Don Roy, Ph.D.

Fan Frenzy: Balancing Access and Security

The new NBA season began last night. All eyes were on Boston as the Celtics hosted the Miami Heat and its much ballyhooed trio of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. The league is riding a huge wave of fan interest following an exciting 7-game finals series between the Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers as well as a free agency period that was dominated by the question of where James would play this season. The excitement surrounding the NBA today reminds me of a period in the 1980s when Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson were the faces of the league. Great basketball was the brand story, not boorish behavior on the court or illegal behavior off the court.

Amid all of the hype of the new NBA season, I read a quote from Heat coach Erik Spoelstra in USA Today that caught my attention. Talking about extra security in place at the team’s hotel, Spoelstra said “I liked it. There was more security and more barricades so fans couldn’t get close to us, rather than in years past where they could walk right up to you.” These comments should not necessarily be taken at face value. It is understandable that security and player safety is important. After all, these athletes have a job to do and the stakes are high.

A cynical view of Spoelstra’s comments, though, would suggest that fans can be an irritant or unwanted distraction for NBA players. Did he mean he wants to keep NBA fans away? Sure, there are people whose desire to hang around the pro sports scene borders an unhealthy obsession, and then there are memorabilia dealers who show up with armloads of cards, balls, and other items looking for autographs that they can then sell for a quick buck. But, most fans simply want a glimpse of their favorite team or players, maybe a quick photo, and a chance to express their admiration.

The Miami Heat’s situation is unique in that the team features three superstars and has built a media frenzy around them. The Heat does need extra consideration when it comes to protecting players from a crush of fans that could pop up anywhere the team is playing. The risk is becoming too isolated from customers who care about you most. Social media is one solution to this dilemma as it gives fans access to players’ thoughts and daily lives… but at arm’s length.

Leave No Brand Story Untold

What makes a brand resonate with consumers? A cool logo? No. A catchy slogan or jingle? Nope. The best creative efforts of an ad agency can take a brand only so far. People connect with brands in the same way they connect with other people: they are attracted by their personal stories. We value brands that we perceive as having something in common with us- our values, interests, attitudes, and mindsets. The connector that attracts us to a brand is its story. What does the brand represent, offer, and do that I can relate to and matters to me? To know a brand’s story is to add a dimension to one’s relationship with that brand.
The importance of telling stories comes to light this week with the Broadway debut of Lombardi, a play that tells the story of legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, both on-field accomplishments and off-the-field relationship with his wife, Marie. Despite being the namesake of the NFL’s Super Bowl trophy and generally regarded as an NFL coaching legend, many of today’s NFL fans know little about the man behind the Lombardi persona. To that end, the NFL should be praised for its marketing involvement with Lombardi as a way to preserve the Vince Lombardi story for fans today and in years to come.
If you own a business or are responsible for marketing a brand (which includes all of us since we are managers of our personal brand), is telling your brand’s story part of your branding platform? Maybe your brand story is told through fiercely loyal customers, or maybe it is shared by employees that are on the front lines of serving customers and carrying out the brand promise. Perhaps there is heritage to share, stories from the past like the Vince Lombardi story. The stories are there, why not share them? People are more likely to connect with your brand through the emotions wrapped in a story than they are the features built into a product. Leave no brand story untold.

Advertising Age – “NFL Backs Broadway Play About Legendary Coach”

Who Owns Your Brand?

Who does own your brand? A strange question, you may be thinking. Or, perhaps you suspect I am lobbing a trick question your way. My response on both counts is “no.” It is neither a strange question nor a trick question. I would say it is a question with a very straightforward answer. Who owns your brand? Not you!

Brands are perceptions, associations, and images held by customers and others. Thus, they are the true owners of a brand. As a marketer, you are merely a caretaker, a steward charged with protecting the value it holds with stakeholders.

Do you need proof? Take the story of Gap. The clothing retailer unveiled a new logo last week only to announce four days later that it would keep its iconic blue logo. The change of heart followed immense public backlash against the new logo.

I read with amusement different opinions from designers and other experts about why the Gap’s new logo was an epic fail. Some experts said the Helvetica font was horribly outdated and unworthy of a trendy apparel retailer. Others said the blue square that protruded above the “p” had no relevance or meaning.

These critiques of the Gap’s new logo miss the most obvious point: the Gap’s logo does not belong to Gap. OK, the tangible qualities of the logo belong to Gap. Ownership is protected by a trademark. But in reality, Gap’s customers own the logo and the brand. Those brand elements connect the company with persons who care about it. Making swift, drastic changes to this piece of the relationship with customers is a prime reason why the uproar was so ferocious.

Manage your brand; build your brand; do what you can to control your brand. In the end, it is not yours, so commit to engaging your stakeholders so that you are partners in its development. Don’t go it alone, or you may experience the same “gap” in stakeholder relationships as Gap is experiencing now.

Creativity – “What the Gap Did Wrong”

A Regimen for Brand Positioning Training

A distinct, consistent brand position is instrumental in achieving differentiation from competitors and scoring with customers. Articulating brand position is vital to the success of a positioning strategy. The audience for which the brand should be relevant must recognize and value the point of difference. To that end, the more ways brand position can be communicated, the greater chance that it sticks with the target market.

One of the most effective brand positioning strategies implemented in recent years has been done by Subway. Its “good for you” positioning in the quick service restaurant category has resulted in market share gains and more importantly, ownership of that brand association in consumers’ minds. The linchpin in Subway’s positioning strategy has been Jared Fogle, a Subway customer whose story of how regularly eating at Subway was part of his dramatic weight loss shone a light on the advantages of eating at Subway compared to burger and pizza fast-food restaurants. Jared’s story as an everyday guy who has benefited greatly from Subway’s products resonates with consumers.

Subway is not content to stand on the basic claim of “better for you,” even though it has been successful. In recent years, Subway has used top-tier athletes as endorsers including swimmer Michael Phelps and NASCAR driver Carl Edwards. Now, Subway and Jared have embarked on a marathon effort to promote the nutritional benefits of Subway, as in an association with the ING New York City Marathon. Jared is training to run in the race on November 7, and Subway has partnered with the event as the “Official Training Restaurant.”

The impact of Subway’s sponsorship of the ING New York City Marathon should be positive, but a greater long-term benefit to the brand stands to be realized. The sponsorship status of “official training restaurant” is one that Subway has bought the New England Patriots and exploring opportunities with other sports properties. The greatest opportunity to promote the status of “official training restaurant” seems to lie with the one audience that does not charge sponsorship rights fees: the consumer. A campaign that touts Subway as the official training restaurant of the everyday athlete (like Jared Fogle) would be a natural extension of high profile sponsorships.

Subway’s association with the NYC Marathon and staking the claim of “official training restaurant” demonstrates that work is never complete when it comes to brand positioning. Even when a brand’s position is solid as is the case with Subway, explore opportunities to drive home your brand’s distinctiveness in new ways.

Marketing Daily – “Subway Positions Itself as Athletes’ Training Choice”

Look Beyond the Norm for Customers

A study conducted recently by Scarborough Research yielded interesting insights about a segment of sports fans often taken for granted: females. A tendency exists to automatically think of 18-34 year-old men as a lucrative market, but women are often lumped into the family segment rather than viewed as a distinct customer group. The Scarborough study examined the demographic and consumption characteristics of female college football fans. The Southeastern Conference garnered the most interest among females who are avid college football fans; 19% of this group has attended an SEC game.

Scarborough’s indexing methodology compares a customer segment to the population. Among the findings that compared avid female SEC fans to the general population, they are more likely to be African-American, hold white collar positions, own their own home, have HDTV, and installed a home security system. Companies in many different product categories that use sports as a marketing vehicle may be surprised by the opportunities to reach women through college football.

While the findings of the Scarborough study may not give definitive direction to marketers in terms of keys to success for reaching avid female college football fans, the results should serve as a reminder to look beyond preconceived notions about who your customer is. In the case of college football, the number of women who are avid fans may be smaller than men, but their passion for the sport and buying power should not be overlooked. It is not always a men-women or young-old issue; the point is there may be a group of customers for which you do not fully recognize or appreciate their potential. Look beyond the usual ways customer segments are defined; what you may find could surprise you!

Center for Media Research – “Avid Female College Football Fans”

Toyota’s Tiny Sports Marketing Play

Toyota is a brand that is heavily involved in sports marketing. It is a force in NASCAR, is naming rights holder of the Houston Rockets home court (Toyota Center), and is a sponsor of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” telecasts. But, Toyota’s tiniest association with sports may be its most innovative. Toyota rolled out a concept called the Tiny Football League (TFL) that is integrated into its sponsorship of the halftime show on “Sunday Night Football” and supported with a web and social media presence.

The TFL is a lighthearted take on the world of youth football. The TFL website invites youth teams to add photos, stories, and videos. Toyota is running a contest in conjunction with the TFL initiative in which 8 youth teams will receive $5,000 each, and a team selected by fan voting will receive a $10,000 donation. Criteria used to judge teams include evidence of teamwork, determination, and constant improvement.

At a time when it has become very expensive to be associated with top tier sports properties, Toyota’s foray into football via the TFL is brilliant. Toyota enjoys the best of both worlds. On one hand, its tie-in with the NFL via NBC’s Sunday night broadcasts give it the exposure a national brand like Toyota seeks. For Toyota, linking its presence in football to grassroots programs allows the company to show concern for local communities. The potential payoff in terms of how consumers perceive Toyota because of the Tiny Football League may be far greater than a more costly investment as an official sponsor of a major league sports property.

Football is the number one sport in the U.S., but there are ways to be associated with America’s favorite game other than an expensive sponsorship rights deal. Toyota’s TFL is a great example of how to link a brand with consumers’ interests in a creative way, one that taps into the benefits of sponsorship without the typical level of financial commitment.

Marketing Daily – “Toyota Talks Tiny Football in Corporate NFL Push”

Movin’ on Up? Hyundai’s Luxury Brand Aspriations

One of the most impressive brands during the recession was Hyundai. The auto brand would have had every reason to wallow in the misery of American consumers and blame poor sales on a bad economy. Instead, the company saw its market share rise in 2009 on the heels of a bold program called Hyundai Assurance, which gave buyers the option to return a new car to Hyundai during the first year if they could not make payments. Hyundai was recognized by Advertising Age as Marketer of the Year for 2009 because of its proactive response to the recession.

I have been admirer of Hyundai for some time. In addition to the innovative Hyundai Assurance program, the company’s “Think about It” campaign was a creative way to attempt to reshape consumers’ image of Hyundai as an entry level economy car. The message that Hyundai is a quality brand was an attempt to bring Hyundai on par with Toyota, Honda, and other imports that enjoy quality associations with consumers. Hyundai’s boldest move yet is to take the brand upscale- the question is will consumers accept it? Hyundai introduced the Genesis sedan at a price point in the area of $40,000 in 2008, and it is about to debut Equus that will sell for $55,000 range.

Will consumers buy into the idea that the Hyundai name should be equated with upscale automobiles? Will Genesis and Equus be high selling models for Hyundai? Does Hyundai even care how many of these cars it sells? What was that? Of course Hyundai would care how many units of Genesis and Equus it sells… unless there is another motive behind the move toward the upscale segment of the auto industry. The motive seems to be to persuade buyers of cars at moderate price points to rethink their perceptions about the quality of the Hyundai brand. If Hyundai is marketing high priced cars, then a high level of quality must be present, too. This reasoning could change consumers’ perceptions about Hyundai’s quality across all of its models.

Hyundai faces a huge challenge if it intends to convince buyers of upscale cars to include Hyundai among the brands they consider worthy of purchase. It is very difficult to extend a brand into upscale segments when it is known as a moderately priced brand. Other auto companies went upscale by creating brands separate from their core offering (Toyota > Lexus, Nissan > Infiniti, Honda > Acura). Hyundai’s decision to forgo this approach to branding suggests it seeks to impact quality perceptions of its core brand by offering high end products. It seems to be another form of “Think about It”; surprising consumers by showing how Hyundai is capable of creating a luxury car experience.

The Wall Street Journal – “Can Hyundai Sell Pragmatic Prestige?”

Marketing that Matters

Cause marketing is a strategy for resonating with customers through a company or brand’s support of a charity or nonprofit organization. Nonprofits benefit from the exposure a sponsor’s marketing platform provides, and it has become a valuable source of funding as government funding and individual donations have been squeezed during the recession. Cause marketing is beneficial to the companies involved because it creates goodwill for their brands and often creates incremental sales when donations to a cause are contingent on product sales (e.g., 10% of sales during a time period are donated to the sponsored cause).

The payoffs of cause marketing mentioned here have been recognized for some time. Another payoff is becoming clear: consumers expect companies that they do business with to be involved in supporting causes and they want to buy products from companies that are active in cause marketing. Cone, Inc. has conducted research into consumers’ attitudes toward cause marketing for nearly 20 years. In its most recent study, Cone found that 83% of consumers want more of the companies that they do business with to be involved in supporting causes; 41% said they have purchased a product within the past year because of the seller’s involvement in supporting a cause. That percentage is noteworthy because it is double what it was when Cone first started tracking consumer response to cause marketing. Moms and millennials are two consumer segments particularly interested in companies’ cause support. The percentages of consumers that have favorable views of cause marketing, desire to buy brands associated with causes, and actual purchase behavior of brands sponsoring causes are higher than the general population.

The takeaways from the recent Cone study are clear: consumers expect companies to support causes, and they want to buy products and services from companies engaged in cause support. Other studies have found that one impact of the recession is that many people have re-examined priorities and seek more meaning in their lives. Marketers should re-examine their priorities, too, and ask how they can use cause marketing to bring greater significance to their business impact. The potential exists for cause marketing to touch the nonprofit organizations supported, consumers who buy products linked to cause support, employees, and most importantly, the constituents served by the nonprofits.

Media Buyer Planner – “Consumers Support Companies that Support a Cause, Finds Study”

A Case for Moving from Product to Experience

As the new NFL season debuted, several media outlets ran stories about the challenges some NFL teams are encountering selling tickets. A surprising 22 games were blacked out in 2009, thanks in large part to a dreadful economy. And, the prognosis for 2010 is no better; attendance league-wide is expected to decrease for the third straight year. But it is too convenient to blame attendance woes solely on the economy. Many NFL fans have found that watching games in the comfort of their homes in high definition with access to replays and multiple games is a suitable substitute for attending the game in person. Throw in money saved on tickets, parking, and concessions as well as not missing dealing with traffic and drunken fans, and watching games on TV at home becomes a more attractive alternative.

Some sports industry observers wonder if the fact that football is a great sport for television will ultimately lead to a decline in game attendance. It will happen… if the NFL treats live games as a product. The reason is that products can be duplicated, at least the benefit products provide are relatively easy to copy. In this case, technology enhancements have made watching NFL games on TV an acceptable substitute for watching a game in person. Compelling arguments can be made that the TV product has some advantages such as different camera angles and replay capability, not to mention the convenience and cost savings mentioned previously.

Before the NFL is declared in a state of emergency, let us not forget that the brand is still very strong. It commands premium prices for tickets, sponsors, and media coverage. The key for the NFL to sustain its position as the premier sports property in the U.S. is to focus more on the experience offered by the live event. Steps have been taken already by addressing the problem of unruly fan behavior with a fan code of conduct. Further enhancements can be made by introducing more technology in stadiums to give fans options for consuming content beyond what is transpiring before their eyes. Sponsors can play a role, too, in adding value to the game experience. Interactive exhibits, games, and spaces give sponsors opportunities to have “quality time” with attendees.

Products can be mimicked to offer similar benefits at lower costs. Experiences can be unique encounters between brand and consumer that substitute products simply cannot match. This contrast does not apply just to the NFL. Whatever you sell, there are likely substitutes available. What can you do to move from selling a product to offering an experience? Remember the old adage: people don’t buy products, they buy benefits. Today, that adage can be modified to read “people don’t buy experiences, they seek meaning from the experiences they have.” Add meaning, and you add value.