Once a year I make a pilgrimage to Giants stadium (not much of a pilgrimage, the stadium is only an hour from my house) to watch my favorite NFL team. This year I watched the Giants trounce arch rivals the Dallas Cowboys 35 – 14 (NICE!)

 

 

As a marketing author I tend to be hyper-aware of the marketing surrounding me. From the minute I entered Giants stadium my mind switched to overload. Talk about marketing noise! Everything is sponsored from the tickets to the garbage cans.  If they can squeeze someone’s logo on it they will.

 

Easily there were hundreds of sponsor companies marketing throughout the stadium, so why can I only remember two? 

 

Dunkin’ Donuts was everywhere. They have a huge presence with signage all over the stadium. Dunkin’ Donuts mentions over the PA system after plays and they sponsored at least three in stadium giveaways that I can recall. They are on the ticket, program guide and team photo. I remember them because they made themselves memorable. Every mention of Dunkin’ Donuts was followed by their tagline, “America Runs on Dunkin’”.

 

Dunkin’ Donuts was so memorable that during half-time I didn’t want a cup of coffee, I told my friend Bruce that I needed a cup of “Dunkin’ Donuts coffee”.  I’m not a huge fan of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee (If you read my book you’d know that I’m more of a Starbucks guy) but I really wanted it!

 

Dunkin’ Donuts used every element at their disposal to insure their marketing connected with me. They executed very well. I left the stadium with, “America runs on Dunkin’” echoing through my head.

 

The other sponsoring company is memorable for quite the opposite reason, they were non-memorable. They made no attempt to be memorable or drill anything into my head and they had a better opportunity to do so. In fact they could have had everyone talking about them long after they left the stadium.  The only reason I remember them is because I’m a marketer and noticed the missed opportunity.

 

The company was Pfizer and the product was Viagra. There were a few Viagra logos around the field and a few mentions over the PA system but they went completely un-noticed. Every now and again I’d hear, “this replay sponsored by Viagra”, that’s it, no tagline, no memorable elements just a product name.  

 

Viagra had a HUGE opportunity to be memorable and they blew it! Viagra is sponsoring an event where 90% of the attendees are men. Where can you get a better opportunity to market to your prime demographic!

The Viagra tagline, “E.D. is more common than you think” is a bit of a downer for the hordes of testosterone filled football fans so I understand why they didn’t use it but the game of football is filled with opportunities for memorable euphemisms.

·         Viagra, makin’ the hard plays!

·          That long hard throw brought to you by Viagra!

·         Viagra, bring the goalpost home!

·         Viagra, don’t wait till your fourth down.

·         Viagra, kick it through the uprights!

They’re sponsoring a team called, “BIG BLUE” for God’s sake! How do you let that one get away!

I think you get the idea. I know that I’d be laughing my ass off and telling everyone in the office about the Viagra spots.

Sponsor the goalpost; put the Viagra logos on the urinals in the men’s room, could there be a more perfect time to have your primary targets attention? (Could I sound more like Chandler Bing?).

 

How about the snack bar? All drinks purchased at halftime will be supersized courtesy of Viagra.  The list gets longer and longer (pun intended).

 

The marketing landscape is overcrowded and riddled with noise. Getting through to consumers is a challenge that most companies fail to meet.  Sex sells, humor sells and when you can combine the two and don’t, you’ve missed a golden opportunity. Is Viagra too serious a product to advertise this way? Are they above this type of humor? Comon!  It’s a football game!

 

Whose sensitivities are we worried about? This guy???? Sponsor him too!

To summarize this extremely long (pun intended) article, marketing is all about making a connection. In order to connect with customers you have to separate your message from the noise. Being different like everyone else just won’t cut it anymore. Make some noise and get people talking about you, your company, your product, your service any way you can. Strive to make your marketing different and you’ll connect every time. 

 

 I’m confident you can “rise to the occasion”.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 31st, 2008 at 11:49 am and is filed under Marketing & Sales. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.