What Jimmer Fredette means for marketing.

As Jimmermania swept the country this basketball season an interesting thing happened, Jimmer became a brand.  Jimmer had an amazing senior season at BYU leading his team to the Sweet 16.  Jimmer led the nation in scoring averaging 28.9 points per game and became the poster boy for jim rats everywhere (pun intended).  As Jimmer looks towards the NBA I'll take a look at what Jimmer means for marketing possibilities.

Jimmer has interesting marketing possibilities.  His game is range, he'll pull up from 30-35 feet away and drain it.  He has the capability to do that.  How well his game translates to the NBA is yet to be determined but I will say this, if you can put the ball in the hole you can play.  Because of that interesting dynamic and who Jimmer is he has the ability to instantly come onto a team and be the face of the team... in a way.

First of all Jimmer is white.  He's not incredibly athletic, athletic, but not incredibly.  He's a good looking guy with a great personality.  He says the right things, practices the right things (He's Mormon), hits trick shots and dribbles like Curly from the Globe Trotters.  It's very marketable.  In a time when the NBA is loaded with tatted thugs breaths of fresh air are craved (see Blake Griffin with T-Mobile and Subway).  Jimmer can instantly come into a situation and be the smiling face that some team wants to use to appeal to the large majority of their fan base; middle class white suburbia.

Jimmer has brandability.  He has the name, he has the shot, and he has the looks, what he doesn't have is a guarantee of success in the NBA.  Undeservedly he has been compared to JJ Redick and Adam Morrison.  Basically it's because he's white, had a great college career based on his skills not his athletic ability.  Just my quick thought on that then back to marketing.  He can create his own shot and he can finish in the paint, neither of those two could do that.  That may be just enough to get him into the league and make him an attraction.  At the end of the day it's about watching some of the greatest athletes in the world do amazing things.  The way he shoots is amazing.  Him being who he is may not be amazing, but it may sell.  I can see moms buying Fredette jerseys for their kids and feeling okay about it.  I can see some team putting his face on their program and not worry about someone fathering 9 kids with 8 different women (see Antonio Cromartie of the NY Jets).  I can see it.  I can see Jimmer doing interviews and laughing with the media.  I can see him saying all the right things and doing guest clinics in the local community.  I can see it.

What I can't see is Jimmer doing it for the NY Knicks.  The market is just not right.  Too glitzy and glamorous (although DT Justin Tuck did text Jimmer during the NCAA Tournament and he's from the state of  New York).  I don't think he does it with the Heat either.  He needs his shots and they already have too many people taking shots now.  I don't see it in L.A., again, too much glamour and Angry Jack sitting on the sideline wouldn't like Jimmer if he jacked a 35 footer and missed it.  I do see Jimmer in Memphis, I see him fit really well there.  Southern folks can appreciate a good old fashioned white guy.  I see him in San Antonio or even Dallas for that matter.  I actually see him fitting in the Spurs system and he has small market guy written all over him.  I can't see him in Portland, doesn't fit the team culture.  Honestly, he could fit in Minnesota, how fun would that be with two unathletic white ballers!?

Last but not least, I see him back in Utah.  He would sell tickets, he would have all of Provo, Utah up to see him and half of Salt Lake.  During a time when Utah his going to struggle for the next two years... even if the Jimmer show is only a side attraction to the bigger overall picture.  It might just be worth it for the Jazz to draft him and sell some tickets.  Jimmer is marketable, he has to be in the right situation and with the right team and he can make someone a lot of money.

What's so special about the "Sweet 16"?

I love sports and to be quite honest there really aren't too many sporting events that rival the NCAA Tournament.  I remember from the time I was young going to Pizza Hut getting the lop sided basketballs that they sold for $4 for the Final Four.  They also had a Sweet 16 deal that involved something for $16.  If you're judging a teams success by how far they go in the tournament you can say that if the team made it to the Sweet 16 they've had a pretty good year.  Buy why then, what is so special about winning two games and making it to the level before the quarter finals?  I'm a BYU fan, and this year the team rode the success of super phenom why guy superstar Jimmer Fredette.  The team had struggled to get out of the first round for so many years actually got a decent scede and won two games against fairly decent opponents.  (Gonzaga was that good, and yes Jimmer was that good, Florida was an off shooting night and the Gators play defense really well and close out quickly so BYU didn't have too many great looks.  Okay now that's off my chest, burn in Hell Rick Reilly)... where was I?  Anyway, the point is that when you really look at it it's all a branding/marketing ploy.  I used to feel like it was a way to gague your teams success, and to a certain degree it is, but lets be honest, BYU being a #3 seed should have won those two games.  Pitt obviously was a litttle overratted and now Ohio State and Duke fell victim to that too. 

You see, the whole thing used to be a basketball purists dream.  Just young guys not playing for money but for the love of the game.  Then incredibly, rediculously, stupidly huge TV contracts became involved.  TV ruined college football and has ruined college basketball.  I was shocked at how many TV timeouts there are this year!  If the game is close, there are going to be even more.  You wonder how those guys can play at such furious paces, well, they get a two minute rest every three minutes.. sometimes it's only 30 seconds.  Turner Networks paid $9 billion dollars to co-broadcast with CBS and they want to make their money back somehow, so what better way than to make us all nautious after viewing the same commercials for the 15th time in 20 minutes.  It's all about the money.  It's not about the success of your team, it's not about making it to the Sweet 16, it's about money hungry executives charging time for companies eager to get their products in front of people wanting to watch a game.  Southwest and their giant red tape ball can shove it... I'm done with seeing it. 

I quickly digress.  I love the tourney and what it should stand for.  So what is so special about the Sweet 16?  Well, not a lot anymore.  It just means that you've had to sit through way too many commercials and too many people having their brackets screwed up because some reporters made you drink the Cool-aid.  You know, to be one of the final 16 teams in the country is pretty cool.  The NCAA and the media have made it that way.  It is an accomplishment but it seems to be less and less of one as time goes on and as the media takes over.  Problem is, we'll all keep watching it cause it's that good.  I've said my two cents... The NCAA tournament is an incredible product and a great brand and everyone rides its coattails.  I guess I can't blame them, I'm doing it too.