Recession hurting your sport? Get Naked.
Sex sells. It’s one of the oldest strategies in advertising. Nowadays, with even the “major” sports seeing some problems, how can fringe sports stretch their ad dollars and still convince people to spend money or watch their sport?
Get Naked, of course!
Well, its not really as simple as that. These athletes are scantily clad to begin with…its AVP beach volleyball time! From the New York Times,
That is what the association, the AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals), is doing in its campaign for the 2009 professional beach volleyball tour. Print, online and outdoor advertisements present AVP players dressed (or undressed) for work, among them Phil Dalhausser, Holly McPeak, Mike Morrison, Todd Rogers, Sean Scott, Tyra Turner and Kerri Walsh.
The photographs in the ads offer close-ups of the well-developed stomachs, shoulders, backs, chests and arms of the players in action. Oh, yes, there are some face shots, too.
The campaign, with a budget estimated at more than $500,000, is being created internally at AVP and by Project Design, an agency in Torrance, Calif. The ads suggest that if enduring the recession is no day at the beach, come spend, well, a day at the beach.
“We are dealing with a down economy, and people are not wanting to spend money on anything other than necessities,” says Kristine Lefebvre, vice president for business development and legal affairs at AVP in Los Angeles, who also oversees marketing, merchandising and public relations for the association.
The AVP, like any other sport that had athletes compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics, is looking to capitalize on whatever interest was garnered in their sport a few months ago. Definitely the right idea, although its a sell that is certainly harder than usual when people are choosing to spend less money, or not spending money at all. As a side note…$500,000+ to realize that it might be a good idea to put half-naked people in your print advertising? I admittedly haven’t seen a lot (read as: Any) AVP advertising before now, but honestly, I’m pretty sure that if you put…well, anyone in a room for 5 minutes, let them watch beach volleyball, and then ask them their thoughts about advertising; you’d get a similar ad campaign (but not with all the cool colors!).
In all seriousness though, if there was ever a time for fringe sports to try and increase their standing in the American consciousness, it is now. With every major sport currently suffering from the recession, albeit some more than others, this could be the perfect time for a fringe sport to come in with a low price point, a good product, and some flashy advertising, and steal away or gain some new life-long fans. On the other hand, and I’m sure the AVP has realized this as well, you can’t squeeze blood from a turnip, especially not during an economic downturn. Not to say that the AVP has reached the height of their popularity, but I am saying that the AVP’s popularity does have a ceiling, and once that ceiling is reached, no amount of scantily clad athletes can raise demand for any sustainable time period. But I don’t think anyone is willing to concede that a ceiling has been reached. And until that point is conceded? Well…have you ever heard that old adage that “Sex Sells”?
New York Times — Campaign Spotlight — Beach Boys and Girls Volley for Attention
This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Fringe Sports, Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Very surprised to see folks dipping their toe in the Kobe pool as far as advertising. One of the greatest to ever play the game, he still has enough baggage that schlepping a product for someone has to be a bit of a double-edged sword, good news-bad news situation. You’d think as many folks would shy away from whatever he’s hawking as would be inclined to check it out. And “fair-weather advertiser” is certainly a legit phrase in this instance. Geez, less than a year ago he was throwing his team under the bus and backing over them…not to mention the whole ugly he said-she said, the verbal sparring with the popular Shaq Daddy, etc.
Kobe is guilty of having an affair, period! Unfortunately, for he and his wife he got caught. OMG! He that is without sin cast the first stone! If I were Kobe I’d tell Sony, Coke, Sprite, and Mc Donalds to kiss my lily white ass! (or in Kobe’s case black)
Sally (Kobe fan-Laker fan for life)