Red October

The St. Louis Cardinals are the 2006 world champs! Going to the World Series was everything I hoped it would be, even though I was cheated out of my destiny. I had tickets for game five, but due to the rain, my game became game four and game five was played the next night. So I wasn't there in person, but I did see them win it from the biology lab at Visitation High School. I got tickets to my sister's musical, so we watched her and then ran into the other room to see the end of the game on TV. That'll make a good story for the grandkids.

I don't have all of the photos up yet, but you can get a little preview here. I'll try to get all of them up soon, but first, I've gotta get caught up.

D.C. United Embraces Bloggers

Add D.C. United to the short list of businesses that understand how to leverage Internet 2.0. United took to the Internet to generate buzz for Cosmo's Bachelor of the year candidate and United defender Bobby Boswell. Kyle Sheldon, communications coordinator for United, sent this message to many a blogger:

Hello soccer fan -

For those of you who haven’t heard, Bobby Boswell of D.C. United is one of 50 candidates for Cosmopolitan magazine’s Bachelor of the Year award. For those of you in the blogging world, it provides for a great opportunity to a) spark interest amongst your female readers, b) make fun of Bobby and c) link a couple of pretty funny videos Bob and I put together for it all. The links to the videos are below, as is the link to Bobby’s Cosmo page.

For Cosmo: http://youtube.com/watch?v=urjk5N51Yvc
Bloopers: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BqA1S85kZ_U
Also, folks should go here to vote…

-Kyle

So he loses points for "Dear soccer fan" and you can definitely tell he hasn't scrounged around for links before. Erroneous! Erroneous on both counts because United got the idea right when they went after the bloggers. They even threw in some self deprecation, which is essential to any self promotion on the Internet.

Soccer isn't all over the TV or widely mentioned on talk radio. So die-hards have sought refuge on Internet message boards such as BigSoccer. D.C. United's marketing efforts really cater to those fans. United's intelligent marketing effort is pretty good, I don't think Bobby Boswell will win Bachelor of the Year - that's for the ladies to decide.

Props to Throughball for the hot tip.

YouTube Fuels Spitgate 2k6

After the University of Kansas' horrendous collapse last Saturday a video appeared on YouTube allegedly showing an Oklahoma State coach spitting on a KU player. Spitgate 2k6 was off and running.

On Wednesday, the clip was loaded to YouTube. By the end of the day, it was all over KU blogs, forums and news sources. Yesterday, only one day after spitgate began, the BIG XII investigated incident using more camera angles and exonerated the OSU coach.

Now, whether the coach spit on the player is not very remarkable. However, the ridiculous speed at which this issue rose and fell is remarkable. YouTube really gave this thing the legs to be virally distributed so widely, that the Big XII conference took notice and looked into the matter. This all happened in the span of two days in which the video was viewed 12,985 times.

MLS Should Sell Out With Style

Major League Soccer announced that it will take after every other professional soccer league in the world and allow advertising on the front of jerseys for the 2007 season.

While the rest world sells the precious real estate on jersey fronts, no one uses the space for anything more than a brand name or logo. I think there is a huge opportunity there for an advertiser to do something creative such as a contextual tie in or campaign message. If you're going to sell out, do it with some style.

For example, QuickBooks could partner with the Kansas City Wizards to let soccer moms know that their tax wizard makes completing your family's taxes a breeze. OK, so that's a pretty cheesy example, but the opportunity to do something clever and generate plenty of publicity is there.

Hopefully MLS teams can get some clever sponsors to buy into this idea; otherwise they might have to resort to putting "Chico's Bail Bonds" on their jerseys.

Advertising Observations From the Races

This weekend's NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway was jam-packed with all sorts of advertising goodness. Here are some of the highlights:

The Budweiser Donkey
Remember the furry little guy who was born a donkey, but meant to be a Clydesdale? He now travels with the Clydesdales, who have brand equity than any other animal alive. The little guy stole the show from his larger counter parts and even shakes hands with visitors. Now that's the power of advertising.

Aerial Advertising
There were seven or eight banners flown around the track by planes all weekend. In the past, there have only been one or two planes toting banners. It sounds like buying billboards in and around the track is so expensive that many advertisers, such as Nextel, vitaminwater and others have turned to aerial advertising for a cheaper way to get in on the party.

Ricky Bobby
You knew it had to come to this, but just like me, you wouldn't have it any other way. One of the most popular attractions on the Midway was the Talladega Nights trailer featuring tons of Ricky Bobby swag. Shake and bake baby!

Discovery Cycling's Race 2 Replace

The Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team announced today that it was parting ways with 11 of the riders who helped Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France seven times in a row. Among the departing are Viatcheslav Ekimov and Paolo Savoldelli, who are both featured in these cool old school posters from TM. The posters heralded Team Discovery's Race 2 Replace event, which went down in August at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Campbell's Chunky Soup Brings in 'Hungry Boys'

Just caught the new Campbell's Chunky Soup spot, "Hungry Boys," which features several Pittsburgh Steelers. Steelers' quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, was supposed to star in the commercial but a motorcycle accident hospitalized him days before the shoot.

Campbell's instead brought in Roethlisberger's Steelers teammates Jeff Hartings, Max Starks, Kendall Simmons, James Farrior, Marvel Smith, Charlie Batch, Casey Hampton and Chukky Okobi, along with Steelers "Team Mom" Elleanor Starks.

Music to the Ears of Jayhawk Fans

An evening of truth is upon my beloved KU Jayhawks as they prepare face Toledo on ESPN2. I, like most college sports fans, am intensely loyal to my school. To us, our school's mascots, colors and fight songs are sacred. So I'm incredibly excited that the University of Kansas now has free downloads of the school songs available on its Web site.

This isn't just about sports, there's a marketing lesson to be learned. By giving your supporters access to elements of your brand, you help them become advocates for you. This is the case with KU's school songs. Jayhawk fans across the country can now roll down their windows and crank up the fight song as they pay homage to the crimson and the blue.

It's all about giving the content to the people, and by golly, this puts a song in the hearts and ears of Jayhawk fans, not to mention, non-Jayhawk fans.

NCAA Cuts Football, Not Ad Revenue

In order to speed up college football games, the NCAA instituted several rules changes involving the game clock. So far, this has shortened each game by about 12 plays this year.

The changes they made don't seem to fix the problem they set out to solve. Instead of speeding up the down time in game, like baseball did a few years back, the NCAA shortened the game itself. They took time away from the action on the field but kept the same amount of timeouts where television stations pull down hella scrilla from advertisers.

Funny, no one suggested cutting out television's advertising timeouts to speed up the game.

Rutgers Hypes Leonard for Heisman in Times Square

Rutgers University is hyping Heisman candidate Brian Leonard on the NBC Astrovision by Panasonic big screen in Times Square. The spot, which is really just a highlight reel of the Rutgers full back, airs four times every hour.

Rutgers is not the first to campaign for their man to win the Heisman, or to advertise something unusual in Times Square. However, the media buy is clearly meant to take the message to the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City, the home of the Heisman Trophy. You can see the spot on the accompanying Web site under multimedia.

Wallace Isn't Rusty on Pimping Sponsors

NASCAR drivers love to rattle off seemingly endless lists of sponsors every time they do an interview. It seems the same holds true for a wreck on the street. Former NASCAR driver and current ABC and ESPN analyst, Rusty Wallace, touted the safety features of his Dodge Durango after a Mercedes T-boned Wallace's SUV. You can't make this stuff up - it's just too good.

Arizona Cardinals Say No to Pink Taco Stadium

A restaurant called Pink Taco offered the Arizona Cardinals $30 million for naming rights to their new stadium. You can imagine why the Cardinals declined the offer.

Many, including the Cardinals feel this is a publicity stunt and I would tend to agree. However, I think the restaurant truly wants the naming rights to the stadium because that will generate even more publicity. A quick glance at the press section of Pink Taco's site shows they want any and all publicity they can get. This includes clips from Saturday Night Live and tabloid excerpts about the owner's son dating Lindsay Lohan.

I guess you don't take yourself too seriously when your restaurant is named Pink Taco, but you do take all the publicity you can get.

Purdue Football: "I LUV COACH"

Today marks the official start of college football season, and I'm pretty jacked up about it.

I'm also pretty fired up about the "I LUV COACH" campaign for Purdue football. Fans can leave a message for Coach Joe Tiller by calling 866-I-LUV-COACH. Fans can hear all the messages on the Web site and new messages are featured in TV or radio spots every week. The tagline for the radio and TV spots is, "We've got your game."

College football fans are extremely passionate and are a fertile target for user generated content. This campaign is great because it gave fans, who are foaming at the mouth for the start of the season, an outlet to support their team. The nice integration between online, radio and TV is the icing on the cake.
Via: AdFreak

Roddick Battles Pong, Maria Feels Pretty

It's US Open time, and several advertisers have capitalized on the opportunity to fill the airwaves with some tennis themed spots.

American Express came out with a clever spot that pits Andy Roddick against pong. The campaign is nicely integrated with an online pong-like game and gets extra points for being old school.

Nike and Wieden + Kennedy also rolled out a new spot featuring Maria Sharapova. As Maria heads for her match with a scowl on her face, everyone she meets serenades her "I feel pretty" from West Side Story. She silences the tune by hammering home a winner with the typical monster tennis grunt. This spot is also integrated online with a nice mini-site and has been heavily advertised on ESPN.com.

The Reggie Bush Brand Booms

Reggie Bush and Floyd Landis have one thing in common; they both didn't missed scheduled appearances yesterday. Unlike poor Landis, who skipped out on the Tonight Show because of doping accusations, Bush was late reporting for Saints' training camp because of a contract holdout.

It's no wonder the guy wants more money; the Reggie Bush brand is booming. Bush inked several huge endorsement deals and already has commercials airing for EA Sports NCAA 07 Football, ESPN Mobile and Subway. His other endorsements include Adidas and PepsiCo. All this despite not having a contract signed to play professional football.

It's quite ironic that his commercials have started airing with the start of NFL training camp, when Bush admits he could holdout for an entire year and go back into the draft if he doesn't get the money he wants. I think we have created a monster.

Doping Allegations Doom Floyd Landis' Marketbility

Floyd Landis has tested positive for high levels on testosterone during his winning ride in the Tour de France. Pending a positive result of a second test on his "B" sample, Landis will surely be stripped of the title.

No matter the outcome of the test, Landis' innocence will be subject of much debate. What is not subject to debate is the effect this will have on Landis' marketability. Even is Landis' second test comes back negative, no marketers will want him to peddle their goods.

The same thing happened to Tyler Hamilton. After completing the Tour with a broken collarbone, he drew the interest of sponsors. But after receiving a two-year ban for doping, his stock hit rock bottom and his sponsors pulled out.

What is truly sad about all of this is that Landis never had big-time sponsors to lose. These allegations will serve as a preemptive strike to his wallet and his image.

Commercial Burnout

Two of my favorite summer traditions have come to an end. The World Cup and the Tour de France are over. One ended better for America than the other, but there's always the fourth next year.

During big televised events like Tour de France or the World Cup, you see the same commercials break after break and day after day for a month. The same thing happens with the NFL or any other TV show, but these two events are different. They are tournaments, so they are on TV everyday and viewers get bombarded with the messages multiple times each day.

Other factors also contribute to this frequency. The World Cup and "le Tour" aren't major events like the Super Bowl in the United States. This causes them to get fewer commercials, meaning the commercials they do have air with greater frequency. The commercials get old, but they get ridiculous amounts of frequency because viewers continue to watch day after day.