Go Figure
Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of the monster creative organization, Saatchi & Saatchi, describes the goal of marketing as the creation of “loyalty beyond reason.” Think about that for a minute. Loyal, invested customers who will wear your clothes, drive your cars, eat at your restaurants, attend your shows, contribute to your causes, buy your products and services and then recommend them to anyone who crosses their path and never, ever think of moving over to the competition. That’s a fan. And perhaps the truest fan of all is the sports fan.
The National Football League (NFL) has been called an “entertainment addiction.” It’s America’s favorite professional sports league, made up of 32 teams with a staggering average worth of $1.17 billion each.
But even that’s not enough to feed the beast.
Now we have Fantasy Football where 3 million football fanatics are building their own imaginary teams each week. They pick certain players in a league to score points based on the actual performance of those players on that particular day. Got it?
And then they tweet about it.
The NFL feeds off this fan frenzy. Studies show the more loyal the fans, the higher the revenues.
I’m a (long-suffering) Philadelphia Eagles fan. As a female, I now represent over 44 percent of the NFL’s fan base. They know I want to wear the team colors but the “pink-it-and-shrink-it” apparel of yesteryear won’t do.
I now need Victoria’s Secret loungewear. Clothes that are fitted. Celebrity spokeswomen to show me how to wear my NFL gear. Pop-up shops in malls for my shopping convenience where I can try things on (with mirrors so I can check my back side just to be sure…).
The NFL is listening to me. They want to earn my loyalty.
Strong brand bonds do best when there’s an identified enemy/competitor. For Eagles fans it’s the Dallas Cowboys (the team they say has the most loyal fan base).
We hate them.
That’s why we pelted their coach and players with snowballs back in 1989, a free-for-all that became known as “the greatest one-sided snowball fight in NFL history.”
Admit it: All of us on some level pick sides/teams/products/neighborhoods/schools because they easily identify who we are, where we stand. If our choices are on the “winning side” (Super Bowl-bound, fashionable, elite, best-in-class), it boosts our self-esteem and makes us feel better about ourselves.
It could be Mac vs. PC.
Hertz vs. Avis.
Coke vs. Pepsi.
Eagles vs. Dallas.
Us vs. them.
Best advice: Be who you are -- the best you can be -- and make your customers want only you (not them).
The Philadelphia Eagles’ first regular season game was played in 1933 against the New York Giants (another team we love to hate). We lost: 56-0.
Our first winning season was 10 years later.
We’ve been to the Super Bowl twice.
Once in 1981 against the Oakland Raiders. We lost: 27-10.
Then back again in 2005 against the New England Patriots. We lost: 32-24.
This year we have a new coach and quarterback insecurity.
Currently there are 40,000 people on the waiting list for Eagles’ season tickets.
“Loyalty beyond reason.”
P.S. Last night the Eagles played the Washington Redskins. We WON: 32-27
Photo obtained from http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/thelife/gallery?id=4427008
