Marketing strategy aimed at battling 49% fall-off in ratings during last year's Tour de France

Apparently drug scandals have rocked sports cable channel Versus'
world. And not in a good way. They're attempting to battle back with a
surprising ad strategy: truthfulness and open communication.
(Who'dathunkit?)

According to the article, Versus' top-rated programs are niche sports
like bull riding and mixed martial arts. What about bodybuilding!!!?!

Imma write me a letter. "Dear Mr. Versus, I want to see Iris Kyle
defend her Ms. Olympia on your cable channel this September!"

Anyway, the following article from today's Wall Street Journal.

Versus Won't Soft-Pedal Biking's Woes
Channel on Risky Path With Rebuke of Doping At the Tour de France

By Adam Thompson and Reed Albergotti
July 6, 2007

When it comes to advertising their sports programming, most TV
networks like to emphasize a sport's high points, like the drama of a
winning touchdown or home run. References to drug scandals are usually
a no-no.

But Versus, the Comcast-owned sports cable channel, decided to take a
different tack to promote its television coverage of the Tour de
France bicycle race that starts tomorrow. Conscious that the image of
the legendary race has been tainted in recent years by a series of
doping scandals, including the disputed positive drug test of last
year's winner, Floyd Landis, Versus decided to subtly tackle the
controversy.

In a half-page color ad that appears in today's USA Today sports
section, Versus highlights the endurance needed to conquer one of
sports' most gruelling contests. But the ad also implicitly
acknowledges the drug scandal with a veiled reference to a signed oath
Tour riders were asked to take this year pledging to be drug-free. The
ad reads, in part, "Commitment isn't just something you can sign your
name to....You either have it or you don't. And you won't find proof
of it in the ink on some dotted line. But you will find it in the
mountains of France."

Tour de France organizers say all but a small handful of riders have
signed the oath, and they expect every rider to do it by the start of
the race tomorrow. Those who haven't won't be allowed to start the
race.

Marketing executives say the ad has risks for Versus. Reminding biking
fans, even implicitly, about doping scandals could damp their interest
in watching the race. It could also alienate advertisers contemplating
buying time on the network's six-times-a-day coverage of the race.

"If I were in marketing for the Tour itself or for one of its
sponsors, I'd just as soon they stay away from it altogether," says
Kevin Adler, president and chief solutions officer of Engage
Marketing, who describes the ad strategy as "questionable."

Canadian bicycle manufacturer Cervélo, a returning sponsor of the
coverage, also questioned the decision. Cervélo spokesman Peter Donato
says he was "a bit surprised" at what he called "kind of a defensive
move" by Versus. He said the ad was "patronizing," since a sport like
baseball would never see a TV partner allude to any skeletons in its
closet.

Versus' senior vice president of marketing, Bill Bergofin, concedes
the ad is risky but says, "We're excited to take a little bit of risk
if we can get some debate going around what sports should be." He says
the network wanted to be truthful with cycling fans by dealing with
the issue. Mr. Bergofin says Versus didn't vet the ad with Tour
organizers.

Versus needs to do something dramatic to draw in viewers, given a 49%
fall-off in ratings during last year's race, the first Tour since
seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong retired from competitive
cycling. The network aired the race's stages six times daily, with an
average of 893,000 viewers per day, down from 1.743 million tuning in
to Mr. Armstrong's 2005 swan song.

The ratings decline added to other hurdles facing Versus, which
recently changed its name from Outdoor Life Network and faces tough
competition from better-known sports-cable channel ESPN, majority-
owned by Walt Disney. Versus is best known for taking coverage of the
National Hockey League away from ESPN, only to see ratings for NHL
games fall. Versus reaches about 72 million homes - 22 million fewer
than ESPN. Its top-rated programs are niche sports like bull riding
and mixed martial arts.

Sports marketer Bob Gutkowski argues that with Versus still trying to
build an audience, the Tour ad could be a smart play. "That's going to
help their awareness."

Mr. Bergofin acknowledges that a scandal-free Tour will be crucial
this year for the event and his network. Cycling has been plagued by
drug-related stories since Mr. Landis failed his drug test last year,
a result that could lead to disqualification. (Mr. Landis is still
appealing the results and won't be competing this year.) Several
marquee names will not be racing after having drawn scrutiny from
investigators, including Ivan Basso, who would have been the favorite
to win this year's Tour.

The upside for Versus is that the rash of doping suspensions has left
the Tour de France field wide open. There will be no previous winners
in the field. Though there are fewer Americans in the race than in
years past, American Levi Leipheimer has a longshot chance at winning
the race.

The best thing Versus can hope for, according to Wally Hayward, chief
executive of Publicis Groupe's Relay Sports & Event Marketing, is "an
American wearing a yellow jersey and kicking everyone's tail in
France." / copy and paste from
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1183...keting_hs_left
aka http://tinyurl.com/327e6a

--
Curt