I am sure you have heard of who Sidney Crosby is if you follow hockey at all.

Do you remember back a few years when he was drafted to the Pittsburgh Penguins? There was incredible amount of media hype built up for him with critics saying he will never be able to live up to it. Granted there was an incredible amount of followers who believed in his abilities too, but the amount of hype that was and still is created for him is absolutely incredible.

Woah…this is a marketing based blog…so why in the heck am I talking about Sidney Crosby?

Well, It’s time for NHL Stanley cup Final series and The Pittsburgh Penguins led by “Sid the kid” himself are facing the Detroit Red Wings. This should be a great series but this post is not about who I think will win the series or anything of that nature. It is about the hype that has been built up around Sidney Crosby and how he seems to be living up to that hype both in terms of his on ice performance and through his promotional abilities for his sponsors of the ice.

For those of who who are unfamiliar with the word “hype”, it is defined in trusty dictionary.com as: “to intensify (advertising, promotion, or publicity) by ingenious or questionable claims, methods, etc”. It is commonly seen being used as an Internet marketing tactic, but can also be seen in many different markets also, such as in Crosby’s situation in sports.

Back in 2005 when Reebok signed Sidney Crosby to a five year, multi-million dollar deal as an endorser for their promotional campaigns in specific product lines for example, they were able to work off the intense hype that was built for him and sell Crosby products like they were hot cakes. This ability to be able to build off the hype and interest that is present with stars is one reason why having a celebrity endorser for a product or service can dramatically increase the awareness, potential, and ultimately sales for a company.

When all the Sidney Crosby hype began to be created he wasn’t even in the NHL yet. This was well earned hype based mainly on his performance. Here is an example of such hype even before he had made it to the NHL.

Crosby has absolutely made a name for himself. He is arguably one of the most well known NHL stars of the current day…especially within Canada. But there will always be those who are against him…it seems to be human nature that everybody cannot like the same exact thing. There will always be Crosby doubters, but that is the same in absolutely every product, service, or person anywhere in the world. If there is one thing that absolutely everybody feels the exact same way towards I would be completely shocked to hear it.

Reebok has seemed to do very well with their Crosby contract. Below is an example of one of their “I am what I am” ads featuring Crosby. Note the product placement throughout the ad that clearly displays the use of their product. Believe it or not it is often overlooked to actually have a product that has been placed strategically within an ad being used. If a product can actually be seen being used as opposed to just being seen, a large difference in sales figures can usually be found infavor of the product being used. The reason for this is that when a consumer can see a product being used in a specific situation, they can merge (in their minds) the new knowledge they have of the product with the situation they have seen it used in. Then, the next time they need a product to be used in a similar situation, that product that they can associate being used in the situation will have a better chance of being recalled and then purchased.

Essentially what this ad gets at is that even though Crosby can’t control many aspects within the game of hockey itself, the things he can control the equipment that has let him get to where he is today, those being predominitely Rbk products.

Below is another ad of Reebok’s (Rbk) which features Sidney Crosby. This tells a story about how Crosby is dedicated to hockey and as such has put in a lot of hard work to get to the level he is today. It can be taken from the ad that since Rbk provides the equipment that lets him play hockey at the high skill level he is today, then Rbk equipment must be great equipment to have for yourself.

This next ad I am showing you is one of Crosby’s Gatorade ads. From a marketing standpoint I do not like it quite as much as the previous reebok ad I showed you, but it is still a good ad. It proved to be very popular!
As you watch this ad, look to see if you can think of reasons why I don’t think it was as well thought out as the previous one above. I will explain my reasoning below the ad. Don’t get me wrong though, it is still well made ad!

Okay, so why was it that from my marketing standpoint, this ad is not quite up to par? Yes it had multiple celebrities present which is always a good thing to have, but for a Gatorade ad…where was the Gatorade? The only time I saw it present was at the very beginning when he had a sip. I’m assuming this ad was created mainly as a product recall advertisement but I still don’t understand why they wouldn’t have had Gatorade actually being used more in the ad…or at a minimum able to be seen more times than just once at the beginning. They could have got a much clearer message across if they for example: They had everybody bringing their hockey stick and a bottle of Gatorade as they came to play hockey…or for a smaller cost at least had the big stars have gatorade with them that were present in the ad. Nonetheless, it was an entertaining advertisement which clearly uses Crosby’s built up hype as the main attention grabbing point of the ad.

I didn’t want to only show one Gatorade ad and have not a lot good from a marketing standpoint to say about it so below is another. I recently saw this one and enjoyed it…more detail on my thoughts are below the ad.

Like the ad? How about more than the previous one? Possibly not…but from a marketing standpoint this ad shows off Gatorade a bit better, not too great…but it is a well made ad. Obviously there are 2 big stars present here, Sidney Crosbly and Vesa Toskala. The beginning clearly shows Crosby drinking Gatorade…it is then spilled onto the puck just before he begins the shootout with Toskala. The ultimate outcome (a goal or save) isn’t displayed because Gatorade won’t want to show one of the stars being superior to the other, but you probably made the distinction that Crosby scored as the puck was going by Toskala. This was an ad that told a story where the viewer gets to fill in the blanks. It can easily be assumed that Crosby scored as it shows Crosby celebration but the main thing that is meant to be portrayed here is that it was the Gatorade that helped Crosby get to where he is and score the goal. This type of ad keeps your attention because it does tell you a story.

Now I wanted to show you just how Crosby does seem to be living up to the hype that has been built for him. Below, you will find a clip of some of his greatest goals. Obviously this isn’t a complete thorough list as he has had many highlight goals, but they are definitely some great ones!

What did you think of some of his goals? Pretty stellar many people think. If you are a Crosby hater you may be thinking “I’ve seen better” or something similar, but one thing that shouldn’t be argued is the fact that he is definitely a very talented hockey player. This has been shown time and time again and hopefully will continue to be seen for many years to come. Crosby could possibly lead the Penguins to become the Stanley cup champions…but only time will tell. How would that experience look added to his resume in terms of living up to his hype?

Overall, I hope you see that hype can be used as a marketing tactic to dramatically entice sales. But be cautious…the wrong person endorsing your product can actually be hazardous to your brand, products or services you offer. You must ensure that the endorser can be seen as being an authority figure for your product and also that they have not (I hate to use the words) “sold out” their image to actually minimize their overall endorser appeal and authority status.

If you have enjoyed this article and are interested in learning marketing from top to bottom then I highly recommend my marketing ecourse. I designed and developed this course to teach business and website owners how to effectively market their products and services using time honored marketing techniques that work anywhere, online or off line. Learn more and grab your copy today by going to: http://www.businessmarketingcourse.com

To Your Success!
Mark Garland

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