CREATIVE BRAND BRIEF
Assignment: A major professional sports team has hired your group to develop a ‘Corona-Communication’ Plan”. You can choose from the following five franchises: MLB, NBA, PGA TOUR, NHL or NFL. You will submit a Creative Brand Brief with the details of your plan. Your plan will have the following parts:
1. Background / Overview (15 points 2 pages): You will research one of the aforementioned sports teams to determine the impact that the Coronavirus has had on their franchise.
What’s the big picture? What’s going on in the market? Any opportunities or problems in the market?
This is where you introduce the project to the creative team. You’ll go over this again in the briefing session, but write it down as well.
Example: P&G is launching a new line of household cleaning products under the brand name, “O Earth”. The marketing problem is the rapid rise of brands like Method that are capturing a younger market. Our business goal, therefore, is to create a product line
2. Objective: what is the goal of the ad or campaign? 5 points (1 paragraph)
Write a concise statement of the effect the ad should have on consumers. Typically expressed as an action. And frequently focused on what the ad should make the audience think, feel, or do. Consider both marketing and sales objectives.
Example: The primary objective is to persuade the audience to buy and use O Earth laundry detergent, as well as to create and characterize this new brand.
3. Target audience: who are we talking to? 5 points (1 paragraph)
An audience profile is more about how real people think, feel and behave than it is about numbers and percentages. The aim here is to paint a portrait of the audience – a verbal picture that the creative team can talk to and visualize.
Start with a few basics: Who are they? Where are they? How will we communicate with them? What else do we need to know about them?
Go beyond basic age, location and gender data to humanize demographic details with insights and lifestyle information.
One way to do that is to explain how the audience currently thinks, feels and behaves in relation to the product category, to competitors, as well as to the client. For example:
Example: We are looking primarily at urban women, 18 – 34, with household incomes over 50K per year. But the most important fact about this audience is that it is evolving, with race and ethnicity reflecting the increasing diversity of the US population. The magic word is “multicultural.” We are not talking to average suburban housewives.
Psychographically we call this audience PRACTICAL ROMANTICS. They understand that climate change is real, caused by humans, and that the chemicals they use directly impact the environment. They understand the risks to future generations, and they will alter their behavior to help the environment.
At the same time, they buy cleaning products to clean. They won’t use weak or expensive products just because they are labeled environmentally friendly. Keep in mind this audience does not have strong opinions or feelings about the product category (laundry detergents) and tend to use the same products as their parents.
4. Message: what’s the most important thing to say or show? (5 points- 1 paragraph)
Here you want to identify the single most persuasive statement, or compelling visual, you can present to achieve the objective. Keep it simple. Avoid generalities.
Example:
O Earth liquid laundry detergent uses a new, plant based chemistry that aggressively targets and removes dirt, stains and grease – with zero harm to the environment.
In this TVC we see both rational and emotional motives for the action. Notice, no words. Just a visual story and music.
5. Reasons why: what are the most compelling reasons to believe, to try, to buy?
(5 points- 1 paragraph)
List the rational and emotional reasons for consumers to believe what you say, to try the product, to buy the service. Include all major copy points and visual evidence listed in order of relative importance to the consumer.
Examples:
1) Dirt killer. New, scientifically advanced formula, aggressively targets and removes wide variety of dirt, stains and grease.
2) Earth lover. New plant based chemistry breaks down completely and naturally in the environment leaving no harmful chemicals.
3) Dollar deal. Get a full size container of new O Earth liquid laundry detergent for $1. This limited time, introductory offer will be via coupon affixed to the package.
4) Money saver. Save hundreds of dollars long-term with convenient, bulk refill companion products.
5) Waste eliminator. Exclusive “Select & Pull” dispenser trigger delivers the perfect amount of liquid for the load size.
6. Execution: How will you creatively meet the objectives of the campaign?
(15 points-1 page)
What platforms will you use? For example, will you use T.V., Print, Mobile, Social Media, P.R., Sponsorships, Events, Direct Mail, etc.
-Outline the objectives (e.g. create awareness, interest, change attitudes, drive immediate sales etc?)
-Determine how much of your budget will be allocated to each part of your promotional mix
Coronavirus Stopped All Sports. Will it Crush Sports Marketing This Year?
by
James Hercher
// Friday, March 13th, 2020 – 12:35 am
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Assignment Context:
In light of the CDC’s
latest recommendations
to cancel or public gatherings many brands have been forced to rethink the way they do business.
Many states
have announced closures of all bars and restaurants. More than
30 retailers
—including Apple, Nike and REI — have announced closures of all stores through at least the end of March. Starbucks has announced it’s temporarily adopting a
“to-go” only model
. Many museums and major tourist attractions, including
Disney theme parks and stores
, have temporarily closed, too. Some museums are offering
virtual tours
to keep tourists engaged while they stay home. While there’s no virtual experience that comes close to the magic and thrill of visiting Walt Disney World or attending a concert, social distancing measures are likely to drive more people to shop online. Sports teams are trying to reconsider their business models as well.
American pro sports came to a screeching halt on Thursday, with the NBA, NHL and Major League Soccer each suspending season play, and the MLB pushing back spring training and opening day games. The ATP, the US pro tennis organization, cancelled all tournaments for the next six weeks.
The cascade of postponements started Wednesday night, when an NBA game was abruptly cancelled with all fans in attendance, while both teams were quarantined in their locker rooms after a player’s COVID-19 test came back positive.
“What the NBA did was really very responsible,” said Edward Schauder, a sports industry attorney for the law firm Phillips Nizer. He said the NBA and other leagues had been preparing to play games in near-empty stadiums – an unappealing idea but one that might preserve hundreds of millions of dollars in potential sponsorship and advertising dollars, even if team owners gave up ticket sales and merchandise vendor earnings.
The leagues may have been able to hold sponsors near their original rate, since the games would still have been broadcasted, Schauder said. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who quickly postponed activity league-wide after the first player infection was confirmed, is hedging bets by preserving player and fan safety (and avoiding potential negligence charges if viral breakouts were confirmed at NBA games).
“If it’s a few weeks, they can still play a full season – no harm, no foul,” he said.
There is reason for optimism, since the postponements and cancellations are mostly tied to social responsibility issues, not an economic breakdown or something damaging to the sport, like a steroid crisis, said Ben Shapiro, founder and CEO of Pivot Agency, a sports marketing agency. There will be “pent up demand” for sporting events once the country has recovered, he said.
On the other hand, if the virus extends into the second half of the year, it could be a crippling blow to US sports, Schauder said. It’s already likely that the Olympics won’t happen this year. But if the NBA and NHL cancel their seasons, not just postpone them, it would mean giving up on the playoffs – when they earn most of their ad revenue – and significant refunds to sponsors and advertisers.
So, what happens to sponsorships?
Every contract is different. But any pro sports sponsorship deal likely includes a Force Majeure clause – provisions that protect against unforeseeable and uncontrollable events, what in the insurance industry would be called an “act of god.”
The COVID-19 pandemic certainly qualifies – though typical Force Majeure cases in sports are natural disasters, storms or things like electrical blackouts that disrupt broadcasts.
If seasons are called off, brands will be refunded or given other contractual provisions that are set in their Force Majeure clause, Schauder said, like credits to roll forward the sponsorship dollars for next year or rights to certain replacement inventory.
Pro sports have more flexibility. The NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournaments are immovable. Not just because of the name, but because the NCAA takes out TV air time and space in arenas and hotels years ahead of time, and that just can’t be pushed back later in the year. NBA teams control their own stadiums and TV networks.
Pro teams and leagues have alternatives for making good on sponsor investments, even if games are cancelled, said Riccardo Tafà, Managing Director of the agency RTR Sports Marketing. They can put players in media and social media content as a way to generate impressions and visibility until games resume.
Who loses?
Brands prefer to be sponsoring sports games, but they are at least protected from meaningful losses due to cancellations.
Leagues and broadcasters with TV rights collect insurance. Though the leagues will suffer. NBA executives told team owners to brace for hundreds of millions of dollars in losses during a conference call on Wednesday,
ESPN reported
. And that was when games were going to be played in empty arenas, before the season was halted entirely.
The ill luck may fall hardest on athletes.
Brands get paid back when they miss games. Players don’t get paid.
Players unions do huge financial planning campaigns with athletes when they know a significant amount of the season may be cancelled, because it’s usually a lockout over a contract dispute with the league, Schauder said.
Team contracts and even endorsements often pay per game, sometimes with an upfront guaranteed check. Which means now many players aren’t being paid at all.
That’s an opportunity for a digital media startup like OpenSponsorship – a platform where brands and athletes connect on social influencer campaigns – but brands are in a holding pattern, Anand said.
Done deals between brands and tennis players for Wimbledon or the NBA playoffs now may fall through, she said.
Some brands will hopefully see their sponsorship partnerships as more of a two-way street, and find ways to stick with athletes and leagues instead of hitting pause, Tafà said.
Doping or cheating scandals are a reason to drop sponsorship commitments, he said. “But this Coronavirus thing is nobody’s fault.”