Okay, people. Besides slogans, which are being discussed in another thread, what ideas do you think the USWNT and/or the WWC should put out in this vast land of ours? The commercials of '99 were fine and quite catchy. Let's help out the advertisers who will have less time this time around to come up with ideas. TV, Radio, and newspaper. Have an idea. Put it down here. No ideas that demean women or women's sports are allowed. The commercials last time that showed the young girls around the world playing soccer and then growing up to play in the World Cup and were something that I would have no problems in repeating. More commercials on TV about the team effort involved in the game is good. Here's an idea: Show a girl(Make her Caucasian. Or make her Asian or whatever. Just make her foreign looking in this instance) travelling with her family in some sub-Saharan African country.(Or better yet in the Maghreb.) She and her family are being shown around a village. Later that day, after dinner, the girl is told by her parents to go outside for a little while and a local girl follows her and they try to talk to each other but words fail. Meanwhile, a group of other native girls are also outside talking and looking at this strange foreigner. Then the foreign girl gestures to the girl and the others to wait there. And the foreigner goes back into the hut and we see her opening her sports bag. Then the camera shows the local girls waiting around for her. Then the talking stops and they all stare(With eyes very wide open) at the hut to where the foreigner went. The camera is behind her and we see her walking towards the group who are now in a little circle. Her arms are holding something but we can't tell. She bends over and places the thing at the feet of the girl who followed her outside. Meanwhile, the other girls disperse (They are getting into position in the open space between the huts). Then she takes something out of her pocket. It's a whistle. She blows it(we see the ball. Make it rather shiny. Brand new. It would be a stretch to say that they have never seen a soccer ball before but probably not a really good one like that one) and then her friend does a spin and runs to the other girls and starts to play. Meanwhile, the foreign girl hands over the whistle to a woman who has observed all of this. They run to the other girls as well and play continues. Tagline: The Women's World Cup; Bringing the women and girls of the world together. Then show Mia, Sissi, Sun Wen, Dagny, Alberta, and others scoring goals to demonstrate that point. Or you can do the basic idea the other way too. Third world girl makes friends with first world girls through soccer. Perfect commercial for Oxygen or Lifetime or better yet have it air around shows on other networks with strong or mostly female characters like the "Gilmore Girls" or "ER" or whatever. Just get the commercials on TV. Sure this one's corny. But if I say "He likes it. Mikey really likes it", you remember and that's the key to any good commercial. Something similar to the PAX commercial would be good for a starter to the non-female portion of the population. Or better yet for the tween male population or younger, show a boy playing soccer and show him missing a real easy shot(Think Giggs against Arsenal in the FA Cup earlier this season). Then they take a break at halftime. The other players are scolding him and he's feeling down. They are bouncing around and getting ready to go out onto the field. He hears a voice and he looks up and there's Mia or Brandi. She tells him not to worry. Confidence building words and whatever. Then he goes out onto the field. They are playing a little bit. His coach yells out to the team that's there's a minute left. They need a goal to win. He gets the ball and shoots it in. The team loves him. And as he's been congratulating by his teammates, he looks towards the stands and there's Mia or Brandi smilng back at him and gives him a thumbs-up. Tagline: US Women's Soccer; an inspiration to us all. Or have one of those commercials where you see boys pushing each other and basically horsing around. One yells "Hamm is the best". Another yells "No, Chastain is better". Another yells "Milbrett is the best" and so on. Commercial fades to black. Tagline: US Women's Soccer Team; Everbody has their favorite. Watch them play on ------day against......in the World Cup... And mention the TV time and station. And for the selected venues' environs, say "See them play at...on...." Tickets can be bought at... Simple radio commercials with John and Joan Doe talking about going to see the Women's World Cup and their reasons for it. Competition and athletics. Parents can say because the players stay around and sign autographs. No crotch grabbing or other such behavior during the game. A better atmosphere during the game. And I don't just mean because there are a lot of families there although that has a lot to do with it. Even the always yelling use less curse words and such at the games then at, say, a hockey match. The boy likes to go because of the hard-hitting players and the action on the field. The girl liked to go because she really likes soccer and the players are her heroines. Emphasize all of these things in such a commercial. Perfect for the radio. Have a crowd cheering in the background. Maybe a whistle or two. Have some of the foreign players do radio ads for stations or programs that are in their native tongue on radio throughout the country. This would be especially great if Mexico gets in. So anyway, jot your ideas down. Corny is okay. Think Macro and Micro for your ideas. There are so many smaller groups that they could advertise too. But don't forget the general non-soccer loving population. Let's get the ball rolling on these.
As much as I dislike personality marketing the fact is IT WORKS. Many years ago Mia wrote a poem that could be used with great effect to help market this. I would like to see a set of clips of the last WC goals, saves, and plays ( I would particularly like to see Bri’s turn of the ball over the top of the goal on the chip by Sisi {I think} in the US Brazil game) with the audio being Mia reading her poem: ====================== Dancer: by Mia Hamm When you were a child your mother thought, As mothers sometimes do, That you were strong enough And sure enough To someday be a dancer. But when you were five Or was it six or was it nine You didn't want to dance, You couldn't bear to dance Unless you were dancing in the grass, And dancing in the mud As children often do As children often do. And then your father kicked you a ball. And the ball was the shape of the whole wide world to you. And now if you see green you can only think of one thing to do. And the world slips away from your feet. And the sky slips down into your arms. And you are free you are free you are absolutely free To be who you want. To go where you can. To be wild to be loud to fly in the mud and run in the rain. Strong enough Sure enough Like a dancer. Mia Hamm ==================== While the poem is not great literature it does show a love of soccer and I have seen its effect on players, parents, and even old crotchety coaches when read to a group. It works well with the idea of a celebration of women's soccer.
Were all four mods too lazy to move my thread over here??? What should be the 2003 WWC marketing strategy?