Do Celebrities or Words in Advertisements Sell the Product?

Are you a Nike, Adidas or Under Armour fan or are you a Derek Jeter, David Beckham or Michael Phelps fan?

In the same order, these companies sponsor those professional athletes and use their notoriety to help sell the products they advertise in the media.  But when it comes to buying the products they sell, what really makes you want to buy the product?

The art of advertising uses professioanl athletes or celebrities and action words, phrases and logos to persuade customers into buying their products.

Using professional athletes or celebrities in an advertisement helps people associate that product with a name or face so they will be able to remember it.  Studies have been done on this issue and one study was related to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

In this study, researchers surveyed 38 French university students, male and female, between the ages of 18 and 27 to find out if Zinedine Zidane, a retired professional soccer player who played for the French National Team in 2006, had any impact on Adidas products he sponsored.  The results of the study indicated that Zidane's sponsorship with Adidas had an impact on how people purchased products that Adidas sold. 

Advertisements may use pictures of professional athletes or celebrities, but the presentation of the product and the wording associated with the product can be an even stronger way to get people to buy your product.

Companies target people of all ages using verbs, phrases and logos to help customers remember their products.  Nike uses the "swoosh", Under Armour uses their slogan "Protect this House" and Adidas uses their slogan "Impossible is Nothing" to help people remember who they are.  A research study was done in England to see how effective brand logos are in advertising.

The research study selected 237 children from ages 7 to 10 from 5 different schools in England.  The children were shown products and were required to draw collages of things associated with Nike, Reebok, and Adidas.  The collages showed the Nike "swoosh", the Reebok symbol and the Adidas symbol.

Do the words and symbols in Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour advertisements make you want to buy the product or is it the professional athletes and celebrities affiliated with the advertisement that makes you want to buy the product?

Leave a comment and voice your opinion about what really sells products in advertisements.  Do you believe their are more ways companies use advertisements to sell their products?

     

  

    

Why Everyone Hates Duke's Success

The Duke Blue Devils get as much respect from fans throughout the U.S. as the New York Yankees get in Boston, Massachusetts. 

Before the Men's NCAA Basketball Championship game was played on Monday night, the Duke basketball team knew that everyone throughout the U.S. wanted them to lose in Indianapolis against the Butler Bulldogs.  The only fans Duke could count on for support where the students back in Durham, North Carolina, their alumni across the U.S. and the few people who don't buy into the stupid reasons of why others hate Duke.

The reasons for why people hate Duke span from ridiculous to pointless, but the common reasons are because of the academic success the players achieve, their success on the basketball court and the academics in general at Duke University.

The college student-athlete today is looked upon by others as a person who only fulfills the athlete part of the word student-athlete.  Many people have accepted this view and because of that when student-athletes succeed in sports as well as in the classroom, many people frown upon it.  The Duke basketball program has been successful with its player graduation rates.  From 1999 to 2002, the NCAA did a research report on graduation rates for Division 1 college basketball players and Duke's graduation rate is 92 percent.  25 percent higher than the Federal graduation rate.  Success in the classroom should be the most important factor in any student-athletes life, but what one thing gives up the other takes.  At least that is what one wants to believe.

Duke's success on the basketball court has improved since Coach K became the head coach.  Before then Duke was a nobody in college basketball.  Since Coach K started coaching at Duke they have won 4 national championships, 11 ACC regular season and tournament championships, 760 total victories and 12 national coach of the year honors.  Not many people enjoy seeing the success of one program because it gives them national media coverage and with national media coverage comes the spotlight, which everyone wants at one point in their lifetime.  Jealousy and success should not cause people to hate a person or team, especially when the success is done in the right way.  Along with the success of its basketball program as well as its other sports programs, Duke Universities academic success has caused many too dislike the university even more.

Duke University is a small private school in Durham, North Carolina.  It is very difficult to get accepted into the University, but those who are accepted end up being successful in their career.  Their Law school is one of the top schools in the nation along with their business and medical schools.  Who wouldn't want to attend a university that has great notoriety in the business world along with a well-known basketball program.

In the end, don't hate a person or team because they are successful.  Yes, the New York Yankees will always be disliked in Boston and the Duke Blue Devil's will be disliked by most people not affiliated with the university.  As my high school principal always told us, "the key to happiness in life is the joy you get from other people's success in life."  So stop looking at the negatives and respect what others accomplish.     

       

           

       

Opening Night Greatness

What more could you want from Fenway Park on opening night of the MLB.  A classic Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry game.

The game started off as a pitcher's duel, but that was soon lost by the second inning when the 6 through 9 hitters started to get to Red Sox starter, Josh Beckett.  Beckett gave up back-to-back homeruns in the 2nd inning that gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.  Jorge Posada hit a screamer down the first base line that hit the foul pole for a homerun and Curtis Granderson hit his first homerun of the season and as a Yankee. 

CC Sabathia kept the Red Sox hitters off balance through his five and two-thrids innings of work.  Boston only had two hits through 4 innings until Joe Girardi took out Sabathia late in the 5th inning. 

With a 5-2 lead, it was up to the Yankees bullpen to give Sabathia the win.  Unfortunately things went south for the Yankees as Boston tied the game up in the 6th inning. 

The Yankees struck back in the top of the 7th inning, but failed to hold onto the lead as Red Sox second basemen, Dustin Pedroia, hit a game tying 2-run homerun.  The Red Sox later tacked on 2 more runs in the 8th inning to secure their lead.

In the 9th inning, it was Jonathan Papelbon time.  Papelbon earned his first save of the year.  Giving up one hit as the Red Sox take the 1st of 18 games against the Yankees this season. 

What a Mad March

What a March it has been for college basketball, as Dick Vitale would say, "It's awesome baby, with a capital "A."  We have some diaper dandies in this tournament baby!!"

I couldn't disagree with the words of Dick Vitale any more than how much I disagree with my parents.  Who would have thought that the University of Northern Iowa would knock off Kansas, the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Cornell making it to the Sweet 16, St. Mary's beating Villanova and Washington is finally playing to their ability in the tournament. 

But now that we are in the Sweet 16, are the games going to continue to be upsets or are they going to go back to the higher seeds beating the lower seeds? 

It is a tough one for anyone to call.  The only ones that can determine that are the 16 teams that are left in the tournament, but even then they can never be sure of that. 

With Kansas gone now, most brackets are in for it.  But with Kansas gone now, who is the favorite?
Some would say that Kentucky is, but others would argue that West Virginia, Syracuse, K-State and Ohio State have just as much of a shot at winning as Kentucky does.

But even all of these teams have been shak'y throughout the regular season as well as in the tournament.

The fact of the matter is that all of us can try to predict who will win the National Championship this year, but even our picks now still might not be as accurate or even come close to what we picked before.  Don't sleep on some teams though.

For some reason, most people don't believe that the Duke Blue Devil's, Baylor Bears or the Michigan State Spartan's can make it to the Final Four or even to the National Championship game.

Kalin Lucas may be hurt for the Spartan's, but don't overlook them and their coach Tom Izzo, who has had a tremendous coaching career so far at Michigan State.  Every player he has coached has made it to the Final Four at least once in their basketball career at Michigan State.  With Lucas out, look for Draymond Green to step up and be the vocal leader out on the court and watch how Korie Lucious responds in the game against Northern Iowa after making the game winner against Maryland.

When watching Duke remember your three "S's", Singler, Scheyer and Smith.  When these guys start making their shots they are very difficult team to catch.  On top of their great shooting, they defend well and they also have the height to get them far in the tournament.  For some reason, one player no one on the opposing team and people in the country seem to respect is Brian Zoubek.  Zoubek has given the Blue Devil's big minutes in the tournament and had 14 points and 13 total rebounds in 23 minutes of playing time against the California Golden Bears.  Another two players to watch for Duke are the Plumlee brothers who can post up and shoot from outside the paint. 

Finally, the Baylor Bears are a very athletic team that have height.  The Bears shoot 72.6 percent from the free throw line, shoot 48.9 percent from the field and shoot 38.6 percent from 3-point.  They are lead by #24, LaceDarius Dunn.  He is only a junior and he shoots 42 percent from 3-point and averages 19.4 points per game.

As March finishes up and we await to see who will be crowned the new NCAA Men's Basketball champion, don't forget to enjoy the "Awesome" games, as Dick Vitale would spell awesome, and watch out for your teams diaper dandies as teams finish out the post season.        

Becoming a Great Sports Journalist

If a sports journalist were to star in the movie The Karate Kid, he or she would play the role of Daniel La Russo.




Sports journalists, have to deal with celebrities, athletes, coaches and CEO’s that believe they are better than everyone. Not every celebrity or athlete is as hot headed, loud mouthed or arrogant as Johnny Lawrence was in The Karate Kid. Behind the articles, interviews and all the events they attend, lies a humorous and friendly individual with a passionate love of sports.

The biggest challenge sports journalists’ face is their schedule. The hours are long. The travel schedule is grueling. It is not unusual to visit four or five cities in one week. But despite their grueling schedule, true sports journalists, rarely grow tired of telling readers about the sports they love through the daily newspaper and online articles.



Fearlessness, the ability to draw out facts and the ability to use multiple writing styles are what make a great sports journalist.



Vince Ellis, a sports journalist for the Detroit Free Press, covers the Detroit Pistons. He says that, “fearlessness,” is important in becoming a great sports journalist. “You need to care, but you cannot let people intimidate you. You have to write what you see and not be afraid to ask the tough questions,” says Mr. Ellis.



Style is an important tool to have when writing articles, columns, features and profiles. Having more than one type of writing style is necessary when learning how to become a great sports journalist.



Laura Geist, who started as a sports journalist and is now a business journalist for Automotive News, says “Stretching your style is a good thing to do because you have to adapt your style to the story. You have to ask yourself, ‘are you getting too comfortable to the point where you are not developing your writing style as a journalist?’”

Finally, the ability to draw out facts makes or breaks a great sports journalist. “Great sports journalists paint a picture of the drama and get into the mind of an athlete to entertain their readers,” says Mrs. Geist.



Few people want to only read the facts and numbers about athletes and sports teams. Facts are great, but the real entertainment comes from writing the story with the athlete’s thoughts, not only the journalist’s.



Successful sports journalists never stop working on their journalistic skills. A sports journalist who writes for the New York Times website says, “If you want to attend a great graduate journalism school like the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, you need to build a good portfolio of articles because they want people with experience.”



Every sports journalist has their “Johnny Lawrence.” Sometimes the only way up the ladder is to take on your opponent and defeat them just as Daniel did to earn the title “Karate Kid” and to back up these words, “you’re the best around.”

It's Tournament Time Baby!!! Part 2 3/15/2010 2:30-3:15

What did you think of the show?  Please leave any suggestions, comments, or topics you want to hear about.  Thank you for your time.

Show 3/15/2010 12:00-12:45

How well did I do?  Did I help lessen the confusion of picking NCAA tournament teams?  Please leave a comment and advice for how I can make my show better.  Thank you for listening.