“Does that type of marketing even work?”

Few weeks ago, I tuned into Aaron Rodgers Tuesdays on The Pat McAfee Show.

At some point during the interview, Pat asked Aaron why the NFL doesn’t do brand deals—where brands advertise their, well, brand on players’ jerseys—because it’s a commonplace with other sports jerseys.

NBA teams usually have one brand on their jersey the entire season.

Soccer players are lathered in brand deals, both in America and abroad.

Don’t even get me started on Nascar…

But this posed an interesting question from Pat:

“Does that type of marketing even work?”

For some background:

Pat McAfee retired from his illustrious punting career in the NFL when he was smackdab in the middle of his prime. Sports shows roasted him for leaving millions, literally, on the table when he retired at 29 years old to start his sports radio/YouTube channel. (Which is one of the best sports media channels in existence.)

And ever since, Pat has been running his own business.

I say that to say this:

Pat understands the importance of marketing. And the importance of marketing that actually works.

In fact, he’s one of the few podcast hosts who doesn’t read his ads in “ad voice.” (I wrote about this months ago so search your inbox if’n you need a refresher.)

Pat’s a naturally funny guy. And he uses my “pimp your personality” technique to sprinkle some humor into his ad reads, which makes them more fun to listen to and persuasive.

Anywho:

I doubt Pat has had any real background with direct response marketing. But he has great intuition, which brings us back to his question:

“Do brand deal types of marketing even work?”

My answer?

Eh, not really.

Maybe there is some value for the Coca-Cola’s of the world to slap their logo on a random soccer team’s jerseys. If you’re a soda drinker, which I am not, maybe you need a reminder that your favorite soccer team endorses Coca-Cola and that inspires you to pick up a case when you grocery shop.

But as far as marketing strategies go, this is one of the least effective ones.

Reminds me of your typical TV commercial vs infomercials. Infomercials laugh their way to the bank. I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a product from a Super Bowl commercial, regardless of how cringe or funny it was.

Which brings me to the point:

One of the unsexiest aspects of direct response marketing is this:

You directly measure response.

It’s easy to tell if an infomercial, old school direct mail sales letter, or VSL converts. You can test different aspects of each of these — like trying a different headline or lead in.

With these brand deal types of marketing, which also include TV commercials, there’s no true way to know whether it works or not.

Sure, Coca-Cola crushes sales.

But is it because Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner rubbed people the wrong way? Or because Coca-Cola slaps their logo on a sportsball team’s jerseys?

Or is it because Coca-Cola has won multiple taste tests and most cola drinkers prefer Coke over Pepsi?

My guess is it’s the latter. And Coca-Cola probably wastes hundreds of millions of dollars per year on advertising that doesn’t actually result in more sales.

Do with this what thou wilt.

And if you need a trained direct response email copywriter?

Book a call here, and let’s see if partnering together makes sense.

John