Lots of teams come up with marketing slogans -- we highlighted the Dodgers’ rather curious effort the other day -- but the Royals are the ones I always notice.
In 2012 the Royals used “Our Time” as its slogan. Last year it was “Come to play.” This year? “Be Royal.” Which seems like quite a rebuke to Lorde. And a surprising one at that given that she was allegedly inspired by George freakin’ Brett to write that song to begin with. And it’s so broad, too. Should I be Lorenzo Cain or Billy Butler? There’s a lot of ground to cover there.
But the best take on marketing slogan, particularly Royals slogans, comes from Sam Mellinger of the KC Star. He ponders the utility of them to begin with, noting that all of the marketing slogans in the world don’t put as many butts in seats as fireworks night or a free t-shirt giveaway. And he notes the particular conundrum marketing departments have when it comes to promising baseball results in their slogan. If you go with “In it to win it!” and you start out 12-25, well, the slogan becomes obsolete and a big fat target pretty quickly.
Teams either win or lose. They are either exciting or they’re not. That’s what determines how many people show up. And if the team is good enough, the slogans will follow the team, not the other way around.
