Is TNA Picking a Fight it Can't Win?

[Big Ol' Buckta AIDS]

Do you all even think? at all? What would TNA gain out of marketing that towards WWE? That would make no sense. Whatsoever.

Stamford, CT has a LARGE amount of wrestling fans. TNA did a few shows that drew alot of fans within the area. Is it stupid now?

Are you all really getting mad at TNA for ADVERTISING? ARE YOU SERIOUS?

WWE can show ads for SmackDown during Impact commercials, WWE can have shows in Orlando and it's a problem for TNA to put up a fucking billboard.

I hope you all actually realize, this is beyond hypocrisy. Does Vince own Stamford now?

Reeeeeeelax bro. The O.P was discussing the misinformed point that they put these billboards up right in the wwe's face, which is of course, not the case. not the fact that they put up billboards in the actual city

 

[silrock316]

That's as true as it can be. I didn't mean that impact wrestling would immediately take angered wwe fans in bulk but the idea of tna switching and emphasizing what wwe was dropping I felt was a strong move but yes they had a rating over 2.0 when they went live with Hogan but didn't hold anyone. That is for sure the key. When the advertising starts working will the product bring them back. Getting stray fans is good but its no good if they strays don't stay.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

This is actually a good idea...tna is a wrestling company so why not advertise near places wrestling fans go, why not advertise near potential employees...where would you rather they advertise and get some brand recognition? This is a move that makes sense. As for some employees not knowing about tna till now well guess what...now that employee knows there is somewhere else to go and the only reason it may be true that some just now found out about tna is because wwe hires a lot of ppl who could care less about wrestling and the industry and just want a job

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Its smart buisness in my opinion. Look in every town you have a burger king and a Mcdonalds, it would be insane for them to not be in front of eachother right? This is the same thing in Wrestling (yeah thats right WWE i said wrestling and wrestling matters so sue me). They should put billboards everywhere, even on WWE propriety. Frankly i'm surprised that TNA doesn't have a second building for offices in Stamford CT.

 

[Brian in Austin]

Its smart buisness in my opinion. Look in every town you have a burger king and a Mcdonalds, it would be insane for them to not be in front of eachother right? This is the same thing in Wrestling (yeah thats right WWE i said wrestling and wrestling matters so sue me). They should put billboards everywhere, even on WWE propriety. Frankly i'm surprised that TNA doesn't have a second building for offices in Stamford CT.

Personally I think the whole no wrestling thing with WWE is being overthought. They've removed it from their tag line. Okay. Let's move on shall we gentlemen?

 

[JJYanks121]

Do we even need multiple threads in the TNA section? Every single one is the same.

Post 1 - TNA doing something is kinda stupid

Post 2 by extreme TNA mark - you are stupid and WWE is stupid. TNA is great and this is a great move

Lots of posts arguing against this follow

Another TNA mark steps up and says "no one thinks and no one gets it. TNA is doing so much right. They are great and you suck"

And it becomes basically like a trip to the zoo, just a bunch of monkeys flinging poo at one another. Well, I'm going to attempt to be the zookeeper here (no, not like R-Truth) and keep it rational. Let's see what we really have here.

So the topic at hand is that TNA finally listened after all this time about marketing their product. However, their first choice to market themselves was Stamford, Connecticut, home of WWE headquarters. With that in mind, was it smart to run a campaign like this?

Personally, I'm not sure it was. It seems to me that it was a "throwing of the gauntlet" by TNA and it does come off like they are picking a fight. It's fine to advertise there, but to advertise there first? Seems odd to me. Living in the Northeast, I'd think you'd want to advertise in New York City, Long Island, Hartford, Boston, Providence, Trenton, East Rutherford, Philadelphia and a ton of other places before Stamford. More people live in the areas I mentioned and those areas actually have arenas where you could have shows.

I could go on with this but the idea is pretty simple at its core. Much of what TNA does is combative to what WWE does. This is another thing on that list. I appreciate that they are finally advertising, but doing so in this way isn't the best strategy. I would say to continue to advertise if I were them, but be more strategic about it. After all, this is more money being spent without the benefit of a revenue stream such as a live gate every week. Thus, this better help or it's an expenditure on top of many more.

 

[itssoeasy123]

Personally I think the whole no wrestling thing with WWE is being overthought. They've removed it from their tag line. Okay. Let's move on shall we gentlemen?

Exactly. People (including TNA) are overreacting way to much to WWE rebranding.

When if fact, that's all they did! They didn't remove the ring. It's a wrestling show. There was 5 matches tonight on RAW and 3 of them were fantastic.

Their turning their back's on wrestling fans!

I doubt people were doing that when Kentucky Fried Chicken rebranded to KFC.

 

[GameOver]

Don't think it's stupid, just don't think it's gonna have a major impact, no pun intended. and i highly doubt WWE gives a shit one way or another.

If TNA suddenly doubled it's ratings and WWE started losing fans then maybe they'd take real notice, but that's not gonna happen in the near future.
I do however think that they do have people keeping tabs on what any other organisation/companies are doing, just so they aren't left out if something goes over big that they hadn't thought of.

and if TNA is getting advertisements in on during WWE broadcasts that's an issue WWE would have to bring up with the network not with TNA doing it.

 

[Rayne]

I confess that after reading the first 30 posts, and seeing every single last person fail to read between the lines, I skipped the next 30. If you posted somewhere in there, and figured this out on your own, then give yourself a pat on the back! This does not apply to you.

TNA is advertising nationally, and Stamford, CT is part of the nation.

"TNA advertises in Stamford!" makes for a great clickable headline here, but they're also advertising in NYC. And in Hartford, and in Worcester, and in Boston. I know this because I just drove that whole fucking corridor twice this weekend. So congratulations. Every single person in this thread- Zeven_Zion, looking very hard at you since you often chastise people for jumping to conclusions about rumors on dirt sheets- got sucked in by a cheap website ploy.

The real score, if you were curious, is Wrestling Commentators 79, Dirt Sheet Readers 0.

In addition- and this is just another point people are being ignorant about because they don't know any better- Stamford, CT is hardly the center of the wrestling world. It is not some great wrestling Mecca; it is the location of an office building, placed there because it is very close to NYC, and yet outside of it to avoid unnecessary commutes. (The distance to Westchester Airport doesn't hurt either.) It is a very ordinary office building, like thousands of others in the country. I know this because I've been in there several times. (Don't ask, I'm not discussing it.) IF TNA were advertising just only in Stamford, it would be a colossal waste of money, as Stamford is by and large a town for businesses that don't want to locate directly inside of NYC. But once again, it's fun to talk pretend drama instead of look around you and see what's actually going on.

If I didn't know the whole industry was predicated on keeping some of you idiots deaf, dumb, and blind, I'd be a little disgusted.

 

[Rayne]

I should add- and I would edit this into my previous post, but the timer has expired- billboards, as a form of advertising, aren't terribly expensive for how many impressions they create. (I've never dealt with purchasing billboard space in my career, but I understand that billboards space is sold at different rates per billboard, based on how many impressions you can expect and the income levels of people that can be expected to view it.) None of the billboards I saw were in high-traffic locations; the only one I saw from a highway was in Hartford. (We can argue about whether the one on US-1 in Norwalk is a high-traffic area, but traffic there is mostly the same people sitting still in their cars.)

As a way of creating awareness in TNA and their rebranding, it's an excellent, cost-effective measure to advertise on billboards. Crucial will be their ability to follow up and keep people watching, rather then tuning in once, getting bored, and not tuning in next week.

 

[Davi323]

TNA advertising in Stamford, Connecticut will be about as effective as Pepsi advertising in Atlanta, Georgia, the global headquarters of Coca-Cola.

Look, considering the WWE employs a good chunk of the people that live in Stamford, has been a valuable member of the Stamford business community for decades, and overall has a fairly large presence there, what does TNA really think they are going to accomplish? Pretty certain that any "tourists" there to visit the WWE headquarters are already diehard WWE fans, or else they wouldn't have bothered to make the trip. Ambivalent wrestling fans aren't going to spend the money to get to Stamford to take a tour. Basically, Stamford, Connecticut is probably one of the most pro-WWE towns in the nation, and nothing TNA does is going to change that. It is very much a losing battle.

However...with that being said, I appreciate the moxie. I think there is no chance in hell it will actually be effective, but I do like the fact that TNA had the balls to actually do it, and I can't really criticize them for going straight to the heart of the enemy and saying, fuck you! I am a lifelong WWE fan, I hate TNA, but putting up billboards in Stamford is amusing.

About 7 years ago, I went to the Six Flags amusement park in Denver, Colorado, Elitch Gardens. I am a diehard Detroit Red Wings fan, and this was towards the tail end of the absolutely bitter Wings/Avalanche rivalry. Now, as a Red Wings fan, knowing ahead of time I was going straight into the heart of enemy territory, what do you suppose I did? Yep. You got it. I wore as much Red Wings stuff I as owned, JUST to be defiant, BECAUSE I knew I was in Avs Central. That is kind of what I think TNA is doing. They know that those billboards really won't sway anyone, but they are just saying fuck you, just because. I really can't fault them for that.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Meh, just typical TNA posturing at this point. The whole "Wrestling Matters" marketing campaign is, at least at this time, just that: a marketing campaign.

Changing the name of the show, altering the logo a little and putting up a billboard is all fine and dandy but, at this point, it means nothing and is nothing. I'd love to be proven wrong and to for TNA to actually re-brand itself in a way that makes the vast majority of its product into something watchable.

If it's just more smoke & mirrors though, then TNA will slink away as they've done before. Oh, they'd still take the occassional shot at WWE of course but, as usual, there'd be no real force behind the punch.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Meh, just typical TNA posturing at this point. The whole "Wrestling Matters" marketing campaign is, at least at this time, just that: a marketing campaign.

Changing the name of the show, altering the logo a little and putting up a billboard is all fine and dandy but, at this point, it means nothing and is nothing. I'd love to be proven wrong and to for TNA to actually re-brand itself in a way that makes the vast majority of its product into something watchable.

If it's just more smoke & mirrors though, then TNA will slink away as they've done before. Oh, they'd still take the occassional shot at WWE of course but, as usual, there'd be no real force behind the punch.

Lets wait and see. TNA is only around for 9 years, its going to have hit and misses. Any wrestling company goes through those problems even WWE. Remember WWE was losing the ratings war with WCW in the 90's, what did they do? They raised the bar in their programing and thats how the beat WCW. Will TNA do the same? Yeah, but its going to take some time. If in a year its still the same, then they failed but we don't know that for sure yet.

 

[JJohns]

Lets wait and see. TNA is only around for 9 years, its going to have hit and misses. Any wrestling company goes through those problems even WWE. Remember WWE was losing the ratings war with WCW in the 90's, what did they do? They raised the bar in their programing and thats how the beat WCW. Will TNA do the same? Yeah, but its going to take some time. If in a year its still the same, then they failed but we don't know that for sure yet.

How much time is it going to take? Like you've said, TNA has been around for 9 years. In those 9 years, it's been the Cybil of wrestling promotions. They've thrown so many things against the wall that hasn't stuck, and has at times completely ignored that which has.

Remember when the Knockouts Division was bringing in better numbers than anything else? Instead of nurturing the KO division, the "draw" of the show, they let it implode by not finding a way to retain Amazing Kong and Gail Kim. Now you have a Knockouts Division that looks like the WWE Divas division, only not as good looking.

Remember when everyone talked about how amazing the X-Division was. Where's it been the last year. I turned on TNA and saw Suicide (horrible character) vs Sangriento (cheap Sin Cara ripoff). Knowing who's supposedly under the masks, why not have the two of them wrestle as themselves instead of having that mockery.

On a weekly basis, WWE lowers the bar with it's calling John Cena "Fruity Pebbles" and not utilizing guys like Zack Ryder. TNA however hasn't even reached that bar. Instead, they are content with keeping their World Title on a guy that hasn't been relevant in a decade, and finding ways to take cheap shots at WWE.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

How much time is it going to take? Like you've said, TNA has been around for 9 years. In those 9 years, it's been the Cybil of wrestling promotions. They've thrown so many things against the wall that hasn't stuck, and has at times completely ignored that which has.

Remember when the Knockouts Division was bringing in better numbers than anything else? Instead of nurturing the KO division, the "draw" of the show, they let it implode by not finding a way to retain Amazing Kong and Gail Kim. Now you have a Knockouts Division that looks like the WWE Divas division, only not as good looking.

Remember when everyone talked about how amazing the X-Division was. Where's it been the last year. I turned on TNA and saw Suicide (horrible character) vs Sangriento (cheap Sin Cara ripoff). Knowing who's supposedly under the masks, why not have the two of them wrestle as themselves instead of having that mockery.

On a weekly basis, WWE lowers the bar with it's calling John Cena "Fruity Pebbles" and not utilizing guys like Zack Ryder. TNA however hasn't even reached that bar. Instead, they are content with keeping their World Title on a guy that hasn't been relevant in a decade, and finding ways to take cheap shots at WWE.

All you said is basically true, but it still takes time. Do you think WWE was built over night? No it wasn't Vince took his time and bought out all the other territories. Then WCW and ECW were around and Vince almost went out of buisness. The only reason why WWE is still around now, is because he raised the bar to compete with WCW and ECW. All of this took about 20 years to accomplish.

 

[Brian in Austin]

All you said is basically true, but it still takes time. Do you think WWE was built over night? No it wasn't Vince took his time and bought out all the other territories. Then WCW and ECW were around and Vince almost went out of buisness. The only reason why WWE is still around now, is because he raised the bar to compete with WCW and ECW. All of this took about 20 years to accomplish.

With all due respect my friend, I just don't see TNA ever being a rival to WWE. Now, could we see a day where WWE is so different from what we see today that TNA is the only company doing what they are doing? Possibly. But even if we get to that day and VKM decides to nix all wrestling in favor of other forms or formats of entertainment, then so be it. It won't mean that TNA won anything, but rather that a bigger company decided to stroll over to greener pastures and to leave what built their empire. In the end, if that decision makes WWE a winner again, then so be that as well.

It's why I keep on saying that the comparisons should really stop as these companies are headed in entirely different directions in so many ways that the comparisons don't really even make much sense anymore.

 

[itssoeasy123]

Here's the thing though, TNA are trying to start a fight they can't win. When the owner of the other company could'nt care less about your company.

It's like me opening up a Lemonade stand outside the Turkey Hill factory and proclaiming myself competition of Turkey Hill. It's just not gonna work.

Having billboard's outside WWE HQ is just immature and stupid. Their saying "Hey Vince, wrestling matter's." While in my opinion Vince doesn't give a flying fuck about what TNA does. TNA has alway's been out to be some kind of competition to WWE, but they should realize they can't be, and should just work on being the alternative, not the competition. TNA right now is in no way a threat to WWE, at all.

First of all their show won't pull people away from WWE's product. WWE going family oriened was to draw in more viewer's and get more fan's. TNA's product now is only drawing in the teenager's and the nogastical Attitude Era/WCW/ECW fan who still lives i his mom's basement and watches taped of Raw's from 1997. Not much of a fanbase if you ask me. Either go more family-oriented, PG, or atleast get a top face fan's can get behind.

Maybe they should market and advertise their show, but this time try to make people wanna stick around. Their up and down rating's is an example of fan's just not caring after they see what the product has put's on television. They really have to stop giving a damn about what WWE does, and start caring about themselves. They won't grow if they continue to care about what WWE does when I doubt WWE give's a damn about what TNA does.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Well, its better for TNA to do this than to do nothing nobody can deny this. Any publicity good or bad ( would be better if its good) gets people talking. Look we have 7 pages on the subject of TNA advertising, so i guess it somewhat worked.

 

[Davi323]

Well, its better for TNA to do this than to do nothing nobody can deny this. Any publicity good or bad ( would be better if its good) gets people talking. Look we have 7 pages on the subject of TNA advertising, so i guess it somewhat worked.

not really. This thread is inside the TNA forum. The people commenting on the billboards already know what TNA is, what they do, and already either watch it or don't watch it based on watching it in the past. The idea behind advertising is to reach out to new customers, and given the nature of the IWC as a whole, and then narrowed down to those who click inside the TNA section, chances are low that anyone reading this thread didn't know about TNA, and has never seen their product. The people reading these posts are part of a very small minority of wresting fans. IE, to the world at large, this thread doesn't matter at all, so its hardly publicity/advertising.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

not really. This thread is inside the TNA forum. The people commenting on the billboards already know what TNA is, what they do, and already either watch it or don't watch it based on watching it in the past. The idea behind advertising is to reach out to new customers, and given the nature of the IWC as a whole, and then narrowed down to those who click inside the TNA section, chances are low that anyone reading this thread didn't know about TNA, and has never seen their product. The people reading these posts are part of a very small minority of wresting fans. IE, to the world at large, this thread doesn't matter at all, so its hardly publicity/advertising.

Ok, but people have friends outside of these forums right? You can still tell your friends about TNA at school or at work. If they are already fans so be it, but if you have friends who aren't aware of the product you can tell them to watch at least an episode of Impact Wrestling and maybe they will get hooked.

 

[Brian in Austin]

Ok, but people have friends outside of these forums right? You can still tell your friends about TNA at school or at work. If they are already fans so be it, but if you have friends who aren't aware of the product you can tell them to watch at least an episode of Impact Wrestling and maybe they will get hooked.

I think perhaps the poster you're dealing with was being a little 'tongue-in-cheek' with you? At least I would hope so. Who knows how many people 'hit' this site each day and read it right? Could be in the tens of thousands for all we know. At the pace that TNA is working, that could be a good thing. I want to see TNA succeed as I'm a pro wrestling fan. More is better for me. But we can't deny they operate in a much smaller venue and appear afraid to step outside that comfort zone.

 

[Davi323]

right, but if you haven't told your friends about TNA in the past ten years, what is it about this thread that would suddenly change your mind? Essentially, all I am saying that it's not really advertising when you are just preaching to the choir. TNA's job is to expand it's audience, not just remind the people that already know about it. This is a very, very, very limited subset of potential viewers, and its people that have already formed an opinion about whether they like the product or not. One thread inside one promotion's dedicated forum within a wrestling forum in general is not advertising. It is only seen by 50-100 people.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Davi323, yes i did but the problem is that where i live ( Montreal) we only get TNA in french. Thats not really a problem, but the minute there is another major sports event (i.e NHL playoffs or Tennis) it gets bumped by the channel that carries it. I watch it via the internet on thursdays but not all my friends have internet or have the time to watch it on thursday night because they work at that time.

 

[Brian in Austin]

right, but if you haven't told your friends about TNA in the past ten years, what is it about this thread that would suddenly change your mind? Essentially, all I am saying that it's not really advertising when you are just preaching to the choir. TNA's job is to expand it's audience, not just remind the people that already know about it. This is a very, very, very limited subset of potential viewers, and its people that have already formed an opinion about whether they like the product or not. One thread inside one promotion's dedicated forum within a wrestling forum in general is not advertising. It is only seen by 50-100 people.

I understand the operational point you're making in that this site, in and of itself is not going to move the needle for TNA. But what I'm saying is that we don't really know how far the reach of this site is or how many people in particular might be affected by what is said here. So with that in mind, it would be difficult at best to determine what effects might be seen in programming.

I'd guess that any attention they can get that reflects positively on their programming, at this point in time, is a good thing for TNA. Again, I go back to the fact they appear to be afraid to step outside of their comfort zone, specifically 'The Impact Zone.'

Until they show the confidence to do so, it shows they are continuing to struggle with the question of what to do next and how to do it. I agree that this site probably doesn't move that needle, but I think in some ways it reflects what's really happening in TNA offices if we just look at the results.

 

[ABMorales787]

Let's ignore the stupidity of how a billboard across a rival promotion (yes, given that they work the same field, they are in fact rivals regardless of success) is seen as "starting a war". Let's ignore TNA taking advantage of WWE's backlashing elimination of "wrestling". Let's ignore the fact that most, if not all of TNA's fanbase are former WWE fans. Let's ignore how advertising is suddenly a failed attempt at expanding and ask ourselves... What in the fuck is the issue here? Mr. McMahon gets to be reminded every day there's a company out there with some of the big names he discarded? That any WWE fan gets to realize there's another company? That advertising isn't a goddamn waste of money. And some people wonder why the internet wrestling community is looked at with such disdain. It's not even the only billboard in the damn state. Apparently it's also an issue to have Sting, Kurt Angle and Hulk Hogan on it. Yeah, putting 3 of the most well known figures in modern wrestling history not under WWE is wrong. Jesus Christ. So it's in front of WWE HQ. Who gives a shit? There's a McDonalds billboard that advertises the "Daily Special" right in front of the local Burger King. BK doesn't give a shit. Why? it's just business. There is no damn war going on. "Smart move, Ronald McDonald. You exploit how expensive my food is. Let me retort. My burgers are bigger".

The internet wrestling community. Acting like overbearing housewives since the dawn of the internet.