Guest Lectures at Long Beach State

This week, I had the honor of speaking with multiple marketing classes at CSULB.  Taking over the week for Professor Tomlin, I set about to engage the students with real-life case studies and examples of successful marketing activations.  Deploying the same philosophy I utilize in other speaking engagements and in the The Surfer's Guide To Marketing book, I strongly believe that my objective should be to educate, motivate, and entertain the next generation of marketing minds.

Lecturing to the class with video and even some POP show-and-tell

Focusing on some of my favorite cases throughout my career and discussing award-winning marketing efforts with brands like FX, NFL, ESPN, ABC and others, I showcased the promotional spots, POP, and collateral materials to allow the students to better comprehend the strategy, activation, and ROI each of these campaign bring.

The last element of the class was to have the students break into smaller groups and create a strategy for ESPN's Monday Night Football campaign and follow it up with brief presentations of their concepts.  Following their presentations, we showed our version of the Legends of Monday sweepstakes with four Hall of Famers including Ronnie Lott, Marcus Allen, Lawrence Taylor and Tony Dorsett, and the fully engaged class was more than enthused to see our version of their assignment come to fruition.

Working with breakout groups on their ESPN case assignment

In all, the students of CSULB were engaging, eager, and more than up for the challenge of becoming the next wave of marketing greats.  And it was my privilege to hopefully enlighten the classes and motivate them to pursue the world of sports and entertainment marketing as a career opportunity.

THE CHARGERS BRAND WAGON

THE CHARGERS ARE BOLTING
They say no one ever wins in divorce (except perhaps the attorneys.)  When a sports team leaves a city it’s called home for 50+ years, you can expect some bad feelings.  But from a marketing perspective, the Chargers organization needs to call the right plays to try to make the best of a new situation.  While you may or may not appreciate the way the Spanos organization runs the team, as someone who has created award-winning marketing and branding for leagues, teams, players and sports properties I can surely lend some insight to how they should proceed with the positioning of their product going forward.

SHOW SPORTSMANSHIP

So far, the Chargers organization appears to have done everything wrong (and I’m not just talking about on-the-field performance) beginning with the instant alienation of the San Diego community.  While the Los Angeles market is a huge demographic and certainly has the numbers to support multiple NFL teams, attempting to keep any loyal San Diego, Orange County, and Inland Empire fans should still be a priority.  They say it takes 4x as much to secure a new customer as it does to retain one and the Bolts should do everything possible to engage those fans willing to jump on team-sponsored caravan buses up the 405.  Even if 20% of the fans carry over, it’s a great base to start with.   Because unlike other past NFL team moves (Browns to Baltimore, Rams to St. Louis, etc.) current Chargers fans are still a viable target market based on proximity.

But swapping to “Los Angeles” and flaunting “LA” on all their social media is like bringing your new girlfriend to the aforementioned divorce hearings.  Embracing all of Southern California is a much better approach and highlighting CHARGERS versus LOS ANGELES is a simple branding direction that at least attempts to create inclusion.

Here's the official statement from the Chargers on, well... bolting.

Remember, there is a rivalry between the two towns between the Dodgers vs Padres and the old LA Raiders vs Chargers (although Dodgers fans claim the SF Giants as their primary foe), so the only thing worse than losing your team is having them relocate to your rival town.  And the OC has had it's share of "LA slighting" with the whole "California turned Anaheim Angeles turned Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim now Los Angeles Angels" thing.  Note: just as I'm suggesting, they wisely limited backlash by focusing on the Angels' "A" logo versus the city name.
 

LOOK THE PART

On the subject of branding, coming into a market as the clear “second team” is hard enough (maybe even the third best pro team if you add USC).  Now, from Day 1, the Bolts have already made it worse with the unveiling of their “me too” LA logo.

Unfortunately, the interlocking “LA” looks like they spent 10 minutes editing the Los Angeles Dodgers’ logo.  The first impression of the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Lightning logos' love child doesn’t appear to have the cleaver, professional look that the NFL has become accustomed to with dynamic branding and marks.  To be blunt, the simple LA-with-a-bolt-emphasis just looks bad. And somehow it has managed to single-handedly upsets THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE by insulting A) current Los Angeles sports fans with a flimsy attempt to side with them via their beloved LA symbol, and B) any San Diegans willing to still support the team, for obvious reasons. 

The NFL is known for the "uniform police" who make sure the players wear their uni's properly so I can only imagine that the league has to be throwing the red challenge flag over this LAme logo.

All OUT BLITZ

If the Bolts strategy is to cut-the-cord 100% and loyal fan base be damned, then they should do it.  With rumors that they will eventually rebrand, a la the Tennessee Titans from the Oilers, and change the name, it’s best to “rip the band aid off” and do the rename at the same time as the relocation.  Start completely fresh, not in waves.  This whole make-shift unveiling adds to the appearance of a knee-jerk reaction when we all know they have been strategically exploring this move for years.

FUTURE GAME PLAN

Winning cures all.  Southern Californians are a fickle bunch and unless the team is doing well on the turf, the team can’t expect to fill the seats.  With all the hype, excitement and years of loyal Ram fans awaiting their team’s return, the team was still only one of two NFL teams with under 90% capacity.   Now, adding a second team with an extremely limited tie to the market (the Chargers did start off as the Los Angeles Chargers after all) they have an up-field battle ahead of them.  If the LA Chargers (Or LA Traffic, LA Paparazzi, LA Smog, or whatever they eventually become) wants to be successful and evoke the passion that the team had during their lone Super Bowl run, they need to perform on the field.  With better marketing, branding, and creating an inclusive environment for shunned San Diegans, the Chargers can make the best of a tumultuous situation.

Or just go sign Antonio Brown, Aaron Rogers, OBJ, Luke Kuechly, JJ Watt and Ezekiel Elliott and bring the Lombardi home… to LA.

TWITTER AND THE NFL ARE BIG FREE AGENCY WINNERS

With Roger Goodell tweeting about the deal between the NFL and Twitter to broadcast Thursday Night Football, it looks like the next generation of consuming sports content is in full swing.  While the two players already had a working relationship, there are several reasons to be even more excited about the teaming of two blue-chip draft picks.

ALL-PRO PLAYERS
One thing we know is that the NFL is a juggernaut that doesn't make distribution or partnership decisions without significant strategy and foresight.  By all accounts, Twitter was not the highest offer and other teams (including Amazon, Yahoo, Verizon, etc) all bid between 30-50% more.  The partnership between the social media platform and the NFL was based more about opportunity than just plain revenue.  Like a veteran player accepting less money to play for a Super Bowl contender, the league made a strategic versus financial move.  And with Twitter's 350M users, it makes sense for the NFL to sure-up its roster by covering digital/social media with one of the top players out there.

SALARY CAP
Simply put, this is a win-win deal.  As much as the NFL wins with the ability to add a popular distribution channel, Twitter is also a big victor as they practically steal the rights.  $10M to broadcast the Nation's number one sport equates to a small OTA attendance clause in a QB's contract. By comparison, the NFL will get a total of approximately $450 Million from CBS and NBC for the rights to broadcast 10 games in 2016 and 2017, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Based on those deals, Twitter would have still scored a decent contract at $10M PER GAME! 

At only one million dollars per week, which the social media platform must easily spend in weekly marketing/SEO, they are able to become a destination hub on Thursdays.  Its a fantastic deal and also allows for the creation of more shoulder programming with Periscope, in-game highlights, live Tweets, etc.  Aligning with the NFL and having the most valued commodity in the world of content (NBC's Sunday Night Football was the highest rated series in America) makes this deal unbeatable.

OFFENSIVE GAMEPLAN
Like Sean Payton in film study, the NFL explores every angle and the best way to strategically position 'the shield'.  The league sees where there might be holes in the distribution secondary and they attack those areas to strengthen their game plan.  While its no secret that the league wants to be ahead of the curve for the next generation of 'cord-cutting' fans, the right platform is indeed key.    The NFL is well-covered on television with deals for that same Thursday Night Football package split between CBS, NBC, and their own NFL Network.  And with larger deals for broadcast rights with partners including ESPN, NBC, Verizon, DIRECTV, etc., there is no shortage of players on the traditional (and mobile) platforms.  So shoring up the OTT/digital special teams solidifies their roster.  This move was a no-brainer and inevitable.  We just didn't know what the name on the jersey would ultimately be.

FINAL SCORE
While only time will tell if this is a Super Bowl winning deal, it looks like both parties have scored.  They each addressed a free agent need and teamed up to provide desirable content across one of the most powerful social media platforms.   This is no Hershel Walker trade where only the Cowboys won big.  Its a true win-win with a big-time QB adding an All-Pro receiver to the offense.  Now let's see if the scoreboard will light up, in real time, at 140 characters per score!

MARKETING MAYHEM AND DYSFUNCTION - Advertising Winners & Losers

Did that commercial get your attention?  Is that ad you saw in a magazine stuck in your head?  Did that celebrity convince you to purchase their brand?

Ultimately, its the consumer's perception of the brand that matters most and as a marketing veteran and resident consumer myself, I wanted to share my opinion on some of the current efforts that work and some that drop the ball.

WINNERS:

ALLSTATE

The Mayhem DIY campaign is hilarious and attention-getting at the same time.  While we have heard ad nauseum about house, car, and medical insurance from Flo, a lizard, cavemen, etc,, how many of us DIYers actually thought our own wannabe construction efforts pose a real hazard?  Sure I have some duct taped wiring in my home (220 or 221, whatever it takes) but I never realized that it could be a real issue in terms of liability.

In these Allstate spots, Mayhem (played by former FX's Rescue Me actor Dean Winters) describes real peoples' DIY nightmare stories and encourages you to vote for the best one.  Allstate will then have a reenactment during the Super Bowl.  I subscribe that a campaign needs to have a creative story and a memorable hook or twist to cut through the clutter.  These spots do and as a fun little twist, users who register can win the DIYer's tools so they never fix or build anything again.  Clever.

Its an interesting twist on boring insurance commercials and overall, its refreshing and works.

Check out the sweepstakes page here.

And for more info on the insurance provider's other sponsorship efforts, click here.


RUNNER UP: 
Speaking of Allstate, the Allstate Sugar Bowl stunt was also a very eye-catching effort.  Showcasing how thieves (and Mayhem) can utilize your social media posts to gain insight to rob you while you are tweeting away at the big game, they went in and "sold" all of the contents of an unsuspecting victim's house while they were out.  The campaign utilized social and viral tactics to garner views and with +20M Facebook impressions within a day, I'd classify this as a very buzz-worthy success.

For more, check out this link.

LOSERS:

VIAGRA

I don't want to be the old codger who rains on everyone's parade.  I used to say that if you don't approve of content that isn't kid friendly, don't have your kid watch.  But there are some areas where I believe big advertisers like Pfizer are being irresponsible and crossing the line.

The Viagra ads run during the football season feature the attractive female discussing ... well, you know.  I understand football is the ideal target marketing for men interested in sexual issues (feel free to drop in your own Dallas Cowboys' offense is impotent joke here) but lots of kids, including my 9-year-old son watch religiously.

Its bad enough when they speak in code (using the term ED) but I can play that off as one of the many pharma ads run on TV that frankly none of us even know what illness they are used for.  But lately, Viagra has become less subtle and uses terms like "Erectile Dysfunction" and "Erection" now.  My son looks more confused than Eli Manning being blitzed and its only a matter of time that an innocent day of talking football turns into "the talk".

Perhaps the FCC or other governing bodies need to regulate when those ads are run or what they can do to dilute the terminology?  I'd appreciate it if the sexy lady on the bed doesn't make my son question the ad beyond "Dad, her jersey is blank so which team does she root for?"

Forbes has brought this up in past articles and its something we should address.  I'd love to hear your thoughts so feel free to add your comments.

THE SUPER (COLD) BOWL

With the big game coming up, its time to discuss how to create a successful marketing effort during the most cluttered event in America.  In The Surfer's Guide To Marketing, we devote an entire chapter called Big Waves to marketing efforts that are developed and activated around the most competitive environment.    Retail during the holidays, travel during the summer, and of course trying to promote your product or brand during the Super Bowl.

Just like last week's contest at Mavericks that featured a record swell, the bar is raised when the world is watching.  With 40-foot faces crushing surfers, it is not for the weak or those who are fearful.  The big stage is only for those with the skills (and guts) to drop in on a wall of water four stories tall.

Even Laird Hamilton doesn't 

always win on Big Waves

This year, with the game in New York, it's shaping up to be an interesting experiment.  The biggest stage in the biggest city in the world.  And with bad weather looming, there is a significant chance that the elements might make for a marketing disaster!  And it wouldn't be the first time.

Several years ago, when the Super Bowl was in Dallas, we were challenged with creating an interactive consumer experience for AT&T and ESPN.  We accounted for huge amounts of traffic, excited fans wanting to participate, star-power with celebrities, and we ensured we had everything we needed to make our clients happy.  But as I say in the book, sometimes it isn't IF something goes wrong, but WHEN!  And the Case Study below is taken from the book and just goes to show that even on days with Big Waves, where the stakes are high, the competition fierce, and Mother Nature is ready to throw you a curve, you can utilize the proven marketing tactics in the book to avoid a wipeout.

CASE STUDY

The Big Game

The biggest event in the United States every year is the Super Bowl.  As a marketer, it’s the big leagues in terms of scale, cost, and exposure (see the chapter on Big Waves).  Ad time in the game costs seven-figures for a thirty-second spot and sponsorship of various official Super Bowl elements are a huge investment.  So creating your own Super Bowl event that cuts through the clutter and stands out among literally hundreds of events is a costly and extensive undertaking.

So when our client wanted to be part of the action of the Super Bowl, they approached us with the ultimate opportunity to demonstrate our Barnacle philosophy and latch on to someone else’s huge efforts.  For Super Bowl XLV in Dallas, our mission was to create a presence for our client at the big game in Big D…. but without the hefty price tag or reasonable lead time.  After all, creating an engaging experience that competes with the biggest spectacle in sports without all of the pesky budget or months of preparation is what every marketing veteran lives for, right?  But as the saying goes, “Go big or go home.”

When our client’s major sports partner announced that they were going to be broadcasting all of their television and radio shows from a local mall in nearby Fort Worth, including all of their talent-filled programs, we took this as an opportunity to drive awareness and branding without having to reinvent the wheel and create the event itself.  This weeklong festival would attract hundreds of thousands of passionate fans and it was simply our job to carve out a place on the reef to get our share of plankton.  

So in an expedited manor, we secured space and created the Digital Living Room activation that accented the various broadcasts and events throughout the week.  Our interactive booth would allow fans to experience our outdoor living room complete with sofas, tables, chairs, rugs, multiple flat screens showing the network’s programming in HD and 3D, broadband displays, and tons of branded premiums all promoting how our client and its partnerships were the only option for sports fans.  Add to that our beautiful Brand Ambassadors and Starfish appearances from Hall of Fame RB Eric Dickerson, former All Pro RB Christian “The Nigerian Nightmare” Okoye, and three-time Super Bowl Champion Roger Craig and we had an attractive booth that held it’s own with the existing large-scale production.

While some brands spend millions creating their own Super Bowl event including the Bud Light Hotel, DIRECTV’s Beach Bash, and more, we were able to reach thousands of passionate Super Bowl fans attending the shopping center’s events as a complement to the host network.  While our Digital Living Room was a component of the bigger picture, we served as a supporting actor to the main event and even provided value-add to their experience.   And in so doing, saved our client significant dollars playing the role of the Barnacle attaching to the existing event and the crowds they generated.

Editors Note:  As mentioned previously, surfers are the ultimate optimists and make lemonade whenever presented with lemons.  So when the 2011 Dallas/Ft. Worth Super Bowl week was hit with “the storm of the century” including wind, snow, and -5 degree temperatures, our outdoor living room seemed like a disaster in the making.  But, a few quick adjustments (and several large space heaters later) our virtual living room became a shelter from the elements for the crazy fans that still braved the cold.  While we had to endure some good natured ribbing for the unfortunate circumstances (including comments that our living room was “just like the fan’s own homes…only with five inches of snow inside”, or people wanting to tell Christian Okoye to change his nickname to “The Siberian Nightmare”, we still exhausted our inventory of client literature and branded premiums representing the maximum quantity of impressions we were targeting!

How The NFL Marketers Deal With Injury

While I am the first marketer to take advantage of buzz, topical events, and clever marketing ploys, I do have to give the NFL "the finger" for this one.  And I love the game, the league, and the players so believe me it isn't my first thought to jump on the NFL.  But as you might have heard by now, Arizona Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson lost part of his finger in the game against the New Orleans Saints last weekend.   (Check out the pics on TMZ)

Up until that injury, my friend and Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott held the distinction of being the only player to have literally sacrificed a digit for the game.  It has always played into Lott's tough guy persona and I will now concede that Johnson can be added to that space, especially since he didn't know he was missing the end of his finger until he took off the glove and the finger tip stayed in it!

The great Ronnie Lott in action

But should the NFL embrace this and actually, um. point a finger to it?!  As a league that has come under fire for their handling of injuries including serious head trauma and even the symptoms of depression that may (or may not) have lead to the suicides of several prominent players including Junior Seau, is it wise to embrace this latest injury?

The late Junior Seau

I pose the question because the Arizona Cardinals are embracing the situation.  Rather than shy away or even approach the incident with a matter-of-fact strategy, they have decided to make fun of a pretty heinous accident.  Today, the official Arizona Cardinals social media pages are bragging about their new foam finger souvenir...

Now don't get me wrong, I once told Ronnie after a great personal appearance for hundreds of fans that I wanted to "High FOUR" him (to which he gave me a "look" that only terrified WRs and RBs have seen up close) but I'm also not representing a brand on the hot seat.  It's a funny little attempt to capitalize on the publicity of the gruesome injury but having worked with disabled players in need, being close with retired players who have had injury lawsuits against the league, and even having provided services for Gridiron Greats, lead by HOFer Mike Ditka and former All Pro Kyle Turley, I understand that injuries are no longer a laughing matter.  How can the NFL settle a $700+ million lawsuit with players over injuries and then make light (and actually promote) that exact situation within the same month?

I reached out to Kyle and he had a strong opinion about it, as expected.  Kyle said, "That doesn't surprise me at all.  It's ignorance.  They (the NFL) will claim they have no responsibility and frankly, just must be void of conscience.  The NFL has some of the brightest minds in their PR and Marketing departments so they had to have thought this through and decided to do it anyway.    The Cardinals obviously care more about buzz and sales versus player health and safety."  

Would it be ok if Marlboro made black-lung balloons?  Jim Beam had branded drunk-driving crash helmets?  Or Smith and Wesson had target t-shirts?  I'd like to think that maybe those marketers wouldn't be so quick to embrace the worst possible results of their product.  I'm all in favor of being creative but you also need to be smart!  Because nothing says "hysterical" like the local mortuary sponsoring "free casket" night for the first NFL player who dies on the field.

Maybe the NFL should call a penalty on the Arizona Cardinals and give them a one-and-a-half finger salute.

More Athlete Controversy Makes Brands Question The Use Of STARFISH!

A client inquired about my chapter on STARFISH in lieu of the Riley Cooper situation.  If you haven't read "The Surfer's Guide To Marketing" (and I can't possibly fathom why you haven't) STARFISH is my term for celebrities involved in corporate relationships, endorsements, etc.  We are currently discussing using professional athletes for a product placement campaign and the client brought up recent issues with Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper, A-Rod, and even Johnny "Heisman" Manziel.   While I would never profess to be the celebrity expert to the extent of Super Agent Leigh Steinberg, whom we featured in "The Surfer's Guide To Marketing," I do have significant experience in sourcing the right STARFISH personality to drive a company's awareness and messaging.

Recently, I wrote an in-depth post about a similar issue with Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods so please feel free to read the post here.  But with this recent wave of stories making the news, it's difficult to avoid this discussion and as always, I tell clients to look at the individual and explore that specific STARFISH rather than just generalize.  I tend to use retired players due to their experience and availability but every brand, every event, and every STARFISH requires individual attention to determine their viability as a representative for your brand.

Much like a GM of a pro football team, you need to do your homework.  With someone like Riley Cooper (who recently made a racial slur that was caught on video) you could have probably gotten a feel for what kind of guy he is based on past record, his teammates, etc. When the video emerged, you can determine perhaps if it was an isolated incident or if perhaps he's not the best STARFISH to appear on the packaging of your product.  Obviously, in the immediate future, he won't need to be answering many calls from potential sponsors, but in general, you can get a feel for how a STARFISH carries themselves and represents themselves as a brand before they represent your brand.

Serious controversies like Aaron Hernandez, OJ Simpson, or Rae Carruth are not the typical situation most STARFISH get involved with so if we eliminate extreme cases, we can better dissect the risks involved with celebrity endorsements.  This offseason, there were reports about how over 30 NFL players were arrested since the Super Bowl and the world gasped!  Such an astronomical rate, right?  I would simply argue that these stats are not much different than that of the average 20 to 25 year old male.  Young men make more mistakes than the population as a whole and ask any insurance agent which demographic takes the brunt of playing "the law of averages" when determining rates.  While DUI, simple assault (bar fight), and other minor infractions are not acceptable under any circumstance, are NFL players dramatically worse than the average population in terms of most simple misdemeanors?

While someone like Johnny Manziel is obviously not eligible for securing endorsements as an amateur, would you be surprised that a 20-year-old famous guy in the social media age would have a few blips on the character radar? And let's be honest, his only "issues" involve maybe a few too many beers, sleeping in late, tweeting from sporting events, and going to a fraternity party.   In my day, that would have made him pretty much every other student in college not named Tim Tebow!  But seeing his reaction (which may even be a little justified with all the media piling on) would make me hesitant to recommend him for corporate opportunity if that option was available today.  I'm not defending any of the actions of players who end up in the news for the wrong reasons, but I just want to keep it in perspective.

Even when you do your homework, have worked with trusted STARFISH with impeccable reputations, or even have personal relationships, you might find yourself caught up in a celebrity's saga.  It's great PR when your STARFISH does something wonderful on or off the field.  After all, isn't that the purpose of even having the relationship?  Win the Super Bowl, donate to a charity, take time to mentor children in their community... it is all golden.  But even with a record of such service, it can all come into question when a player does something heinous... like leaving a $3 tip!

Obviously I'm being sarcastic when I bring up the Drew Brees "Tipgate" controversy.  Drew is also featured in "The Surfer's Guide To Marketing" and I highlight his community service and overall positive stance as a role model.  But even a "sure fire" endorser of brands including Pepsi and Pampers can find himself mixed up in a debate and his recent $3 tip (on a takeout order that he picked up, BTW) is quintessential ESPN filler for the nine hours of debate shows they air ad nauseum.  There is no controversy here and I would argue that Brees is one of the most courteous and generous STARFISH out there.  Nonetheless, the Super Bowl MVP has been brought into a discussion that explores his character and doesn't revolve around touchdowns or completions!

So what's the solution?  If you want to utilize STARFISH to drive your brand, you simply need to approach it like any other resource and do your homework.  "The Surfer's Guide To Marketing" explores step-by-step actions and suggestions you can take to ensure you make the best decisions possible and aside from simply creating your own mascot character for a spokesman, there will always be a variable of human error when dealing with humans!

Oh wait, didn't the AFLAC duck get fired for insensitive jokes?