The growth of Second Screen continues

The "Second Screen" phenomenon is now here to stay as a part of the television sporting experience.  As Super Bowl XLVII approaches, let's take a look at a partnership between developer Viggle and Miami Dolphins football legend Dan Marion.  

The app is a bit like Heineken's Star Player concept, developed for European soccer theatre.  According to Marino, this one  “rewards you for actually watching the game live and making changes based on what is happening on the field – in real time… No more sitting by as your star player gets injured or is having a bad game. You can sub him out just like the coaches do.” This set's the Viggle app apart from other fantasy football apps which don't work in real time and which tus have less to do with the action on the field.

A nationwide leader board will track results weekly, with one Grand Prize winner getting a trip for two to this year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans, Louisiana. Runner-up prizes include Marino-signed memorabilia.

Here's a video which shows how the app works

Nike welcome's Rory to the fold - But will it work?

A recent article by Tom van Riper in Forbes speculates that Nike is taking one hell of a risk in signing up Rory McIlroy as its latest ambassador.  In light of the spectacular failures of both Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong, the author may just have a point.  Why not, he asks, take on a few golfers so as to spread the risk a bit? No says John Rowady, president of sports business firm Revolution, "that's not the Nike way".  

“The company builds sports platforms though influencers", explaining that a single, dominant influencer brings a certain clarity to what the brand is trying to say.   

Many experts are starting to liken McIlroy's freakish talent with that of basketballer Le Bron James and sprinter Usain Bolt.  May think that his "nice guy" persona, coupled with the obvious perspective of Tiger and Armonstrong's failures - will make him the perfect ambassador.  

Let's hope their right.  Check out this new video from Nike celebrating Rory's arrival to the team.

Is Pepsi's Partnership with Beyonce just hot air?

The announcement of Pepsi's $50m partnership deal with popstar Beyonce has certainly not gone unnoticed in the marketing community.  Headlines of the deal inclusions are:

• Beyonce to feature in the Pepsi Sponsored Super Bowl halftime show early in 2013
• Beyonce to feature in the Pepsi Super Bowl commercial
• Beyonce's face to appear on a limited-edition line of Pepsi cans
• In-store point of sale features

But the broad-strokes mask an even bigger and long term agenda.  As Ben Sisario of the New York Times points out  "Pepsi doesn’t just want to sign up the telegenic pop star for another TV commercial. It also wants to get into the Beyoncé business".  

The partnership has been called a "hybrid project" that, apart from the standard items outlined above, will include a multi-million dollar "creative development" fund to support Beyonce's chosen creative projects.  So, for instance, the partnership will include a blitz of promotion for her next album, which has no title or release date so far but is expected in 2013.  It will also involve sponsorship of the artist's world tour in 2013 with full control over screening local talent as opening acts. 

In short, it's the difference between being  a conventional sponsor and what Sisario calls "an artistic patron"

According to Frank Cooper III, chief marketing officer of global consumer engagement for PepsiCo:

“It’s going to add up to great new music and fun new experiences for our consumers, helping them make the most of the moment they’re in. That’s what ‘Live for Now’ is all about and that’s what this partnership is all about.”

All this is very well but will it sell Pepsi and get the brand out of it's weak position vs. Coca Cola?  Inspired by an article in Forbes, I staged an (imaginary) Q&A with contrarian marketing expert Jonathan Salem Basken:

Me:  

Jonathan, do you think the deal will help solve Pepsi's volume woes?

JSB: 

Let's be clear for the readers who run the risk of getting side-tracked by all the glitz and glamour:  Pepsi’s branding is officially adrift. The company has been in denial of this for some time - experiments with ill-conceived social media projects like "Pepsi Refresh" are a case in point.  But what’s still missing is what makes Pepsi real and relevant right now, in the present.  The flagship brand is losing steam, having given away 2nd place in the cola rankings to Diet Coke and, as of the last quarter, reported a 3% sales decline on a 7% decline in net sales (yielding a 16% drop in operating profit for its Pepsi and Gatorade businesses).  

Me:  

PepsiCo execs have said that “consumers are seeking a much greater authenticity in marketing from the brands they love” - surely this foray into popular culture is as authentic as it gets?

JSB:

It might have been when it was tried back in 2002 but it is now an old idea.  Pepsi first hired Beyonce in 2002 after Britney Spears fell out of favour. Coke similarly wasted many millions sponsoring Christina Aguilera (whose face appeared on cans just like Beyonce’s will next year). Christina would eventually swap sides and do promos for Pepsi internationally. 

Me:

But isn't there a chance that the company has learnt more on how to leverage in the last 10 years.

JSB:

Possibly, but I don't think this partnership will sell one extra can of product.  Executives will claim it does but they are misled.  By the way,  there’s absolutely no reliable data on whether Britney et al sold anything a decade ago, and no reason to believe Beyonce will now.  The problem faced by big Cola companies like Pepsi and Coke is not an awareness one - it is the fact that it's getting harder and harder to sell global brands in increasingly segmented, discreet, and critical communities (just think of what’s happened to national beer brands).  A sponsorship like this doesn't address that issue.  There's an old saying... "just because you've got a hammer, doesn't mean every problem you encounter is a nail..."  The only winner here is Beyonce herself.  

For more information visit Branchannel

Turkish Airlines Ad makes good use of Celebs

Here's a clever ad from Turkish Airlines featuring sporting greats Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi.  Its beauty lies in the fact that the personalities don't overwhelm the main message.

MLB extends Fan Cave Concept to World Baseball Classic

We've looked in previous posts at MLB's Fan Cave concept - in essence, a Baseball utopia situated in NYC where two lucky fans get the chance to commentate on the season's events using social media.  

According to Mashable, The concept is to become one of the main marketing vehicles of the 2013 edition of the World Baseball Classic, essentially a World Cup for baseball, with a number of MLB players representing their countries of origin.

The initiative is similar to the Bud Light House which we saw during the 2010 Football World Cup here in South Africa.  On Monday an application period began for fans in 16 countries and territories to apply for spots in the Cave.

According to Mashable, fans will watch every game of the tournament in March from New York City, while posting thoughts and updates about the action via blog and social media before being sent home when their teams are eliminated. Fans of the last four teams standing will then be flown to San Francisco to watch the finals live.

Last season, nine major league fans were employed full-time by the league to live at the Fan Cave and watch baseball on its plethora of big screen TVs while relating their experiences and enthusing others through social media. It claims more than 1.2 million combined followers from 129 countries and territories on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram combined.

Boxing - A sponsorship blunder

Pistachios - those annoying little nuts that taste so good but which are bitch to open.  A reasonable fit with boxing?  Maybe.  Nonetheless, I was bemused by the news that US brand Wonderful Pistachios had decided to sponsor the epic fourth encounter between Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday.  Not to be outdone, the brand also layered in an endorsement deal with Pacquiao.

In a number of press releases, Wonderful's marketing team crapped on about how the fighters were the "epitome of physical health" while the nuts themselves were an "excellent snack choice for competitors and fans alike."  It was all true but as a marketing angle almost complete Bull&^!t!

Take a look at the following ad featuring the Pacman whch premiered during Monday Night Football last week:

All the ad really says is "we're the proud sponsors of one of boxing's greatest competitors" or perhaps "we like Manny!"  As we shall see, the ad has a shelf life no longer than your average banana.

Indeed, all looked fine until fight night.  Despite knocking down Marquez and leading on points, the Pacman literally blundered into a devastating right late in the sixth.  A second later, sound asleep on the canvas and his sponsor's logo emblazoned across the back of his trunks, it all looked like a sick joke.  In fact the slogan "Get Crackin'" suddenly sounded rather ironic.

What could Wonderful Pistachios have done?

• Gotten behind the fight instead of the fighter - 

• Full contact martial arts have a nasty tendency to be rather unpredictable - why put your brand in the possible firing line of a career-ending punch?

• Cash in on the elephant in the room

• This was the fourth encounter between Marquez and Pacquiao, a rivalry which some have called the greatest sporting rivalry of the last 3 decades.  The first 3 bouts were controversial to say the least - almost everyone with even a modest interest in boxing had an opinion about how the fourth would go.  Many believed that nothing short of a knockout would resolve the tension once and for all - but no-one was agreed on just who would send who to the canvas.  Wonderful Pistachios could have fueled (even owned) this conversation.  Corny as it may sound, there's a rich common ground between nut cracking and skull cracking.  

Just take a look at the next video - it literally drips with anticipation and provides the perfect backdrop for any brand wanting to champion the fan experience - in this case the debate and the intrigue around the match's outcome.

And here's how it went down on Saturday night (unfortunately):

I'd say plenty of brand building opportunities went a begging...!  

Infiniti's Sponsorship of Red Bull starting to pay dividends

Last year we reported on how Nissan sub-brand Infiniti had begun sponsoring Formula 1 Champion Team Red Bull racing.  At the time I was circumspect that this was the right call but speculated that the move was designed to drive awareness of the marque.  A year later, the manufacturer is reporting a dramatic increase in brand awareness.   Of  course, the choice of property was a pretty shrewd one: this week, the team won the constructor’s championship for the second year running, and driver Sebastian Vettel won the driver’s championship for the third consecutive year.

Not only this, Nissan marketers have been doing a lot of work to activate the sponsorship.  Initiatives include:

• Inviting stakeholders to races and giving them behind the scenes access to the garages and pit lane.

• It has used the drivers to meet people – for example, in Manhattan, the 2011 F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel took a group of journalists for a ride around the proposed New Jersey track. 

• Infiniti also recently named a car after Vettel  - the FX50 Vettel edition – which he drove at the Goodwood festival of speed. 

For an interview with Nissan's CVP global marcoms Simon Sproule, click here