3-Step Drop: Rivalries

What a great weekend for college football fans coming up with the marquee games on the schedule.  Topping this list of rivalries and big games are USC v Notre Dame and OU v Texas.  What can your brand learn from these annual match ups?

1. Brands Need Brands - If your marketing agency has done a great job during the discovery and account planning process, your brand will be able to pioneer a new category free from competitors, initially.  But with today's resources and technology, some other company will copy you and come to market soon after you enter.  Do not worry, you want and need this to happen.  Why?  Think about it...how else would we be able to judge how good USC or Notre Dame is unless they play another team?  It would be ridiculous to crown Texas as national champions if they didn't play a game all year, right?

Your brand is the exact same.  If no competitors come into the market after you, the consumer will likely not give you the credibility you deserve.  Consumers need a way to gauge your brand against others to see just how good it really is; whether or not your "big idea" is as big as you think it is.  Past the initial phase of newness, consumers tend to think, "it must not be that good if nobody else is doing it."  You have a decided advantage when you enter this new market first, and you will have chances to "out play" your competition with better strategy, just as USC and Texas will this weekend.

2. Consumers Need Brands - You might be thinking this statement should be the other way around.  You would be correct; brands do need consumers.  But it is equally as true that consumers need and want good brands as well, for three main reasons.  The first being it saves time.  Assume your favorite college football team has a bye this weekend, will you not watch games at all?  Most likely not.  So how will you choose?  You will scan your TV Guide channel and look at the match ups.  Certain teams/universities have built brands over the long term that give you a sense of what to watch; OU v Texas being one of them.  Your brand is the same way.  Once you make a name for yourself, it will be easier to sell to the consumer because the consumer knows what they are getting.

The second reason is that brands project the right message to the people who will be judging you; and face it, we all judge.  Again, assume your favorite team has a bye this weekend and you choose to watch these two marquee match ups.  Let's say both of these games end up being one-sided blowouts.  Will anyone fault you for tuning in to these games, even if they become blowouts, instead of Central Seaweed State v. Northern Turkeyneck University?  No.  But if you tune into the Turkeyneck's game and OU v Texas is a close nail biter people will think you're nuts for not even tuning in at all.  Nobody will fault you for choosing those marquee match ups and you, as a consumer, don't lose any image points.

Lastly, and closely related to the second point is brands provide consumers with an identity.  Consumers need an identity just as much as brands do.  Being a fan of USC or OU aligns them with a group of like-minded people.  However they choose this association, for now, is irrelevant.  What is important is that consumers WILL choose things, groups, people, and/or products that will help people identify them and so they can identify themselves.  If you want to be seen as cool and hip, you might buy an iPhone.  When people see you with that iPhone they will think that you are an up-to-date, tech-savvy, cool person.

3. Brands Are Long Term Assets -  When we look at these games, today we see them as the big games of weekend.  But were they always that big?  No.  There was a time when OU v Texas only had meaning for people associated with those institutions.  Eventually overtime with the success of the teams and the national championship implications, this game itself became a brand, hence the name the Red River Rivalry, as well as the teams that play in them.  This did not happen overnight.  It took years on the recruiting trail for the coaches, countless wins, loses, championships, and marquee players to get this game noticed at the national level.  Now when someone mentions the Red River Rivalry we don't need to ask who's playing in that game.

Your brand will start small and may need years to prosper to the level where it is synonymous with a particular category.  It takes consistency, cash and an ability to cut through the competitive clutter.  Don't believe me?  Red Bull took nine years to exceed $100 million in annual sales.  It took Microsoft ten years to exceed that same amount.  How long did it take the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart (with approximately $339 billion in annual sales), to reach the $100 million mark? FOURTEEN YEARS!  Be patient and don't expect instant results with your brand either.  Eventually your brand can reach the heights of a USC, Notre Dame or the Red River Rivalry as well.  Fight On!

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3-Step Drop: Huskers v. Mizzou

Wow!  What a football game that was.  Finally the Huskers come through in a big game.  If you went to bed early, you missed one heck of a rally from the children of the corn.  Nonetheless, let's learn something about marketing from this stellar football game.

1. Don't Change, Adapt - Both Mizzou and Nebraska run wide-open offenses.  And both teams skew their play calling towards the pass.  But with last nights rainstorm during the game, one might conclude that more traditional offenses would fare better than these new-age schemes and you would probably be right.  But would it be good for the Huskers to start lining up and running plays as if Tom Osborne were still coaching?  Should Mizzou have started lining up in the I-Formation and let their QB be true dual threat like Corby Jones?  No.

What they did was adapt.  They threw shorter passes, screens, Missouri ran the ball more than they probably would have.  Both teams stayed true to who they were and adapted to the conditions.  Your brand needs to be the same way.  There will be times when conditions outside of your control - economic climate, political climate, new regulations - will force you to make a decision about your brands direction.  The right answer is to stay true to your brands promise and not pretend to be you are not.  The Huskers could not become the Huskers of old with Power-I formations and throwing only 10 passes in a game.  They don't have the expertise in personnel to pull it off.  Same for your brand.  Trying to do something that you don't have the expertise or capacity to do is silly.  Stick to your game plan and you'll have a far better chance of winning.

2. Don't Shoot Yourself in the Foot - Football, like business, is hard enough facing a fierce competitor that you don't want to compromise yourself.  Mizzou did this at key times last night.  Not that Mizzou would have won the game, but 8 penalties for 100 and 3 turnovers is bad enough.  But when you factor in when and where they happened in the game it was devastating for the Tigers.  You know the competition in your market and you don't need to give them anymore help than they already have.  Don't let your CEO get caught driving drunk, don't screw up a product and have a big recall, don't become the next Enron.  Luckily for Mizzou, this is their first loss and they are not out the championship hunt.  For your brand, a screw may not mean you go out of business but a loss of market share instead.

3. Momentum: Ride The Wave - The Huskers hit a big pass to Niles Paul for a 56-yard touchdown.  They then scored twice more quickly before putting the nail in the coffin with just 56 seconds left on a 5-yard run by Roy Helu Jr.  The Huskers lacked big plays all night and finally they had a burst at the end; when it counted most.  The Huskers rode that momentum and emotion to what turned out to be a crushing loss.

Hopefully, your brand will get some momentum on some event.  It might be because an influential blogger tries your product and blogs about how much they like it.  It might begin on a positive story highlighting you brands commitment to a cause or charity.  It might even be strong earnings on Wall Street.  Use your creative and PR to highlight these accomplishments internally and externally.  Whatever it is, be ready for it; seize it; and ride it to victory.

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3-Step Drop: Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders have been one of the biggest jokes in all of sports the past few seasons.  They have been incorporated into the punchline of countless jokes and parodies.  And this year they didn't disappoint; Head Coach Tom Cable punched an assistant coach in the face breaking his jaw.  Only in Oakland could that happen.  But even with all this organizational incompetence, is there anything a marketer can learn?  Yes.

1. Your visible head - Who is the visible head of the Oakland Raiders; QB JaMarcus Russell, Al Davis, Head Coach Tom Cable?  Probably a mix of all three.  In either case, the perception is not good.  Most people think Al Davis is senile, we already mentioned the head coach's issue, and JaMarcus Russell couldn't hit the inside of a barn if he was standing inside the barn.

The visible head of your organization can do more to help or hurt your brand than any ad campaign the best creative director in the world can dream up.  Your visible head - CEO, CMO, COO, PR - needs to be on top of their game at all times.  In today's world of 24-hour news cycle, blogs and other social media outlets anything they say and do in public will scrutinized.  Whoever this person is in your organization should exude the qualities of your brand at all times and be good for a sound bite or two occasionally.  My favorite: Larry Ellison of Oracle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UYa6gQC14o

2. Deficiencies in strategy make execution look bad - As of this writing, JaMarcus Russell ranks 30th in the NFL in passing with 1 touchdown, 4 interceptions, 378 yards and a pathetic 39.8 passer rating through three games.  Is JaMarcus Russel this bad as a player, as a quarterback?  Probably not.  What this is indicative of is bad strategy by the Raiders play callers.  The Raiders need to run the ball more and put Russell in manageable situations and not ask him to win games with his arm just yet.

Look at your current marketing strategy.  Do you know why your ad looks the way it looks and is running with the frequency that it is?  Do you know why you are positioned in the market where you are?  Should you reposition yourself to gain a competitive advantage, and you should you reposition your competitor to take away their edge?  Your advertising might not be working because there is a key bit of strategy that is lacking; be it in your positioning, creative or messaging strategy.  Oh, I know your agency won an award for it, but if it doesn't help you sell more stuff does it really matter?

3. Don't let your tagline become a punchline - Commitment to Excellence.  Does anyone really think the Raiders are committed to excellence?  Well in actuality they are.  Al Davis wants to win just as much as the the next owner and so do the staff and players of the Raiders.  The problem is with the execution of the Raiders and how it compares to what they say they are about through the use of their tagline or slogan.  The Raiders are usually one of the most penalized teams in the league, we have coaches punching coaches in the face, coaches calling players dumb, and a revolving door of coaches to name a few.  None of these things exude excellence.

Whatever you tagline or corporate slogan may be, constantly review it.  Make sure your brand is living up to it in every touch point that you have.  If you find it is not, change your execution to match the tagline or change your tagline.  If you wait until your tagline becomes a punchline you'll have a hard time reversing course in the minds of your consumers.

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Vick, Nike & PR

With the re-signing of Michael Vick, Nike has certainly made a bit of news.  This is not an endorsement deal, but just a supply deal as they have with several athletes.   Let's answer a few quick questions.

Will this hurt Nike?  No.  Nike has dealt with controversial athletes in the past: John McEnroe and Dennis Rodman are examples.  I am sure some parents did not buy their kids Rodman's shoes, but Nike is still here stronger than before.  Keep in mind, this is not an endorsement deal as with the two aforementioned examples.

What about the possible negative PR? Given the timing of this announcement, I don't think there will be any.  Vick as reinstated some time ago, so if there was going to be any large backlash against Vick, it would have already happened.  And since it has not, there will probably won't be now.  Sure there will be some people who now won't buy Nike because of this, but they are few and far in between and probably won't have a large affect on Nike's bottom line.

What's in it for Nike? Besides the obvious opportunity to sell more Nike branded football goods and apparel, it's positive PR for their Corporate Responsibility Division and Nike in general.  Because Vick has committed to doing these community service events, Nike will now there be there by extension and add to their portfolio of activities for this unit.  In this day, with all the negative lights shining on corporations and their activities, can you argue with more corporate responsibility?

What this illustrates for all brands is a need to manage your reputation.  With all the online access to chat rooms, Facebook groups, etc. brands need to make a conscious effort to manage this on a daily basis.  If I am wrong and the Vick situation does get out of hand, it will start online: in the blogosphere and other social media type groups.  If you see it coming you can react, if you don't you could be spending untold amounts of time and money trying to slow down a snowball rolling downhill.  Do you know what consumers are saying about your brand?  Who have you appointed at your firm to manage these outlets and monitor what is being said about you?

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