HDNet Ad Campaign in New York City Makes No Sense

Imagine my surprise when I saw the face of Fedor Emelianenko atop a New York City taxi this weekend.

"Wow," I said to myself. "Maybe MMA in New York is more popular than I thought?"

Then imagine my even greater surprise when I read the bizarre question next to Fedor's photo:

"Do you know who I am?," it read. Ugh.

I quickly ran to the other side of the taxi to see if there was some kind of clever answer. Nope. Same thing.

Needless to say, this has to be one of the most bizarre ad campaigns I have ever seen. First, let's be real: most New Yorkers probably don't know the answer to this question. I think that's the point they are trying to make here. Maybe. If so, why ask such a question if you aren't going to provide the answer?

As you can see by looking at the picture, this is an HDNet ad campaign. I guess the thought process was that people would be so intrigued by this face that they will feel compelled to subscribe to HDNet. Only problem is HDNet was recently taken off Time Warner Cable, one of the main cable outlets in New York City. So even if they wanted to find out, they would have a hard time doing so.

With that in mind, wouldn't something like, say, "Want to watch the best fighter in the world in action? Subscribe to HDNet," be a lot more effective?

Amazingly, I saw the same billboard hours later, but this time Josh Barnett's face was on it. I then asked seven people around me if they knew the answer to this question. All seven of them said no and only one said that he was interested in finding out.

I applaud HDNet for trying to promote MMA to a large market like New York city, but if you aren't going to do it effectively, better save the advertising dollars for something else.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-29-2009 @ 3:27PM

RJ said...

Yes it's certainly true most people walking the streets on New York have no clue who Fedor is, but honestly most people walking the streets of New York or just about any other city don't know anything about MMA period (UFC included) believe it.
The sport is not common knowledge to sports fans like Baseball is.
Even if you found a few people who new about the UFC and asked them to name any fighters you'd probably get either Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, or Tito Ortiz as an answer.
Thats why I see no problem with the ad.
The average person knows nothing about the sport of MMA.

6-29-2009 @ 5:25PM

mcuban said...

the point of the campaign is that if you are already an MMA fan and you know who josh barnett or Fedor are, then HDNet is the place to go.

we arent trying to create MMA fans, we are trying to let them know where to watch the sport

and it has worked. Verizon, Direct, Dish have seen great results from it.

and of course there are so many visitors to NY, that there is carry over to other parts of the country as well

Which makes us very, very happy.

Wait till you see the ads for NY Confessions..

6-30-2009 @ 1:26AM

boogiedmb said...

I think that's how a lot of new faces get introduced to new viewers. Before the latest 007 came out, not many people knew the new Bond (Craig something), who apparently was a successful actor from the UK. Now people know his face. I think as MMA gets more popular, people may not know Fedor's last name, but when they see his face, they will know he's the bad ass Russian who kicks ass in MMA.

6-30-2009 @ 1:52AM

retrojoke said...

ITS A GOOD AD. nEW AND FRESH. MUCH BETTER THAN STATING THE GUYS NAME AND WHERE YOU CAN SEE HIM FIGHT. ITS AN AD AIMED AT STARTING UP A CONVERSATION.

6-30-2009 @ 11:28AM

dnongbri said...

The effectiveness of an ad can only be judged in the results it garners from its intended audience. And thankfully Mark Cuban clarified who HDNet was targeting: existing MMA fans in NYC. And it seems as if Verizon, Direct & DISH have seen some kind of bump in interest, so these ads, as obtuse as the author thinks they are, are probably doing just fine.