The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Florida Gators in the SEC title game this past weekend earning them the title of No. 1 team in the nation and a spot in the national championship game Jan. 7 in Pasadena. But unless you were not one of the 70,000 plus fans in the Georgia Dome Saturday night, nor one of the 30 million CBS viewers, you already knew that. Despite growing up within the borders of the Southeastern Conference, and with a father and older brother who both spend the majority of the fall in front of a television screen watching college football, I have never been a huge fan of the sport, or any sport for that matter. My indifference toward the game was probably further established due to the fact that I went to Emory University – a college that has never had a football team yet proudly boasts, under the symbol of a football on school apparel, “Undefeated Since 1836.”
Thus I was recently drawn to an article I happened to see in the December issue of Allure Magazine, entitled “How to Enjoy Football.” The article, based on an interview with Andrea Kremer, a reporter for NBC Sunday Night Football and a correspondent for HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, explores several ideas for how one can get more “into the game.” One of which me struck me more than the others:“Study up on the story lines. Knowing the main dramas of the season helps you see games as a series of interrelated events, not one-offs, and a lot of these stories come down to the quarterback. How is Tom Brady doing after his injury, and will his Patriots make the playoffs after falling short last year? How will Brett Favre perform when his new team, the Vikings, plays his old team, the Packers? And there’s big drama in Dallas with Tony Romo. You may know him as the guy who dumped Jessica Simpson, but the Cowboys also dumped his star wide receiver, Terrell Owens. The team has a new billion-dollar stadium and a head coach who’s in the hot seat—can they thrive under all that pressure?”
This tactic of following the story behind the game holds true in the marketing arena as well, which Acree very clearly outlined in her blog posting from last week, “Tell your brand’s story with promotional products.” in which she described the power of promotional products in reference to their ability to communicate a company’s story to their consumers.