Advertising Ideas: WWE Delivers Message Of Branding
Show these images to most Americans and they will immediately tell you that is Dwayne “THE ROCK” Johnson and the World Wrestling Entertainment Logo. It wasn’t always like this as wrestling for years was looked down upon and the crowds they attracted were looked at as being less than desirable. Then it happened Vincent Kennedy McMahon started to formulate ways to take the genre to another level and made his brand appealing to the mainstream. The WWE has capitalized on the popularity of their characters and the appeal of their events to record record earnings and record TV Ratings. Some would say that The WWE is a publicity machine. This publicity machine did not grow to the mamouth proportion it is today simply by putting up a ring and announcing that there will be matches locally, no their leadership sat down and put together a business plan that was very extensive outlining everything that they wanted to accomplish. Today The WWE is a publicly traded company whose stock as of today was trading at $8.55 a share you have $855 you can have 100 shares. It is estimated that it will trade at $10.50 a share by the end of the year.
The WWE has become a champion in the sports entertainment industry by branding itself and aggressively marketing itself. Despite filing for restructuring under the chapter 11 bankruptcy laws The WWE continues to have a following and continues to grow. With It biggest event Wrestlemania, now in its 29th year, The WWE continues to build a fan base and gain revenue as they capitalize on knowing what their fans want. Recently their TV Show Monday Night Raw went from 2 hours to 3 hours and has beaten The NBA and NCAA in the ratings proving that if you appeal to the general public and you market yourself you will be successful.
Advertisement Ideas: How To Brand Yourself Like The WWE!!!!
This brings us to the question of how do you brand yourself like the WWE?
1: Have a definitive business plan – It is said of you don’t have a plan you are in a losing battle. What is your game plan to be in front of your target audience daily? Where are you today and where do you want to be tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, 3 years from now, 5 years for now. In the 80’s The WWE enlisted the support of Cyndi Lauper and together they created Rock N Wrestling Connection at that time the executives of The WWE had a definitive plan and followed it and recently brought back Cyndi for a cameo appearance on Monday Night Raw.
2: Be willing to take risks – In my last entry I spoke about being open to receive new ideas and to implement them even if they seem risky.Over the years the WWE has introduced characters like DOINK THE CLOWN and others who didn’t last too long, however by taking the risk they have brought them back on occasion with success. Taking a risk and doing something different will set you apart from your competition.
3: Know what your competition is doing and beat them – In The 90’s the WWE went head to head with the NWA in The Monday Night Wars and began to release results on Monday Night Raw of The NWA show and then eventually learned enough about The NWA that they bought them out and created this monolith known as WWE. If your competition is advertising and you are not you are losing out on the consumer market share because people will go to businesses that they see in the marketplace. The idea is to set yourself apart from your competition. WWE set themselves apart by being innovative and creative and aggressively marketing themselves thus outshining the competition.
4: Be involved in your community – When you visit The WWE website at www.wwe.com you will see the many charities that they are involved such as Make A Wish Foundation. When I contacted them for assistance with my charitable endeavors they were happy to help. As a result when I needed gifts I went and bought some of their merchandise. When you are involved with the community people do business with you as they perceive you are giving back. This can be leveraged in your ad campaigns, on your website, and across all your social media platforms.
Lastly when building your brand you need to create a recognizable brand. For example the photos above are Cyndi Lauper with Wendi Rickter and The Rock with Mick Foley. When you become recognizable people know who you are and are more apt to do business with you.
Building a brand takes work however when you create a brand that people know, like, and trust they will do business with you. What will you do to make yourself stand out so as to grow your brand and your business.
