the power of brand recognition

by pr0cs on Oct 17, 2007 3:26 PM EDT

I regularly lament that it sometimes sucks to live in Canada. Yeah, I know we have health care (which is overrated BTW) and good beer (which is not overrated) but when it comes to sports and entertainment events (concerts and whatnot) we regularly get the shaft. Even worse when the city I live in is not Vancouver or Toronto or Montreal and thus considered "igloo land" by the majority of non-Canadian companies.
Finally this weekend a 'decent' MMA show will finally occur in my city and while I'd like to go I have a difficult time convincing any of my more casual MMA fans to join me. The biggest reason is the storylines. While a number of friends would like to go see the event it becomes a difficult sell when

a number of the fighters are unknown
the result of the fights are irrelevant since no storyline exists.

It's a difficult sell to a more casual fan when you say fighter X is fighting Y when they don't really know who X or Y. This is compounded by if X wins over Y, what does it matter?
Yeah you can say "you're supposed to go to see a good match" but that's a much more difficult sell to a casual fan who

wants to see their favorite win
wants to imagine how their favorite has improved their standing by winning.

I may still go, but I'll be solo.. which is disappointing.

the fights:
http://www.cfseries.com
Emelianenko vs Bobish

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Re: the power of brand recognition

Dude, sell them the storyline --Alexsander is a fucking Russian criminal who's coming to Canada to impose a reign of brutal terror!!!!
Old man Bobish the only thing between Alexsander and his gang of Albanian pimps stealing your beautiful Canadian women and selling them to a Dutch brothel. See if that puts butts in seats.

by Kid Nate on Oct 17, 2007 3:54 PM EDT reply actions

Re: the power of brand recognition

Is that the org that recently signed Rogerio Nogueira? If so they are either going to go places or go broke like the WFA. I see what you mean about storylines but you could try to sell them with the fact that Emelianenko, Bobish, and Mousasi have all fought in Pride, plus Salmon was in the UFC.

That's a great card for a local hometown show. I think it's crazy when our local shows try to put on an event the same night as a UFC because they lose so much in ticket sales from potential spectators.

If all else fails, I'd tell them the tale of Sean Salmon and his career, his blogs are beginning to weave together a nice storyline.

by Nate414 on Oct 17, 2007 7:29 PM EDT reply actions

Re: the power of brand recognition

Wanna talk about lack of sports events? Come to Finland or Europe, I beg you... :-/

- mixed, not shaken

by mikser on Oct 17, 2007 8:30 PM EDT reply actions

Re: the power of brand recognition

What I would tell them is what I've told anyone that I've wanted to take to see boxing or MMA live (and even pro wrestling back when I still found it entertaining). Seeing fights live is a totally different ballgame. If you can get across how much of an EXPERIENCE it is...maybe you can get them to go.

You're Canadian for cristsake! Aren't you guys of the "seeing hockey live is so much different from watching it on TV" mindset? Is that too sterotypical?

by Brent Brookhouse on Oct 18, 2007 7:55 AM EDT reply actions