Why the WNBA’s New Marketing Campaign Might Work…For Some
When I first saw this year’s WNBA marketing campaign, it didn’t really catch my attention, until the grammatical riddle presented at the end: “Expect Great.”
Honestly, I wasn’t listening too closely and it seemed uninspiring. The inexpressive delivery of the players definitely didn’t help. In fact, it took a few times before I even bothered to pay attention to the whole thing. Although it wasn’t the most inspiring piece of marketing, it did stand out as a much different than their previous campaigns: they are clearly targeting men.
By now, even the most casual basketball fan has seen this commercial. The camera is focused squarely on the face of a WNBA player as she mockingly repeats the words of skeptics – typically male skeptics – who don’t hesitate to demean the women who play the game as they state their rationale for not watching it. “Women’s basketball is a joke,” says Tamika Catchings, daughter of a former NBA player, in one of the commercials. Inbetween statements is a brief footage of WNBA games. The player’s inexpressive voice is accompanied by a gloomy background tune that either bores viewers or drives home the point – this a serious statement. That statement is revealed in the form of a question, just before the “Expect Great” slogan:
The LA Times reported on May 10th that, “…the WNBA acknowledges that most male viewers probably didn’t give the commercial much attention – if they watched.” Not so fast. A quick Google search about the current campaign reveals that many people across the blogosphere, bulletin boards, and news publication are also paying attention. Unfortunately, most of that attention has been overwhelmingly negative with a fairly consistent critique: the campaign is ineffective at reaching its target audience – male NBA fans. At first I agreed with the critics – it’s cheesy.
However, whether critics describe the campaign as roundabout, self-deprecating, confrontational, negative, or antagonistic, it undeniably generates a buzz by engaging the skeptics. Nevertheless, the campaign is probably ineffective with men who would quickly or defensively dismiss the commercial with a “duh, yes” or “no, never” response. In addition, the acting, writing, and composition of the commercials simply were not good enough to come off as “mockery” instead of “self-deprecation”, which doesn’t help.
But why bother stating the obvious about men who would say those things? Maybe they’re not targeting men who have such blatant misperceptions about the league at all.
As I sat and watched the Sparks and Mercury game that tipped off the season, I thought, well, is there any value to these commercials that ask us to re-examine our expectations of women’s basketball? Possibly. What if there is a small cross-section men on the fence about the WNBA who might shift their expectations if directly confronted with the absurdity of their own beliefs? Sounds silly, I know. But if it is true that men have a strong influence over sports conversations, as suggested by Hilary Shaev in the LA Times article, maybe targeting a few men on the fence will have larger effects than the critics expect.
I am a closet pro basketball junkie: I love the NBA, would watch it all year, and when they take the “real thing” away from me, I watch summer league and pre-season games. So every year when the WNBA releases its latest marketing scheme at the end of the NBA post-season, I watch with great interest – of course, I want more basketball. The WNBA has never been a consistent part of my summer basketball plans. But since I have said some of the statements described in the commercial, I engaged the challenge earnestly instead of dismissing it.
It was Cheryl Ford’s comment that struck me most. “Let’s be honest -- your rec league team would smoke us chicks without working up a sweat,” says Ford, daughter of rugged NBA Hall-of-Famer Karl Malone. She reminded me of a time in college when a few of my friends and I were playing pick-up ball and the women’s basketball team came on the court and “called next”. Playing with Division I women at least convinced me of an important prerequisite point: women can ball. The commonly held belief that a “rec league team would smoke” a WNBA team was disproved for me a long time ago.
On one particularly memorable play, the women’s team’s shooting guard brought the ball down the court, caused her defender to stumble backwards with a wicked crossover, and then stepped back and nailed an uncontested pull up jumper. Of course, we all started laughing and jumped into the ritual insults. And suddenly he started limping up and down the court as though he coincidentally twisted his ankle just before getting crossed up. “Man, my ankle’s been bothering me…I think I just slipped.” I wish I could say that was the only time that has happened -- as it turns out, many men suddenly reveal chronically debilitating injuries after getting schooled by women. Sometimes, it takes personal experience to shift expectations…even if it hurts.
There was another Catchings statement that reminded me of a college experience – “If you wanna see real basketball, don’t watch me.” I had the good fortune of being exposed to outstanding women’s basketball by witnessing Ticha Penicheiro play at Old Dominion University in her senior year. At the time, I thought I had stumbled upon a hidden gem in the basketball world. Penicheiro is one of the best point guards I have ever seen in person – college or professional, male or female. Her poise, court vision, and ability to take complete control of the game gave her a presence on the court that captured my attention even when she was off the ball. She made the game look effortless.
As someone who enjoys the game of basketball, I had to appreciate anybody who is able to navigate a basketball court as smoothly as Penicheiro. So, I followed the college game more closely, especially when players like Chamique Holdsclaw and Diana Taurasi were around. I followed the WNBA playoffs in the first few seasons, intrigued by Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes and the flair of Michelle Timms. Ultimately, I couldn’t get over the fact that, well, it wasn’t the NBA and my interest waned after a few seasons.
After ignoring the game for years, I found some cheap tickets and I attended my first WNBA game last year – the Phoenix Mercury vs. the Seattle Storm. I was curious again. It’s not only that being at the game was fun, though that helped. It was refreshing to see a professional game played with well-executed offensive sets, good ball movement, solid mid-range shooting, and a touch of finesse rather than a bunch of millionaires with 40+ inch verticals. It also helped that I realized that my home team was led by Lauren Jackson, the league’s MVP-to-be, who was flat out dominant. I also got to “catch up” with someone familiar in Taurasi. After seeing that game, I watched the rest of the season and the playoffs.
The WNBA is certainly not the high-flying spectacle that the NBA has become and that will always be a challenge in reaching casual fans. The NBA marketing machine – with slogans claiming to be “FAN-tastic” or “Where amazing happens” -- has been one of the best in the sports industry. So it is not hard to imagine why people would eventually define basketball by NBA standards. People will say that even after they see the women’s game they still think it’s just boring – it’s slower, below the rim basketball, which has no highlight reel dunks to see. The comparisons to the NBA are inevitable and yet as Slam WNBA columnist Stephen Litel writes, “It gets old, it isn’t true, and to be blunt, is the argument of the uninformed.” The WNBA is simply different than the NBA.
Let’s be honest: a 30 second commercial will likely not encourage anyone to change well established perceptions about anything. Experience with the game counts and particularly establishing some connection with a star player. According to the LA Times, the WNBA found that among men in a focus group who were shown WNBA game footage, “the positive perception of the game increased by 25%.” In order to appreciate WNBA basketball it seems necessary to appreciate seeing basketball in all its variations and appreciate watching competitive women compete to be the best at what they do because they love doing it.
In my case, having personal experience playing against talented women helped me appreciate the quality of the players and of the game itself. Later, watching some of the best players play furthered my interest in following the game. Seeing a live game with all those past experiences in mind help me appreciate the game for exactly what it is – outstanding women’s basketball. Since many of my misconceptions about the level of play in the WNBA have already been challenged, maybe the commercial serves as a reminder of the necessity to evaluate women’s basketball on its own terms.
Perhaps someone in my position is the target audience for this commercial – someone already predisposed to the women's game who just needs something to get his attention and rethink his expectations about basketball. Perhaps it will also inspire women who appreciate the WNBA making such a strong statement. Others will understandably think the commercial is just plain stupid…and that’s fine. They probably weren’t expecting to change the hearts and minds of the entire world. Regardless, it piqued my curiosity enough to want to watch Candace Parker’s first game and if that game can’t get someone interested, then there probably isn’t much hope for the league anyway.
As people slowly start to watch the game, talk about it, and shift their expectations, the game will grow. In that sense, the campaign is right on target and it just might work.