Ask an American to give one or two adjectives to describe the past four Presidents and they could. Those adjectives are essential, especially in today’s sensationalist world.
The general public doesn’t know what to think of women’s soccer because women’s soccer doesn’t know what to think of itself.
The refereeing is consistently inconsistent and so the games range along with the officiating; some games are kept tight and fair while others range more violent and exciting. If you can only think of Elizabeth Lambert when you read that then you need to watch more women’s soccer because I think of a multitude of other games before that one. Because of this inconsistency, fans-lite / lite-fans (as opposed to dedicated diehard fans) don’t know what they are getting when they go to a women’s soccer match.
The refereeing inconsistency is annoying but acceptable; in every sport refs work within the same rules but choose their own spot on the spectrum (by which I mean strict, moderate or loose officiating). I mentioned it not to dwell on that technical aspect, but to use it to bring to light the problem with the sports brand; it should be defined by Advertising first and then by the actual games.
Why should a lite-fan commit to the sport if they do not know what it is? Most will not stick around long enough to figure it out. Society does not have a place for women’s soccer not because there is no interest but rather as there is no clear definition. Is it a sport with competition, intensity, violence, passion and skill? Or is it a friendly game full of a girlish stereotype best summed up in the connotations of “breaking a nail.”
It does not matter if the WPS actually is the premier league in the world as long as everyone thinks that they are. USC Football has not won a National Championship title in several years, but I guarantee that they are considered one of the best (if not the Best) college football programs for those same years. A large consensus in America was that the Trojans lost the National Championship title due to a fluke, a mistake, a bad string of luck and that they really deserved it. The truth of the game is that those flukes, mistakes and bad luck did keep the Trojans from claiming the title. Much like no replay in soccer, the team has to take the good and bad calls and move on.
But the title does not change the fact that USC football is considered one of the best. Even with the horrible year they are having, there is faith that they will return to glory in no time. I attribute this primarily to the brand that the Trojan football program has built around itself.
Project confidence and the world will believe you to be confident. Brand the product well and the truth becomes secondary. Not forgotten—even USC could not keep their reputation if they lost every game in a season—but it is not the only measure by which the product is judged.
This problem isn’t easily solved and I am by no means attacking the multitudes of talented and very intelligent people who dedicate their lives (both professional and personal) to advancing this sport. With that said, I believe the biggest lack is in the Advertising department.
Advertising is a subdivision of Marketing, but Marketing is not necessarily Advertising.
Marketing focuses on mixing various business strategies intent on selling a product to consumers. It is a mix of Public Relations, Media Planning, Distribution, Product Pricing, Market Research, Community Involvement and Advertising.
As defined by the comprehensive book, Contemporary Advertising (12th Ed.), Advertising is “the structured and composed non personal communication of information, usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature, about products (goods and services) or ideas by identified sponsors through various media.”
In other words, Marketing deals with everything needed to sell a product, it deals with the fact and denotation of a company and what they sell (their goods or services).
Advertising deals with telling the consumer why they should buy the product (goods or services) by building a social connotation (a Brand) that fulfills a want/need of the consumers.
If consumers do not know women’s soccer, if Bend it Like Beckham is the only thing that comes to mind when asked, then why should they spend money, time and effort to watch it? They must be given a reason that connects them to the sport.
Tell them why and they will come. How? That’s another post. So much for concise, short and all that. I’ll keep working at it. And for the copyright minded, the photographs are all mine.
Until next time...
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4 comments:
Have you seen the early Nike ads from the 1999 era? I love/hate them. They did get the USWNT team noticed, but they also created a deep rut to stick them in (togetherness, not competitive-ness). Time to break free from Mia! Not that we don't all love her, but she's been retired for a few years now...
Hmmm...but how would you define Trojan football in a few words or phrases? I think this is equally elusive, despite the history of that brand. I feel like what you are really describing is saturation vs. non-saturation. I'm not sure comparing a niche/emerging product with a culturally saturated brand is a workable comparison.
I spoke to an undergraduate sports marketing class two years ago during the ramp up of WPS. The class was roughly split between men and women, all of whom had very limited knowledge of the sport and low initial motivation to attend any sporting events outside of MLB, NHL, NBA or NFL. Our marketing director asked what type of messaging could convince them to sample one WPS game with their friends. The group struggled with that for a few minutes before one student finally pointed out that there is no such single message - no advertising silver bullet. The reason he and his peers attend games is because of media/cultural "saturation" (his word, not mine) built over generations, not because of this year's advertising campaigns by the NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB, which he classified as "white noise".
I'm not arguing against advertising. But I'll be interested to see how and where you believe it should be targeted.
I absolutely agree with you that there is no "silver bullet" but without any shots being fired there will be no saturation (great word). Currently I feel that there is no social conception of the WPS. Most people don't even know it exists or think I'm talking about the WUSA (which they struggle to name). My point is that the WPS needs to become saturated into American culture to the point where sports fans can talk about the league without struggling. Whether or not it's a few phrases off the top of their head or a more elaborate conversation, they need to be able to talk about it beyond "Mia Hamm" "1999 World Cup" and all those outdated facets of the sport.
Even though people may not be able to articulate "Trojan Football" concisely, they can articulate it. They have a perception of it and can talk about it. I definitely should have clarified that my comparison was not to equate the WPS to the level of USC. I'm a Trojan so that is where my mind went when thinking of strongly branded, and saturated, teams. That awareness is what the WPS should strive for and the brand clarity is what I think the individual franchises need to develop. The Washington Freedom are doing that right now with their "Freedom Is..." campaign...which I have issues with, but at least they are taking that step.
Thanks for the comment.
With help of advertising the business firms publicize their businesses to make it more popular and to create brand awareness. Advertising help them in increasing revenues which directly increases the profit of the companies.
Importance of advertising
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