Brian Feener

Not to play Capt. Obvious but Tiger is drinking the Kool-Aid Gatorade. He has just finalized a deal to license his name and likeness for a brand of sports drinks. [Sidebar - how does this product stack up against the low-cal G2?) The deal is reportedly worth up to $100 million and Darren Rovell does a way better job of explaining it than I’m about to do. In short, Gatorade can use Tiger’s image/likeness/etc. for a base compensation, plus addtional compensation for positive sales figures. The partnership is going to last for a five years (realistically - for as long as both groups are making lot$ of money) and Tiger could see upwards of $100 mm. Rovell does a fine job of explaining why the deal is unique and how Pepsi-Cola is trying to leverage athletes/endorsers away from Coke’s VitaminWater.

I’m interested to see how this impacts other athletes and their deals. If I am an athlete, would I rather work with a deal that says that I get $3 mm up front from Company X, or 10% of profits from the sales of the widget I’m pushing? For further reading on this topic, see this article from Brandweek regarding the Dave & Barry’s Starbury line.

Note: If you do something spectacular, people will notice. Quality basketball shoes for $14.99 is spectacular.

Steve & Barry’s spent no money on media in 2004, about $525,000 in 2005 and just about $25,000 through the first quarter of 2006, per TNS.

Now… check out the amount of buzz they got. (It’s even been referred to as a “movement!”) As a comparison, Nike has a $1.9 billion advertising budget. Billion. With a”b.”

I wonder who has a better ROI…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLRFo4UMR5A]Not only is 50 Cent a musician, sneak consultant, clothing designer, and actor, but he is also a former co-owner in a sports beverage company, current pitchman for said company, VJ, Elvis super-fan (second paragraph), video-game, stuntman (video below; static link), and marketer.

You can now add writer his list of credentials. There are, in fact, five(!) fictional books “co-written” by 50 Cent.

If you are watching the video right now, you are seeing 50 Cent forget his lyrics during the 2007 BET Music Awards. (Insert PR spin here.) This is the first sign that he has begun to fail to deliver the product that he has made his reputation on.

No matter how good his video games are, how fashionable his clothes, how good his books, 50 will ultimately be judged on his primary product - his music.

Google has remembered this lesson. Google has (according to my count) 19 products. No matter how good these products are, they will ultimately be judged by the power of their search.

If you are going to deliver a product line, be sure that you do not forget that your customers are your customers for a reason - they have developed a connection to your core competency. Put that relationship at risk, and you can either benefit, or fall victim to their loud voice.