Brands

"And it leaves the NBA facing the question of what in the world to do about several Pacers players who charged into the stands, the deteriorating relationship between players and paying customers, and the increasing perception that the league is full of young, underachieving, unprofessional, richer-than-ever, thug divas unable to maintain the level of play established by the previous generation's stars." - Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post

It's popular to use the phrase "brands are conversations" to describe the interactions of organizations and consumers. I have never bought into this notion, it strikes me as something akin to a new age platitude like "finding your inner child".

Marty Homlish is Chief Marketing Officer for SAP going back to 2000, prior to that he was the guy that brought some of Sony's biggest successes, e.g. Playstation, to the U.S. market... so he's pretty much a guy you want to listen to when it comes to marketing. Marty describes brand in really simple terms, he says that every brand has value and each interaction with a customer, prospective customer, shareholder, and employee adds to or subtracts from that value. The endgame, of course, is to increase the value of the brand.

The word conversations implies an ongoing dialogue, in Marty's definition the dialogue is coordinated interactions with a beginning and endpoint leading to an evaluation. These interactions can be as simple as "we'll show up between 8 and 10" to as complex as delivering an ERP system over the course of a multi-year implementation. The other thing I don't like about the word conversations is that it's soft and full of nuance, while I tend to believe that things worth doing can in fact be measured, and if you are going to measure something then you have to define what it is and leave the nuance to others.

If customers are satisfied with your products and services, and prospective customers are confident that you will do what you say you will do, then your brand will increase in value. If your market timing is accurate and you bring the right products to market when the market is ready for them (sometimes by creating the market, sometimes by adjusting for it), then your brand will increase in value. If you manage your operational economics and your balance sheet, your investors will be happy and your brand will increase in value. If your employees are satisfied with you as a place to work and they identify with the values of the culture you develop, then your brand will increase in value.

This is the problem that the NBA is facing today, their interactions with customers are terrible. Not only do you have to pay ridiculous prices for game tickets and logo'ed merchandise, but the players themselves come off as a bunch of tattooed street thugs who dropped out of high school. More interested in dunking the ball than assisting, no wonder the U.S. team got their asses kicked in the Olympics. There are no clean images in basketball anymore, even Kobe can't be counted on. Where is the current version of Magic, or Larry Bird, or Bill Russell, or Michael Jordan. Remember when Chris Mullin played? He wasn't known for his wicked jumpshot or his trash mouth, he was known as the hardest working guy in basketball, a reputation anyone would be proud to wear.

The NBA has lost significant brand value through focusing on the perception that the dense urban inner city demographic plays across the entire market. To be sure, the league enjoys strong revenues and media success, but you have to wonder whether or not the NBA is at an inflection point and will head the way of professional hockey, marginalized to the finges of the mass market because the majority of Americans don't find the violence in that game appealing. There are lessons for business here as well, but it's rather obvious what they are so I'm not going to waste the bits on them here.

Comments

[Mark]

Hi Jeff:

It seems so apropos that the "hardest working guy in golf" is the top golf money-winner, and will probably be recognized very shortly as the "Golfer of the Year". His is a true "rags-to-riches" story based upon his tremendous work-ethic.

[jeff]

hmmm, I haven't followed much golf since our son was born (coincidence? No). However, if I recall correctly, the hardest working guy in golf over the last few years has been Vijay Singh, am I correct?

His is a great story, and work ethic is as much a part of it as ability. I remember reading a story about how he would spend hours at a stretch at the range hitting one shot with one club in order to perfect it. Has anyone ever tried to hit a couple hundred balls with just your pitching wedge?

[John Bartram]

Being a Brit, I wouldn't know if the B in NBA is basketball, baseball, or bullfighting. But the story reads as though it's about football (or should that be soccer). Our brightest star (Wayne Rooney) just chased a Spanish player into the stands...

All that separates us is our language.

[jeff]

funny. I did reference basketball in the post but I can understand how people outside of the U.S. might not pick it up.

At least Rooney chased another player up into the stands, the Pacers vs. Pistons brawl involved players and fans duking it out. And what's up with the Spanish player running into the stands... that's kind of cowardly.

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

I like your assessment of NBA's losing touch with its market. Perhaps not everyone is looking to be cool by association with urban inner city chic. Perhaps we don't even care if we're cool to like basketball. Too much of what passes for branding is really cool-hunting and then trying to associate with it: see-um-look-hey-we're-cool and if-we're-cool-you're-cool, that is if you buy.

[jeff]

yeah, I think so. It's like the Super Bowl commercials, how many inane commentaries do you read about the ads themselves without anyone ever asking were they effective? Does Coke really sell more sugar water because they have cool ads in the Super Bowl, or is their corporate identity strengthened in any meaningful way?