Naming Rights for venues is the largest part of what Jeff Ferguson focuses on with Live Nation. Ferguson talks about how to achieve activation, exclusivity, whether the naming right partners need fuller explanation of their business to consumers, and breaks down some of the ways that naming rights can and can’t work for a client. Ferguson also spent a great deal of time with ISP and discusses how the collegiate market works for signage, corporate sponsorship opportunities, and partnerships. LinkedIn: Jeff Ferguson - Twitter: @FergySports
Steven Ziff is one of the top branding minds in the National Hockey League, taking his retail experience from Office Depot over to the Florida Panthers, which have shown an increase of attendance in 2012-13 of over eight percent in a shortened-strike year. Ziff talks about the challenges which face the Panthers, especially with a lack of hockey tradition, a population of only 30 percent who are actually originally from the Miami area, and what efforts the Panthers are doing to show a true ROI guarantee to local sponsors.
Every team gives lip service to brand, but really what does that entail? Minnesota Swarm Director of Brand Marketing Matt McCormack discusses ways to reinforce feeling and affinity for a team, as well as how to ensure that the environment around each home game feels branded right. McCormack gets into his own history of working in sports, the ability of mobility, why conferences matter, and why taking that leap of faith on an internship at Fresno State was worth it. McCormack also discusses the worst flying day in US History on 9/11, as he just landed in the Dallas airport as the terrorist attacks began. Twitter: @McCormack20
The discussion of brand goes deep in this podcast episode with Drew Bedard, who talks about just about every way in which a brand is perceived, developed and promoted continuously by a sports team or venue. Bristol Motor Speedway is no different, especially when it comes to several issues which would appear to be easy-wins, like the 55-straight sell-out streak branding which, once snapped, has left tickets available with fans thinking that the event is sold out, thus creating a conundrum of more supply going unused even with the fanbase demand is at all time high. Twitter: @DrewBedard