Rob Stecklow, NFL director of advertising, has a vision for football’s licensed products sales and it extends to ‘year-round marketing programs.’  According to a recent article in Sports Business Journal, Stecklow is looking to a  new “Back to Football’ marketing program and the women’s market to achieve his goals. This marks a change from the marketing that has traditionally been done from September through January.

Licensed product manufacturers have long been accustomed to setting up deals with football franchises during the annual NFL Kickoff program. This year, the Back to Football marketing program will coincide with the start of the training camp period in July and will run until the regular season starts in September.

To fuel interest in this new program, football franchises have reached agreements with marketers who will sell a wide range of newly licensed products.  Sales of licensed apparel should climb during the back-to-school period which occurs during the pre-season time.  According to the report, only 15% of licensed apparel sales are  currently linked to women’s products so new products will be introduced to grow that market segment.  Other newly licensed products that target women include Lonaberger baskets and scented candles. For the broader market, Original Mini’s chef coats that contain embroidered logos may be sold as tailgating accessories.

As pro football executives seek to increase their brand across the calendar, look for more marketers to advertise licensed products to core and non-core fans.
[Source: Lefton, Terry. "NFL licensing targets: ‘Back to Football’ and women’s market." Sports Business Journal. 8 Mar. 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2010]

Ad-ology Research recently updated their Industry Marketing Insights report for Sporting Goods Manufacturers. The following are the predicted Top 5 Opportunities/Challenges from the report for this industry for the upcoming 12 months:

• Manufacturers must contend with lower-cost imports so over 80% now use factories in China for at least part of their production.
• Camping equipment may continue to be a bright spot in 2010 as families seek inexpensive alternatives for family vacations.
• The most popular fitness machines  are treadmills and ellipticals.
• Older Americans and Baby Boomers are turning to sports to stay physically fit and purchasing home equipment so the home fitness market is now three times bigger than the institutional market.
• The economic slowdown has pressured manufacturers and retailers in this industry.

The Industry Marketing Insights report for Sporting Goods Manufacturers is available on Ad-ology.com (Research Store) for $195 USD with local market data for any U.S. market.

[Source: Ad-ology Research, February 26, 2010]

Consumers have multiple ways to access the latest movie from their favorite production houses. These days, they may be as likely go to a theater to watch the movie as they may be to watch the production streaming on the Web. At the same time, movie producers are looking for ways to efficiently use the average $30 million marketing budget that accompanies large releases.  Earlier this year, I wrote about strategies that movie marketers would take this year including more promotional partnerships and less use of print, radio and outdoor.

Here’s another strategy – compressing the time table between theater releases and DVD/video-on-demand releases. Disney’s distribution head Bob Chapek said the industry has a “need for exceptions to accommodate a shortened time frame on a case-by-case basis.” Alice in Wonderland will have an exclusive theater launch on March 5 but the time to the availability in other formats will be shortened by as much as 4 weeks and is likely to give Disney a longer reach with its initial advertising campaign.

Disney’s move comes as analysts continue to study the competition between the pay-TV industry and its competitors. As more broadband video becomes available, marketers have wondered if consumers will cancel their pay-TV service. According to Parks Associates, about 8% of consumers may be considering this kind of change. Typically, consumers considering cancelling their service or moving to another provider are watching about 10 hours on online video and they are also heavy users of DVD rentals. Here’s how these consumers currently watch video in a six month period:  (The numbers represented the movies seen per platform.)

• Purchased DVD: 6
• Rental DVD: 18
• Watched in theater: 4
• Watched on VOD: 9

According to Method marketing agency, consumers most likely to opt for a broadband Internet connection and perhaps a Netflix subscription than a traditional pay-TV service are between the ages of 18-24. If these media-savvy consumers represent the leading edge of the new preferences for watching movies, Disney is clearly correct to begin tweaking its movie rollout strategy.  It will be interesting to see if other major movie producers follow suit in 2010.

[Sources: Windows Update: Disney Eyes Shorter Theatrical Run for ‘Alice’ ; Online Videos Effect, More Nuanced than Cord-Cutting, Entertainment Marketing Letter, www.epmcom.com, February 15, 2010]

After a difficult 2008 and 2009, analysts are seeing improvement in the ad market for sporting events. This improvement is particularly obvious in TV and online media formats. One category that has upped its buying rate for NASCAR event advertising is automotive, according to a report in Sports Business Journal.

This report specifically focused on NASCAR and indicated that the Daytona 500 should sell out quickly and other events are seeing an 8-10% increase in demand compared to last year.

Tom McGovern, managing director for Optimum Sports and a media buyer for NASCAR sponsors says that ratings often fluctuate but NASCAR events reliably deliver an audience every year.

To generate more interest from marketers, Fox is offering data to prove that strategies besides 30 second spots bring more value to the ad campaign. These strategies include on-screen sponsorships such as in-car cameras and leaderboards. Buyers ranging from Aflac to Home Depot agree that the new on-screen techniques have increased their exposure to viewers.

The report also notes that Fox is ramping up its efforts to sell advertising on FoxSports.com and, to date, sees a 30% revenue increase over 2009. The types of online marketing vary from sponsoring an online photo gallery to an application titled RaceTrax.

This trend in NASCAR advertising may be an early indicator of an improving market in general for sports events in 2010.

[Source: Ourand, John. Fox: NASCAR Ad Sales Gaining Speed, Sports Business Journal, 2.1.10]