Unless you’ve been living under a rock you already know the Pats lost. So, if you’re not from New England, go ahead and rub it in while I try not to think of 101 reasons why I shouldn’t tell you to go pound sand.

So, what IS the big deal anyway? Why was the Pats going all the way undefeated such a phenomenon? Well, aside from being a moment in history (isn’t that enough?), it’s just plain good branding. Think about it.

Since the game that the Pats clinched the 16-0 mark, not a day has gone by that we haven’t heard one word, “Perfection.” As if professional teams don’t already hold a branding monopoly (the players are branded, the stadiums and fields branded, the team–even the fans are branded) being undefeated provided leverage for an even larger branding opportunity. An opportunity to turn more NFL fans onto New England’s team, a chance to turn fair weather fans into die hards, a chance to turn football players from opposing teams into Pats Wanna Be’s. New England seized the opportunity to capitalize on something that hadn’t been done before (excluding the ‘72 Dolphins, but then again, the season was two games shorter then).

So, besides trying to find an up side to this devastating loss, I guess I am trying to say that we can all learn a lesson or two about branding when it comes to professional sports. It’s about the fans. It’s about whom you need to fire up. It’s about giving them a reason to love you and it’s about given them an opportunity to shout it from the hilltops. It’s about whom you want supporting you and how you can convince them to do so. It’s about your brand!

Until next year, go Sox! Now that’s a brand!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 11:29 am and is filed under Advertising, Current Events, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.