Brand Noise

Growing Pains: As Networks Intensify, Roles Evolve

We here at scenarioDNA love the roller derby. It’s an amazing source of girl power. Not just in the sport itself but in its underpinnings. It takes extraordinary team effort to sustain the operation. That said, there’s been some chatter of late talking about junior league roller derby. The first brat league was formed in Tucson by a group of kids who had been following the Tucson Roller Derby adult league. The girls are from 10 to 18 and they play by modified rules.

What’s interesting is that the girls enjoy the same solidarity as their elder counterparts. Yet, one thing has come up for discussion during our own visits with New York’s Gotham Girls: the emotional impact of injuries.

It’s fabulous to see young girls enjoy the solidarity and empowerment that the older girls find in roller derby. They’re practicing at least twice a week, playing once and socializing in-between. They live and breathe the sport. Even at work or school, they txt and IM their derby friends.

The network is pretty intense, which is something hard to find today. But because of that intensity, the impact of an injury hits very hard. Suddenly, a girl is jolted out of her element. That in itself is difficult for women of age, and further complicated for girls in their teens and pre-teens who are in the formative stages of their identity. It singly steps the issue up for the big sisters who now play yet another role.

The trick is how to maintain the authenticity of the younger set without losing the essence. (Image: Arnicare waiting for derby girls at practice.)

Good Placement Fat Boy

I managed to catch the new film by David Schwimmer called Run Fat Boy Run this last week.  Pretty harmless and amusing with some cameos from top Brit comedy folks like David Williams and Stephen Merchant.  Another cameo I didn't expect though was Nike.  The film focuses around the Nike River Run and places the brand rather well in the story.  There is even a scene in which the main character is given a pair of top Nike trainers to motivate him to run.  A small story - but a very simple human story that places the brand in a less "pumped up" context.  This is good - and it left me liking the brand in a different kind of way. 

Kellogg's & Tyson Head to the Summer Olympics

In preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the Summer Games in Beijing this year, the U.S.O.C. faces food issues beyond steroid-laced chicken. In recent years, some foods in China have been found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs, and the standards applied to meat there are lower than those in the United States, raising fears of food-borne illnesses.

It has made arrangements with sponsors like Kellogg’s and Tyson Foods, which will ship 25,000 pounds of lean protein to China about two months before the opening ceremony, but will hire local vendors and importers to secure other foods and cooking equipment at the Games.

Tyson has provided all United States team members with duffel bags containing a hot pot, a power adaptor, recipes and replenishable pouches of chicken that they can take to international qualifying events over the next few months.

Kellogg’s has been asked to supply cereals like Frosted Flakes and Mini-Wheats, as well as Nutri-Grain bars, because those products are not readily available in China.

Read the whole story.

Sports Gaming is being Redefined

Proving that respected sports involvement has gone beyond physical participation vs. the couch potato to a more cerebral holistic involvement that allows for real participation and is buoyed by technology:

As reported by AdAge, sports video gaming used to mean sitting around on couches frantically punching buttons on a controller -- with the only other minimal exertion being smack talk. Then came the Nintendo Wii. Suddenly, sports video gaming meant getting up off the couch to virtually play by actually jumping, running, swinging and pitching.

Now, Nintendo is tying its active game play to real-life sporting events. Its winter marketing plan includes a slate of baseball, golf and monster-truck sponsorships and events that put the Wii and DS in sports fans' hands.

Photo: The 'Nintendo Fan Network' allows fans to get stats, player info, watch extra videos, order food and drinks and interact with each other during games.

Gatorade Needs a Better Ltd Bottle

For the first time, Gatorade has introduced a limited edition bottle available exclusively at Gatorade.com. This special collector's item highlights the New York Giants as NFL champions.

"For almost 40 years Gatorade has played an important part in fueling some of the world's toughest athletes on sports' most high-pressure stage -- the Super Bowl," said Matt Knott, Gatorade Vice President of Marketing. "We're proud to offer this first-ever celebratory bottle to the New York Giants, a team that defied the odds and claimed their place in NFL history."

Available immediately, consumers can order these commemorative bottles individually for $2.25, or in a case of 24 for $24.99 (plus shipping). There are only 2,520 bottles in stock and are first come, first serve.

C’mon. What’s special about this thing? We have campaigns to get consumers to move back over to tap water. Issues of reusable bottles. Concerns about recycling. In a world concerned about many things beyond bottles, is that all you got?

Final Word from Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review Panel

Well, now that the Super Bowl and its ad legacy are behind us, we can all be Monday morning quarterbacks.

Everyone seems in agreement: Many commercials that appeared during Super Bowl XLII took a satiric tack, spoofing movies, television shows, video clips, celebrity misbehavior and more...For the most part, it worked. The tone was a welcome contrast to last year’s Super Bowl, filled with crude and cartoonish violence.

Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review panel awarded A's to four brands: Tide, E-Trade, Coke and FedEx. Tide-to-Go won with an "entertaining," "memorable" spot which "clearly communicated the relevant product benefit." Runner-up E-Trade's ad was "attention getting" and "funny." The panel thought Coca-Cola was particularly effective in connecting with their audience.

The panel had significant concerns about the advertising efforts for the lowest ranked advertisers: SalesGenie.com, CareerBuilder.com and GM's Yukon brand. Panel members said SalesGenie.com's ads were "offensive to some," and lacked a clear description of the site. CareerBuilder.com's "I Quit" spot received mixed reactions; members of the panel were "turned off" and found the spot "disturbing."

The 41-member Kellogg Super Bowl Advertising Review panel ranked each advertiser based on innovative criteria known as ADPLAN. The acronym, developed by Kellogg faculty, instructs viewers to grade ads based on attention, distinction, positioning, linkage, amplification and net equity. Unlike other reviews which may rank ads on likeability alone, the most entertaining spot may not be the panel's overall winner. This year, the panel members identified E-Trade which received an A, as the most likeable. The brand successfully connected with the audience and communicated its position.

Cultivating a Soccer Striker

The Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato, born 18 years ago when Napoli last won the championship, is expected to make his feverishly anticipated debut for Milan. Beginning at the age of 3, “Pato” has already put 15 years into his career.

Nicknamed ‘The Duck’, the translation of his surname and place of birth, Pato is regarded as one of the most exciting young prospects in world football in recent years.

Pato, signed from Internacional di Porto Alegre for 14.5 million Euros (equivalent to $21.5 million today) after the under-20 World Cup, is the most highly regarded player to come out of Brazil since Kaka, his Milan teammate. But because of his age, he had to wait until January to be eligible to play for the senior team.

This is what he is: Cool, calm, collected, communicative, endearing. This is what he is not: Over-hyped. Most of the hype is coming from his fans themselves, including a few photo montages on YouTube by love-sick self-dubbed Patomaniacas.

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Nike Looks Under The Radar

Under current Chief Executive Mark Parker, Nike is depending on lesser-known figures -- like a Los Angeles tattoo artist known as Mister Cartoon. Though far from mainstream, Mr. Cartoon rivals Nike's high-profile jocks for influence among a certain crowd that is young, Latino and hip-hop...Athletes still rule at Nike. But the game is changing. Nike's traditional endorsement strategy has taken a few hits recently. It dumped NFL star Michael Vick.

Mr. Parker sees the challenge thusly: "The question is, how do you not let your size become a disadvantage? How do you keep an edge, a crispness, a relevance?" At Nike, the drive to recruit under-the-radar influencers like Mr. Cartoon is on the rise and a key part of the company's strategy.

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Under Armour Supports Next Gen

Under Armour has signed a three-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the ESPNU High School All-American Game debuting Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla. The newly titled Under Armour High School All-American Game, an annual all-star football competition spotlighting the nation's top high school seniors, is a joint effort between ESPN and Intersport.

Seventy players have accepted invitations to participate in the 2008 Under Armour High School All-American Game.

Nike Creates Shoe for Native Americans

Nike designers and researchers looked at the feet of more than 200 people from more than 70 tribes nationwide and found that in general, American Indians have a much wider and taller foot than the average shoe accommodates. The average shoe width of men and women measured was three width sizes larger than the standard Nike shoe. The N7 has a larger toe box, wider overall, and a thicker sock liner.

According to Nike, this is the first shoe the company has designed for a specific race or ethnicity.

All profits from the sale of the shoe will be reinvested in health programs for tribal lands. The shoe will sale for $42.80. Nike expects to sell 10,000 pairs and raise $200,000.

The N7 name is a reference to the seventh generation theory, used by some tribes to look to the three generations preceding them for wisdom and the three generations ahead for their legacy.

"It reinforces the core of the Nike brand, which is: If you have a body you are an athlete," says Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon.

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