On December 4th, 2015 BattleFrog Series was announced as the title sponsor of the Fiesta Bowl, and with it came excitement, confusion and guarded optimism from the OCR Community. This was the largest national stage that the “Sport” of OCR had seen during it’s short lifetime and it was about to be showcased to the real world. Only time will tell how this investment will fare for BattleFrog, so in the meantime we will take a look at the day BattleFrog was introduced to the REAL Internet (and not just your neighborhood OCR community trolls).
The Internet experienced a wide range of emotions and states of mind, the first of which was confusion.
We attempted to do the community a solid by reaching out to help.
But confusion quickly led to anger
And sometimes when people get angry, they become internet accountants…
But even this article from the Miami Herald did little to help…
We figured once people saw the commercial it would explain a lot and the Internet would feel a sense of relief. We were wrong, as Twitter exploded.
It appears that folks both with and without commercial production experience were underwhelmed by the TV spot. They weren’t Battling and they certainly weren’t Believing.
These screenshots are a few of many that echo the same sentiment. To get a more statistical driven perspective, we ran our own website analytics on Obstacle Racing Media in the hours leading up to, during, and right after the game. These numbers let us know the actual words Internet users entered into Google to learn more about BattleFrog.
As you can see, other than googling the word “battlefrog”, the Internet often confused them with Rugged Maniac (which was on the television show Shark Tank and made a deal with billionaire Mark Cuban). Upon first glance it appears people were very curious to see who owned BattleFrog and how they could afford to sponsor a Bowl Game. Mark Cuban is the most obvious choice as he is both rich, and an investor in an Obstacle Course Race. There is some positive search data as well, where people are looking up the race schedule and obstacle lists.
Admittedly this is an incredibly small sample size of data, so that begs the question:
What did we really learn?
For starters, it became clear to me that the OCR Community takes it really easy on the companies we support. I’ve been personally accused of “hating on” Atlas Race or BattleFrog when, in the past, I have listed specific race attendance numbers as a way to measure growth. The REAL Internet pulls no punches (especially when you delve into the subspecies of sports fans). It gets ugly fast.
Realistically, we don’t know much. We clearly saw a spike in our own internet traffic during the game, but whether or not that translates into ticket sales for BattleFrog is an unknown. We won’t truly know the scope of this investment for months or possible years. We also don’t know if all publicity is REALLY good publicity.
What we do know is that BattleFrog took a shot, rubbed some people the wrong way and felt the wrath of the REAL Internet. In the wise words of Harry Hogge*, “no, no, he didn’t slam you, he didn’t bump you, he didn’t nudge you… He rubbed you. And rubbin, Son, is racin.”
*The mastermind crew chief behind elite driving champion Cole Trickle from Days of Thunder.
**I ripped this off of Matty Gregg. He borrowed it from Bill Simmons. Let’s call it even.
Keith Allen
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Gotta say…the sponsorship worked at least once. I’ve been visiting the Battlefrog website regularly in the days since my Buckeyes laid waste to Notre Dame. Of course like many, I had to google what a Battlefrog was first. So, my story is, I am morbidly obese…I think. 5’11 and 280, takes me 20 minutes to recover from climbing a flight of stairs. Cincinnati’s race is in August gives me 8 months to ready myself. I am motivated by having something to shoot for and as silly as it sounds, one of those frog medals would look great around my neck! And there’s no way I’m going to waste a $63 entry fee. so…to wrap it up advertising does work at least on some
That’s awesome? You’re going to have a blast at BattleFrog! Welcome to the community!
That’s awesome man! You’ll have a blast!
Steven, hoping that you are on FaceBook, if so please make sure you join the event…
https://www.facebook.com/events/886011464825847/
Post something on the event page as I can tell you now, you have sparked the interest of many to ensure that you get that bling…
HOOYAH!!!!!!!
Glad to have you with us. Look around the web, there are a lot of great people to help you with your goals. Try Memorial Mudders on FB and Spartans of the north east.
Steven, Your comment above is amazing. My name is Jenny Montes and I am an employee for BattleFrog Series. We would love to have you join us at a future 2016 event. Please email me [email protected].
Steven,
Great, great, great for you! YOU CAN DO THIS! YOU WILL DO GREAT!
Welcome to the Community! It is diverse, fun, outrageous, supportive, and at it’s core is about personal growth with just about any and every flavor you could imagine.
Your reasons are spot on! Be prepared to get addicted to something that can and will transform your life (not just physically). Unleash the Steven within! I hope to see you on a course someday!
‘Merica Man
#ItsMoreThanJustMud #OCRtherapy
Do it man, just do it. you will never regret it. I lost about 60 pounds to do my first one in Miami, just got done with the National Championship course in Orlando and have set a goal to get to an Elite level by the end of this year. Set your goals and stick to them, especially if they are hard. you will be a better man, and a better human being at the end. oorah.
I ran Battlefrog last year in Englishtown, NJ. I thought it was a quality, fun and well run event. I will be back in 2016 for sure only this time with more friends. I hope they do well and continue to grow. It is nice to have different and more OCR’s in the neighborhood.
Notice how there’s no battlefrog link on the right side of this site? Clearly they spent their entire budget on that terrible commercial. I give them a year before they sell their race to Mark Cuban so he can turn it into something better.
Steve,
The folks providing positive motivation are the ones you want to surround yourself with. The BattleFrog Series was designed and inspired by Navy SEAL’s and that means TEAMWORK! There are challenges for individuals but also for groups and families. The folks wondering why BattleFrog is connected to ESPN or sponsored the Fiesta Bowl have probably never played sports. Whether it is a team sport like football or and individual sport like Tennis, one still must rely on their team. It could be a trainer or support component they are an extension of your team. I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing some of the hobby OCR tweeters at BattleFrog.
I’m looking forward to when Major League Baseball sponsors the Super Bowl.