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LeBron's new TV ad has a viral inflection

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foxsports admin

 
Updated Jan 17, 2009 2:16 AM ET
     
 
Good morning, class. This week's lesson in Sports Marketing 101: It's tough to keep a secret on the interwebs, especially when that secret is so much fun that you simply must share it with the world, one way or another. Let's examine the case study of the insurance company and the basketball star. Let's say an insurance company plans to put the basketball star in a commercial on Sunday. And in the commercial, the basketball star — OK, it's LeBron James, but that's all we're going to say — declares that he's leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to play football for the Cleveland Browns. Sounds good so far, just ducky in fact. LeBron played football in high school, and was known even then for his good hands. But before the commercial can air on TV, word leaks out — somehow, some way — to a few of those mean old sports bloggers, who try to spoil the surprise for everyone. If you're known for the company you keep, you don't want to know these guys. So what's a business to do? Fortunately, like a good neighbor, we're SO there for you. And we've got your piece of the rock right here, buddy. Of course, class, no promotional effort would be complete without an official corporate statement of endorsement. Wait for it . . . wait . . . here it comes . . . now: "State Farm has had a lot of fun working with LeBron and leveraging his huge appeal and interest in an unexpected manner," said Mark Gibson, State Farm's assistant vice president of advertising. "His talents as a high school football player and the ongoing speculation around his career made this ad a natural tie into our 'Feelin Kinda Sunday' NFL commercials we launched this season. It has allowed State Farm to connect to NFL, pro basketball, and sports fans everywhere." And that's how simple it is to get your message across. It's so easy, a caveman can do it. Class dismissed.
Tagged: Cavaliers, LeBron James

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