Affliction Promises Ad Campaign Real Soon
by Kid Nate on Jun 26, 2008 11:46 AM EDT
in MMA News
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PrintFor those of who've been wondering when Affliction would start promoting their July 19th PPV, MMA Junkie has some comments from Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio:
"Right now, we haven't even broken water (on marketing) yet," Atencio said. "We're waiting until the push because we know a lot of people, especially the casual fan, they'll forget about it if we push too soon. ... We've sold about 8,000 tickets so far, and that's with minimal advertising."
Talking about the UFC July 19th free event, Atencio also reveals a real big gap in his thought processes:
"Anybody that was going to buy our pay-per-view, I think they're still going to buy it," Atencio said. "I think the people that weren't going to buy it, [the UFC event] just gives them something to do now. I don't think it really changed the hardcore fans' outlook."
If he's looking to just give away a few million dollars, he's got his head in exactly the right space. But if he's looking to make money, Atencio needs to realize that there aren't enough hardcores willing to shell out $39.95 for a PPV to put Affliction over the top. Oh yeah, the Junkie story also reveals the utterly lame back up they're considering to replace Vernon "Tiger" White (popped for diuretics) against Antonio Rogerio "Little Nog" Nogueira -- Edwin Dewees. Yes even though they're wasting Babalu Sobral against Mike Whitehead on the same card, the only opponent they can come up with for Little Nog is Dewees, a mediocre middle-weight.
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Hey, come July 20th their ad campaign is really going to get in gear….
by ProCannonFodder on Jun 26, 2008 12:06 PM EDT reply actions
Advertising...
...um…you want to advertise things as far out as possible. People don’t forget…ads get in peoples heads and every time they hear about it from that point on it refreshes that idea you planted in their head. This makes no sense to me.
Also…don’t undersell Whitehead. I think he has a real legit chance of taking out Sobral.
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by Brent Brookhouse on Jun 26, 2008 12:58 PM EDT reply actions
how dare you give Whitehead a chance against Babalu!!! lol!
"They said you was hung!!"
"And they was RIGHT!"
Letting people know you’re putting on an event won’t help. Forget about getting people excited. That stuff never works. Now Megadeath and Donald Trump, that’s something to hang your hat on. Maybe this whole thing is some sort of weird experiment to see if big name fighters (a lot of them more popular in Japan), an 80’s era band, and hideous T-shirts can sell an event with little to no help.
It’s a bold strategy. Let’s see if it pays off.
by Richard Wade on Jun 26, 2008 5:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I think they starting to realize that they spent too much money on the fighters’ purse than the actual advertising. They probably felt like if they threw a bunch of highly ranked fighters on the card, it will sell no matter what. Good luck trying to sell the public on who Fedor is. Good luck with trying to sell Matt Lindland’s and Tim Sylvia’s fighting style. They got a lot of work cut out for them.
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jun 26, 2008 3:05 PM EDT reply actions
I see Affliction ads any time I turn on TFN
Its one thing to express concern or doubt about their efforts, but I see a lot of people who apparently are hoping they will fail (or have already decided ahead of time they will fail). Considering all the UFC fans who obsessively trying to spin every little decision they make as savvy, it comes off like some people just don’t see the appeal in a non-UFC branded MMA event
I’m not rooting against them, but I don’t see any way they don’t fail with an insanely high payroll and a PPV that is destined to not sell more than 50,000. It’s just not going to work with this business model, regardless of whether they get Metallica or Megadeth to work their next show.
Im not rooting for them to fail either, but let’s be realistic. Affliction is going against UFC 86 more than they are going against UFC on July 19. Their pay-per-view is 2 weeks after UFC 86. I don’t know about everybody else, but I plan on only paying for one pay-perview in July and that is UFC. If Affliction is going to do a serious Ad campaign, they need to do it now and convince the public that their Pay-per view is a better bargain than UFC. All those hardcore fans that say they will dvr UFC and buy Affliction, I’m sorry, but with gas prices high, and the economy being down, I really see this happening if they do not purchase the UFC pay-per-view. I know I am not paying for two pay-per-views in a month.
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jun 26, 2008 7:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I second that
I brought up that point on another MMA site and the feedback I got was that the Affliction card trumped the UFC 86 card. I really don’t think so. I really don’t think MMA/UFC fans are going to buy two ppv events in one month as well. When I think about the Affliction card, I am not inspired.
We have the supposedly #1 P4P Heavyweight (Fedor) fighting the #5 Heavyweight (Sylvia); then we have the #3 Heavyweight (Arlovski) fighting a non-ranked fighter. Do you really want to pay to see that? How can Affliction market this to any MMA fan? I don’t think the casual fan would buy this event based on the fact they the casual fan probably doesn’t know who most of the fighters are on the fight card. It is being called the best Heavyweight fight card because all the fighters on the card have been around for some time and have held belts at one time. That’s really it, right?
by lovingmma25 on Jun 27, 2008 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions
Honestly, I’d rather watch Top 10 LHWs fight than Top 10 HWs. The talent at LHW is far superior.
by Richard Wade on Jun 27, 2008 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Another thing too about paying to see Sylvia and Arvolski. I never saw Arvolski last fight UFC 82 maybe because it was a prelim. But in the fight before against Werdum, where he was promised a title shot if he came out victorious, he put on lackluster performance. Tim Sylvia always the fighter that fought not too lose. Should I be convinced that he will not pull that performance against Fedor? I have to admit his fight with Nog was entertaining, but I cant helped wonder if his performance was based on the fact that he was trying to put himself in a better position to get a lucrative extension from UFC. I mean, he was coming into this match with 2 fights left on his contract. I can’t help but wonder if he’ll cashout when he fights Fedor. His bonus is contigent on winning, not performing.
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jun 27, 2008 7:32 PM EDT up reply actions
If they haven’t started marketing yet, they should just offer those 8,000 people a discount, and move the date. I know that logistically it’s difficult, but they’re fucked if they go head to head with a free UFC event, sorry. Most of the hardcore fans get their fights online (so they can watch every one of them without having to explain to their wives why they pay $300 a month in MMA PPVs), and most of the casual fans give less than a shit about Fedor, or most of the people on that card.
I see the appeal in another promotion, but the problem with Affliction is that the business model is doomed. EliteXC has, for better or worse, pulled it off so that they are a fairly solid #2, with presumably a profitable model, but no one has been able to do what Affliction is trying to do and succeeded. On Inside MMA, the dude that was on there touting Affliction a few weeks ago was a tool, and seemed to have his head way up his ass about the realities of the business. THAT’S why people are skeptical. The way Affliction can shut up the ‘haters’ is by putting on a great show, and being profitable in a show or two.
They had a pretty good thing going in the T-shirt business, and I think they’ve shot themselves in the foot trying to get a foothold in a pretty crowded market that’s apparently extremely difficult to be profitable in.
Why no Bon Jovi?
I think Bon Jovi would have been a better band to have then MegaDeath. That way if no one knew anything about mma and the fighters, they’d at least sell tickets on the fact that Bon Jovi would be performing.
EliteXC has, for better or worse, pulled it off so that they are a fairly solid #2, with presumably a profitable model, but no one has been able to do what Affliction is trying to do and succeeded.
Sorry but I think you’re confused. The only notable American non-UFC promotion “with presumably a profitable model” would be Strikeforce
Smoogy, it is good you brought that up. Strikeforce is the only notable non-UFC promotion. That’s why, I feel that 8,000 seats sold is a bit overated. I mean Southern Cali is an MMA hotbed. I believe if Strikeforce put an event in the Honda Center, they would sell the same amount of seats, probably more.
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jun 26, 2008 5:42 PM EDT reply actions
Is Strikeforce #2? I’m unsure myself, but I’d like to know the intel behind that. Are we talking quality or profitability here?
Sorry, I have to admit not really knowing if anyone but the UFC is profitable, I just shot from the hip that Strikeforce was, and made a typo. From outward appearances it seems that Strikeforce is pulling it off by aligning with CBS, but I don’t know the numbers. I should have clearly stated my ignorance on that point. I love you all.
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