Years of languid management left the Pac-10 conference increasingly isolated from the rest of the college football world.  A sub-par television deal caused a lack of media exposure and resulted in meager payouts to the conference members ($8-10M annually per school compared to $17M for the SEC and $22M for the Big-10).  Pathetic bowl tie-ins—only one on New Year’s Day—further cemented an east coast bias that was a factor in the Pac-10’s numerous BCS snubs over the last 10 years.

Oh, have things changed in a hurry.  Led by its new commissioner Larry Scott, the Pac-10 has shaken up college football with its impending invitation to six Big-12 schools.  This unprecedented move would create college sports’ first super conference: a 16 school league spanning three time zones with 7 of the nation’s top 20 television markets (historically conferences have been characterized by regional proximity and cultural ties).  Scott’s job is to position the conference’s product in order to market it most effectively.  This effort is primarily geared towards the television networks as the Pac-10’s current deal expires at the end of next season.  Furthermore, the new Pac-16 (or whatever name it will be called) will be seeking a partner to help form its own cable network, which will exponentially increase the member schools’ exposure to the rest of the country.

Scott’s revolutionary strategy to market the Pac-10 conference has rocked the landscape of college football.  It is a great example of the iconoclastic, irreverent, even barbarian approach that TopRight is examining in its upcoming book In Search of Marketing Excellence.  At first glance, the Pac-10’s move seems insane, unconventional, and maybe even delusional.  As time goes on, however, it will surely be regarded as visionary and ingenious.

The two-time Super Bowl champion Quarterback is now being lumped in with the other “bad boys” of NFL Football: Ray Lewis and Jermaine Phillips.

Listen to Dave Sutton’s interview on the  “Vinnie and Cook” show on 937 The Fan in Pittsburgh.

The latest allegations regarding Ben Roethlisberger’s off-field antics have put the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro Quarterback on his back and deep in his own territory…

1^st Down: INCOMPLETE PASS. On June 12, 2006, Roethlisberger was involved in a motorcycle accident near the intersection of 10th Street and Second Avenue near downtown Pittsburgh, in which he was not wearing his helmet.  The next day, he released a statement apologizing for concerning friends, family, all his fans, and the Steelers organization, and in which he also stated, “If I ever ride again, it certainly will be with a helmet”.

2^nd Down:  SACKED.  On July 17, 2009, a civil suit was filed in Washoe County, Nevada District Court accusing Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting Andrea McNulty, 31, in June 2008 in his hotel room while he was in Lake Tahoe for a celebrity golf tournament

3^rd Down: SACKED.  On March 5, 2010, it was revealed that police in Milledgeville, Georgia were investigating Roethlisberger for an unrelated sexual assault inside the women’s restroom of a nightclub near the campus of Georgia College & State University.  Roethlisberger (through his attorney) vehemently denies any wrong-doing.  DNA samples will tell the tale of the tape.

It’s 3^rd and long for the Pittsburgh hometown hero… his $2.5 million worth of endorsement deals with the likes of Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods and PLB Sports hang in the balance.  We’ll be watching closely to see how Ben and the Steelers handle communications with the fans over the next few weeks.  Marketing is all about perception not necessarily reality. Whether Ben is guilty of the allegations or not, he needs to own up to his poor judgment and apologize to the Steelers and his fans for his off-field antics.

What do you think his next move should be?  Hail Mary pass or Punt?

The start of the National Football League (NFL) season is a week away and for approximately 20 million people this means the beginning of fantasy football. Once the domain of only the most ardent of sports geeks, fantasy sports participation has grown to greater than 27 million in North America alone according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. The phenomenon is not relegated to merely the US, as international soccer fantasy leagues also have emerged. Not including wagering, fantasy sports is a $1 billion industry with an estimated economic impact of $3 to 4 billion in the US.

Top Draft Pick, Adrian Peterson

With all this money in play, fantasy sports have become a business battleground, providing an interesting juxtaposition of opposing business viewpoints. Rotisserie baseball was the preeminent fantasy sport through the late 90’s. It was surpassed by football for many reasons including Major League Baseball’s (MLB) stance regarding player statistics on which fantasy games are played. After MLB denied one fantasy company a licensing agreement to purchase statistics its viewpoint was challenged and struck down in court. MLB had claimed that stats were their intellectual property due to a “right of publicity” and they had been steadily increasing licensing fees.

Whereas MLB sought to maximize this non-core revenue stream, the NFL recognized it as a source of attention to their core offering. Said Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, “Everything we see in the NFL, every study we do, any of the stats we see, is that fantasy football is a real plus for the promotion and the interest of the NFL.” “More important than anything, it really creates a focus on who’s on the field, and that’s been very positive.”

Football is now thought to have roughly four to five times the number of participants as fantasy baseball. For MLB, the lure of a potential added revenue stream may have distracted it from recognizing the full benefits brought by added spectator interest and promotion through unaffiliated companies promoting fantasy involvement. The critical lesson is to understand potential impacts of ancillary activities around a core offering including potential network effects. With social networking sites such as Facebook now hosting stand-alone applications involving fantasy sports there seem to be new opportunities to demonstrate lessons learned regarding network effects for those involved in sports. The relatively new media also presents opportunities to create or benefit from potential high-involvement activities involving other products and services about which consumers are passionate. A firm’s most appropriate response will depend on how well it anticipates and measures promotion and consumer interest it can generate through outside networks.

Celebrity athletes have long been cash cows for brands across the globe. After the 2008 Olympics, Michael Phelps was one of the most marketable men on Earth and was poised to join the ranks of the Tiger Woods and Michael Jordans of the world after winning a record-breaking eight Gold Medals. He had multi-million dollar deals with Speedo, Omega, AT&T, Subway, and Kellogg’s, with many more lucrative deals on the horizon.

Early in 2009, Michael Phelps’ image took a major hit when a British newspaper published a picture of the superstar swimmer smoking out of a cannabis pipe while visiting friends at a college town. The picture spread like wildfire across the world and sponsors were quick to make statements regarding their relationship with Phelps. He acknowledged the mistake and reassured the media that it would not happen again. The only major sponsor to cut ties with Phelps was Kellogg’s. Although it’s not confirmed to be directly correlated, it’s interesting that Kellogg’s was also the only publicly traded sponsor of Phelps’ whose stock took a hit immediately following the scandal. Many other sponsors put campaigns on hold, but not for long.

Phelps is already back in the pool and making noise with his performances and his advertisements. Subway has recently released their campaign featuring Phelps that they previously put on hold following the scandal. Speedo is getting tons of publicity for their LZR suit that Phelps donned during his record breaking performances at the 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships. He is also set to appear on an ABC family friendly reality television show with Shaquille O’Neal where the gigantic basketball player will race Phelps in the pool. Phelps also recently broke the world record in the 100 meter butterfly at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy despite being banned from US Swimming for three months. For a sport that is typically not highly publicized except during the Olympics, Michael Phelps is surely bucking that trend.

How forgiving would sponsors be if another scandalous picture surfaced? How much are sponsors willing to deal with?  Barring unforgiveable acts like murder, rape, felonious assault or electrocuting pitbulls, it seems as though successful superstars can maintain their marketability quite easily. When the 2012 Olympics come around, will the marijuana scandal still be smoking? Only time will tell.

Since The Olympic Games are the most anticipated sporting event in the world, we decided to follow up on our post-Games report by studying viewers’ behaviors and the impact advertising and sponsorships had on them.   One may question the reason for studying The Olympics months after its conclusion.  Actually it is an ideal time—especially since it takes perhaps only three months to erase the star athletes from our collective conscience, calling into question the value of Olympic sponsorship.

Just as every US presidential election is called the most important election ever, these Olympics were called the most important Olympics ever.  They were important for advertisers for the following reasons:  1) a bigger audience than ever, 2) the integration of online video, 3) the diminished efficacy of television spots due to digital video recorders (or DVRs), and 4) China—human rights violator and nascent economic superpower.We polled viewers on several topics:

• Why do companies advertise during and/or sponsor the Olympics?
• How did you watch The Olympics? (online, broadcast TV, TiVo, etc.)
• How have attitudes and opinions about advertisers changed?

Here of some of our topline results:

• 93% of respondents watched The Olympics (nationwide, it was more little more than 70% according to CNBC)
• 60% of respondents watched the games as they were broadcast; of those using a DVR about half skipped most of the commercials
• 71% did not watch any of the Olympics online, and of those who did, “just to try it out” was cited as the key reason

The most recalled brands during The Olympics:

1. Coca-Cola
2. McDonalds
3. Visa
4. Nike
5. Speedo
6. Lenovo

For more results, click here.

It has been claimed  that consumers accept advertising and “don’t attach political ramifications to it.”  Our research actually found something interesting.  To the question, “Have your opinions about any company that advertised during or sponsored The Games or athletes changed”, a shocking 100% said “No”.  In other words, the advertising did not change opinion.     To the survey question that followed, “Some companies chose not to advertise/sponsor during The Olympics due to either Chinese human rights violations or the issue of Tibet. Do you respect these companies:  More, Less, The same, or N/A (I have no opinion)”, the results were equally shocking because of the change.  While four out of ten people said “the same”, about 5% said less, and 31.5% said more!

Based on the findings of these two questions, it appears (taking a stand and) not advertising during something people feel strongly about (one way or another) may actually be more effective than advertising.  There are plenty of other examples other than our report on the Olympics that support this.  Food for thought.

It’s a funny thing – I live in Atlanta, home of such enormous brands as Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A, Delta, Georgia-Pacific, Home Depot, and Rubbermaid, but from August through early January (and arguably longer), those brands take a back seat to another set of brands – college football’s Southeastern powerhouses.  To be fair, it isn’t just the Southeast – that is just my own little window.  These brands inspire such intense emotional reactions, and garner so much loyalty and advocacy from fans that it’s no wonder more traditional brands fight like mad for the endorsement rights.  It occurred to me over the last few weekends of watching college football that there are a lot of things traditional brands could learn from these football programs. Here are four good examples.
 
Build a sustainable, long-term connection with your customers.  Florida has sold out every home game since sometime in 1989 – more than 100 straight, ditto for Alabama who had 92,138 watch a Spring game with thousands more outside the stadium.  I could rattle off similar stats for Miami, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee, FSU, LSU – you get the point.  But here’s the real kicker – the connection these football brands have with their fans is so strong that more often than not, the allegiance is handed down from one generation to the next.  How many other brands can claim that kind of advocacy?
 
Create symbols or iconic images that help consumers personify or closely link their personal identities to the brand.  The Gator chomp, Georgia’s blackouts between the hedges, Tennessee’s parade up the river to Neyland Stadium, Auburn with the eagle circling and its rabid fan base maxing out the in-stadium noise meters, Ole Miss and The Grove, Alabama and its Rammer Jammer cheer.  These aren’t just things the fans do or places they go – these are the things they live for, the things they pour their hearts and souls into every fall weekend.  
 
Make the consumption occasion about being part of a community and social networking.  The tailgating and social atmosphere surrounding the game is just as big a draw for most fans as is the game itself.  At most big Southeastern programs, the RVs start arriving Tuesday night (you know, assuming they actually left after the previous weekend).  But these social networks extend way beyond the 5 to 10 miles surrounding the stadium.  No matter where you run into fans of your team, the sense of camaraderie remains every bit as strong.  Earlier this year, my wife and I were greeted with several “Roll Tides” while in New Zealand, which, I am pretty sure is just about as far from Bryant-Denny Stadium as you can get.
 
Leverage the history of your brand.  College football teams do this amazingly well in a variety of ways, but two areas stand out above the others.  The first is leveraging the legendary figures that have made these brands what they are today – figures that will live on in Southern memory for time eternal like Bear Bryant and his drinking buddy/arch rival Shug Jordan, Bobby Bowden, Herschel Walker, the Manning Brothers, Joe “Willie” Namath, the Ol’ Ball Coach, Bo Jackson, and so many more.   Georgia Tech and Clemson used to have this coach named Heisman – I hear there is an award named after him.  Then there is the current crop of SEC coaches who may go down as the greatest collection of coaches ever.   And don’t forget the radio voices of the programs, personified by the recently retired Larry Munson who called Georgia games for longer than most Georgia fans have been alive (“We stepped on their face with a hob nailed boot, and broke their nose” – just classic!).
 
Second is the focus on historical rivalries as a rallying point for fans.  Georgia vs. Auburn, the Florida vs. Florida State vs. Miami trilogy, Alabama vs. Tennessee with its victory cigars on the third Saturday of October, Georgia vs. Florida in the (formerly) World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, the Egg Bowl, the Bowden Bowl, the Iron Bowl, the shear animosity between Alabama and LSU.  No matter how bad the season has been or how heavily favored the opponent may be, you can be guaranteed that these games will sell out and that the fans will cheer their team on like its the national championship.  Rivalry might not work for most brands, but I bet there is some other aspect of their histories that can be leveraged