I did it. In a past Waxing I wrote about how I’m trying to climb the social media ladder. Well, I moved up a rung by caving in and accepting Twitter as a social media avenue worth exploring for professional development. In particular, for sports marketing and sponsorship activation. You can find me @SportsMarkGuy.

As I try to stay afloat in the twitterverse, I’ll be analyzing how teams, sponsors and athletes market themselves through Twitter. Shaq (@THE_REAL_SHAQ) and the Phoenix Suns (@PhoenixSunsGirl) are among the leaders when it comes to using Twitter as a marketing tool. What can we (consumers and corporate communicators) learn from Shaq’s Twitter popularity, and when will the NBA’s popularity with Twitter spill over into the other major sports leagues? It’s difficult to find players or teams in the NHL using Twitter, but NBA players are Tweeting at halftime!

What I DO think is that Twitter will become the new handshake, or even autograph, between fans and athletes. Will it be just as cool to have Shaq wave to you as he gets into his car after a game, as it is to tell your friends that you are following Shaq on Twitter and he’s eating a pizza in downtown Phoenix right now? Twitter brings these bigger-than-life athletes down to the same level as their fans and allows a connection to be made that has been lost over the years.

Cool Tweets

It’s been about 48 hours since I joined Twitter. Here are two cool Tweets I’ve come across that are great examples of the continually evolving media landscape,

1. Pardon The Interruption (PTI, @PTIShow), a daily ESPN show, has asked people on Twitter to submit ideas for guests on their show.
2. David Schwab @david_schwab, VP and managing director for First Call (a division of Octagon) “twitterviewed” Billy Bush via Twitter and posted the transcript on his First Call blog.

Sponsorship Madness

Notice anything different behind the benches and in the hands of the players in the NCAA basketball tournament? It’s not Gatorade, it’s Vitamin Water. While it would have been thrilling to be a fly on the wall during those sponsorship negotiations, my question is how could Gatorade/Pepsi let this happen?!

It shows up as a clear sign of defeat to consumers when you lose your staple sponsorship to your competitor – all types of questions are begging to be answered. I’d like to know the figures paid, but it shouldn’t matter. Whatever Coke offered to pay for the sponsorship, Pepsi should have beaten it – no matter what. What’s Pepsi’s philosophy behind this? Coke paid $4.1 billion for Vitamin Water a couple of years ago. If that’s not reason enough for Gatorade to be scared and be sure it holds and expands its sponsorship marketing, I don’t know what is. By the way, what’s happened to PowerAde? Is the writing on the wall for the slow discontinuation of the brand?

Matt Hansen

Beehive PR

Despite the abysmal economy and massive bailout efforts, large corporations – including financial institutions – continue to dish out large sums of money for naming rights to stadiums. To the public this may look like either a waste of money or the big and powerful flexing their muscle at the expense of the little people.

But, as Tom Van Riper discusses in his most recent Forbes.com column, “Why the Mets Deal is Right for Citi”, naming rights to a stadium generally result in a good investment for both the stadium/team and the corporation.

Twenty years, $400 million. 25 years, $125 million. 30 years, $120 million. These are some of the most recent MLB stadium naming rights deals that have been finalized over the past 36 months, with the average hovering around $2.6 million annually (chump change, really, when looking at these corporations’ expenditures sheets).

These sponsorship deals become more than just a sign on a building. Included in these deals are activation platforms, exclusive rights to in-stadium products (i.e. Coca-Cola pouring rights) and services (i.e. ATMs and banking services for Citi) promotions, on-site sales and advertising. If properly managed, marketed and activated, these naming rights deals can have a return of upwards of 20 percent annually. In addition, naming rights provide another vehicle for these companies to become leaders in the community and activate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs.

Local Fortune 500 company, Target, recently signed a 25-year naming rights deal with the Minnesota Twins that, if willing, can showcase their dedication to the downtown Minneapolis area and the surrounding communities. With Target already having the naming rights to Target Field’s neighbor, the Target Center, the company essentially “owns” this four-block span of downtown that has potential for revitalization and economic growth. And, with such a wide product offering, the opportunities for community partnerships, charity involvement and product donations (in addition to what Target already does), are multiplied by this deal.

So, next time you head to a concert or sporting event to cheer on your favorite team, think about the name of the stadium or arena, and be attentive to how that company activates that sponsorship within the building and community. You may be surprised.

Matt Hansen
Account Supervisor

Remember the days when reporters would hang around with pro athletes, maybe even have dinner with them after the game? Me neither. Excluding NASCAR, access to professional athletes, especially the stars, continues to decrease on a yearly basis.

Today’s salaries (ego), endorsements (ego), visibility and popularity (ego), free agency, etc. have all but put an end to a fan greeting their favorite player after the game, or the media being able to have an honest conversation with an elite professional athlete for longer than 30 seconds. The leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB) will claim privacy, security and reputation control (see Sean Avery) but come on, really? These guys are more of a threat to themselves then anyone being a threat to them. See Plaxico Burress, or the NFL in general.

Each of the four major leagues has strict media availability policies limiting media to certain amount of player/locker room access after games and practices. For fans, good luck getting a glimpse of your favorite player unless it’s on the playing field, in a commercial or at one of the three community events or autograph signings their contract requires them to attend.

Friend or family? Even Minnesota Wild forward Marian Gaborik’s representative was recently banned from the friends and family area of the event level. Is he really a threat to the Wild’s locker room? Since there doesn’t seem to be any type of reform brewing within the leagues to promote their athletes through fan and media access like NASCAR has been credibly praised for, is connecting through social media a good alternative?

[Side note: a NASCAR driver who drives 500 miles at speeds of 200 mph inches away from other cars will do 3-5 hospitality visits and interviews the day of a race prior to getting in the car. Other leagues: good luck getting within 100 ft of the backup's backup the day of a game.]

I recently heard that a certain prominent professional athlete claimed he sends 300 text messages a day. That’s 300 SENT, not including received. Assuming this guy is awake for 14 hours/day (8 am – 10 pm), that comes out to almost one text message being sent every three minutes for the entire 14-hour a day. Wow.

If the leagues aren’t going to embrace face-to-face access it may make sense to establish one, or any, of the following:

• Get a team cell phone and have a “player of the week” who fans can text and get responses to their questions. 300 texts? Send 10 of them to fans.
• Assign a representative (preferably a player) from each team who can maintain a Twitter or Plurk-type account on what the guys are doing, what’s being heard/said, etc. Maybe do it just on the road or on game day. Something more than a team blogger who’s employed by the PR department.

• Create a team Facebook page and have players, coaches, trainers and equipment managers share their favorite songs, foods and cities they like to visit when on the road. Use the page to distribute weekly videos of what’s happening in different player’s lives on and off the field. Fans could vote to determine the player of the week they want to hear from and answer their questions (see FedEx Racing’s Denny Hamlin). The fans would help determine the content of the next video.

Give us something! No wonder there is so much speculation and rumors in today’s sports news cycle. 

Several high-level athletes like Tiger Woods maintain their own Web site, which I believe helps eliminate rumors, speculation and leaks since you’re hearing it straight form the individual. But for those who don’t, there should at least be a way for them to be visible – we certainly know the leagues won’t let them. Critics will point to the Sean Avery issue, but an idiot will always find a way to be an idiot.

And, fewer injuries? Maybe if there was better access Gaborik would have been chatting with the media or fans instead of playing an intense game of hacky sack and injuring his groin. Sorry, “lower body injury” (another topic for another day).

Matt Hansen

Account Supervisor

No question – timing is of the essence in launching a major consumer product. So why on earth did AT&T decide to roll out its new BlackBerry Bold on Election Day. The world was buzzing with one of the most historic political events of our time. Was this a complete disaster or true marketing brilliance? The jury may still be out, but I’d venture that this gamble is paying off. Look at what the launch had going for it:

• Fresh, unrelated election news to make a splash
• A captured audience absorbing new media inventories now void of political ads
• A memorable date to tie the launch to
• The opportunity to reach millions of qualified consumers – those engaged in the election process tend to have more disposable income

If the lines that formed outside AT&T stores were a sign this strategy worked – I’d say it was a success. Not to mention reaching a record 71 million viewers that evening, according to Nielson Media Research.This unexpected product launch strategy is proving its merit – precisely because of its unconventional approach.

Jason Schumann

Account Director

Hello from Motor City. Ayme Zemke and I are participating in the annual PRSA International Conference. We’re each spending our Saturday in different all-day seminars. Ayme is digging in on the latest in measurement strategies. And I’m deep diving into the most promising new media channels for businesses. Both are critical considerations for our clients’ businesses and our own brand.

Eric Schwartzman, founder and chairman of iPressroom and managing director of Schwartzman & Associates, is leading the new media workshop. He’s a recovering PR agency guy who’s been focused on new media for a decade. He’s pragmatic, honest and humorously cynical. The 50 people in the room – not so much. My industry peers — for the most part — are professionally overwhelmed and afraid. And each is likely a reflection of his or her organization.

Navigating these new media channels can be like trying to read a road sign in Ireland — 26 arrows pointing in every direction in multiple languages. Who knows which way to go? It feels risky. It can’t be controlled. How do you measure it? There is just too much to follow, learn and understand. 

Wikis, Google, YouTube, flickr, twitter, blogs, facebook, delicious, LinkedIn, RSS, podcasts, slideshare and more. The list is growing all the time. These services, applications and tools are generally free and easy to use. And they’re being used every hour of every day to share information about your brand, whether or not your organization approves.    

And there is also a lot of discussion in the room about who owns new media channels — the Web in general — inside their organizations. The corporate communications department? Marketing? IT? Brand? The turf battles are fierce, and thinking runs the gamut from “not my job” to “only IT can put information on our company’s Web site.”

So what’s an organization to do? Schwartzman’s advice is refreshingly simple. He recommends focusing on the channels that are most used by your target audiences. In this order, that’s: 1. your organization’s Web site; 2. e-mail. 3. search. And everything else after that. Schwartzman cautions: “the biggest mistake organizations make is putting the [new media] tools before the organization’s objectives.”

Research shows that an organization’s Web site is still the single most credible source of online information. (In fact, according to the 2008 PR Week Media Survey, eighty-nine percent of media gather information about a company through its Web site. And nearly sixty-five percent of media consider the company Web site “extremely” or “very” important when researching a story.) 

The Web site navigation has to be simple, and the content has to be compelling, interesting, brief and clear. Schwartzman notes, “there is no algorithm for humor, wit and irony online.” The Web site content, as well as the news and information you’re pushing to the marketplace, has to be relevant — use keywords your audiences use. Doing so helps readers digest content and also improves search engine optimization (SEO). Example: What would you search … “cheap airfare” or “low-fare leader?” You get the idea. As for e-mail? Nearly everyone uses it, and many people have multiple accounts. So use it to reach your target audience, but be sure it’s valuable, personalized and includes robust links to something the recipient will value.

New media channels are the present and the future of communicating and marketing everything. Think of the Web as the wheel, and emerging new media channels as the spokes. You need both to move your brand.

Lisa Hannum

CEO

Kids born today will possibly not know what it’s like to be lost, learn how to read a map or even ask for directions, thanks to advancing and ever-present GPS technology. This same technology-savvy generation also will be faced with distinguishing the difference between paid product placement, product integration and the “old fashioned” commercial.“For younger kids, it’s not even clear what the distinction is between ads and regular programming,” says Robert Weissman, director of a watchdog group called Commercial Alert. Since the 1980s when product placement became commonplace, consumers and audiences have, for the most part, had the luxury of identifying and determining the products being marketed to them through commercials and blatant product placement.

Now, with the popularity of Tivo and DVRs allowing viewers to skip through commercials, the lines are becoming blurred as consumer product companies are increasing their spending (up 13 percent in 2007) on product placement and integration. The “you can run, but you can’t hide” theory is becoming a battle cry in c-suites of Fortune 500 companies. American Idol is the king of product integration with 4,349 placements during its’ 2007 season. Can you guess which brand? If you guessed Coca-Cola you are correct, and it’s exactly what the folks in Atlanta were determined to do – have the consumer associate their brand and product with TV’s most popular and “coolest” show. This is not product placement, it’s product integration.With product integration becoming more prevalent and better “hidden,” it begs the question of whether or not disclaimers are needed every time we see a product placement on television. It’s possible, but how do you run a disclaimer during live television – like an interview with a NASCAR driver after he gets out of the car and just happens to be thirsty for a Mountain Dew while on camera?

Is it okay for the next generation to not know when they are being marketed to? I can’t see constant disclaimers being the appropriate fix (unless we’d like to see a permanent scroll while watching American Idol), but in this age of political correctness and full disclosure, we can expect to see some significant changes in how our children’s nightly viewing experience is presented to them, the consumer.

Matt Hansen
Account Supervisor

As I sat in a boat on Leech Lake, bundled in five layers of clothes, rain gear and mittens, I wondered if the Minnesota DNR, or the state legislature, ever seriously entertained the idea of pushing back the fishing opener in an attempt to appeal to casual fishermen not keen on dodging icebergs and snow flakes during the annual fishing opener. One would think if we were actually fishing in open water with temperatures above freezing it would help the resort owners, bait shops and the rest of the state that relies on tourism and others’ enjoyment of the outdoors.

For years the DNR has been trying to encourage Minnesotans and out-of-state visitors to hit the lakes and cast a line with hopes of boosting the number of people buying a license and enjoying the outdoors. They’ve tried direct mailings, advertising campaigns and electronic countdown clocks until the opener. But I don’t think a flashing neon countdown clock is going to convince me, or the dad looking to take his son fishing, to head up north for the opener and brave the snow, 20 degree temperatures and partially frozen lakes to catch Mr. Walleye.

As a result of this year’s weather, newscasts leading up to the fishing opener reported on the ice still covering northern Minnesota lakes while resort owners reported cancellations – not great PR for the in-state friends of the outdoors, and definitely not a warm invitation for the out-of-state to folks. So, why not move the opener back a week or two and build off the current PR (and advertising) campaign around it? While there are no guarantees the weather will be better a couple of weeks later, at least there’s a better chance. Plus, the fish are a week bigger, right? It would give the DNR and the state a good reason to get people truly excited about being outdoors and disconnecting from their busy lives, which is partially blamed for the decline in fishing.

Of course, there are no guarantees the later date would boost the sale of fishing licenses, but neither is a countdown clock to icebergs and the possibility of shoveling snow out of your boat.

Matt Hansen
Account Supervisor

While online and social marketing continue to explode in popularity and effectiveness with marketers, American consumers still look to legitimize or experience for themselves a product or service before they accept it – something that doesn’t always come easy through your PC.

Effective sponsorship marketing programs provide this legitimizing experience to consumers through a simple strategy built around brand interaction. Sponsorship marketing (if done correctly) not only provides a captive audience for companies to reach their audiences, but is also more easily quantifiable than social media, which is still wrestling with best ways of measurement.

North American businesses are expected to spend $16.8 billion sponsoring events in 2008 according to IEG Sponsorship Report – an increase of 12.6 percent from 2007. Millions of these dollars are spent on highly visible, large-scale sports leagues and events with TV rights and contracts (i.e. NASCAR’s Sprint Cup and PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup), but smaller companies also trying to legitimize their brand have steered toward localized and targeted events that fit even the smallest of budgets.

Today, companies have the opportunity to sponsor just about any organized event that attracts a crowd. From Dance Marathon in State College, Pa., to the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, Maine, there is no shortage of events for companies trying to reach their core customer. The challenging part is deciding how to effectively activate your sponsorship.

It is important to determine what your company is trying to accomplish with its sponsorship. Brand awareness? Prestige? Sales? Competitor differentiation? Once the overall business goal is set, it is important to design a strategic marketing plan to capitalize on the exposure the event will receive with consumers and the media (see Ryan McCarthy’s article in Inc. Magazine titled “Blessed Events – How to Make a Sponsorship Pay Off”).

A classic mistake I see all the time in NASCAR Sprint Cup is a company that spends $250,000 on a secondary sponsorship to have their 1’ x 2’ logo placed on the rear panel of the car. What the sponsor fails to realize is that it takes at least another $125,000 to properly activate its sponsorship with hospitality, internal marketing, CSR, driver appearances, etc. The sponsorship may be cool, sexy and build internal morale, but it takes more than writing a check and approving your logo. Companies that do not properly activate these elements often only stick around for one to two seasons. And I can’t help but think about how sponsoring twenty smaller events across the country would have given the company a better ROI than one secondary NASCAR Sprint Cup sponsorship.

In the age of social marketing and digital advertising, cutting through the clutter with an event sponsorship can be a beneficial, cost effective, low-tech way to build your brand…but again if done correctly and with the right type of experience or support.

Matt Hansen
Account Supervisor