'Date With A Sounder': Love It Or Hate It, At Least They Are Having Fun
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 1, 2011 5:02 PM PDT
in Life in the Sound
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PrintApparently there's a rumor going around that the Seattle Sounders are purposefully trying to limit ticket sales. Well, I wasn't really putting much stock in it anyway, but their latest marketing campaign, which features billboards all over the city and commercials on real, live television, seems to put any doubts to rest as far as that goes. The thrust of those commercials and billboards, in case you missed it, is the "Date with a Sounder" theme.
In case it's not totally obvious, the spots are a send up of a video dating service. There are videos featuring Roger Levesque (above), Jeff Parke, Mike Fucito, Leo Gonzalez, James Riley and Brad Evans. You can see all of them at the Sounders' Facebook page. The Levesque and Parke ones, in particular, are awesome. The spots were created by Wexley School for Girls, a local marketing firm.
Obviously, the "Date with a Sounder" is a reference to watching them play, not actually inviting you to try to date them, although I am wondering about Levesque since he seems to know all the key words ("thirty but flirty?"). As far as I'm concerned, anything that makes the players and team more accessible is a positive. Give them a watch. If nothing else, you'll get to know a new side of some of your favorite players.
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This is the first place I've heard the ticket sales rumor
What is the supposed reason given? Just that they want to have a sell out every game?
Oh it's dumb...
I shouldn’t have brought it up. It was a rumor started by soccerreform.
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 1, 2011 5:43 PM PDT up reply actions
Next time I need to sign up for a webform...
…I’m going with Pain Machine. To show my sensitive side.
by mrbs on Jun 1, 2011 5:41 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Steve "I really don't have a nickname" Zakuani
by Greg Pirkl Lives on Jun 1, 2011 6:30 PM PDT reply actions
You don't really need a nickname if your last name is Zakuani
If your name is Hernandez, Smith, Jones, Fernandez, etc., though, a nickname isn’t a bad idea.
I mentioned it to Dave on the Twitterverse
But I think this is awesome work. The spots are funny and terrifically (intentionally) cheesy in a video-dating sort of way.
And the ad man in me (yes I work in the trade) appreciates the strategic brilliance of trying to connect the fans with the players as individuals. It’s the idea that worked so well for the Mariners in the “You Gotta Love These Guys” heyday of the late 90s/early 00s.
by The King of Norway on Jun 1, 2011 7:07 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Im not sure how my girlfriend would feel
But I would definitely go on a date with Brad Evans.
by ClosetCoug on Jun 1, 2011 8:47 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs
Same thing here, with Levesque
I’ve already explained to my wife that if this opportunity ever comes up, I’m taking it.
by chrisperry1983 on Jun 2, 2011 7:47 AM PDT up reply actions
i think this is great, it was a well thought out ad campaign that gives the guys a chance to have fun
A sky of blue, a sea of green...(or claret)
Yeah it's great....
It’s the same dating site the Brady Bunch boys used. I’ll choose to disagree and say it’s cheesy and lame. Could have done so much better.
Is there anything about the Sounders
you actually do like?
by TheTank123 on Jun 2, 2011 8:33 AM PDT up reply actions 4 recs
"When I was little my doctor told me I would be 6'2"...
still waiting for that to happen." Man these are GREAT!
I loved these
Thought Fucito’s was funny:
“if I had to describe myself in three words they would be ‘smart’, ‘funny’, and ‘much better-looking than Roger Levesque’”
Haha! Gold!
How could anyone hate these ads?
I think they’re pretty funny. Anything is better than any of the other Sounders related commercials out there (Virginia Mason, Top Pot, etc). Those are awful.
by chrisperry1983 on Jun 2, 2011 7:49 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
But are they better
than listening to Arlo talk about Dairy Queen?
Scoreboards, not billboards.
Regular season, not pre-season.
put me in the camp...
…that hates the adverts that happen on-air during the run of play via the announcers or video screens. I know the revenue for the team / TV / radio is nice, but I can’t imagine the money they get from DQ and Virginia Mason for the during-the-run-of-play advertising would make or break any budget.
by ABTsportsline on Jun 2, 2011 10:56 AM PDT up reply actions
Don't bother me
I have never noticed them done during an all to important portion of play. Usually just at a break in action or the ball bouncing around midfield. When it is important play I probably just tune it out.
Scoreboards, not billboards.
Regular season, not pre-season.
Just another reason I love Arlo
I’m sure he is given a set period of time to deliver the ad, and he chooses where in there it would fit reasonably. I find it hilarious they way he delivers it.
I can deal with the on-air ads better than Sigi interviews and sideline reports...
The on-air ads are at least fairly quick. The whole time they go to Sigi, it’s just kind of awkward and doesn’t add much, plus they come at inopportune moments. The sideline reports are pretty similar.
by mistuhp on Jun 2, 2011 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
Arlo could read the dictionary and I'd be into it
Now the actual Dairy Queen commercials that always play during Sounders games, those I’m not a fan of. They remind me of Old Spice commercials, only low budget and not funny.
by chrisperry1983 on Jun 2, 2011 2:25 PM PDT up reply actions
Shaving Bunnies
Towel Ninjas
Cloud’s that Say “yeah!”
How could you not like that?
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
I think it's the guy the cast in it that drives me nuts, and it ruins the rest of it for me.
And, I just saw the clouds that say yeah for the first time yesterday- that was funny.
by chrisperry1983 on Jun 2, 2011 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions
because it is now unoriginal and a terrible ripoff
of the awesomeness that is the Old Spice commercials (although I dislike all of their products).
also… Isaiah Mustafa > DQ dude
by majora999 on Jun 2, 2011 8:01 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs
No, the ripoff of the Old Spice commercials is the not-GroupOn stuff
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
And
Edge shave gel. A little different looking but same concept.
If you compare these to other "get game tix" ads related to the Sounders
They are a divergence.
They are not Game First.
They aren’t even game related.
They don’t feature the fans.
Where those early advertisements were focused on game and game related experiences targeting soccer fans, these new ones are developing connections to players (similar to most recent radio ads for Sounders, though those were game focused). This is a look to grow beyond those that like soccer, into those that like Seattle and some sports.
Personality identification is a great way to expand the market. The NBA used it in the late 80s and 90s to greatly expand their audience. As King of Norway says this relates to how the Mariners used a few good seasons into a decade of marketing dominence.
Look at the players they chose to use – all in their second or further season, no “stars,” most should be back in 2012 regardless of how the season goes, plus these are some of the most approachable when out-and-about people who you would see and think that they are Seattle guys.
Next move in this series should be the same thing but with a few guys in Spanish (Alonso, Rosales, Leo again, Hurtado).
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
by Dave Clark on Jun 2, 2011 7:58 AM PDT reply actions 3 recs
Great points Dave
The best way to get someone “into” something new is to help create those associations with the players.
If you liked the players, you’d have a reason to watch (if you weren’t a fan before).
It’s great marketing, and fortunately for us our players are dynamic and funny. It would be hard to watch these videos and not at least chuckle. Great marketing, Sounders.
by ABTsportsline on Jun 2, 2011 9:08 AM PDT up reply actions
I don't know if it works in Spanish
Next move in this series should be the same thing but with a few guys in Spanish (Alonso, Rosales, Leo again, Hurtado).
I wouldn’t be surprised if the video dating thing isn’t as culturally relevant for the Latino/Latina market. I probably needs to be revised/re-envisioned. Doing the same thing in a different language is usually a recipe for advertising failure.
We do realize one of them was already in spanish, right?
Editor/writer at Sounder at Heart, MLS editor SB Nation. Follow me on Twitter
by Jeremiah Oshan on Jun 2, 2011 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions
I actually don't
They refuse to play on my computer, my wife’s computer, my phone, her phone
I am not a Supporter | I am not a Fan | I am a Sounder
Sounder At Heart
It might be that I am not fluent in Spanish
but I thought Leo’s was not that great. Didn’t seem like there was any personality in it. As opposed to Fucito and Levesque, who were animated and goofy.
by chrisperry1983 on Jun 2, 2011 2:26 PM PDT up reply actions
Honestly, Leo's gave me the idea that this format doesn't translate well...
I speak a bit of Spanish, but even without knowing it, there’s not much personality there. I think with direction, the ads could work with the Spanish-speaking players, even without the intended audience being in on the cheesy video dating thing, but the Leo one is not a good example of this. There are all sorts of different angles you could have them use, though, and if you get them to overact the crap out of it, it could be pretty good, in either language.
A telenovela version would be pretty awesome
I’d love to see Montero and Fernandez over-acting.
by Dizzo on Jun 2, 2011 7:19 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Okay, Alvaro, I want you to give Fredy a playful tap on the shoulder and then Fredy, you fall down and grab your ankle.
Then Sigi comes in and banishes Alvaro into an actual doghouse.
by Matthew on Jun 3, 2011 12:08 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs
Leo's "interview footage" is already in Spanish.
But I agree with you that I’d love to see a couple of other Spanish-speaking guys in this as well. El Presidente comes to mind.
by Kenneth Jung on Jun 2, 2011 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions
sPARKEles
I get it now.
Brilliant commercials.
by LoiteringWithIntent on Jun 2, 2011 10:04 AM PDT reply actions
Video dating ad gag
I think it is great to let the players have fun participating in the marketing. They do a lot to futher the team in the local and makes you fell like they a a very regular part of your community. Teams in the “Major makets” do not bother to work hard to include All the local fans and create the feeling of unity by allowing the players to genuinely interact with fans. It is a good tongue in cheek ad champaign that should get you to laugh while buying an extra ticket.
I like these ads quite a bit...
… but not as much as my fiancee, who describes them as “the best sports advertising she’s ever seen”. I suspect that Roger Levesque’s popularity, in particular, will only increase as people see these ads.
I'm guessing the ladies are the target demographic
That’s the impression I received while watching them. Which is cool. It’s a tough demographic for sports marketing. I even looked on the Wexley School for Girls website to see if they specialized in marketing to women. I couldn’t find anything to confirm my suspicions though.
They hooked me in
I’ve already explained the man-crush on Levesque to my wife, she reluctantly understands.
by chrisperry1983 on Jun 2, 2011 2:24 PM PDT up reply actions
Kickette seems to agree...
..and approves of the campaign, while including a shirtless Roger Levesque in their “analysis.”
http://www.kickette.com/seattle-sounders-the-dating-game/
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