I didn't see this posted here, and it has a couple of interesting facts and some good quotes. http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2003/02/10/story2.html I agree with Ridge in that he has to perform to sustain the buzz. The opportunity is in place for him to establish the Earthquakes as his team, with the losses of Graziani, Cannon, and Barrett. If he takes it and we are successful, he will be able to sustain the buzz, and grow it.
This is a bad sign: When "they" do this to rock & roll bands, the bands almost always immediately go downhill and end up breaking up. I agree with the above poster too: I realize we live in an age of marketing, where image seems to rule the day. That may work for the 5-12 year olds, and even for many older fans. But if Landon doesn't perform, i.e., there's no substance behind the image, it'll all go up in smoke - sooner rather than later - and won't amount to much in the end. On the bright side, I am very encouraged to hear that AEG has double the marketing staff and also the advertising budget for the Quakes. That can only help with attendance, one would think, especially if by "marketing staff" they're including some hardcore sales staff to go with it. On the down side: maybe not the best year for the Quakes to lose Graziani, Barrett and Cannon. Without getting anything in return. So far. While it may be "L.D. and the Quakes", there ain't a chance he can do it alone. My biggest worry? How will this effect the kid, both on and off the field. I already wonder if it's effecting him on the field, i.e., feeling more pressure to become THE U.S. player. Off the field he seems fine but like he says, it's a brave new world he didn't know too much about not too long ago, and it's been known to wear down even the best of 'em in other sports and even other entertainment industries. Sorry for the long post.
The question is, how do we define "perform." If the idea is to market Donovan to people who aren't exactly fanatics of the sport, then perform means score goals and score lots of them. That's the only measuring stick Joe Sports Fan is capable of using. So if Donovan has a great game but doesn't score, and he frequently has such games, Joe Sports Fan is likely to leave thinking, "what's so hot about that Donovan guy, he couldn't even score one goal!" This is why I really don't think soccer lends itself very well to the kind of indiviual player marketing the way say, basketball does. It's too much of a team sport in every way.
In this country I should have emphasized. Hamm is something of an exception I would argue in that ads with her are generally aimed at a very specific demographic, one MLS is not targeting. She's also an exception in that her performance is irrelevant. Of those who know who she is, few have seen her play since the WWC. Whether she's even played a single match is not relevant to those marketing her. MLS could take the same approach I suppose and just promote "Donovan the personality" but that's likely to bring MLS about as much reward as hyping "Mia the personality" has brought WUSA. Though maybe that's better than nothing.
But the league clearly wants to give Mr. Donovan every chance to shine. The Earthquakes will be on national television as "often as possible," Mr. Noonan says. Good for me, as a Quakes fan. But also good for other reasons. I don't want Donovan to be the next Justin Timberlake ... famous for being hot, despite his music sucking. Let America see him as an athlete and appreciate him that way.
I can understand your concerns Flashman, but in a way, the Quakes front office is reacting to the Landon phenomenon and not just creating it from scratch. Johnny Moore said that the number one unsolicited name that MLS officials are hearing across the country is "Landon Donovan". For the first time in a long time it sounds like the Earthquakes will the good news that came out of the recent departure of SVS&E (who clearly were not willing to spend money on the Quakes last year even though they were coming off of a championship season...doh!) Right now, if you were starting a marketing campaign, it's pretty obvious what the hottest thing in MLS ist that Landon has been amenable to doing interviews and doing them with an eye towards growing the sport just serves to seal the deal. I think that not just the Earthquakes, but AEG & MLS will be doing the same when the Earth are in town. One other thing I thought was interesting was his comment on getting Landon on TV. As I recall, the Quakes are only schedule for 5 ESPN2 broadcasts which is not as many as a lot of other teams, so maybe there's more hype than substance to some of these comments.
I'd say it would be that, scoring goals, and setting people up for them, like he did when we won the championship. He scored five goals in six games, including the game tying goal in the final. That was enough to get him hyped then, the same would apply now, but more so since he is now clearly the leader, and as noted, a marked man. I'm not sure I'd agree with the average joe not appreciating LD. It's easy to see his speed and the attention he is paid by defenders.