A reply to Candace (The BIG DANCE)

So the NCAA is long gone. Texas was ousted, something that was inevitable, and all the hooplah of the tournament and all other shenanigans are gone. Simply said, it was disappointing for yet another Texas team to be ousted. Why are these feelings as a sports fan so relevant? Well as many people do besides me, fans create affiliations with their teams/schools and feel their hardship. How does this work from a marketing standpoint?
I came across my friend Candace Lee's blog about Nike and its Air Jordan Brand commercials. The blog discussed the NCAA Tournament and the commercials that were aired during the tournament. This time, a time when CBS decides to air nothing but basketball games even at the expense of the local news broadcast. I am a huge college basketball fan and love that CBS decides to air all of these games. I'm sure it also gives marketing professionals, brands, and companies to air numerous ads in the hopes that they will create sales or brand awareness.

Candace mentioned the ad that features Carmelo Anthony and the Syracuse Orange as they defeated Texas. The ad mentions the exact date, and highlights of the game. Did this bring back bad memories? Yes it did. Was it effective? Yes it was. With every team that wins, there is a team that loses. So the commercial did frustrate me because Texas happened to lose that game, but at the same time it brought back memories of why I love college basketball. The game of college basketball is built around the fact that any team can win the tournament. Every year there is a "Cinderella" team that comes from nowhere to wreak havoc on the "Major Programs". This is why I love the tournament. The commercials just added to this in that they provided a nostalgic moment at which I was brought back to certain times when I was exposed to certain clips.

Candace then went on to mention that she didn't like the Ray Allen ad. While I agree with her that the ad was ineffective because it didn't provide the same nostalgic moment that I had with other ads, I do feel that it was effective. Ray Allen is a part of the Jordan Brand team. He wears Jordan shoes and at one point in his career was considered to be the "heir" to Jordan. He is also the star of one of the greatest basketball movies, starring as Jesus Shuttleworth alongside Denzel Washington in "He Got Game". Therefore, I felt it was very effective because it touched on something. These great games that we see in the NCAA Tournament are reflective of the future stars that we will see in the NBA. However I do feel they could have done a better job in making the game more relevant. Maybe that game was his highest scoring in his college career. Maybe that game meant the difference between making it to the "Big Dance", and being sent to the dreaded NIT tournament. Therefore, I believe that the ad was good, but could have been more effective and in line with the other Jordan Brand ads.

All in all, I can't wait until next March, the greatest month of sports.