Dec

10

Michigan donates Nike apparel to veterans

Filed Under Sports Business News | Leave a Comment

In June 2007, the University of Michigan athletic department signed an eight-year apparel deal with Adidas. As a result, the university has plenty of leftover Nike apparel that cannot be used so they decided to donate what was left to veterans across the state and in Iraq. Over 5,200 items were donated according to The Michigan Daily. All that remains is about $90,000 worth of shoes that will be shipped out later this week to the Detroit Veterans Center.

Rick Briggs, Jr., manager of the Brain Injury Association of Michigan Veterans Program, lead the team who collected, organized and distributed the apparel. “This is the first one like this of this magnitude,” Briggs said. “This is a huge donation.”

Marty Bodnar, associate athletic director for ticketing and marketing, said that in organizing the program the Athletic Department worked with the Paralyzed Veterans of America, two veterans’ homes, five VA hospitals, and the Veterans of Detroit to develop a program that shipped the apparel to veterans at VA medical facilities and to military members currently serving in Iraq.

Briggs said they had about 80 volunteers, including veterans and people from the Salvation Army, helping out with the organization and packing of the apparel.

Personally, I think this is a great move on the part of the University. Not only do they clear up storage space, but they get some nice PR by donating the apparel to veterans during the holiday season. I have read articles about the NFL donating merchandise from the Super Bowl games, but they were the items saying the New England Patriots won when the NY Giants actually did. So the apparel was sent to places like Africa where the items are certainly needed, but this was the first time I’ve heard of an athletic department donating this much apparel to non-profit organizations.

Dec

3

Washington Capitals rock the red

Filed Under Brand Marketing, Sports Business News, Sports PR | Leave a Comment

I’ve mentioned the strong PR and marketing efforts by the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference in the past. Today, I want to comment on the impressive efforts by the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference. In November 2007, Bruce Boudreau took over as head coach and around the same time, the Caps’ marketing came up with a new marketing strategy for the 2007-2008 playoffs. According to Nate Ewell, the team’s spokesman, they rejected the slogan “Caps for the Cup” because it seemed “overconfident for a team that wasn’t a shoo-in.” After more deliberation, the marketing department decided on “Rock the Red” for their new strategy and it has really paid off.

On Frozen Blog, a popular Capitals blog, talked to Tim McDermott, the Capitals’ Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, about the slogan and its origins. While I would recommend reading the entire post about the process, here are a couple points I found particularly interesting.

“It is who we are now, it’s ingrained in our brand identity,” Tim McDermott told me this week. “‘Rock the Red’ is symbolic of the experience at Caps’ games, symbolic of the type of game we play, symbolic of the team’s youth and an electric sense about the team,” he added. …

“We wanted something fun, electric, something emblematic of cool, young players.”

The Caps wanted to come up with a slogan/strategy that was not only unique and authentic, but a branding campaign that would work for teachers decorating their classroom during the playoffs or fans hosting viewing parties at their houses or how it could look at a pep rally or on a college campus. So both the marketing and communications department sat down and tossed around ideas for hours. They had to consider how the slogan would look in ads, merchandise, the arena, and the logo.

After making the playoffs last season and advancing to the conference semifinals, the Caps have seen an increase in sales. According to the Washington Business Journal, there has been a 151% increase in merchandise sales, the second-highest in the NHL behind only the Blackhawks. Ticket sales have also been boosted with 4,000 new season ticket holders.

Ewell said the Caps became convinced of their Rock The Red campaign’s effectiveness after an online marketing effort got nearly an entire stadium to wear red for the season’s final games. All five of the top-selling merchandise items in 2007-08 featured the slogan, McDermott said.

McDermott believes the success is because the “Rock the Red” campaign has truly resonated with the fan base. In fact, the team is in the process of trademarking the phrase because of its success.

“The success we’ve had with ‘Rock the Red’ is a testament to the fans — they’re the ones who made this great,” McDermott said. “The Fan Club created signs it hung at games, the fans bought the merchandise, and of course, you had that opening playoff game image against Philadelphia, that Sea of Red.”

“The beauty of our campaign is it allows us to tweak the message but retain the core message,” McDermott pointed out. “You want something that is yours, but something that is not based on team performance, on something that you can’t deliver on a given night.”

The Capitals also have teamed up with Comcast to create an original 30-minute television show called “Capitals RED TV.” The team partnered up with Starbridge Media and Comcast SportsNet. The Caps and Starbridge will pay for the production costs and split the show revenue while Comcast gets a minute of the eight minutes of commercials for each show. Comcast will promote the show 20 times per week as well as a rotating banner for the show on its homepage. Fans will also be able to catch it on demand.

So what will fans be able to catch during these 20 episodes? At least eight segments that can be used online as well as in the Verizon Center. If the program is deemed successful, the team will increase its presence on television with more episodes.

“Attendance, ratings, everything is trending up right now, so we think this is the time to try something like this,” said Tim McDermott, the Capitals’ chief marketing officer. “At a minimum, this becomes a great advertisement for us. Hopefully, it’s something that becomes a profitable venture for us.”

Finally, the Caps now have a media relations blog entitled Welcome to the Show, which is a great read for those in sports PR. Not only does the blog point out interesting news articles that we may have missed otherwise, but it lets us in on interviews that they’ve conducted recently or activities they’ve had to do as part of their jobs. I love the idea of this blog. Nice work Caps!

Oct

27

Turning around the Chicago Blackhawks

Filed Under Case Studies, Sports Business News, Sports PR | 1 Comment

One of the big stories this off-season has been the revival of one of the Original Six franchise, the Chicago Blackhawks. Before last season, Rocky Wirtz (son of then owner Bill Wirtz) was informed by the team’s finance department that they needed immediately $34 million to make payroll and start the season. That was quite the wake-up call for Rocky. His father passed away later and Rocky quickly made changes off the ice. He recently told Sports Business Journal, “I knew the Blackhawks brand had a pulse. I just didn’t know how strong it was.”

He first brought in John McDonough, who was the Cubs president at the time, and handed the reins over to McDonough in much of the business decisions. But before he could accept the position, he told Rocky that certain elements would have to be changed off the ice.

WSJ: Did you set any conditions, such as, “I want to see the games on television?”

Mr. McDonough: Without that, in my opinion, we had no chance. I gave him a list of things I thought were critical. There had to be structure. There had to be an ambitious approach.

I walked in on day one and there was no receptionist. Then I said to somebody, I want to see the director of human resources. We don’t have a director of human resources. People say, “Did you start from scratch?” Whatever it is before scratch, that’s where we started.

WSJ: Yet now you talk about building one of the best front offices in sports.

Mr. McDonough: The Blackhawks all of a sudden have been the resume Olympics. There’s a certain type of person I look for: somebody bright, somebody willing to achieve, somebody not concerned about hours. People hearken back to the 16,666 [seats at the former Chicago Stadium] that I fondly remember as a child, being one of the fans standing in the second balcony. This building [the United Center] is 5,000 seats larger. We have a tough task.

As you can see, the team had to turnaround not only its on-ice product, but its personnel as well creating an enormous task for R. Wirtz and McDonough. He then made a smart decision telling the team that the hockey and business operations were to operate as one from now on.

At the end of last season, when we missed the playoffs by three points, we gathered the hockey team and the front office together over a luncheon. The message I sent was, we are no longer going to have a hockey operation and a business operation. There is going to be one Chicago Blackhawks. There is going to be a certain type of player that is going to play…They are going to be congenial. They are going to understand the big picture. We’re not the premier sport in the United States or in Chicago. But if we sign integrity guys and players that understand the media and the importance of developing a relationship with the community, we’re going to get this job done.

I thought his mention about signing players who understand why it’s important for them to talk to the media and be active in the community was key. When you are struggling for attention in a big market like Chicago, you have to give the media a reason to write about you. Creating events like the Blackhawks Convention for fans and a Street Fest for training camp were great ways to get some print during the baseball season.

Last year, the team only had about 3,400 season ticketholders. This season, they have around 14,000 and are considering capping the season ticket amount. Talk about a turnaround. Now the question is if they have made enough changes on the ice to equal their off-ice sucess this year.

Oct

24

A look at NHL team 2008-2009 slogans

Filed Under Sports Business News | Leave a Comment

Rick over at Eyecube has an interesting blog post that looks at the different NHL team slogans for this season. As he points out, many of them sound similar and make it hard to differentiate one team from the next. He proposes the following to switch things up:

By changing just one word in those slogans it would fit any other team.  The NHL has a problem - all the teams look, feel and play alike. You can see this lack of differentiation on the ice, and in the marketing departments. The NHL should be playing up the local and regional distinctions among its teams, rather than allowing the teams to further homogenize themselves.

I understand that it’s challenging to come up with these slogans year after year, but a little variety would certainly be nice. However to be fair, I feel that at least the local Detroit sports teams struggle with coming up with a creative marketing slogan. This season, the Lions used “Do you believe in now?” for its ads. Very poor choice.

Oct

20

NBA feeling impact of the poor economy

Filed Under Sports Business News | 4 Comments

While the sports industry hasn’t been hurt to the extent financing has, we are starting to see the ripples from the increasingly poor economy. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, the NBA had to lay off around 80 employees. That’s 9% of its work force! A Sports Illustrated piece said that the Charlotte Bobcats laid off 35 employees from the front office.

The league and most teams have their sponsorships, television contracts, and other big deals already in place before the financial crisis became the headline of the fall. As a result, the league won’t really feel the impact of the poor economy unless it turns into a recession that would affect signing future long-term contracts.

The biggest problem currently facing NBA teams is convincing people to come attend games between the gas, ticket, parking, and concession prices. While some NBA teams haven’t felt the effects of the poor economy (ie. NBA champions, the Boston Celtics), many are having to creatively push ticket packages by reducing ticket prices and offering incentives and discounts to certain groups like college students or the military.

The league has created an internal site for its teams to encourage the sharing of promotional ideas.

To save the 30 teams from having to reinvent the sales or financials wheel in a challenging economy, the NBA has an internal Web site dedicated to team marketing and business opportunities. It serves as a clearinghouse for ideas and strategies; if a promotion works in Philadelphia, it might just work in Sacramento, too. Silver said teams have been encouraged to step up some community activities, through their NBA Cares program. “We want to demonstrate that we share some of the pain people are feeling right now,” Silver said.

It’s amazing how some affordable or even free community relations events can really help the team perception in the community. If fans feel more connected to the players and believe that they are more accessible, they tend to be more likely to open their wallet and pay for tickets. By sharing event ideas, teams can wait until it’s been proven to work before implementing it thus reducing risk and potentially saving the team money, which is key in this tight economy.

Oct

10

Former P&G employee gives Rays a makeover

Filed Under Brand Marketing, Sports Business News | Leave a Comment

Thanks to former Procter & Gamble brand manager Darcy Raymond, the Tampa Bay Rays have been given a makeover this season and it appears to be working. He has used P&G brand mantras like the five critical brand pillars and other philosophies to help turn the team brand around.

So what changes did they make? First, they removed Devil from the team name and created a new logo including a color change (from green to blue). The team then used focus-group research to make a list of 30 consumer touch points that they can use to measure consumer satisfaction (known as fan experience in the sport business). As the VP of branding and fan experience, measuring the consumer’s satisfaction is crucial so these touch points are essential to his work. It also doesn’t hurt that the team has made a significant jump in the MLB standings. After finishing last in the league, the team improved largely thanks to the efforts of its young players and made the playoffs.

Rays executives said past “worst-to-first” teams have also experienced a one-year lag effect between when a team improves dramatically and when ticket sales follow suit. “With consumer package goods, you can pretty much dictate everything about the product,” said Darcy Raymond, the team’s VP-branding and fan experience, who joined the franchise as a consultant in 2006, shortly after it was acquired by former Goldman Sachs managing partner Stuart Sternberg. “But in this world, the media controls so much of what gets said, so it’s a little different.”

Sports and politics are known for generating passion in its fans and even the reporters themselves. Unlike most brands, teams have fans that are willing to paint themselves for games and even get tattoos with the team’s logo. As a result, it is certainly a lot harder to have a say in the discourse about your brand. From a PR perspective, I would suggest that the team continues to reach out to publications like Advertising Age to get coverage on this change in brand image resulting in increased business sales. Publications such as BrandWeek and Sports Business Journal may be interested outlets.

Sep

28

Public vetting for naming-rights candidates

Filed Under Sports Business News | Leave a Comment

As the New York Giants and Mets recently learned, public vetting is needed before signing a naming rights deal with any company. Not only have past deals harmed a team’s PR (think Enron and the Houston Astros), but the possibility of a potential naming rights deal with Allianz, a German-based insurer, understandably angered fans and the deal was dead later that week. 

An article in the Sports Business Journal compared a naming-rights deal to that of selecting a vice presidential running mate. And what are the two key rules? Do no harm and “nothing vets like the process.” Well, the NY Times reported the possible deal in an NFL notes column on September 1. Perhaps that information was leaked before the Giants and Jets had time to properly vet Allianz, but we just don’t know. 

Okay, so why is Allianz such a bad idea for these New York teams? As NY Times‘ Richard Sandomir wrote:

“Allianz insured facilities and personnel at concentration camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. Kurt Schmitt, its chief executive in the 1930s, served as Hitler’s second economics minister and can be seen in a photograph from a rally wearing an SS-Oberfuhrer’s uniform and delivering the Nazi salute with Hitler standing in front of him. Like other insurers in Germany at the time, Allianz followed anti-Semitic policies by terminating o refusing to pay off the life insurance policies of Jews, and sent cash that was due beneficiaries and survivors to the Nazis. It also became the insurer of Jewish valuables taken by the Nazis.”

An editor at Forbes blogged about this very issue and ponders why Allianz was such a big deal when other companies could be seen to have similar historical implications.

But the boycott and death of the Allianz sponsorship begs the question: What about other sports related deals with companies that have ties to governments that have committed atrocities in the past? …

Why stop at stadium naming rights?

Mercedes-Benz, a huge part of the Hitler war machine, sponsors the NBA, NFL and PGA golf tournaments. Should the auto maker be given the boot? There is a lot in a name—both money and emotion—when it comes attached to a property that will be given enormous attention. But shouldn’t the rules be applied evenly?

As this Forbes’ article discusses, naming-rights are big money for teams and help pay for these expensive new stadiums. Team executives need to not only consider if the financial deal is worthwhile, but they also need to consider any potential negative PR implications.

Sep

9

Armstrong to return to cycling

Filed Under Sports Business News, Sports PR | Leave a Comment

After rumored reports surfaced on ESPN and NBC, Lance Armstrong announced earlier today that he will, in fact, return to the sport of professional cycling for the 2009 season. In the video I just linked to, Armstrong states that he will reveal more details about his un-retirement plan at the Clinton Global Initiative on September 24th.

According to rumor, Armstrong will not be racing for a salary or bonuses. In addition, he will allegedly post results from his drug tests online for the world to see.

New York Times:

Armstrong, who had been dogged by doping allegations during and even after his career, also mentioned that he wanted to test himself against athletes in this era of the sport. Referring to performance-enhancing drugs in cycling, he said there was a perception that this is the “cleanest generation” and that he had previously competed in the “dirty generation.”

“And, granted, I’ll be totally honest with you, the year that I won the Tour, many of the guys that got 2nd through 10th, a lot of them are gone. Out. Caught. Positive Tests. Suspended. Whatever. … And so I can understand why people look at that and go, Well, [they] were caught — and you weren’t?” he told Vanity Fair. “So there is a nice element here where I can come with really a completely comprehensive program and there will be no way to cheat.”

I was quite surprised by this announcement considering Armstrong retired over three years ago. In terms of PR, his performance in the Tour de France will play a role in how the public views him. While most will still hold him in high regard for his Livestrong campaign and the difference his foundation has made in the fight against cancer, a poor result could taint his legacy.

Armstrong left cycling at the top of the game after winning seven consecutive TdF titles. He frequently faced doping allegations, but never tested positive. Even after retirement, he still faced speculation so I can’t say I’m surprised that part of his motivation to return is to prove that he was clean. However if he wins again, that doesn’t necessarily show that he was clean in the previous events. If he does poorly, people could use that against him saying that now that he is racing clean, he can’t perform at the same level.

All in all, it’s an interesting situation and I look forward to reading how the media treats this unusual situation. Vanity Fair already has a five page exclusive up on their website. I am a big Lance Armstrong fan. I’ve read his books. I’ve watched him win his titles. He got me interested in the sport of cycling. However, I did not watch the TdF this past summer because (1) I didn’t know any of the cyclists because the big names were all kicked out for doping and (2) I didn’t trust that I could invest all my time rooting for an athlete just to find out they were doping. However if Armstrong finds his way onto a team and in the TdF, I will go back to watching cycling every summer morning cheering on one of my favorite athletes.

Aug

18

Phelps has marketers & sponsors salivating

Filed Under Sports Business News | Leave a Comment

If you haven’t heard of Michael Phelps and his record eight gold medals in one Olympic games, I’m not sure what rock you’ve been hiding under. Because of his incredible success and the way that he has captured America’s heart, marketers are salivating at attracting him and current sponsors are no doubt pleased with the impact his performances have had on their company’s reputation and brand recognition.

Busy Busy Busy

After an amazing 17 races since August 8, Phelps has a heavy workload this week satisfying sponsor and media requests. According to the Sports Business Journal, Phelps has a variety of obligations to meet for his sponsors in particular.

Monday there’s a kickoff sponsored by longtime Phelps partner Visa at the credit card company’s hospitality headquarters at the Prince Jun Palace. (By the way, Visa released yet another 30-second spot congratulating Phelps, this time on his eighth gold medal. The company previously had done an ad congratulating him for tying Mark Spitz when he won his seventh gold.)

Later Monday, Phelps showed up at the McDonald’s on the north end of the Olympic Green, about a 20-minute walk from the Water Cube where he won all his medals. It was a photo op.

Speedo, his swimwear partner, is hosting three social events, which began Sunday night in Beijing for swim athletes. Also on the schedule are a coaches’ event Monday and another athlete photo-op Tuesday.

Wednesday, Omega will host Phelps and other swimming legends.

In his Visa press conference, Phelps talked about the 5000 messages he has received on his Blackberry phone (nice plug for that brand), his phone call with the president, and more.

When asked if he was ready for kids to “Be Like Mike,” he responded that he was, and recalled putting his hand on the special Gatorade bottle that had Jordan’s handprint on it. Jordan is the one guy Phelps wants to meet. …

Visa’s Michael Lynch said that they are sending Phelps to London as part of their handover party for the closing ceremony since Visa’s sponsorship spans through the 2012 games. Phelps will be at the Buckingham Palace mall via satellite, Lynch said.

Speedo’s sales have skyrocketed since the start of the Olympics. Phelps’ jersey has sold out with over 10,000 sold at the price of $24.99. In addition, the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuits pre-orders at $550 apiece have been selling at a strong clip. The company’s website has also seen record numbers over the past week. Speedo plans to continue reminding consumers of their sponsorship of Phelps with a promotional tour.

A Speedo spokeswoman said the company is planning a nationwide publicity tour for Mr. Phelps and other Olympians at the end of August to coincide with the introduction of more-general-market-oriented swimsuits based on the same technology as the LZR racer suits worn in the Olympics. The marketer is also weighing its first general-market ad campaign, something it mulled over last fall but decided to forego on the hunch that performance-based buzz would generate more attention than traditional ads.

Outside of Speedo, I believe that Visa has done the most to leverage its sponsorship of Phelps between the first press conference following the record and its frequent commercials throughout the Olympics coverage congratulating Phelps on a job well done.

Possible New Endorsements?

Speaking of Gatorade’s “Be Like Mike” campaign and the possibility of a future endorsement there, what might be other possibilities for Phelps?

Sports business reporter Darren Rovell had a brief interview with Michael Phelps where he asked Phelps about any types of endorsements he’d be interested in. Phelps has to eat 10-12,000 calories of food each day so I wasn’t too surprised by his response.

Darren: You mentioned you had to have a burger after you were done. Any category of endorsements you’d like to entertain?

Michael: I love fast food. I mean, I eat fast food all the time. So I think a fast food deal would be pretty fun.

A recent Wall Street Journal article mentions another endorsement proposal and even requests from celebrities.

A dog-food idea was pitched, given Mr. Phelps’s well-known love for his British bulldog, Herman.

And still more: bobblehead dolls, acrylic paintings, commemorative coins, car rims and tuxedos. Some just wanted to give him things, like all the pizza he could eat for a year, or free dental work. And certain female celebrities and athletes wanted an introduction from Mr. Carlisle.

The biggest endorsement decision for Phelps in the next year or so may be whether to stay with Speedo or to leave with Nike according to that WSJ article.

Howard Bloom, who teaches sports management at Algonquin College in Ottawa and has worked with several Olympic athletes, says the key decision for Mr. Phelps will be whether to renew his contract with Speedo, the swimsuit maker that sponsors Mr. Phelps and offered him $1 million if he won seven gold medals.

“Michael Phelps would be worth $40 or $50 million to Nike,” Mr. Bloom said. “He could literally allow them to launch a massive swimwear company, and I think you are going to see an incredible bidding war for him.”

A Nike Inc. spokesman said, “We don’t discuss contracts and that extends to future or potential sports marketing relationships.”

Personally, I think Phelps will stay with Speedo. Yes, Nike will be able to offer the big money and whatnot, but Speedo’s LZR suit helped Phelps achieve his dream. Speedo is synonymous with swimming (at least in my eyes). Phelps has said that it’s not about the money, but the sport so we’ll see if he truly means that.

Phelps Phrenzy

It will certainly be interesting to see how long this Phelps Phrenzy lasts. I’ve been a big Phelps fan since the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Soon thereafter, he came to train in Ann Arbor while his coach Bob Bowman coached the Michigan Wolverines team. He has spent the last few years in my college town and has been a Facebook friend of mine for at least two years. According to a TV interview I saw a couple of days ago, he has gotten over 7600 Facebook friend requests. Since you can only have 5000 friends, a lot of people are going to be disappointed.

Phelps says he looks forward to just sitting, taking it easy, eating cheeseburgers and pizza, and hanging out with friends. Once all of his promotional duties are fulfilled, Phelps plans to return to Ann Arbor to get the remaining stuff he had left and visit some friends before moving back to hometown Baltimore.

Congrats to Phelps and Go Blue!

Aug

14

Orlando Magic puts guide on flash drive

Filed Under PR News, Sports Business News | 1 Comment

According to an article in the July 23-August 3 issue of Sports Business Journal, the Orlando Magic put their 2008-2009 media guide on a flash drive for their season ticket holders instead of sending them out as print. While numerous teams place their media guide online, this will be the first time an NBA team puts their guide on a memory stick.

It costs the Magic approximately $6 for each memory stick media guide, compared with $8 for the printed version. The team’s new 352-page interactive guide will be available on an environmentally friendly 128-megabyte memory stick that can plug into an computer. The new effort will save more than a half million sheets of 5-by-8-inch pieces of paper.

I think this is a great move for the team and I look forward to seeing more teams make this move over the next couple of years. Many teams already put their guide on CD or memory sticks to give to reporters (the NHL puts their media directory and all of the teams’ media guides on CDs), but it’s time for the teams to start doing this for their season ticket-holders to reduce waste and save costs. At PR firms across the country, it is common practice to send reporters press kits on flash drives with the client’s logo so it’s definitely not a surprise to see this transition of putting media guides on memory sticks.

← Previous Page