Honda + Signage= Partnership

Flashing Lights and Advertising:

The effectiveness of signage in stadiums is the fact that signage will allow and force the fans to be exposed to the product by the display of scoreboard signage. However the effectiveness of signage is something I think has had its success over the years. When it comes to the signage of a stadium or event, from the perspective of the sponsor it’s an opportunity to promote your company and getting your name out. Also additional promotions such as half court shots or eating contests hosted by the company help with advertising.

From a generic view the signage becomes a chance to advertise and promote your company as much as the company wants depending on sponsorship agreements. Downsides or over-commercialization comes when the company has displayed their name too much and is no longer to obtain the interest of their consumers by their once entertaining gimmicks and promotions. Also including media coverage with too many advertising pitches in commercials on television or radio. Even though promoting your name is a great opportunity for the company, over doing it could be less effective and costly.

 The point by which over-commercialization takes away from the clients is when the advertising is associated with something that has absolutely nothing to do with the product or placement. The problem is sometimes commercialization is used to market the widespread product by using the means of popular brand connection. In which the commercialization of the product presents something like girls in bikinis at a bar instead of focusing on the product focus. Yes, the commercialization of girls in bikini’s at a bar is good for a beer commercial but not for a product such as Honda Cars.

Twitter My College Sports Update....... #Marketing

Twitter is a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc., which offers a social networking and micro blogging service, enabling its users to send and read messages called tweets. Tweets are publicly visible by default.  Users may subscribe to other users' tweets – this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers or tweeps (Twitter + peeps).
All users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, compatible external applications (such as for smart phones), or by Short Message Service (SMS) available in certain countries.

Big Ten Nation is home to 12 colleges in the U.S. The Conference uses Twitter and other social networks, not only to market but to also update, inform and advertise what’s going on in there sports world. From games, to tailgates, awards, and new recruits, The Conference is known for twitting on a daily with everything that is going on in the conference, the most recent tweets have been about the NCAA Final Four. The tweets have kept follower's up-to-date on the when, where, and how or the tournaments. Most of the tweets hold links that lead you to other B.T.N pages. Big Ten has put all social networks to good use, far as getting the attention of fans, and sports watchers alike.

 Facebook is also a social network the Big Ten uses. The Big Ten Conference Facebook page is full of picture, coupons, and advertisment for up coming games and events. What I have learned to love about all of the different social networks is that in some shape form or fashion they all lead to each other. As well as the app's that offered for phones, Ipod's, Ipad's and much more. Things like this allow people to have 24/7 access to the networks as well as keeps the information in motion.

OSU vs. Michigan: Sponsored By................

The Michigan vs. Ohio State football rivalry (also known as The Game by some followers)  is an intense college football rivalry between the Wolverines of the University of Michigan and the Buckeyes of The Ohio State University. It has attracted particular national interest over the last four decades as most of the games have determined the Big Ten Conference title and the resulting Rose Bowl match ups, and many have influenced the outcome of the national collegiate football championship. The game was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest North American sports rivalry.

When it comes to being sponsored its mainly a necessity for the professionals. When a collegiate team is sponsored by a company they will wear their apparel, but that's as far as it goes.  While professional teams have various sponsors for their games, arenas, and facilities. There are teams, both professional and collegiate, that will take on sponsors to obtain additional funding for their own purposes.

Many companies would love to have rights to the event because of all the potential publicity but the tradition is more respected and the event is left alone. Similar situations with many collegiate arenas, such as the Big House, are unnamed and hold no sponsorships to preserve the history and tradition of the institution.

Potention Sponsors:

Promote Me Major in the Minors

Is it major or minor. After viewing some of my class mates blogs I see it's major, for the minors. 

From simple give away's to once in a life time experiences promotion plays a huge role. Many of these teams offer a variety of promotion to gain the loyalty of the fans and viewers. Most team your normal half-court shoot out for money, or big ticket prizes. Some even have wildest or “Arena True Blue Fan” (A fan that maybe dress head to toe in team colors or appeal) contest. For example, a lot of professional teams will give fans prizes while attending on their birthday or performances at by popular music artist and performers. I truly believe sports promotions are well worth the time money and trouble. Promotion is a way to gain brand or fan loyalty. “We’ve won their heart, let’s win their souls”. Sports promotions are more than just gimmicks, people are attracted to side entertainment away from the game, especially if the home team’s success is not that admirable. To measuring the success of your promotions is done through ticket, apparel, concessions sales and if your fan base is growing. Also these promotions are a chance to show your consumer that you are also benefiting them and not just the organization.

Hustler in Baseball: Bill Veeck

A self-proclaimed "hustler," Bill Veeck, Jr. was the greatest public relations man and promotional genius the game of baseball has ever seen. The son of former Chicago Cubs president Bill Veeck, Sr., he got his start in the baseball business selling peanuts and hot dogs at Wrigley Field and was fond of saying that he was "the only human being ever raised in a ballpark." Over the course of a fifty-year love affair with baseball, Veeck would own three major league teams and would establish himself as the game’s most incorrigible maverick.

Upon returning from military duty in World War II, during which he received a severe leg wound that would ultimately require amputation, Veeck bought his first major league team, the Cleveland Indians, in 1946 at the age of 32. Although his reign in Cleveland was a mere three-and-a-half years, neither the Indians nor the game of baseball were quite the same thereafter. In 1947 Veeck hired the American League’s first black player (Larry Doby), and a year later brought Cleveland its first pennant and world championship since 1920, establishing a new major league season attendance record of 2.6 million fans. He introduced fireworks displays after games and signed 42-year-old Negro League pitching legend Satchel Paige to a contract in 1948, making him the oldest rookie ever to play professional baseball. Veeck even staged a night for Joe Earley, after the fan protested that the Indians owner had honored everyone except the average "Joe."

After selling the Indians, Veeck took on his greatest challenge in 1951: ownership of what he called "a collection of old rags and tags known to baseball historians as the St. Louis Browns." Veeck operated under the premise that fans should have a good time at the ballpark, even if the home team loses. (And the St. Louis Browns lost often, finishing dead last in the American League in 1951 with a 52-102 record, 46 games out of first place.) Veeck’s most memorable promotion for the Browns was sending 3’7" midget Eddie Gaedel to the plate, but perhaps even more daring was staging "Grandstand Managers’ Day," in which the fans determined the team’s actual strategy by holding up large placards marked "YES" on one side and "NO" on the other. Ironically, with the Grandstand Managers deciding whether the team bunted, stole a base, changed pitchers, etc., the Browns broke a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory. The fans retired with a 1.000 winning percentage and are still waiting for a visionary owner to hire them again.

Finding it hard to financially compete, Veeck retired after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He died of cancer six years later as a result of years of smoking. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame five years later in 1991.