Feeling unsafe: NFL looks for a image rebirth

In some of the previous posts, here at Bizandbuzz, and in a late comment at CK's blog, I was asking: what about is you are a sport sponsor? Still feeling safe in putting money in major sport events?

Just to recap what happened in the last months:

- the Tour de France was hit by several case of doping and some cyclists were kicked out the race, anyway too late: the two German major TV stations drop the the race from their programming.

- a NBA referee admitted he was betting on his own matches and said several other referees and athletes can be involved

- a McLaren manager supposedly bought secret papers from a Ferrari engineer about the latest F1 cars

- an acclaimed quarterback, Michael Vick, pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of conspiracy stemming from a dog-fighting kennel

Indeed several others events happened to tarnish the image of the sport world.

Today the New York Times has an interesting comment about the adv campaign launched by NFL to mend its bruise image.
It's a warning sign that supporters and, maybe, sponsors do feel that sport is no longer such a safe world where to bring your children or put your money.

I suppose that we will see more adv and pr activities like this one, but we need something more if we want to refresh a rather damaged image.

Read more: Mending a bruised image

Technorati Tags: Marketing, sport sponsorship, NBA, NFL, Formula 1, Michael Vick, Tour de France, cyclism, football, New York Times

Blogger Social '08

As for every communities, there is always a time to meet and know each other.
If The age of conversation has been a tremendous way of gathering and then spreading the thoughts and the words of 103 bloggers from all over the world, the Blogger Social '08 in New York will be the time for the off line reunion.
An event that will mark for many of us, to me for sure, a new level of engagement in a worldwide community and the chance to further ignite our conversations.

Go there and see the no rules policy to attend the event and be a social animal.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, community, Blogger Social '08, New York, CK

Turn the table and see what happens

While some commenters, such as CK and Lewis Green, make efforts to understand why so many products made in China are dangerous to our health and where the responsibilities are, the Chinese government is turning the table and shifting every responsibilities on the western companies.

My personal opinion is:

1. western companies are indeed liable for concentrating only on saving money but with no control on method, rules to achieve the financial result
2. the Chinese government shows once more that in a country without democracy it's rather difficult to hear voices admitting problems and corruption is higher than everywhere else

China is currently manufacturing most of the products sold around the world but at what price:

1. a high rate of pollution and, as we know, pollution does not know borders and this is a price we are going to pay sooner or later
2. a significant number of concerns about quality and safety for these products, food, garments, toys, etc.
3. an incredible number of infringments of copyright and patent laws; a German car magazine, Automobilwoche, claims today that BMW and Daimler are issuing legal actions to avoid the exhibition of three chinese cars equal to three model produced in Germany, just to mention the last
4. the civil, human and animal rights are bypassed every single day

Am I a bit paranoic?
Or are we just running without considering in whole the consequences of what's going on?
What's your opinion?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, China, Mattel, BMW, Daimler, Lewis Green, CK, Automobilwoche

Would you......(3)

(picture from AndreasNYC Flickr photostream)

A football superstar, Michael Vick, is expected to plead guilty for an horrible crime: dogs fighting and dogs murder.
Why it' s horrible: cause Vick and partners were training the dogs, make them fight and kill the dogs underperforming. And they did so in a very professional way, a real industry.
He will be probably sent to jail, fired from the Falcons and by the sponsors.
But th best reaction came from the Falcons supporters: they ask the worst for him.

I ate him and his partners because I love animals and dogs, specifically, and I hope that his career is ended and not to see him anymore on a football field.


But I want to see the story from a marketing point of view.

Everyday there is more and more story involving athletes of any sports, football, basket, cyclism, etc.
And I feel that sport sponsorship is becoming a mine field.

Winning is everything, no matter the way, but this is becoming a threat to the sponsors: who wants to have his carefully nurtured brand or product linked to an athlete or a sport accused of bribery?

Would you put your money on an athlet or a sport with more or less trust today than it was in the past?
Which question would you ask for to stay as safe as possible?
Would you accept to sponsor not the questioned big winner but the one who plays ethically?

Technorati Tags: Michael Vick, marketing, sport sponsorship, brand, dogs, dog fighting

Would you...... (2)

The late Mattel case is the latest warning sign that China is a real and tangible problem to the world.

Forget all the bullshit about China being the engine of the world economy. China is a polluting engine that could kill the world.

Products are manufactured without any rules, by underpaid workers, sometimes by political prisoners.

And we close our eyes to the human rights violation for the sake of our greed.
This nation will organize the next Olympic games and there is always open discussion about the possibility for the athletes to show and tell their concerns about these violations.

The responsibilities are not only on China but on all the companies that moved productions over there: they should control and be held responsible for those manufacturing under their labels.
Since years now, labour issues and now safety and health issues are linked with products manufactured in the emerging countries, where the greed of few is creating troubles for the health of a lot of people everywhere in the world.

It’s time to give to China and to all the companies manufacturing there a strong sign that this situation has to come to an end.

Would you be willing to pay a premium for safer products manufactured in a safe environment?

Technorati Tags: marketing, china, mattel, barbie, olympic games, human rights, ethic, business

Would you.......(1)

Everyday hundreds of thousands of animals are slaughtered for the only purpose of men.
Food, skin, furs everything that can create a benefit to men.
But is this sacrifice worth?
The cruelty of men is justified by the need of food? Shouldn’t we pay a tribute to these animals and ensure to them a soft death?

All these questions are not new to me but, lately, had become more and more crucial, especially after having seen frames from Fast food nation.

We are so entangled in the quest of food at cheap price, the we lost the sense of the rituality.

In the past, the sacrifice of the animals were full of this rituality and had a extremely high value.
Today we are cruel without even think about it.

Would you be willing to pay a premium for food coming by a company investing on a gentle death for animals?

Or you just don’t give a damn?

Technorati Tags: animals, vegetarian, vegan, meatpacking, fast food nation, marketing, ethic, business

Close for holidays

Bizandbuzz goes on holidays!
Back on line August 15th!

Ciao, G.