Game Time: DICK’S versus Scotts

Spring has arrived and with it major league baseball, game broadcasts, and warm weather advertisements. It’s a great time for baseball fans and for advertising fans. The contrasts between the commercials that air between innings and pitching changes are almost as compelling as games between teams dominated by Moneyball influences versus those driven by old school beliefs.

This year’s commercial equivalent of Moneyball might be the “Every Pitch” spot from DICK’S Sporting Goods which opens with a batter swinging and missing at a pitch and then takes the viewer on a tour of the field to experience the “dead time” between pitches. We watch the third baseman feint to keep the runner on third close to the bag. The shortstop turns to the outfield, tells them, “no doubles,” and gestures with his hand not to let a ball get hit over their heads. An outfielder jumps in place to keep his muscles loose. The pitcher throws to first to keep that runner close. Meanwhile the camera moves onto the field itself, taking all this activity in before honing in on the pitcher as he prepares to release the next pitch. We are enveloped in the inner world of a game in progress, the dynamic that occurs between pitches that immediately connects with every athlete who has ever played the game at any level. It’s as atmospheric as any commercial in recent memory. The closing billboards simply take us from the game through “Every Pitch. Every Game. Every Season starts at DICK’S.” to form an indelible connection to the brand.

The pleasant reverie created by the Dick’s spot rarely lasts long thanks to the Scotts Lawn Care advertising, which has been as subtle as a Nolan Ryan “bowtie.” Few commercial breaks occur during games on the MLB network or ESPN that do not have a Scotts commercial. Each commercial features Scott, the Scot spokesman for Scotts. Get it? Are you sure you GET IT??? Scott the Scot from Scotts lectures unknowledgeable homeowners on the virtues of Scotts fertilizer, grass seed and spreader, ending not just with an encouragement to “Feed your lawn” but with an insistent follow-up to “Feed it!” In the advertising world of Scott’s Lawn Care, you cannot belabor a point too much. Kudos to the rational voice in the copy review meeting that talked the team out of putting Scott the Scot from Scotts in a kilt and tam o’shanter. But it’s a shame he or she could not have encouraged a little more subtlety in the media schedule, the tagline, or the actor’s intended-to-be-friendly smile that has all the sincerity of a ravenous wolf seeing you as dinner.

Usually, we are proponents of the “old school” rationally oriented commercials that present a USP to create brand distinction and provide consumers with a reason to buy. The Scotts commercials all present strong appeals and it’s often the case that well-visualized product advantages will outweigh grating presentational aspects in the consumer’s mind. Plus there is always the concern that risking a media budget on something as elusive as forming an emotional connection with consumers for a brand through something as fundamentally and recognizably commercial as an advertising spot is a high stakes gamble. But when one connects, as does the DICK’S commercial, arching home runs have more glory than grunted-out singles.

This weekend I had planned to stop by my local Home Depot to load up on my yard care needs for the season but I think instead I’ll just head on over to the nearby DICK’S for some Neatsfoot. My glove needs oiling. And maybe I’ll pick up a few other things while I am there.