News this morning: the Louisiana Seafood Board is thinking of taking its BP cash and investing it in naming rights for the New Orleans Arena. I believe the amount bandied about is some $30 million, most of which is the money that BP has pumped back into the seafood industry. Apparently they’ve got so much money from BP that they don’t know how to spend it. Wouldn’t we all like to be in that position?

I’m having trouble comprehending this…what shall we then call the stadium: the Redfish Arena? Shrimp Stadium (as opposed to its big brother, the Mercedes Benz Whale Superdome)? Louisiana Seafood Arena? Somehow, Louisiana Seafood doesn’t particularly lend itself being a stadium name. According to news reports, they’re also discussing including Zatarain’s as a partner in naming.  At least Zat’s has a recognizable brand. Louisiana Seafood Arena? I don’t get it.

Wouldn’t the businesses who benefit from the promotion and marketing  of the Louisiana Seafood Marketing and Promotion organization be better served by some intensified marketing help for their particular businesses? More advertising in markets outside Louisiana?

I still have issues (see my post on the Mercedes Benz Superdome naming) with the massive money that’s thrown at sports teams. Obviously this is marketing for these entities, but can’t that money be put to better use?

I suppose that there are humongous perks that are associated with naming rights: your own fancy-schmancy box, deluxe treatment, tickets to give away, free booze, etc., etc. Those accrue to the “namers.” And of course, it will help keep the Hornets in New Orleans (I think this is the primary push). The money ponied up for naming rights isn’t really funneled back into the local community in any significant way that I can think of. For example, if the Superdome was still called the Louisiana Superdome, or the New Orleans Arena isn’t named the Louisiana Seafood Pavilion or some such, aren’t sports fans going to go to these events anyway? Can’t the Louisiana Seafood people use that money in a way that helps their constituency in a more valuable way, in advertising our seafood internationally? Working on finding better ways to distribute the product?  Reaching out to the scientific community to find ways to help make our seafood industry more sustainable, and thus more marketable for the long term?

Since I obviously know little about the real value of naming rights, can someone please educate me on the value from a marketing and advertising standpoint versus spending money promoting your brand through standard media? Who benefits the most from this?

On another branding idea: some years ago,  a young entrepreneur told me about a concept to market music regionally, and to create tours of sites, cities and towns in Louisiana and Mississippi to increase the brand of the musical art forms that were born in the south—blues and jazz.

The idea was a great one: when we combine our efforts, we all get stronger. Both Louisiana and Mississippi would have benefited from this idea.

Of course, it didn’t happen.

Now a new idea: a “visionary” entrepreneur from Leipers Fork, Tennessee and the Executive Director of the Americana Music Foundation want to create the “Americana Music Triangle” which is, for lack of better terminology, the “Bermuda Triangle” of the cradle of American music.  Drawn strictly, its anchors are New Orleans, Memphis and Nashville, and it comprises much of the state of Mississippi, Baton Rouge, and the Mississippi River side of Arkansas and the very tip-top northwestern part of Alabama.

The idea is to brand the Triangle as the cradle of American music and to market it to the world. I support this idea and think it could draw a lot more attention to this region as a music mecca. Of course, I feel that New Orleans is THE source of all music, but any idea that educates people on the value of our music—and provides a means to make the slice of the pie bigger for New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana—has got a lot of merit.