Ambush Marketing

The patriarch of one of America’s legendary families, Joe Kennedy, always preached to his famous sons “You Are Who You Say You Are,” and that creedo is a good example of how today’s brands can best pitch and stay on message. Remembering “who you are” and “what you do” and making sure everyone in the company is in line with that vision is the best way to effectively and consistently communicate. A great example of that consistent messaging, and the placing of a steady stream of information around that message, is being done by the New Jersey Nets as they battle every obstacle in their planned move to Brooklyn in the future.

It has long been known that the female head of household is the decision maker on products, and the brands that can effectively communicate to those decision makers through sports or entertainment are often the most effective. Of course in sports the challenge has always been how to keep women interested and engaged in activities that might play more to the male demo. That problem has waned in recent years as girls have become more active, the head of household has shifted and women take a much more visible role in the overall positioning and delivering of kids to sporting events and choosing leasure activities to attend.

While the pressure to find new ways to get bigger ROI and link athletes closer to fans spending their discretionary dollar grows, the legitimacy or original reasons for using social networking as a valuable tool becomes more clouded in many ways. Shaquille O’Neal’s Twitter success, with the help of Charlotte-based Sports Media Challenge, broke the ice and showed athletes and brands how that medium could work as a successful connection tool.

It is the nichest of the niche, designed to inspire the sailor and sense of adventure in all sports and entertainment fans, albeit using the highest of high tech to satisfy sponsor spend and communicate in real time through satellite technology to millions of logged on interested parties. It is the Volvo Ocean Race, and as it recently left Boston Harbor, it proved again that with the right partners and targeting the right audience even niche sports can survive in a down economy.

The have had proposals on air, the signature blue field, amazing comebacks and challenges to the BCS…now Boise State is looking to use aggressive social media tactics to grow its brands and expose its athletes to the widest grassroots audience possible in an attempt to market outside its nice audience. The Broncos plans for the summer were discussed in detail in this weekend’s Idaho Statesman, and though not unique as one off’s. they show a solid unified plan for a midmajor school looking to invest in its brand and get exposure where traditional media is limited.

For as long as we have had promotions in sports, teams have worked with franchises for “special prizes” when teams hit milestones in games. Free fries for a 100 points, double chili for six goals etc. etc. have always been a get something for nothing mantra that drives foot traffic as the added bonus for a team partnership for many retailers and franchisees. In February Quiznos took in one step further by using many of its sports platforms to promote its one million free sub giveaway, which generated a countless amount of foot traffic and publicity even with some of its snafus with demand outreaching supply.

It is definately more entertainment than sports, but it has athleticism and now all the flash and dash of entertainment so as Cinco de Mayo ends we decided to take a look at the Mexican wrestling niche phenomenon Lucha Libre, and its crossover into burlesque and entertainment in LA, Lucha Libre Vavavoom. NPR highlighted the new entertainment property on Tuesday morning, and pointed to its crossover from the Anglo to Hispanic audiences, its fun entertainment appeal, the showmanship and the athleticism of the performers and many of the brands that are looking to crossover, from mainstream American brands like Miller to traditional Mexican brands to grab that audience.

One of the best sites on the web for sports things digital is Pat Coyle’s Sports Marketing 2.0, and they recently did a summary on the NFL Draft and teams use of twitter to actually break news (which was also put together by the Sports Business Daily). As brands and athletes jump to the twitter bandwagon, it shows that the technology may have an immediacy that others do not have for exclusive news distribution.

Sometimes on the surface the matchup of an athlete or celebrity with a brand may be a little quizzical, and such was the case when high-end shoe retailer Cole Haan announced its first-ever athlete endorsement deal with tennis star Maria Sharapova. Now Sharapova is already becoming the stuff of legend in the endorsement world, even in a down economy. Her deals with companies like Canon, Tiffany and the watch brand Tag Heuer pull in millions, almost as much for her ability to understand and deliver messages to a high end consumer as for her on court results and tennis pedigree. Still, matching Sharapova with Cole Haan still could be a stretch for a brand with little TV presence and no sports marketing background.

A few recent instances have come up which show when sports or entertainment brands can test the waters to see what is acceptable for their fans and more importantly, their business partners. First was the UFC. CEO Dana White has done a phenomonal job of building that property to as close to mainstream as MMA may ever get, especially in a down economy where discretionary dollars will still go to the main four team sports, as well as NASCAR and soccer, in North America. Still, the UFC, with their great TV partner in Spike, have carved a niche with sponsors like Bud Light and Harley Davidson among others. Not huge spends, but very smart ones to access the demo and the UFC experience.

The world of the have’s and the have nots in college athletics ebbs and flows in any given year, and this time of year the hope for Cinderella trying on the glass slipper in March Madness is what keeps fans up at night. However what keeps many coaches and administrators up at night is what happens when you are a good mid-major or even a rebuilding school in a major conference and the Big Dance, or even the little dance, the NIT, don’t come calling. The answer for some is to go and try another tournament or another…and this year we find not one “alternative” but two….The College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com….

Media Post had another disturbing story about the shrinking conventional media world with three sports/entertainment magazines…the highly regarded Best Life, along with Travel and Leisure Golf and Tennis Week all going down for the count. While that crosses more “traditional” places off the pitch list, the opportunities to place and populate news stories, and compelling activation and feature pieces still are there for those who can place effectively.

Whether you are looking for a vasectomy or recreating a classic moment with the help of a popular energy drink, there will be no shortage of activation campaigns on all levels as Selection Sunday comes into view. Darren Rovell reports that last year’s promotion by an Oregon urologist for vasectomies has gained steam this year and may even be copycatted across the country, while Barry Janoff in his blog goes into great detail on Vitamin Water’s promo where fans can send in videos recreating great NCAA moments, as well as the programs by longtime partners like AT and T and Coke.

Some of the biggest and best activations in sports, locally, regionally and nationally, come from fast food chains. Whether it is McDonald’s Olympic Partnerships, Free Chili for when the Dallas Mavs hit 100 points or Burger King activating in the high school market, the reach to consumer through sports by the burger and taco joints has always been successful and effective. Now chain Carl’s Jr. has taken the relationship a step further, partnering with skateboarder and TV personality Rob Dyrdek for a series of viral video’s an in-store commemorative cup and even extending into a sponsored safe skateboarding campaign in Southern California.

As always happens in a society looking for change, especially in how we get our news and information, new ideas come and go, and the more “traditional” or established brands have to find ways to adapt, shift focus or decide to stay the course. Usually the more progressive brands are able to adapt, split fad from solid business, and re-invent themselves. It gives the entrepreneur the chance to excel in an open market, and lets brands on the marketing and communications side find new ways to connect directly with the consumer. One of the traditional stand-by’s has always been the printed newspaper.