Category: Brand Building

Fun Friday – Let the Games Begin

Cubs Fan with Silly MaskIt’s Friday, and Opening Day in Chicago. Let the games and fun begin.  Speaking of baseball,  Paid Content recently published a list of top online earners and among them was Major League Baseball (Ranked No. 24).

Games are huge sellers online. Major League Baseball Advanced Media charges between $99.99 and $119.99 a year to watch live games online. According to Paid Content, more than 250 million live streams were served during the 2010 season alone. They also sell draft kits for $19.95, providing fans with a statistical tool to help them prepare and conduct fantasy drafts.

Why must all the fun be reserved for B-to-C? Why not a construction demolition game?  A load and carry game? A food-focused game for restaurateurs? Can it be any crazier than the Angry Birds, the No. 1 App for smart phones?

For two industries that are having a hard time attracting young people to the profession, a game might be just what the doctor ordered to engage customers and prospects online.

Why I Hate/Admire Nike

Will's Nike Shoe
Will's Basketball Shoe

As a parent, I hate Nike.

But as a marketer, they command my respect. Their brand is embedded in my 13-year-old son’s brain.  Their content engages him. He spends hours on their website dreaming about the athletic feats he will accomplish in their shoes. They even let him design his own shoes online.  Whoever doesn’t believe that advertising works doesn’t spend much time with 13-year-olds. His lives in a world where only the latest and greatest brands will do.

I have resigned myself to giving him a shoe allowance, and anything over and above this amount, he pays for out of his birthday or report card money. He will gladly shell out his hard earned cash for anything and everything with a swoosh on it.

In contrast, I buy my athletic shoes out of the clearance rack at a discount store. The name brand doesn’t mean that much to me in the case of athletic shoes.  But my son, he just doesn’t see it this way.

Clearly Nike is selling more than shoes. It provides a young man with confidence. My son wants to look cool to his friends, and with Nike, he’s pretty sure he will.  He wants to feel a certain way, and the shoes, that’s what does it for him.

Can B-to-B marketers learn a lesson from Nike?  I think so.  But to inspire that kind of brand loyalty requires thinking beyond the “product attributes.” What can you do to enhance the total experience; to engage the customer; to make them “feel” something about your brand?  Are you ready to let them design it and customize it right on your website? Do you know what their real motivations are? What b-to-b brands do you think have the same kind of loyalty as Nike?

I may not like what Nike has done to my son, but I can learn from it. And if I could request just one thing from Nike, it would be this. Maybe just once a year, could you do a little something for the Moms? You know a coupon would be really nice.