When people think of professional wrestling, they immediately think of World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, but it isn’t the only brand of pro wrestling that ever existed. Through the brand-building scheme of Consumer Public Relations, the WWE was able to become synonymous with pro wrestling, even putting its two major competitors out of business. The two other brands of pro wrestling during the 1990s were World Championship Wrestling, or WCW, and Extreme Championship Wrestling, or ECW, and they both went out of business in 2001.
www.wwe.com
By definition, a brand is “a label that seeks to add perceived value to a consumer product by generating loyalty or preference (Tench 422).” During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, the WWE, or the WWF as it was known at the time, crossed into mainstream pop culture. Many people who weren’t wrestling fans knew the likes of Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. Wrestling became widely popular, but at one point in the late 1990s, the WWE didn’t have either loyalty or preference from wrestling fans. The WWE responded to low ratings against WCW in the late 1990s by launching The Attitude Era, which showcased Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. In contrast to WCW, the Attitude Era presented “edgy” storylines aimed at adults. With advent of The Attitude Era, WCW drastically suffered. The final straw was when the WWE was able to have Mike Tyson appear on its Monday Night Raw show after the infamous ear incident with Evander Holyfield. When people tuned in to see Mike Tyson, they were fascinated with the show as a whole. From there, the WWE brand was able to build upon itself.
http://prowrestling.about.com/od/thepromotions/a/historywwe.htm
According to the text, a brand must comply with four conditions (Tench 423):
1) “Something that has a buyer and a seller.”
In regards to “a buyer and a seller,” the WWE holds a 3 hour pay-per-view every month and it sells merchandise from its website, www.wweshop.com. Fans will pay $40 a month to see matches that have been extensively hyped up during their regular programming. They’ll also pay $25 for a t-shirt with the image of their favorite wrestler.
2) “Something that has a differentiating name, symbol, or trademark. Moreover, it is differentiated from other similar products around it for reasons other than its name or trademark.”
The WWE, formerly known as the WWF, has had many trademark designs over the years. Its logo looks like a scribbled W with another W on top of it, and an F hanging off the side. Since becoming the WWE, the hanging F has been removed.
3) Something that has positive or negative assocications in consumers’ minds for reasons other than its literal product characteristics.”
The positive associations with the WWE are Wrestlemania, a wrestling pay-per-view known as “the grandaddy of the them all,” which has showcased appearances from figures in pop culture. The first Wrestlemania had an appearance by Mr. T, and the most recent event had an appearance by Donald Trump. The negative associations are “wrestling is fake” and steroid use (which it doesn’t legally allow).
4) “Something that has been created, rather than is naturally occurring.”
The WWE developed originally from the National Wrestling Alliance, or NWA. Then, in 1963 the World Wide Wrestling Federation, or WWWF, branched from the NWA In 1976, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation, or WWF. However, the brand lost its rights to the acronym to the World Wildlife Fund in 2002, thus becoming the WWE.
http://prowrestling.about.com/od/thepromotions/a/historywwe.htm
Brands have an emotional power, and the WWE is no exception. The pro-wrestling company allows a special connection with its fans through its history. Many fans were introduced to wrestling by their fathers, providing a bonding experience. Fans have memories of their favorite childhood wrestlers and the fun they had cheering for him or her. The WWE also provides three separate shows on three separate days of the week, 52 weeks of the year with no re-runs. The WWE is successful because of innovative ideas complete with brand building. The text explains:
Given the emotional capital that is invested in some-if not all-purchasing decisions, public relations can be used to deomstrate that a brand empathises with the worries, needs and aspirations of particular groups of people, allowing it connect and align itself with consumers in an indirect but powerful association (Tench 423).
To make my point, has anyone ever heard of TNA?
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