Geeks & Jocks Unite In One Galactic Night

 

 

 

 

 

By Justin McAdow

A long long time ago. . . .

 Actually, not long ago

 The Colorado Mammoth decided to take sports entertainment to the next level

 Bringing together Star Wars geeks, sports enthusiasts and people that love both

 Will the lacrosse players be wielding lightsabers?

. . . . No

Will the goalies be in Jabba the Hutt costumes?

. . . . No

Will the ball be painted to look like Tatooine?

. . . . No

But that does not mean you can’t fulfill your lifetime fantasy of attending a sporting

event as your favorite Star Wars character

The Mammoth will take on the Vancouver Stealth on Saturday January 4^th

Keeping with the Star Wars theme fans can buy 3 tickets and get a 4^th one free

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jump into your Millennium Falcon and enjoy the game

May January 4^th be with you

@JustinMcAdow

Manning Brothers F.O.Y.P.

Next time you plan to make a phone call remember “your phone ain’t for callin your phone’s for footballin. DirectTV with a brilliant music video featuring the beloved Manning Brothers. Selecting the right spokespeople for your products is key especially when it comes to athletes. The times are changing and many athletes are bad representatives and can negatively effect a brand. Spokes-characters are the safe bet nowadays. The star power of the Manning brothers has been proven in Oreo commercials time and again. Peyton and Eli are true professionals and their behavior is never questioned. Peyton is known for his comedic witty commercials and they are now both known for poor rapping skills.

The key in having spokespeople is transparency, even Snoop Dogg/Snoop Lion is able to do commercials even though he is not the best influence. The key is that people know what Snoop Dogg is about, so his behavior is not going to be surprising. His behavior is even a play for humor in the wonderful pistachio commercial. If you had to pick the most transparent players in the NFL, Eli and Peyton would have to be in the top 5 wouldn’t they? If you had to pick them to represent your company or product who would be your top 5?

@JustinMcAdow

Dutchy Star Power

Image via http://avalanche.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=90977

In terms of social media @Matt9Duchene has it all. He is fun, fast, talented and young. While hockey is a very entertaining sport and has constant action throughout games, lockouts have really hurt the fan base. With so much talent on display everyday throughout the NHL, why not go see a hockey game? Player engagement through twitter is extremely important, especially compared to the other big three sports in the U.S. Personality is difficult to gather while the players are on the ice due to the high levels of concentration. On ice personality is really only shown during fights and after-goal celebrations. Twitter is a huge opportunity for NHL players to show their personality and I am glad one of my favorite players is actively using twitter to skate into the top 25 of the league. @JustinMcAdow

Major League Baseball, “The Show About Nothing”

By Justin McAdow

The Seinfeld series may be over but there is still a show about nothing on TV.  The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently released an article “Play Ball. . . Please!” The purpose? To answer the question “how much action is there during an average game?”

Action Defined By WSJ:

• Balls in play
• Stolen base attempts
• Pitches (balls, strikes, foul balls, balls in play, wild pitches)
• Batters running bases (including time during home run trots)
• Pickoff attempts

The Results From WSJ:

• 17 minutes and 58 seconds of action time
• Average MLB game duration 3 hours (180 minutes)
• 10% action to 90% no action

Confused? Me too. It seems like a Yogi-Ism, “They played 18 minutes of the 180 minute game” or “90% of the game we played did not exist.”  As a baseball fan and viewer of many games during the long season it is hard for me to comprehend. I started to wonder, when I am at games what am I doing during the down time? When I watch games on TV what do I do during the 90% inactive intervals? I doubt I am the only one that does the following:

Watching Live Broadcasts:

• Channel surf
• Use mobile devices
• Use Internet
• Socialize
• Watch commercials

At Live Games:

• Socialize with friends, family, colleagues etc.
• Spend money on merchandise
• Buy food & beverages
• View countless in game promotions/advertisements
• Get distracted by my female counterparts

Maybe not all of us do all of these every time we attend an MLB baseball game, chances are we all do some every time. Baseball is long, and now I realize that nothing really happens for a significant amount of time.

The game probably is too slow, and there are rules that could speed the game up a little. This scenario unfolded and really ticked me off as I was watching a game recently:

1. Commercial break in between innings (Normal, and intuitive as teams switch from being on the field and batting)
2. Pitcher warms up during the TV commercial break
3. Pinch-Hitter announced
4. Pitcher replaced by new pitcher
5. Pinch hitter no longer allowed to play in the current game
6. New Pinch-Hitter announced
7. Commercial break

One Possible Rule Change:

A pitcher that has thrown one or more warm up pitches on the mound must face at least one batter during that inning in which warm up pitch(s) were thrown. Unless injury occurs of course. Yes I understand this rule will only work short-term and then baseball will take advantage of the injury exception, but it is a starting point.

The Final Three Outs:

1.

The MLB does not care if games are 3, 5 or even 6 hours long. The longer you are at the park the more money you will spend there. The more advertisements they can expose you to and cash in on. As a young fan of the MLB, I would hate to see the MLB become egotistical in thinking they are invincible and do not need to adapt. We have seen the other side of this with hockey adapting to create a better product.

2.

If the MLB does not adapt they will strikeout looking. The traditionalist generation is getting older and the new generation will not go to the ballpark as a setting to view their mobile devices. They will go if and only if there is more action in a consolidated period of time. I already have the campaign slogan for the faster paced game “Baseball on steroids!” Too soon?

3.

I understand that baseball is a game of tradition and strategy but at a certain point even the die-hard fans will call to the MLB bullpen for something new and the MLB will have to warm up to a faster paced game.

@JustinMcAdow

Pro Golfers’ “Short” Film

Great Pro golfer campaign requesting a call to action to allow the pros to play in shorts. The dramatic video promotes golf in a funny way and explains how the game will improve with shorts. Excellent campaign, I say let them play in shorts. Other marketing opportunities: “A standard PGA Tour sock could be a great revenue generator” -Justin Leonard- Great marketing by Ashworth Golf. Would the players play better? Who knows but it is an interesting thought and great campaign. Via YouTube @JustinMcAdow

Kentucky Derby In 2 Minutes

The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Infographics

One of Most Popular and fastest sporting events in the World. It is 2 minutes of fast-paced excitement that is extended into an all day event. From fancy hats, funny horse names, famous horse owners, and food sales the Kentucky derby is a sports marketer’s dream come true. What about an all-product brand named field? Horses with names like Gatorade, Nike, Kraft etc. Could be an interesting way for brands to get more involved, probably a stretch. Infographic via Visual.ly designed by DBS Interactive. @JustinMcAdow

Triple-A Team to Wear Star Wars Themed Jerseys

Triple-A team to have a Star Wars themed game wearing Chewbacca jerseys | Yahoo Sports ht.ly/kzGhG #SportsMarketing #SportsBiz

— Justin McAdow (@JustinMcAdow) April 30, 2013

This is a great promotional strategy and my most popular tweets so far. Evidently there are a lot of Star Wars & sports geek hybrids. Based on how many people enjoyed this tweet this promotion will surely be a hit. One of the more unique promotions and oh yeah the jerseys are so cool and will be auctioned off with proceeds going to charity. Everybody wins, great sports marketing promotion. @JustinMcAdow

GoPro Ryan Sheckler & Ken Block

GoPro teams up with extreme sports athletes Ryan Sheckler (skateboarding) & Ken Block. The ad is a point of view video of the Rallycross race track for the rally cross races at the Summer X games. This ad promotes Rallycross, Ken Block, Summer X games, GoPro and even Ryan Sheckler although he is freaking out throughout the entire video. Video via YouTube. @JustinMcAdow

NBA Playoffs 2013 Commercial

The video shows NBA stars dancing awkwardly to a Will I Am song. Interesting and effective because it is out of the ordinary. Not the typical NBA star defining moment. An ad you can tell the players enjoyed and got into. NBA stars are humanized by the commercial and fans enjoy it. Different strategy to get fans ready for the playoffs. Video via YouTube. @Justin McAdow

 

With The First Pick The NFL Selects Marketing

Via Patriots

By Justin McAdow

The NFL draft has created many opportunities for brand marketing and this year is no exception. The 2013 NFL Draft that starts Thursday April 25th is a TV show with a lot of opportunity for brand and product marketing.

There are a few teams looking to increase their brand image drastically by way of a new logo & or new uniform. Other teams try to find a balance between new flashy looks and tradition. Either way the NFL has turned the draft from a regular TV show into a marketing event.

There are three teams that will be showcasing newer looks to their uniforms and logos during the 2013 NFL Draft.

• The Miami Dolphins will have a new look on their uniforms due to a logo change. Dolphins Uniforms Dolphins New Logo.
• The Jacksonville Jaguars also have a new logo, however the Jaguars logo changes were not as drastic as the changes the Miami Dolphins made to theirs. Jaguars Uniforms.
• The Minnesota Vikings are unveiling a new uniform that will display the slightly modified logo, and I mean slightly. It is difficult to identify the differences at a glance. Vikings logo.

While the Vikings did make the playoffs last year, the Jaguars and Dolphins were both kept out of the end of season tournament and this is likely the reason for the changes. While the changes are not a total rebrand it is a fresh start. If the teams perform well this season it will be a success story and the adaptations will be viewed as enhancements to the brand image. Nike makes the uniforms of all 32 NFL teams as per their exclusive contract with the NFL.

Next marketing event that takes place on draft day is the marketing of the 2013 draft caps. New Era, a hat making company creates a line of caps called the New Era Draft Caps that are sold on the NFL shop website. These hats are the same style and design, although not likely the same size as the hats the players are given to wear seconds after their new team has drafted them.

Another way the NFL Draft has become a marketing event is the involvement of brands that are not sports brands. Tide is one example of a non-sporting brand that will be getting involved in marketing through the draft. Stains on clothes acquired from the participation of sports can be removed from Tide products. Tide is endorsing prospects that will be drafted on draft day and the steps to the campaign are as follows.

1. Player gets drafted by a team.
2. Player tweets using the hashtag #AboutOurColors.
3. Player engages in tweets about what his new team colors mean to him.
4. Fans engage their team’s new player or players.

This campaign is great on so many levels. Tide claims to be the “the proud keeper of your NFL team’s colors.” The #AboutOurColors campaign reinforces that statement which will help the Tide brand be one of the first things people remember when recalling this twitter engagement campaign. The next level it hits on is just that, the campaign will lead to positive engagement with the brand. Fans are interested in which players their favorite team or teams select, they are also interested in finding out more about the player. Fans learn about the character and personality of the new player and Tide is credited with making this all happen. Sports fans are very engaged on twitter and Tide saw an opportunity and is looking to score points with the consumer. @JustinMcAdow