Finally, football season is upon us again. Through the course of the season, we’ll see plenty of ads featuring famous players, alerting us to charities and other noble causes. Aside from some of the theatrics and drug scandals, football can be quite educational in terms of where current needs reside.
But we can also look to the NFL for lessons in branding. The National Football League has one of the most well defined brands in existence. Even if you’re not a football fan, it’s quite easy to see the clinic in branding the league displays every season.
Here are three of the most apparent branding lessons to take away from the NFL.
Anticipation and Demand: Because football is such a brutal sport, there are only 16 games on each team’s schedule. Compare this baseball, where there are 162 games per each team and more than 80 in both hockey and basketball and you can see why there is such a fuss over the start of a new season. In the NFL, every game means something and therefore, fans get behind each and every game. This type of dedication to the league plays a huge part in how successful the NFL’s brand is.
Professionally Handling Bad Press: From the previously mentioned drug scandals to the serious worry of concussions, the NFL always has to deal with negative press and harmful new stories. But rather than running from these stories or back-pedaling, the NFL usually stays right on top of these issues. They are very public with their efforts to regulate drug testing and focusing more and more of player safety.
They meet these types of problems head on and take their solutions public. Everything is transparent and there is nothing to hide.
Access and Demand: You can watch games live at the stadium, on TV, at bars, or even on your mobile device. The NFL has made sure that their product is easily accessible and that no one is left out. They have even gone so far as to offer online services that allows the viewer to switch camera angles to feel more involved in the game.
While you obviously don’t have the bank account that the NFL has, we can all take lessons from thee three points. What are some other branding strategies you have seen through the NFL that could help small business owners?
