Opening Day — ‘This is Beyond Baseball’

Posted on April 6th, 2009. Written by Emmett Jones.

All across America (unless you live in Philadelphia or Atlanta…or those cities *cough* Boston *cough* whose games have been canceled due to inclement weather) it is the start of the 2009 baseball season.  Along with the new season, MLB has also launched a new, expensive ad campaign for the 2009 season.  More details from Sports Business Daily (Subscription required)

MLB this week will open the ’09 season by breaking its first new tag line in three years: “This is Beyond Baseball,”…

MLB Senior VP & CMO Jacqueline Parkes indicated that the multi-media ad campaign is the league’s “largest ever, with MLB rights holders slated to dedicate the equivalent of $65[M] in asset media to the campaign over the course of the season.” MLB’s ad agency, McCann-Erickson, “assisted with the work, which grew out of research that showed the bonds – on and off the field – that baseball fans have for the game.”  Twenty ads “will run nationally on MLB rights holders Fox, ESPN, TBS and the MLB Network, and locally on broadcasts of MLB teams’ rights holders.” More than 10 spots “will focus on star players,” starting with Giants P Tim Lincecum and Phillies 1B Ryan Howard.

Wow.  I personally didn’t expect MLB to roll out a shiny new ad campaign this season, especially with the economic situation, and the fact that MLB revenues have been climbing fairly steadily, for various reasons, with the “I Live For This Campaign” for the last 6 years.  I personally haven’t seen the commercials yet, but the “will focus on star players” line leads me to assume they will continue to try and play up the “individual baseball superstar” angle, something that the MLBPA is trying to establish with their player-only merchandise stores.

Aside from the money spent on the campaign (not that $65 million is going to break baseball’s piggy bank anyway), ad campaigns like this were always amusing to me because I can’t figure out how they’re beneficial.  Does the fact that baseball now has a new tagline really make people go and watch baseball?  Did the NBA’s “Where ____ Happens” make people go out and watch basketball?  Probably not.  Especially since all of these ad campaigns are usually shown during the games for which they are advertising.  Showing me a baseball commercial when I was already committed enough to watch baseball in the first place doesn’t really do much.  Maybe it makes some people buy tickets for an actual game?  Or maybe its just a pretty commercial for people to look at.  I personally am not  convinced that a majority of today’s advertising dollars actually generate anything other than nominal business for the advertising client, and fully expect the way businesses advertise to be revamped in the next couple of years, using social networking.

In the meantime, maybe I’ll watch some baseball?  I mean, I wasn’t going to at first, but then I saw this cool new ad campaign…

Sports Business Daily — MLB Breaking Ad Camaign With “This is Beyond Baseball” Tag Line

1 Responses »

1. 

   sportsattitude

   May 18, 2008 • 1:01 pm

   I recall what the Falcons’ situation was like pre-Vick and I don’t envy them post-Vick. Atlanta has always struck me as an odd sports town. Their size gets them big-time events but I’ve not so convinced their fans deserve them. Honestly, I always felt Atlanta should have continued to play in an outdoor stadium. I grew up in an era of domeless sports, and I think the game has a certain appeal to folks when it is played outside. Whether fans in Atlanta would show up in greater numbers just because they are outdoors…well, likely not. It’s just that if they want that franchise to grow and prosper from here on out all sorts of strategies should be considered to get the local fanbase “back in the game.” That Dome will wear out in the not to distant future and one thing I would definitely look at would be an outdoor venue. Maybe the NFL would no longer be inclined to have the occasional Super Bowl there anymore, but a football only stadium designed uniquely with the Falcons in mind (similar to Tampa Bay’s) might not hurt their overall need to overhaul the mindset in Atlanta.

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