State of Michigan Sports

I wanted to comment on the collection of sports, at the collegiate and professional level in the state of Michigan. The amount of good teams and name recognition is great for marketers and advertisers. First, the University of Michigan not only is state recognized, but nationally. The ability of the university to market itself, which leads to better athletes, is remarkable. Next, on a lower lever, but rapidly moving... Grand Valley State University. The amount of possibilities here are endless. Our school is the best athletic school, BY FAR, in Division II, and pound-for-pound maybe the best in the United States. What a chance for marketers within the university and community of Grand Rapids.
Professionally, Michigan (Detroit) has some of the best, most loyal fans of all. Of course, being good and winning helps. For the Red Wings and Pistons... it's easy. Wins=fan base=money! Which is what advertisers and marketers look for. The "Hockeytown" signature will forever be, and the Pistons are everywhere. What is remarkable though is the loyalty and fan base to the Tigers and Lions. The Tigers can still be marketed through "up and coming" and from their rich history. The Lions are a bit tougher. No other city/franchise has been through the pain of the Detroit Lions. As bad as they have been for so long, Ford Field will still sell out, and fans will continue to tune in on Sundays (NO MATTER WHAT!!!).
Basically what I'm trying to say is that the possibilities for marketers and advertisment in the state of Michigan is great. Money is to be made here, and with the fans in Michigan, this is something that will carry on.

Condom Commercial

I wanted to comment on the condom commercial we all watched in class this semester. Of all the ad and commercials we watched, I found this to be the best. Not for just the humor, rather for the message trying to get across to its audience. This commercials wasn't for a certain brand, rather more of a public service ad. Today, condom commercials use sexual wording and seductive messages to sell their product. I do agree with the message of "use a condom", but the way in which our class commercials used it was great. It took a child and father at the grocery store, and turned in into a disaster. The child threw the worst temper-tantrum imaginable... Screaming, yelling, kicking, sprawling on the ground... Only to be interrupted by a "next time use a condom" message. This manner, highlighted less of pleasure and more of pain of unexpected pregnancy. In all, I feel it touched the whole class. With all of us at the age were sex seems to be of great importance, it always good to have a reminder of the consequence of not being responsible.

Croc Hunter

As previously stated, I've always been a fan of ESPN's Sportscenter commercials. They have that dry, realistic comedy in them. Recently, Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter has appeared. In this commercial, Steve is waiting for the elevator with Scott VanPelt in ESPN Headquarters. Scott is asking Steve about hunting and all when all the sudden the elevator doors open. Out comes the Florida U. maskot (which is a gator). Steve tells Scott to stand back, as he admires the beauty of the animal. Then, as on TV, he jumps and wrestles down the gator.
This is just one example how ESPN incorporates it's athletes and anchors into real things going on in the world. The dry humor is what sets them apart, and the acting in these commericials are great. Once again why I think these are some of the best commercials on TV.

Nike and Tiger

I chose to my in class advertising project on the relationship between sports’ giant Nike Co. and sports hero Tiger Woods. This interested me for a variety of reasons. One, everyone relates and knows about Nike. Whether it is shoes or apparel of any sport on the planet, Nike has you covered. Second, Tiger is a role-model of mine, for the professionalism he exudes and the intelligence he posses.
Nike first endorsed Tiger in 1996. This was a $40 million endorsement deal. In 2001, Tiger resigned for the largest endorsement contract in sports history, $105 million dollars. Nike’s main strategy is to use such a large icon to sell their product, whether it be golf shoes, apparel, club, or balls. Since Tiger has been with Nike, annual sales are up 24% annually. Nike now is a brand leader in the sport.
The marketing mix for Nike, as relates to Tiger, is simple. The product is Tiger, the placement is on TV, radio, magazines, etc. The price today is the $105 million, and Nike promotes in order to sell all of their golfing accessories. Tiger is the second largest celebrity endorser (behind Oprah) and is the richest athlete in sports. Most impressively is that when one thinks of Tiger they think of what is good in sports, not greed and selfishness… Nike couldn’t ask for anything better.

Jordan Commercial

I just wanted to comment on the new Nike commercial, and the presentation on the Jordan XXI. First, I thought the presentation was well done, short and sweet. Great photos and explaination of Nike and the Jordan relationship. What made the presentation great though was the inset of the commercial. This commercial encompasses some of Jordan's greatest moments. What's even cooler is that 13 different people of race, color, and basketball level performed Jordan's 13 most recognized moves & moments. The inspirational music in the background of the commercial gives it that extra touch. It makes goosebumps stand and momories surface of Jordan's whole spectrum. In all, great commercial and presentation (stole my idea, haha!).

GVSU Basketball

How can a school with so many good athletes, so many good coaches, and so many good teams, seem to only get good turn-outs at football games? Maybe this is just the nature of the beast here at GV, but it seems to be a slow process. Football games attract over 10,000 fans at times, yet basketball games (where our guys are #6 in the nation, and women are #13) average less than 1000. I realize football is what GV is known for, and seemd to put us on the map, but our studnet body needs to realize what is helping our school so much, not just football, it ALL athletics!!! I know that this "problem is being looked at intently by the athletic office, and hopefully can be resolved. At the final home game, the girls had over 2200 fans, and the men over 3200 fans, if we at GV could do this, or close to this every night, who known even how much better our basketball players would play!

Sex and Ads

I love how nearly everything today revolves around sex or sex-appeal. You can be talking about a children's cereal, and still have a hot mom dressed with her cleavage showing, or have something like what "godaddy.com" does and straight-up use sex appeal to sell. What the most amusing is the shear amount of commercials that use this strategy, yet really their produst has absolutely no sexiness at all. Not that many men tend to care about this, but it is funny to think about. Oh well, sex sells!

ESPN Sportscenter Commercials

One who I have always thought have awesome commercials, are the one's for sportscenter. The old ones with Kenny Mayne all the way up to today are hilarious. The best about these are how they incorporate professional athletes into them. These commercials allow us "common people" to see another side of our heroes. Dwane Wade, LeBron James, Tiger Woods to name a few, we get to see with the anchors. What makes these funny aren't the slap-you-in-the-face humor, but rather the ironic, "oh, that makes sense" humor. This is why ESPN's Sportscenter commercials are some of my favorite.

Ted Ferguson: Bud Light Daredevil

How great is Bud Light's commercials with Ted Ferguson. These have got to be the best on T.V. right now. Budweiser thought always seems to have the best commercials. With the Budwesier "True" commercials, and noone can ever forget the classic frogs (Bud... Wei... Ser...). These Ted Ferguson ones are hilarious. Not only that, but so true! Staying 2 minutes after 5 o'clock (on a Friday!), not looking at the table full of hot chicks at dinner with your girl, and the shoping with your GF during a playoff football game. I think just about everyone can realte to these, which is probably what makes them so funny!