Month: January 2011

As I was browsing through some of the class blogs I came across Tim Tong’s blog and one specific post definitely caught my eye. His post on the NBA and there ads was what sparked my interest.

Like Tim I have a soft spot for the sport of basketball. Part of this comes from playing basketball throughout my high school career. However this also comes from the need for me to watch every high school, college and NBA game possible (see picture above, I’m the one leaning over on the left) and now the desire to keep my passion alive through coaching a Grade 8 boys team at Clayton Heights Secondary in Surrey.

But back to the important part, how does the NBA tap in to the market of such people as myself or just general sports fans to create active viewer ship. Tim stated that the NBA effectively created the “Where Amazing Happens” campaign which successfully increased the amount of active watchers of NBA games.  When he mentioned this it made me think of the specific “There Can Only Be One” group of ads in this campaign. Here are a couple examples of a few:

He mentioned that these ads applied the affective component  to attract consumers however these specific ads also factor in the cognitive component do to them aiming at raising its largest profit area, playoffs.

The way these ads address the affective component is through the rawness of the what the athletes are saying in the ads. Another factor would be because they show the superstar athletes, the ones that have the most inspirational or role model aspects. These two main aspects create an attachment by the watcher giving the attachment to the brand itself. For the cognitive component they address only the information that the consumer would need, when playoffs begin. Despite this tidbit of information being small it helps the consumer understand just what they need to know.

These ads do just what they need to do and it is proven through the statistical evidence from Tim’s Blog.

We are all acquainted with the Green Giant the proverbial Coffee Machine. When walking down the street and you can’t go a few minutes before seeing that very familiar Siren that we have grown to love. But as the 40th anniversary of this Coffee Company is around the corner it is announced that the familiar logo will be no more.



The main thought that is on everyone’s mind is why. Why would Starbucks adjust it’s brand positioning in the most influential possible via changing its complete image. I was browsing the reactions across the web and found this interesting blog which pinpoints Starbucks strategy behind it’s brand reposition.

The blog is by a guy named Nigel Hollis. He talks about how Starbucks new logo is trying to disassociate itself with the product Coffee. This is mainly because of their desire to expand into other products and services that aren’t solely coffee. An example would be the recent acquisition of Tazo Tea. Nigel does bring up a great point that arose from GAP’s attempt at  re branding through logo change. People grew to GAP’s logo so much that they would solely buy products because of the brand itself. In other words the brand added value to the products that were underestimated.

Now what does this say about Starbucks? What will happen to its consumers as it attempts to target a new market or enhance it’s ability to expand into other areas? What will removing coffee as the emphasis for the company have in the long run on its competitive advantage?

All these questions will be answered all we have right now is both the good and bad reactions to such a change but only time will tell if the re-brand will benefit the company.