the Pats are going to move to center stage in the Boston sports scene. The media is going to find or make an issue like this relevant to local sports fans.

HBO’s Wait till Next Year: Saga of the Chicago Cubs

2006-09-28T09:05:00.001-04:00

If you get the chance, take an hour to watch HBO’s documentary on the Chicago Cubs. While I don’t think it was as good as the Red Sox documentary (maybe I’m biased), it still hurt to watch replays as the ball flew through Leon Durham’s legs in 1984 or watching Steve Bartman try to catch the foul ball in 2003.

Gold Star of the Day – Versus

2006-09-24T16:21:00.000-04:00

So Versus, former OLN, may have finally figured out the cable station needs to do some serious marketing. According to a recent article in MediaDailyNews:

"Versus has done research on 21 million TV viewers who are competitive, but don't watch OLN. 'For some reason, they aren't watching us. They may watch reality shows, ESPN or local TV hockey games. But not national TV hockey games on OLN,' [Bill Bergofin] says. To get the word out, Versus will purchase spots in print, radio, local and national cable networks, as well as late-night broadcast programs that target young men. For print, Versus will be buying FHM, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, Men's Health, USA Today, and local newspapers, especially in NHL markets."

FINALLY!! We have discussed the issue about the lack of exposure for this new station. I am excited to see they have listened to someone who has a clue. The story added the station plans guerrilla marketing tactics which "will include signage at sports bars, wild postings and other marketing tactics."

Perfect, do risqué marketing tactics and out the box ideas. It is the only way the company is going to generate exposure in the future.

On the flip side, Versus’ PR department should never let Bill Bergofin, senior vice president of marketing and promotion ever speak to the media. It is one thing to use marketing speak during interviews, but this guy is over the top. See below:

Strong, prominent black and red on-air graphics will frame the network. "It's liquid black," says Bergofin. "We call it Batman-chic, a place where it doesn't rain every day."

Um…is he serious? Did "Batman-chic" get approved by PR?

Will NASCAR Become America’s Number One Sport?

2006-09-22T15:19:00.000-04:00

So they are a lot of football fans reading this title and they are shaking their heads. I can hear them now – “The NFL will always be the number one sport in America.” Personally, I am not a big fan of NASCAR, but I have accepted that it is more popular than baseball and I believe the sport is on par with the NFL.

In regards to straight media coverage, the NFL has NASCAR beat hands down. Games are shown on four stations each week and there are a plethora of football shows on during the weekend. NASCAR, on the other hand, is at a disadvantage since it one has two races each weekend – NASCAR and Busch race.

Since there are only two stock car races each weekend, over 100,000 people usually attend every race. I wish I had the stats on the amount of money NASCAR fans spend at an event after buying their tickets. They drop hundreds of dollars on apparel at the races. It is not even close to how much a football fan spends and that includes tailgating. Now, some football fans attend eight home games a season so the money would even out in the long run.

I think the real difference is the marketing and sponsorship activities with each sport. If you are a company looking to sponsor a sport in the U.S. and the NFL and NASCAR offer the same ROI, which league are you going to partner with? Well, that’s easy – NASCAR. The fans are, by far, the most loyal fans in all of sports. Everyone knows how their fans will buy products that are associated with NASCAR. The league understands how to market it sponsors and works with them to ensure they see a strong ROI from their partnership.

NASCAR drivers also understand the importance of working with sponsors and promoting the league. They participate in commercials, attend signings, talk with the media, etc. NFL players, on the other hand, have a set amount of times they must appear in public on behalf of the team and then they are done. These players don’t have the same passion in helping to raise exposure for the sport.

Like it or not, if I was looking to have a company sponsor a sport, I would look to NASCAR before contacting anyone else.

Why Ortiz Won’t Win the MVP in 2006

2006-09-21T22:03:00.000-04:00

Someday David Ortiz may win the MVP, but it won’t happen this year. While statistics and a winning team are extremely important to a candidate’s chances of winning the award, the media has the ability to sway the vote one way or the other.

If you analyze the national baseball media, the Sox have an amazing amount of reporters who root for the team. The only other team that receives the same amount of coverage is the Yankees.

Think about it – Gammons, Simmons and Sean McAdams cover the Sox regularly on ESPN.com. SI and ESPN Magazine usually has a player on the cover once during the season. Other baseball beat reporters sometime cover team issues as well.

Last year, when Ortiz should have won the MVP, the pro-Boston beat reporters were actively speaking up that he should win. This year? Reporters are looking at Jeter or Justin Morneau.

This posting may not have offered a strong story angle, but I thought it was an interesting glimpse into baseball’s media.

Boston Fans Misunderstand the Details

2006-09-21T21:45:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, the Globe’s Steve Bailey wrote an article titled, "Sox owner may invest in NASCAR." It has been known for some time that Sox owner John Henry is a huge NASCAR fan and he has asked FSG to find ways where the company could be involved with the sport. The article highlighted how Henry and the rest of the Sox front office attended Sunday’s NASCAR race in Loudon.

Towards the end of the article, Bailey opened up a hornet’s nest with Boston sports fan. He noted, "For the Red Sox, these non baseball opportunities are particularly valuable because they are not subject to Major League Baseball's revenue-sharing tax. But they also raise dicey questions for Henry & Co. For instance, if the Red Sox owners can spend $50 million on a NASCAR team, why can the Yankees outspend them by $75 million a year for players? And why should taxpayers kick in for improvements around Fenway Park?

Some of the limited partners have been asking questions, too. If the Red Sox can spend big on a NASCAR team and Kenmore Square real estate – thanks to revenue that has exploded by $100 million since Henry bought the team in 2001 -- why can't they make distributions to the partners? No one has left the partnership since Henry put the group together, but at least one limited partner has recently explored selling his shares."

Over the last few days, Sox fans have been ranting on WEEI wondering why the Sox don’t spend as much money as the Yankees to win the World Series. The problem is that once you “peel the onion,” there are a plethora of other items on the table.

· Let’s say the Sox spend an additional $50 million dollars on player salaries. That is all fine and dandy, but the team would then have to pay an exuberant revenue-sharing tax. The team is maxed out financially. There are only four or five teams that have a team salary over $100 million. If Bostonians didn’t have such an inferiority complex to the Yankees, I doubt the team would need to spend all this money. On the flip side, they also wouldn’t contend every year.

· New England Sports Ventures, the parent company of the Sox and the other businesses, paid a ridiculous amount of money for the Sox, NESN and everything else. It will take years for the owners to pay down all the loans. They need to find other ways to generate revenue.

· As we know, NASCAR is becoming the most popular sport in America (sorry football fans.) The marketing and sponsorship opportunities are endless. With FSG’s marketing prowess, they could generate some decent revenue if they worked in the sport.

· From a business of sports perspective, it is also a smart move to develop a partnership between New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR and the Sox. FSG has the contacts and the power to convince additional sponsors to become partners with the Speedway. How easy do you think it would be to do business with prospective clients if either organization could offer NASCAR or Sox tickets?
I will be surprised if FSG jumps into NASCAR quickly. I heard they were going a different way for the time being, but it is still exciting news. Boston sports fans just need to know the full details before lashing out at the team.

Budweiser’s Interesting Idea

2006-09-19T15:48:00.000-04:00

Budweiser is launching an Internet TV network titled Bud.TV, that will cost an estimated $30 million to launch. The launch is set for February 2007 to coincide with the Super Bowl. According to an article I read, "It will feature 24-hour live and on-demand programming and other content including humorous Webisodes, sporting events, consumer-generated content, field news reports, celebrity interviews, music downloads and comedian vignettes."

This is an interesting idea. The company is moving past RSS and blogs to create this TV network. As long as it is not too Bud-positive, this could work. It is something different that not a lot of companies are doing.

Doritos – What Are They Thinking?

2006-09-19T15:28:00.000-04:00

As Bill Simmons wrote recently on ESPN.com, sports teams really need to hire a "common sense" manager who can make decisions for a team when it looks like they are going off the deep end. As I continue to read the sports marketing practices of large corporations, I believe some of them need to hire a "common sense" manager as well. This person can sit in on meetings and when they hear an idea that is "just a little too out there," they can voice their opinion. See below:

According to Promo Magazine, "Yesterday Doritos launched a contest for consumers to create a 30-second spot to air during Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4, 2007. The winning ad will air unaltered and untagged during the game. It's the only spot that Doritos will air during the Super Bowl, and its first appearance during the game since 2001. (No word yet on Frito-Lay's other brands' ad plans for the game.) Entrants submit their videos online, from Oct. 2 through Dec. 1; Frito-Lay will pick five finalists to post at Doritos.com in January for a public vote. The top vote getter wins the airtime."

Um…let me get this straight. Doritos is going to pay close to THREE MILLION dollars for a 30-second ad to let some consumer create a commercial to be aired during the Super Bowl. The ad will be unaltered and untagged so there is no guarantee that Doritos’ messaging will be correct. The company will not be able to target a select audience with this commercial. The television viewership is close to a billion people. I don’t think a company should be testing out an idea of this magnitude during the big game.

At the 50,000 foot level, this is an extremely interesting idea. Maybe though, a company should try it out during the MLB playoffs, football postseason or the MLB World Series, but not the Super Bowl. This ad is either going to raise their brand ten fold or be a plane that flies straight into the ground.

I disagree with this marketing plan if they plan to air the ad during the most important sporting event of the year.

Bank of America and NASCAR

2006-09-19T14:58:00.000-04:00

BoA continues to make a strong push with its sports sponsorships. The company has a national sponsorship with MLB and recently signed an agreement with NASCAR. Promo Magazine reported, "Bank of America is cashing in on its sponsorship of the inaugural Bank of America 500 NASCAR race with a promo that lets fans jockey for the chance to say four words to be broadcast round the nation—Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!"

According to the article, "it holds the title of the official bank of baseball and is an official sponsor of the 2006-2008 U.S. Olympic Teams. The bank’s nationwide sponsorship portfolio also includes professional golf, football and motor sports."

A spokeswoman added, "The bank recognized that NASCAR has some of the most loyal fans in sports and certainly we want to have a relationship with those fans," said Jill Gregory, senior VP racing platform at Bank of America (BOA). "A lot of NASCAR fans are Bank of America customers and we wanted...to be more of a part of the NASCAR environment and talk to those fans."

This race is during the "Chase for the Cup", which is NASCAR’s postseason. There is tons of additional media coverage and television viewership during the postseason. The sponsorship allows the bank to develop relationships with fans, while also bringing clients to the race. The bank can create a "VIP Experience" for select clients by bringing them to the garage, pit road during the race or by having the opportunity to meet a driver.

I believe this sponsorship will help the bank’s brand over the long term and it was a smart business decision.

Sports Marketing: Pushing the Envelope

2006-09-15T14:32:00.000-04:00

From today's WSJ (thanks dad):

"In New Zealand, German sportswear maker Adidas has launched a marketing campaign to bring fans closer to the country's hugely popular All Blacks rugby team -- by sharing samples of the players' blood.

The blood, taken from every member of the national team, was mixed into the ink used to make a poster of the team given to fans who buy a $70 team jersey made by Adidas. Each of the 8,000 posters comes with a certificate of authenticity."

This idea is creepy. From a PR standpoint, I would have had a tought time approving this campaign. I am absolutely amazed that Adidas has not received bad PR from this event.

"The idea for the 'Bonded by Blood' campaign came from ad agency TBWA\Whybin, a joint venture majority-owned by Omnicom Group of New York. Around the Asian-Pacific region, TBWA has developed a reputation for pushing the envelope with stunts for Adidas, such as dangling soccer players off billboards in Japan and bouncing around soccer fans inside a giant ball in New Zealand. Both of those campaigns won major creative awards at the Cannes advertising festival."

These are interesting ideas, but I really wonder if they would have the same positive affect in the States.

Changing the Face of Marketing

2006-09-15T14:21:00.000-04:00

Interesting article from BusinessWeek last week entitled, "Marketing to Kids Where They Live." The feature noted how marketing is moving away from conventional ad-based media planning toward marketing-based communications planning. This includes branded entertainment, event marketing and experiential marketing. This is a smart move that all companies need to embrace in the future. If you want to reach the younger generation, you have to "think outside the box." The story also noted:

"JP Morgan Chase, looking to foster loyalty among college kids who like to use their credit cards, recently hired students at 300 college campuses to produce sponsored food-and-game incentives that would appeal to young people. Instead of using its Web site, it chose Facebook as the medium to reach students. That's just one example of how social networks serve as bulletin boards to get messages out. Marketing initiatives that involve young people need to go farther than placing banner ads on a Web site. They have to speak directly to them, and give them something relevant, like a free meal. Other companies creating campaigns for social networks include Burger King, Apple Computer and Wendy's. Burger King's MySpace page for 'the King,' its new, wide-grinning mascot appearing in most of its commercials, has amassed more than 120,000 friends. How does a blatant marketing ploy land that many friends? Free giveaways of TV shows, like Fox's '24' and 'American Dad.' If you give these kids free stuff, they'll happily lap up whatever marketing message you offer. MySpace, with its 50 million uniques, is the right place to be."

Dunkin’ Donuts and National Sports Sponsorships

2006-09-15T14:02:00.000-04:00

I was reading recently that “Dunkin' Donuts plans to open 10,000 new stores around the U.S. by 2020. It also intends to add 325 stores in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore by 2010. A similar announcement has already been made in Chicago, and several more are in the works around the country. Dunkin' Donuts currently has 4,400 stores, compared with 8,600 for the more upscale Starbucks.”

The Company has had a lot of success with its sports sponsorship activities in the Northeast. Most sports fans know about their Dunkin’ Donuts seats at Fenway or their sponsorships with the Garden and the Pats. During every Sox home game, Jerry Remy makes sure to highlight the kids who are sitting in the Dunkin’ Donuts seats. This is great branding for the company/

With all the success they have had, why don’t they purchase a national sponsorship? I understand it will be expensive, but from a branding and relationship building aspect, this is an ideal way to connect with new customers. Traditional forms of advertising are not connecting with consumers like it did in the past.

Recently franchisees’ have opened Dunkin’ Donuts shops down south. People were excited about the donuts, but didn’t have a clue about the coffee. Most kids who are born in New England know about the importance of Dunkin’ coffee has on adults by the time they turn three.

Why don’t they develop a sponsorship with NASCAR? They don’t have to sponsor a whole team. Maybe Dunkin’ could be an associate sponsor on a team or maybe it could purchase a national sponsorship. We all know that NASCAR fans flock to products that are associated with the sport.

Dunkin’ should also consider sponsoring a golf tournament or even a fishing tournament down south to help raise awareness of the brand if the company plans to compete with Starbucks. They need to sponsor sporting events that are important to people in the region.

From what I have heard, Dunkin’ does not plan to role out a national sports marketing plan which I believe is a bad idea. This will hurt the company’s U.S. expansion in the long term.

Red Sox and Patriots PR

2006-09-14T14:50:00.000-04:00

The sports PR landscape is starting to change in Boston. It has been interesting to see how the media has handled the news from these two teams.

The Patriots:

We all know the Pats like to release as little information as possible. At times, they don’t feel the need to announce players’ signing new contracts or other items that would interest a football fan. Why should they? Their stadium is sold out, the mantra across New England is “In Bill We Trust” and they have a season ticket waiting list of 50,000. Yeah…they really don’t need to spend a lot of time promoting the team. Win a Super Bowl and watch how the media comes to you.

It has been interesting to watch how the Pats handled the Branch situation. How many players really talked about Branch? The rookies sure didn’t since they are on probation. Belichick always would say, “Let’s talk about the players who are here.” We all heard from Brady earlier this week and I know one or two other players have spoke on the situation. How many times did Branch even speak about his holdout?

It is pretty amazing that Stacey James and the rest of his team was able to really control this story and not make it an issue for the team. Then again, the team has learned how to handle these types of situations after letting go of Law, Milloy, Bledsoe, etc.

It will be interesting to see if how the media secures quotes and information from the team this season.

The Red Sox:

How times have changed for the Red Sox PR machine. From the end of the 2003 season to the beginning of the 2004 season, I heard the Sox were in the newspaper every day during the off-season. Even though the Pats were on their way to the Super Bowl, the Sox still took center stage.

Now that the team is out contention for the Wild Card, things have gotten awful quiet. We knew that Theo put down a directive before he came back that management needed to reign in its love of coverage. As I have said before, how many times have you seen Theo interviewed on TV, radio or in the newspaper this year? In the past, this team would have been looking for any angle to generate news even if they were losing. It’s not the case anymore.

Times are changing in Boston. I am interested to see how the Bruins and the Celtics handle their PR and sports marketing activities this winter. These two teams should try to generate as much coverage and interest as possible.

Sports-Based YourTube

2006-09-14T14:19:00.000-04:00

Due to the fact that my computer is as slow as Benji Molina, I have not had the opportunity to fully appreciate YourTube. I know, I know, the site is the best thing since the Red Sox finally won the World Series.

I assume the site has a sports channel, but I wonder why a company, like ESPN, CBS Sports, etc has not announced the creation of a sports-based YourTube. I would have to believe that VC and angel investors would be jumping at the chance to create this business.

What is included on the site:

· People can download sports-based home videos.
· Sports team can download games, interviews or other items.
· People can download sports-based television shows.

How does the site make money?

· Have sponsors of the different channels and allow banner advertising.
· Charge users a small fee to have the opportunity to view games from the professional leagues. The site would have negotiate agreements or create partnerships with the different leagues. I know some of the leagues might be skeptical, but this is a great way to generate exposure.
· Make sure to include non-traditional sports like Poker, skate boarding and any extreme sports.
· Create the ability to watch games live from the site – this could bring in some serious coin.
· Allow the leagues to all sell DVDs and/or apparel from their respective sport.
· Have a weekly e-mail newsletter, branded of course, that highlights different new videos that have been posted to the site.

This is a site that would draw traffic as well as sponsors and be a serious money maker over time. It will be interesting if someone could ever put it together.

Boston Bruins – Gold Star of the Day

2006-09-13T17:29:00.000-04:00

I am excited to see the Bruins are finally reaching out to the community and its fans.

Bruins individual game tickets go on sale Thursday, September 14th at 11:00 a.m. and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, online through Ticketmaster, by calling (617)-624-BEAR and at the TD Banknorth Garden Box Office (located on the West Side of North Station platform, to the right of the Bruins Pro Shop). Several members of the Bruins will be available to sign autographs throughout the day.

The autograph schedule will be as follows:
11:00-1:00 p.m.: Terry O'Reilly
2:00-3:00 p.m.: Marco Sturm, Zdeno Chara and P.J. Axelsson
3:00-4:00 p.m.: Patrice Bergeron, Brad Boyes and Marc Savard
4:00-5:00 p.m.: Hannu Toivonen and Tim Thomas
5:00-6:00 p.m.: Dave Lewis

This is a decent group of players to have at a signing. I am also impressed Dave Lewis, the new coach, was willing to put himself in front of the Bruins faithful. They are going to be asking him a lot of random questions.

Since a plethora of the Bruins players are new, management MUST get the team out into the city and the surrounding communities so fans can put a name with a face. If Boston sports fans can’t see the players are human and can’t find a way to connect with them, then the team is in for another long year.

They may still have a strong showing of support at games, but the team, as well as the league, needs to do something about the television audience. It was morbid last year.

Boston Celtics/Bruins FanFest

2006-09-13T16:46:00.000-04:00

The Boston Celtics and the Bruins are always looking for ways to draw fans to the games. Why in the world don’t they ever host any type of Fanfest events outside the Garden? They could put a huge tent in the parking lot area in front of the arena. They could have games in the tent including shooting free throws, three-pointers or dunking on smaller nets. There could be old-time Celtics videos, maybe retired players could sign autographs, face painting and other activities. These events wouldn’t take place every night but maybe three or four times a year.

What would make this event beneficial are the sponsorship opportunities that would be available. A sporting goods company – Nike, Reebok, even Dick’s Sporting Good could sponsor the event and put their logo on the tent. This branding would offer tons of exposure.

Inside select companies could give out free products, while other companies might want to sponsor select activities. The could have a charity set up a table to be the "Celtics Charity of the Night."

Parents would bring their children to the event and if their experiences were positive, the kids would remember these events forever. The children might also become fans. Now the teams have a new generation of passionate followers. This type of event is an innovative way to generate exposure for the team and its sponsors.

I understand there would be a ton of logistics to set up an event of this nature, but this is something that needs to be created moving forward.

RSS and Selling Sports Tickets

2006-09-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

Why aren’t sports teams using RSS to sell unused tickets? Why don’t ticket agencies consider purchasing the software as well?

How easy would it be to post information that a certain group of tickets will be sold at a discount rate the afternoon before a game? I bet you could sell half the tickets that way.

Why the sudden urge in develop this effective marketing idea that can produce a positive ROI? An article I read from ClickZ.com titled, "Real-Life RSS Marketing," notes the following:

"Any number of online providers have made coupons available through feeds. Aggregators, including CouponBar, All Online Coupons, and CouponClock, are just a few consumer sites to have jumped on the bandwagon. Many, such as Deal of the Day and Phatdeal.com, offer customizable coupon feeds; just baby stuff or beauty offers, for example."

"From Amazon.com to more modest e-tailers, one click feeds you all the deals, new and special offers, updates, and products that may interest you."

It can’t cost a lot to purchase the software and develop. Some intern could run the whole program. Teams could also post press releases, coupons from top sponsors or deals for team apparel. The marketing opportunities are endless.

Ticket agencies never want to have unused tickets. I understand they can go to the event to sell some of their ticket beforehand, but how easy would it be just to put the tickets on a RSS feed instead of Craigslist or eBay?

I would be shocked, if any ticket office didn’t see an immediately rise in ticket sales after a couple of months.

See Manning in My Sleep

2006-09-10T20:58:00.000-04:00

Is it just me or is anyone else at a saturation point with all these Manning family commercials? The list includes: the one for ESPN, Sprint, Direct TV and NFL merchandise. Since the Mannings’ are competing against each other tonight, every station in the world has shown some piece on the family over the last week.

Now, last year, the Manning MasterCard was fun and entertaining. The commercials were played a lot, but not all at once. Someone’s agent, either Eli’s or Peyton’s, needs to talk to the marketing/PR manager and tell them to relax. Why the sudden push to make both of these players nationally known? Why throw it down our throats? Neither of these players is going to retire next year.

Archie is even hawking products at the moment: "Canon USA, Inc. has tapped former NFL quarterback Archie Manning and sent an e-mail blast to more than 2 million Canon loyalists as part of a campaign that dangles a trip for four to next year's Super Bowl as a grand prize."

I agree it was a smart plan to include all three QBs (including their father) in commercials since they can relate to a wide range of fans.

I understand it is important to make money when it is available and I also understand this is a perfect time to help create a “Manning brand” away from football. I am concerned that fans are going to be stuck watching all these commercials throughout the season and some “may” get stick of seeing this family on television. I am already at that point.

FSG and Video Games

2006-09-10T20:55:00.000-04:00

Fenway Sports Group is always brainstorming for new and innovative ideas to make money for Sox ownership. I wonder if they are involved with the following project:

Curt Schilling, the Boston Red Sox pitcher, on Friday announced he has founded a new company with Todd McFarlane and R.A. Salvatore, two video game creators, to develop massively multiplayer online games. The new company, called Green Monster Games, is now in pre-production on their premier title and is currently looking for employees.

Some well known people founded this company. It will be interesting to see if they use FSG to help market the company and its products.

Alienate the LA Football Fans

2006-09-06T14:51:00.000-04:00

If I live in L.A. the thought of watching football at this time is not high on my radar. L.A. is the number one or number two television market in the country and they don’t have a professional team. How much would companies pay to marketing their brand or products to viewers? The NFL, the team and the cable stations could make millions, but they are still fighting.

Last week the LA Times reported the following:

"The cable television giant and NFL Network are in the midst of a bitter dispute, and the Los Angeles City Council is on NFL Network's side, as evidenced by a resolution passed Friday

But even with City Hall on its side, NFL Network faces a difficult battle that could keep it out of 2 million cable homes in the Greater L.A. market, and 600,000 homes within the L.A. city limits.

For three years, Time Warner Cable has refused to carry the league-owned network, which launched in November 2003.

And when Time Warner Cable recently replaced Adelphia and Comcast cable in the L.A. market, it took NFL Network away from those customers who were getting it.

The Federal Communications Commission ordered Time Warner Cable to put NFL Network back into those homes for 30 days, since it was taken off without warning."

Time Warner and the NFL are continuing to fight how much it should cost consumers to pay for the channel. In the end, no one will win in this battle.

Continuing the Bruins Transformation

2006-09-06T14:15:00.000-04:00

Pat offered some impressive ideas to help revitalize the Bruins to the New England community. I definitely agree with some of his ideas and want to discuss these bullet points further.

1. Change uniforms. There is nothing exciting about their uniforms. Also, when you change uni's, you open up another opportunity to generate revenue on sales of new sports gear.

Response: One of the problems of late is the Bruins have been changing their uniform designs almost too much. They have a jersey for home, for the road and for games against the Original Six. I believe fans just want some consistency with the jerseys.

2. Freeze 2nd-tier pricing. The people that can't afford to go are the people paying $20/seat, not $150.

Response: I totally agree with Pat on this one. I don’t know how much the Bruins pay to lease the Garden, but they need to keep the third-tier seats low to convince families and hopefully, a new generation of fans, to regularly attend the games.

3. Market the personality of the team. Inject the players into funny commercials that play during morning & evening local newscasts.

Response: Since there are a lot of new executives within the organization, I really hope they infuse a lot of time and energy into marketing the team. I was told a while back, onside counsel recommended the Bruins send players to firehouses around the city on Sept. 11 to thank the fire fighters for all the work they do. The players would give out some tickets, sign some autographs and say thanks. The media would not be invited to make this look a little more genuine. The Bruins front office balked at this idea and I forget the reason why. This would have been a perfect way to connect with the community.

The Bruins did a great job last year securing media coverage. They had articles in the Boston Sunday Magazine and ESPN Magazine. They also showed those Dennis Leary commercials every five seconds.

The Bruins don’t need more media coverage; they need to get their players out in the community so they are more visible. When is the last time you went out in the city and saw or recognized a Bruins player? I never hear of these guys going to charity events or just out in the city. This needs to change.

4. Make the front of the Banknorth Garden more inviting. Hold public events out front on game night. Right now, it seems cold and closed off to the public - you can't even enter the building from the front, only the sides. Huge, huge mistake. The Sox do a great job of this, creating a festive atmosphere before gametime.

Response: Pat, this idea was, by far, the best one you came up with. I can’t believe I didn’t think about this. Here is what the Garden needs to do to clean up the area:
· Move the scalpers away from the entrance. I have no problem if they sell tickets, but move them to the side.
· Open up the parking lot in front of the Garden, like Pat said, to create a hockey fanfest. I would be shocked if a company wouldn’t want to sponsor something like this. People attending the game would see the company’s branding as well as the people catching the trains at North Station.

ESPN Mobile Phones Part Two….

2006-09-04T15:34:00.000-04:00

According to MediaPost, "ESPN WILL OFFER UP TO 25 college football games live a month on its consumer mobile service throughout the college season starting Sept. 4."

Hmm…I know that ESPN is putting a plethora of advertising and marketing dollars to gain a significant share of the mobile services’ market, but is it really worth it? How many people do you know who watch videos on their phones?

"Linda Barrabee, program manager for U.S. wireless research at Yankee Group, said that live sports programming on ESPN Mobile, which runs on the Sprint PCS network, would help differentiate the service from competitors. Aside from live audio streaming of baseball games through Major League Baseball, there is little sports or any other kind of live programming for mobile phones today, she said. Only about 1 percent of wireless users subscribe to any data service that includes mobile video, according to Yankee Group research."

Um…according to Yankee Group, "only about 1 percent of wireless users subscribe to any data service that includes mobile video."
While would you spend some much time and money on one percent of the wireless users? Most people have access to televisions unless you are in the woods or out in a boat. In those places, you have to worry to see if you have enough service. I understand this one percent will grow over time. Is it worth hemorrhaging money to wait for more sports fans to purchase this service?

ESPN, at this point, reminds me a lot of Microsoft. They are the 800-pound guerilla in the room. Sometimes their products are innovative and helpful to consumers. I just don’t see a lot of people paying the money to ensure they can watch college football games on their phones.

Sports Teams and YouTube

2006-09-03T18:13:00.000-04:00

I just read an impressive marketing article on Advertising Age entitled, “http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=111546,” which discussed the steps to gain positive traction when marketing on the Web site. This is the type of plan that any sports team who wants to be considered forward thinking and innovative around Web 2.0 should use as a start to gain eyeballs and mindshare on this popular site.

The article highlighted the following steps which I agree with:

* Secure your brand channel and make it a destination. Brand channels offer a bit of a "safe haven" on YouTube, allowing you to have moderate control of your message and providing a platform for telling your story. A good example is Warner Bros. Records' Paris Hilton Channel. (In the spirit of full disclosure, Organic was the agency that arranged for Fox Broadcasting Co.'s show "Prison Break" to sponsor the Paris Hilton Channel in its first week.)

* Respect "tribute-ors." We define "tribute-ors" as those who pay tribute to a brand by making their own home-brew advertising. Think of it as consumer-generated media in the form of an ad. Like tribute-ors or not, they are on YouTube and they have their own opinions. By having your own brand channel, your story will be there to speak up for your brand.

* Put it all out there. Remember, YouTube is the de-facto research for TV spots and video content. Make sure that you are well represented. Did you have a celebrity spokesperson for a campaign? Put some footage of the shoot or an interview up.

* Haters hate. Demonstrate that you are a 2.0 brand by embracing all comments, tributes and ratings.

* Reward loyalists. Surprise your favorite people with special content and exclusive offers. People love to be in on a secret. If they know one, then they're sure to tell a friend.

Sports team need to work with their league’s broadcasting department to gain the ability to put the following on YourTube:

* Team commericals
* Post game press conferences
* Charity events that include athletes on the team
* Clips from previous games

I knwo league broadcasting departments want to control where the league is broadcasted, but there is so much useless footage they could put on the site that would interest fans.

From what I can surmise, most teams want to stick to the traditional marketing practices. They don’t have the time or energy to deal with podcasting, blogs or YourTube. They also don’t want to be the first to try experimenting with this type of marketing due to concerns it might fail.

I totally disagree. You can hire college interns or kids right out of college to oversee this marketing channel. Theese interns understand the tagert market the teams are trying to reach. The team will be able to connect with the younger generation, the fans of tomorrow.

Bruins Receiving the Wrong Type of PR

2006-09-03T17:51:00.001-04:00

ver the last few weeks, the Boston Globe has reported how the Boston Bruins plan to raise tickets prices right along the boards. Management says that these tickets are extremely under priced compared to other teams in the league. Um..when was the last time the Bruins made the playoffs? When was the last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup? Is this a wise move?

The NHL now has a hard cap so the Bruins do not have to worry about other teams spending more for salaries every year. I understand the team wants to make money, but is this the right image they want to present to their fans?

This morning, the Globe reported:

"Bruins season ticket-holders received invoices last week, and as noted here a couple of weeks ago, the front-row loge seats took a big bump, from $90 to $150 per game (66.7 percent increase). The same seats will go for $175 per game at the box office. Cost for a pair of seats along the glass for a full season: $12,610. According to information provided to season ticket-holders, the Bruins will freeze the $150 price for three seasons, and ticket-holders also will receive memberships at Legends, the Vault's third-floor bar/eatery."

Season ticket holders will have the opportunity to sell back tickets to the team, but this bump in ticket prices is NOT a smart move. Here’s why:

· The NHL is continuing to repair the relationships with its fans. They have connected with the “hard core” fans, but need to do some major work connecting with the peripheral fans. These peripheral fans, over time, become hard core fans and that is important for any sports team.
· For a team that has not made a strong run in the playoffs recently, the team is turning away fans buy increasing these tickets by 66.7 percent.
· The Bruins are going to receive PR over the next few days leading up to training camp highlighting this increase in tickets, but I sure don’t think it is going to be positive coverage.
· The Bruins must continue to generate a rolling thunder media campaign to attract fans to attend the games as well as watch games on television. From what I remember reading last year, the NHL saw a drastic drop in its television audience. There is still a lot of work to be done.

The hard core fans are going to root for the Bruins in good times and bad. I bet most of the season ticket holders who sit along the glass have had these tickets for generations. Why in the world are you going to have them start the season with a sour taste in their mouths? I understand money rules the world, but I disagree with this business decision.

Bruins Receiving the Wrong Type of PR

2006-09-03T17:51:00.000-04:00

Fantasy Sports Show…Finally Waking Up

2006-08-30T21:02:00.000-04:00

Recently ESPN announced they created a weekly fantasy football show for the upcoming season. Hmmm…you think this is a good idea? I am shocked OLN, ESPN, Fox, ABC, NBC or CBS didn’t think about this beforehand. I understand most of the media outlets have a fantasy sports page on their web sites. I know a show could spend at least an hour a week discussing fantasy sports including baseball, football, basketball, hockey and NASCAR. During the show, they could address in-season and out of season issues.

What am I missing? This type of show should have been created a year ago. I definitely think industries including beer, cars/trucks and fast food would want to advertise to this targeted market via television and Web site involvement. This 18-42 market is extremely important to most retailers.

Fantasy sports are the next area of the sports industry that is really going to take off. Fantasy sports are at the same stage as poker a couple of years ago when the card game really started to generate a buzz.

OLN Continues its Push Towards Versus

2006-08-30T20:54:00.000-04:00

According to MediaDailyNews, "OLN has added Naked Communications to its roster to aid the network's rebranding efforts. Naked will work with TAXI New York and will serve as a partner in planning both the marketing and communications for Versus, OLN's future name, as well as creative ideation."

Versus needs to secure higher profile sporting events to attract new audiences. We will see....

Lexus’s Run at the US Open Could Backfire

2006-08-30T20:27:00.000-04:00

Lexus is the official vehicle of the 2006 US Open and the presenting sponsor of the “US Open Men's Singles Championship to serve up promos right down the baseline of the tennis event.” As a way to enhance their sponsorship at the event, the “automaker launched the Lexus Insider Alert, a cell phone application that alerts attendees to Lexus activities on-site.”

Now, in theory, having alerts sent to consumers’ phones is an innovative idea. People usually do not receive a lot of advertisements on their phone. Some the message comes across clutter free. It is also an interested, targeted market who had to give up their cell number.

The one problem I have is what is going to happen when the people forget to turn off their phones and an alert comes on while they are watching a match? Can you tell me it won’t happen? What if multiple phones go off after an alert is sent during the match.

Now I know what you are saying – Lexus’ promotional team is smart enough to send alerts at the beginning or at the end of the day. How many be will remember to visit the Lexus’ tent after receiving the alert and there is no guarantee they won’t delete the message immediately.

One other question: Most people who buy Lexus’ are upper middle class or higher. I would say at least 75 percent of them own cells phones, but how many know how to receive text messages? I bet the percent would be surprisingly low. I wonder what are Lexus’ goals for this promotion…

Lack of Analytics and Online Skills

2006-08-27T19:24:00.000-04:00

Promo Magazine posted an interesting article last week titled, “Lack of Analytics And Online Skills Concern Marketers: Study.” The article reported, “Marketers need to acquire new skills necessary, especially in the areas of analysis, measurement and search engine optimization, which are becoming more important than traditional marketing competencies, such as branding and product promotion, a recent study found.”

If you work in marketing and you do not understand the basics of search engine marketing, blogging, Myspace, podcasting and RSS, you are behind the marketing eight ball. Marketers need to be able to forecast how consumers are buying products and how they want to be contacted.

Branding and product promotion are important, but as I have stated regularly in this blog, marketers need to find fresh ways to break out of the clutter. The also need to devise strong ROI marketing plans. Companies want to see how marketing is helping the bottom line.

John Squire, VP-product strategy and general manager, marketing services at Coremetrics stated, “A divide is opening up between those organizations that have the resources and expertise to optimize their online marketing and those that haven't, with the former gaining the competitive edge. Marketers that acquire such skills are becoming the new heroes in their organizations.”

Smart Sports Marketing Agenda

2006-08-27T19:01:00.000-04:00

The Calgary Sun recently reported, “Cold-fX maker CV Technologies Inc. is expanding its presence in the hockey world after signing a multi-year partnership with the National Hockey League and its players' association.“ According to the story, CV Technologies plans to launch its products into the U.S. this fall.

I am always impressed when companies think outside the box to find innovative ways to promote their brands. In the coming years, more and more companies are going to move to sponsoring events to generate exposure for their brand. People are saturated with ads in print, broadcast and even the Internet. Companies need to find ways to break away from the clutter.

Some thoughts about this deal:

I want to find out how the NHL client-side sponsorship team was able to finalize this deal. Did CV Technologies seek out the NHL or was it the other way around? I doubt the NHL or any league has a lot of interest to own the cold remedy category for their sport. But then again, cold medicine for the sport that is played outside -- as the gentlemen in the Guinness commercials say -- brilliant!

While the NHL is having a challenge increasing its viewer ship on television, the league attendance was almost at an all-time high last year. Diehard NHL fans are almost as passionate as NASCAR fans and I would not be surprised if they try CV Technologies cold remedies since they sponsor the League.

The story added that “Cold-fX will sponsor a monthly NHL player award and have exclusive marketing rights for major events such as the Stanley Cup playoffs, the all-star game, the entry draft and the NHL awards show.”

By marketing at these events, I assume CV will have the opportunities to invite U.S. clients to these big games. This is a great way to help convince companies to purchase their flu remedy. Hopefully, they will host events and bring in former hockey greats that these clients or the company’s sales reps can meet. I know from experience that these types of events can be beneficial in enhancing a sales-type relationship.

Sports sponsorships can really help to raise the profile of a company. We have seen business use sports sponsorships as a springboard to generate exposure for their brand and I think this is a smart move for CV Technologies.