Forty: luv

By Beatrice Vears 

Sport is a pure, true physical endeavor, a benchmark of prowess, the simplicity of performance on the day which defines a winner and a loser.  Wimbledon 2013 shows no greater case in point.

Murray has learnt to control his nerves, Djokivic is a well-seasoned grand slammer and they jointly provided a master class in jaw-dropping tennis. Only three sets but a wonderful, inspirational product.

Sabine Lisicki powered into final, deposing higher ranked players with the ease of the underdog, and then fell apart, under the pressure of expectation. Result? A rather boring, one-sided final.

What does that one snapshot of a weekend say about women’s sport? Has it been in the shadows all these years because of emotion, of feeling, a compromised output based on squeals, tears and breakdowns?

Of course not, but it seems that feelings towards women’s sport can certainly ruin the product - most of it has been straight out of the cave recently ‘Bartoli has second career as tennis champ ‘cos she ain’t a looker’, ‘Murray salvages British tennis’ seemingly erasing the Grand Slam achievements of female champions Wade, Jones and Mortimer.

So here we are, 11 months on from the halo of London 2012 where women’s sport stamped a real step-change in profile, medal haulage and role modelling. One year on, do we have an improved track record? Are we getting better access, experience and branded output? Who has made it on to the podium for pushing forward women’s sport?

Bronze

Katie Walsh setting off as favourite in the Grand National, the world’s most popular and dangerous horse race. Not simply the housewives choice but a real contender built on her success in being placed the previous year.

Silver

Inbee Park, the world’s no 1 women’s golfer, on the cusp of winning all 4 majors in one season, a feat that no male or female or golfer has achieved since 1930. If she can win the British Open in August, she will guarantee her leap into sporting immortality.

Gold

The media, in particular bbc.co.uk’s commitment to increased coverage of all women’s sport. Under every subheading, a healthy, growing women’s section most recently exemplified by their player profiles and coverage of the Women’s Football Euros.

And looking forward, what glimmers of light do we see on the horizon? Surely it’s the Women's Cricket World Cup (WCWC) landing in the UK in 2017. If ever there was a chance to make up for a shocking missed opportunity in India recently, this is it. The home of cricket, the home of the BBC, the home of the previous holders. It bodes well. This WCWC can have a purpose, beyond simply playing the game:

- Remit to develop the global profile of this sport

- Define England’s unique role in the 2017 Women’s World Cup story ‘cricket coming home’

- Chance to Shine’s role in developing the grassroots game

We know from our work with London 2012 that the right brand can create a build-up and an experience worthy of both a global television, and in-ground, audience. A new exchange of content, thinking, ideas and participation to reflect the growing dynamism of sport sponsorship, player accessibility and models of engagement.

Finally, and most importantly, it could be a catalyst of change for the growing popularity and the reinforcement of positive feeling towards women in sport.

Now that’s truly a game changer.

  Beatrice Vears is head of account management in London. 

What brands can learn from the big leagues

By Sam Liebeskind

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, it’s the right time for people like us to write pieces about a) brands advertising during the Super Bowl and b) the analogy of business being a sport. (You know, the type of piece where CEOs are compared to coaches, employees are spun as the players on the field, etc.) We're trying to avoid that here.

Instead, I'm thinking about the evolving business of sports, about how the four major American sports leagues are working hard to keep up with the new, 21st century challenges that all consumer brands are facing (for example, the home/digital experience overtaking the real, brick-and-mortar experience).  Here are 6 things that more consumer brands should have in common with the most progressive, brand-focused, experience-obsessed sports brands.

TODAY, BUILT ON YESTERDAY   

Celebration of history is vitally important for sports brands (think classic brands like the Yankees, Celtics, and 49ers), but these teams have fresh new players and story lines each year.  The key is linking past to present in a compelling manner; viewing new infusions as a part of (not a replacement of) a long lineage.  Because in reality, a brand is built over time, it's the culmination of its own history.  The 49ers rallying cry (and hashtag) leading up to the Super Bowl--#QuestforSix (a reference to their pursuit of a 6th Super Bowl victory)-- is a linkage of today’s Kaepernick-led squad to the Joe Montana and Steve Young teams of the past.

The lesson for consumer brands? Have a style, create patterns and build expectations, but always consider the new, the next.  Find your rookie and place it in context of a longer narrative. Could be a person (Marissa Mayer at Yahoo producing solid results already) or a product (Facebook's social graph), but as long as it’s new and has the potential to be game changing, it'll get people interested or re-interested.

  PROMOTE THE STORIES

People always seem to want an inside look, a behind the scenes view of an organization they’re interested in.  In the last few years, the leagues have all created documentary-shows that add a human element to their games (MLB’s The Franchise, NBA’s The Association, NFL's SoundFx, the NHL’s 24/7).  Combined with other small touches like NFL players tweeting live from last week's Pro Bowl- sports brands are, more than ever, the sum of a set of personalities and faces.

The lesson for consumer brands? Be transparent and promote your people, your strategies, and your culture.  Today’s best CEOs are now celebs.  Zuckerberg is a household name.  And Google has done it better than anyone, giving peaks into their culture to not only appeal to employees but attract customers as well. They fully understand the benefits of innovating in public, and the fact that their audiences are watching for the wins and the losses.  The next brand to watch: Warby Parker.  In my mind, this annual report is one of the coolest documents ever produced by a company.

  PRESERVE THE QUIRKY, UNIQUE TRADITIONS

Sports brands are largely built on traditions.  Some are serious, some are playful, but all are highly anticipated.  The Packers have the Lambeau leap, The Yankees and Cubs support rowdy bleacher culture, the NBA holds an annual slam-dunk contest.

The lesson for consumer brands?  Hold on to those unique moments that made you special when you were small.  Do some things for the fun-of-it, because they’re exciting, different and bring a smile to people’s faces.  Not everything needs to have a measurable ROI, productivity boost or revenue stream. Apparently Microsoft used to ceremonially throw Gates in a campus lake after each product launch.  Burton famously awards employees snow days after blizzards cover local mountains.  And Google's doodle is nothing more than a delightful quirk.

REWARD THE COMMITMENT OF SUPERFANS

Sports fans pour passion into their teams.  They spend countless hours of their lives promoting and defending their team. The most progressive teams are rewarding these people more than ever.  The New York Knicks have started rewarding “Season Subscribers” (season ticket holders) based on tenure, essentially rewarding loyalty over straight-up cash. The NBA’s Detroit Pistons and NFL’s Indianapolis Colts are partnering with SocialToaster to give superfans exclusive, behind-the-scenes content and creating contests that encourage sharing.

The lesson for consumer brands?  Do everything in your power to keep your users happy and help your fans look good themselves.  View everyone as a user, not a consumer.  Give them valuable content to share, ask what you can do for them, and help them help others.  It's no longer enough to just ask people to ‘share’ your content on Facebook. 

  DON’T BE SELFISH

   Responding to loud calls from fans, the NFL has realized that just because someone shows up to an arena or stadium doesn’t mean that they want to place 100% of their attention on the field.  Fans care about the other games too, a huge reason why they were staying home and watching on TV (it's REALLY easy to change the channel!).  So teams have pushed to get wi-fi in stadiums (so that fans can check their smartphones for scores around the league) and started posting out-of-town fantasy football stats on scoreboards.

The lesson for consumer brands? Understand that people don’t want to be tied down, that they don’t like commitment.  Be boundaryless and don’t hold users hostage.  Give them control and the tools to customize their experience.  Last year’s Twitter/Instagram tiff that resulted in the removal of Instagram pics from the stream was an unfortunate step in the wrong direction.

WIN

      All of the above is important, but ultimately, it needs to work hand-in-hand with a product on the field, court, or ice that’s producing.  In sports, this is really cost-of-entry. But it's not all about money (despite having by far the MLB’s largest payroll, the Yankees haven’t won a World Series in 4 years).  It's about being smart, building a product that’s different, that plays to its strengths and exploits everyone else’s weaknesses. 

Lesson for consumer brands? Build a complete experience off of a solid foundation.  As much as Apple builds its brand, it ultimately saw mass-protest at the end of last year when its Maps app surprised users and went haywire.

When done well, these tactics go a long way towards building daily engagement and life-long loyalty: something most sports brands have and all consumer brands want. By building a multi-platform story, a community of ownership, the brand becomes part of our lives.  “New York Giants fan” or “Apple user” become a key point of identity. And for brands, that’s a win.

What’s off brand for Nike?

Yesterday we found out.

As evidence built up that former cyclist Lance Armstrong had been blood-doping (read: cheating) for more than a decade’s worth of races, Nike announced the termination of their contract with the Livestrong founder and former hero to many.  This was pretty shocking news since, as Christine Brennan of USA Today Sports points out, Nike athletes have messed up pretty badly in the past (she mentions Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Ben Roethlisberger and Brett Favre as examples). 

But with these guys, the indiscretions weren’t on the field, court, course, or road.  And that’s the key difference.  While Nike obviously didn’t support these other athletes’ actions, the company was able to overlook them because they didn’t blatantly violate Nike’s core ideals.  Yes, they violated some fundamental social agreements but they didn’t stab Nike in its heart like Lance did. 

To your average Nike-wearing athlete and to all Nike employees, the purity of the sport, the sacrifice of sweat and hard work, and the stimulating rush of honest competition are everything Nike stands for.  To me- despite what they did- Tiger, Kobe, Roethlisberger and Favre still stand for this too.  Armstrong no longer does.

Using its brand as a filter, Nike made a pretty easy decision.

* Unfortunately, the news makes this awesome (but completely un-related) Nike Soccer packaging look pretty bad

Sam Liebeskind is a strategist at Wolff Olins New York.  

Image by Wolff Olins

Stadium Showcase

By Sam Liebeskind

As I walked into Metlife Stadium this weekend to watch my New York Giants take on the Green Bay Packers in the NFL’s 13th week, I strolled past the Bud Light, Pepsi, and Verizon gates, dodged the Chase Freedom Zone and moved up an escalator past the Hertz Suites and Lexus Club before finally reaching my seat. 

Stadiums have been mega-branded for years ­– the floodgates opened in 1954 when Gussie Busch renamed the St. Louis Cardinal’s baseball stadium Busch Field and installed a huge Anheuser-Busch mechanical eagle in centerfield – so nothing about the quantity of sponsors surprised me.  But I did notice several brands at Metlife that have gone beyond the traditional naming and signage strategies, using product displays to engage passing fans.

Toyota and Lexus, for example, have turned part of the stadium’s outdoor plaza into a car showroom, planting their latest vehicles right in the middle of the walkway.  More effective than a billboard or sign, this approach convinces fans to engage: to walk around, touch, and even pose for pictures with the actual vehicles.

Verizon has taken a similar approach inside the stadium.  On top of the rights to name one of the four cornerstone gates, their sponsorship package included an opportunity to create “The Verizon Studio”- a space within the concourse where fans can “demo Verizon technologies including FiOS TV in HD, FiOS Internet speeds, 3D broadcast capabilities and wireless products.”

As retailers continue to embrace this showcase ethos, traditional advertising spaces will become more useful and engaging.  And with mobile shopping becoming increasingly simple, my question is this: How long before I’ll be able to buy that Lexus using my iPhone and drive it right out of the concourse? 

Sam is a junior strategist at Wolff Olins New York. He’s interested in the intersection of sports and brand and is a lifelong Giants fan.

World Basketball Festival + the Make Something School

Retail, sports, and education innovation

Nike, Converse and the Jordan Brand took the World Basketball Festival and transitioned its message into a community creativity program.

The World Basketball Festival identity is a visually dynamic brand, utilizing unique typography and sports illustration by Saiman Chow, which has been seen around the city for the last few months. Created by Sheffield-based studio Sanderson Bob, glyphs from international languages are combined to create a typographic treatment that represents the world without the use of flags or maps.

The Make Something School is a creativity program developed by artist Aaron Rose that partnered with the brands in an event that structured a curriculum around the World Basketball Festival. Leveraging publicity from this innovative new event and the big brands involved, the Make Something School inspired creativity and benefited the local community.

The workshop funnelled the Nike brand along with well-known artists who incorporated inspiring messages such as “United we Rise” into creative activities. Kids excitedly interacted with Nike products and participated in the campaign.

Workshops included: • Teens working alongside Nike designers to transform Nike’s classic Destroyer jacket. Taking inspiration from the core countries of the World Basketball Festival, the combination of newly discovered skills, global inspiration and raw creative talent produced some exciting results. • Workshops with superstar Kevin Durant to design custom variations on the Jordan jersey and shorts as well as a chance to create their very own Hyperdunk trainer. • Local artist Eric Elms ran a day long collaborative exercise in color and expression which resulted in the large “United we Rise” mural.

Read about the event at the Make Something School website.

Images via the Make Something School and Sanderson Bob. 

Additional source: ItsNiceThat

(Melissa Scott)