Some have asked for a summary of the different points for Sports Business.
I Have compiled a cliff notes summary of the different topics over the last few months.
Every successful company and business builds a strong sense of branding. For example when you think of Cocoa Cola. The Yankees. CrossFit. Apple. You have very polarizing fan base for each of those entities. This isn't brought about by chance, they all have a strong sense of a brand and people love it or hate it. Recently I have been seeing posts about why are CrossFit putting out sometimes tactless posts on their social media platforms and why are thy portraying images in a certain light. We're going to use CrossFit as a case study as a great example of Branding and taking over the world.
But for before we look into this- we have to define with Brand is and where it began.
Brand- An Idea System, or network of associations and meanings.
Chris Bolman, director of marketing at Percolate brings out that the connection of all of these concepts create an identity for the brand. So it not one single facet but how the brand reacts in the world around it. Think of the centuries old Cocoa Cola. The brand is constant with it's imagery. Think back when you were a child and you have a can or glass bottle of cold the carbonated soft drink. Most likely the memory is very vivid. That is because it's brand build on or reinforced by past memories. Think of Cocoa Cola's brand. It is concrete, clear with a clear vision.
Origin of Mass Marketing and Branding
Proctor and Gamble was the company that brought branding to the forefront. Partly because they were building an empire but it was also the fact they were reaching their apex the same time the radio was building in popularity. What did that mean? It meant that for the first time, massive amounts of people could be reached with the same message. No longer did you hear about a product or service by solely word of mouth. The company could project there exact message to you in your home. Decades later, the TV replaced that as the most revered transportation vehicle for your message.
But that all changed in the late 90s and early 2000's with the Internet. With the explosion of the popularity of the internet, advertisement and branding for the first time in almost a century had to start fundamentally change.
With the internet, TV and radio constantly bombarding images and call to action the internet was a change to have interaction with brands. Smaller brands actually had the jump on larger companies to due sheer flexibility of the company. If you remember, some companies would not have official Facebook or Twitter accounts for years. Smaller companies took advantage and could speak directly to their potential customers and interact with them real time. Not just some 1800 number to faceless humans, thousands of miles a way that didn't care about you.
After almost a century of mass marketing the person-company relationship is now based on word of mouth and the hallmarks of a genuine brand. Like a perfect storm, the infant juggernaut CrossFit arrived at the scene at the right time. For little over 5 years prior to 200 CrossFit was bubbling to the surface from the mind and experiences of Greg Gassman to build a revolution and a movement. Conscious or unconsciously they went on to build solidify their place in the functional fitness realm by perfecting and improving on the six main branches of a brand. They include Vision, Mission, Values, Positioning, Voice/Tone and Look & Feel. Let's take one at a time.
Vision- A stance or opinion the company takes on the world around it.
This is where CrossFit excels in. They vision is change people's perception about changing their lives by using fitness to change of facets of one's life. There stance is clear and they have no problem standing up to traditional dogmas in the fitness industry that say otherwise. You can see it as a positive or negative but one thing is crystal clear, they are a polarizing force and their tribe will fight tooth and nail for them. And that's something very important about strong and effective brands. Look also to Apple for a strong brand. They have a strong sense of self thanks to the late and great Steve Jobs and their not changing their vision for anyone. And the result? The market shifts to their bidding. Think about some the ground breaking devices apple has put out in the last decade. The macbook, iPod, iPhone,
and iPad. All of those devices had initial push pack on the design capability but yet every other company is scrambling to copy and emulate their same style.
This is not to say they stay static but they organically change over time to move the narrative depending on their position in the market place. They are not quickly changing their stance based on public perception but building their vision based on their own opinions.
An example of a false or weak vision would be the magazine call, The Box. This is a magazine that really brings content to the mainstream regarding CrossFit. It is a magazine that emulates their style similar to Muscle and Fitness but has the central focus on CrossFit. But their branding falters straight out the gate. Look no further to find proof of this than seeing the cover of the December 2014 issue. On the cover they have the Fittest Women in the World, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, with a jacked up photoshop job. This is suppose to represent a culture of being fit and healthy is paramount and yet they photoshopped the FITTEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD?!?!?!? Needless to say if you say the meltdown of their social media department regarding the debacle you saw how quickly they clearly missed out in understanding or living up to their vision. The magazine is viewed really only as a vehicle to push merchandise and companies that want street cred. in the CrossFit community.