Marketers, even the best of them, can get tunnel vision. Proof? Even the mighty National Football League (NFL), one of our most powerful entertainment brands, dropped the ball when it came to addressing a large part of their audience.
For years.
A terrific article in USA Today recently pointed out that even though the NFL has had a steady, growing female audience, the league really didn’t get it for a long time. Tracey Bleczinski, NFL consumer products vice president, is quoted in the article stating: “Ten years ago, our motto was ‘Shrink it and pink it.’”
This attitude continued for a long time, despite team-licensed apparel sales rising 21 times over the course of the past decade, thanks to women fans.
Result? Recovered fumble. A panoply of products are now in play catering to the NFL’s female audience: 44% of its total fan base, mind you. Product offerings run the gamut: nail polish to jewelry and jeweled clutches. Prices range from $13 to $3,200. Yoga and exercise apparel to favorite team jerseys all sized to fit the female form, in a full range of sizes from small to 2xx.
Showing that they’ve finally “gotten it,” the NFL debuted its latest women’s “fashions” in conjunction with New York’s Fashion Week. They’ve also launched a digital catalog.
Will the NFL score as a result? I’m betting it will. Big time.
- Is your company ignoring a segment of its audience simply because you haven’t taken the time to research their wants and needs thoroughly—and address them?
- Or are you still playing to your primary audience and just dabbling in a few offerings for smaller segments?
- Which brands do you think are missing opportunities because they’re not addressing a key constituency: people who are actually fans of their brand?
- Have you personally experienced a brand that didn’t pay attention to you for reasons of age group, gender, or other demographic factors?
- Did you ever make a company aware that many consumers like you are into the brand but don’t feel as though the brand is that into you?
NFL fans (male and female) are invited to share their opinion about this. So are marketers, brand managers, and consumers who have something to say or share on the topic. All viewpoints are welcome!
Strangely enough, I was browsing NFLshop.com a week ago, and with my wife peering over my shoulder she says, “I’d wear that…”. I turned around amazed; “Really, come on…it’s got an NFL team logo on it.” But she convinced me she would, and it’s also funny that she ignored just about everything in pink. So it’s a sample size of one, but I think you’re on to something here Ted!
Hi Paul,
Loved your comments! My wife has been a huge sports fan since I’ve known her. . .so sample size of two! I’d say with an fan base that’s over 40% female, the NFL is finally focusing on a valuable audience and it’s high time they do. Sports appeal to women; not just men. . .as much as love our sports! Women enjoy buying licensed products that show their team pride, so how about offering them jerseys, clothing and accessories women like and really want to buy? Seems like a no-brainer, right? Glad the NFL is playing catch up! BTW: Go EAGLES!
Paul,
So I gotta know. What team?
Veronica, a lone wolf crying “Denver Broncos” in the San Diego wilderness, and patiently waiting for Tebow time!
Understanding the target audience of which you are NOT a member is not an easy task. I have been reading blogs written by young (20s 30s) women and finding it a weird world. We all have to adjust our thinking to better understand those outside our own box.
Hi Delaine,
Good point. Still: it’s marketers’ jobs to identify their market in total and to find ways to appeal to each segment. There are plenty of good diagnostic tools available and the NFL has deep pockets and many resources, so no excuses. It’s well past time they factor women into their marketing plans. Thanks for weighing in, Delaine, and let’s hope all marketers pay attention to each segment of their audiences.
“read your audience” So easy to say, so difficult to do.
Usually we go so deep to our startup/business/whatever that even if we know that we have to think out of the box it seems so hard.
Very nice the NFL example
Clelia,
Thanks for weighing in, Clelia. The NFL has known and understood it has a growing female audience for quite some time. They have addressed women somewhat awkwardly, but they have tried to in fits and starts. Ever notice how much of the advertising during televised games leans to men, for example? Not that women don’t purchase some of these products, but the whole substance of most of the ad spots is oriented to a male audience. Beer, motor oil, snack foods being consumed by guys watching a game, etc. Hmmmmm. . . seems to me that NFL sponsors might want to consider the audience for football games as well as the League. With social media today, it’s far easier to engage an audience and find out more about the various segments of that audience. Smart businesses, even start ups and small companies, need to dig deeper so they don’t end up ignoring customers.
Ted,
thanx for your points. Always helpfull
Of course to understand customers is very important in a strategy. I just express my difficulty to this as I am new in the marketing world
We all have to begin somewhere, Clelia. I wish you luck. Customer-centric strategies make sense; using the right tactics emanate from a sound strategy. Always learn all you can about your customers; each segment. Use social media to interact with them and find out what they really need in the way of products or services. Take care of each segment by making sure each customer experience is a good one. That’s a really solid start.
Thanx a lot Ted
FINALLY.
Good post, Ted.
And as a long-time Pittsburgh Steelers fan, I’m partial to the black and gold jerseys.
HA! Thanks, Veronica. There’s a lot of passion out there when it comes to “our teams”. And you’ve just expanded our marketing sample by proving that women are just as passionate as men are. Now: besides the Steeler jerseys, would you purchase other team branded NFL products? I’m betting you would.
Ted,
I am also a black and gold girl. In addition, I’m a Florida State alum. Rabid. And though Veronica may have a different answer, there is absolutely no way I would ever purchase any other team’s products-nor would any of my closest female friends, who are all fans of different teams. And I’d never purchase the pink items, either.
Gifts? Most likely not. I wouldn’t want to put revenue in other teams’ “wallets”
Thanks for a good writeup.
Melissa,
Rock on fellow fan! No, I wouldn’t. I think that fans are intensely loyal to their teams and would be less likely to buy from another franchise … unless their husbands are fans of other teams and it’s time to get a gift for them. (Mine is a Packer fan. Sigh.)
Melissa,
You’ve made some strong points quite succinctly. Thank you. Just say “no” to pink and wear that black and gold proudly. We are all rabid fans when it comes to our favorite teams, it seems. Rock on!
The other scenario involves intentionally ignoring your core audience or segment in search of mythical new customer segments on the belief that “they’ll buy anyways”. Sounds incredulous, but I was personally involved with such a company. Staggering to say the least.
Wow, David. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Talk about self defeating. Name a company that can afford to ignore ANY of its customer segments. Ever. Especially these days when it’s tougher than ever to retain customers. Articles are being written about customer churn so the very idea of going after segments we wish for and ignoring those we have is pretty silly. Thanks for sharing your experience. Let’s hope it’s a rare exception in the way companies do business!
Talk about timely! Check out this new article in Adweek: “NFL Gets Fashion Conscious”? Seems that the players’ wives are getting into the act now. What do you guys think about this idea?
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/nfl-gets-fashion-conscious-135323
It’s great the NFL is finally marketing to women, but why were the first jerseys in pink? I’m not aware of any teams that wear pink jerseys.
Ah, yes, David, the NFL made it a point to make pink jerseys for women. Who can forget Jessica Simpson cheering on Dallas Cowboy QB and paramour, Tony Romo, in a number 9 pink jersey? Those were the days. . .! It seems the League has learned a lot since then. Women fans, just like their male counterparts, want to wear their team jerseys proudly. See Melissa’s and Veronica’s comments above. As for teams wearing pink themselves, the League has supported breast cancer research in the past and teams have shown their support in numerous ways: from pink shoelaces to pink on their uniforms. That, I think, is a nice touch. What do you think? Thanks for weighing in, David.
Great analysis! I have always been surprised, actually, at the NFL’s lack of female merchandise. I suppose one important thing to keep in mind, however, is that you need to be careful not to damage your brand by catering too strongly to a new segment.
For example, if it turned out Harley realized that 20% of their customers were timid, nerdy IT professionals. If they started running campaigns to try to appeal more to these customers, they could damage their rough, powerful, slightly different image. And maybe, just maybe, the IT professionals who bought harleys in the past did it because they wanted to feel rough and powerful.
Likewise, maybe some die-hard women fans of the NFL don’t want it to appear at all feminine, they like the roughness of it.
Point of my message: it’s fine to sell to and have products to suit the needs of all your potential customers, but you must think long and hard about altering your brands positioning.
You raised an important point, Jeff. Thank you. I don’t think the NFL or Harley Davidson, for that matter, needs to worry about diluting its rough and tough male image when it markets to women. There are female fans of both brands. Why not offer women the same jerseys and apparel sized to fit their figures as well as accessories that appeal uniquely to women while still catering to their male audiences? I don’t see any conflict with that in the least. I’m not suggesting the NFL make up for past fumbles by over-compensating to women; just that they make the playing field level. 44% is almost half of the League’s total audience, remember.
Ever notice how much of the advertising during televised games leans to men, for example? Not that women don’t purchase some of these products, but the whole substance of most of the ad spots is oriented to a male audience.
Hi Subjex,
Exactly. I made the same observation to Clelia. There’s definitely a male edge to the advertising during NFL games. Not much directed at women. Yet. I wonder if the team wives will weigh in on that as well as designing upscale, fashion-conscious NFL branded items for women.
Stay tuned, huh? Thanks for weighing in on my post. I appreciate it.
Great observation. This is the perfect example of how markets which are traditionally male-oriented have changed over the years. I wonder what the percentage of sales of jerseys for men were actually bought by women.
Hi Lionel,
Excellent observation back at you. Women buy plenty of gifts for the men in their lives: dads, brothers, husbands and sons. Your question would no doubt yield interesting information. I’m sure women buy plenty of NFL gear, and in doing so, become exposed to it and likely make decisions to buy some for themselves. When it comes to sports, it would be a good idea for the NBA, NHL, MLB and every other organization to delve into their audience more deeply, right? And if, as I suspect, women comprise a large chunk of those audiences, it’s time to market to them as well as the guys. Thanks, Lionel, for adding yet another important dimension to my post.