Mark McGwire was the perfect face for DirecTV's 2001 Major League Baseball ?MLB Extra Innings? campaign. Fortunately for DirecTV, McGwire, who recently retired from baseball, is a spokesperson whose persona transcends his on-field performance.

During spring training last March, McGwire signed a two-year contract with DirecTV that allows the satellite provider to use his image in marketing campaigns through the 2002 Major League Baseball season.

He'd broken the 70-home run mark in 1998, making baseball history; in 1999 he followed with 65 trips around the bases. Everyone in America knew the ruddy slugger dad and his goatee. But in 2000, dragged down by injuries, McGwire's season was cut short, stopping his home run count at 30. These injuries eventually forced him into retirement.

Such is the potential danger for marketers trying to match their product's image with that of a prospective spokesperson. A brand must find the right voice or the message could miss. ?The critical factor is?the kind of consumer perception [of the brand] you're trying to create,? says Adi Kishore, media and entertainment analyst at the Yankee Group in Boston, Mass.

Kishore says that DirecTV's selection of McGwire as a spokesperson ?has a lot to do with timing. He was everywhere. If you didn't know baseball, you knew McGwire.?

While McGwire's 2000 season was subpar, it didn't affect his DirecTV endorsement, and DirecTV didn't alter its promotion of Extra Innings, its extended-access baseball campaign. Jayne Hancock, DirecTV VP-marketing, says that, given McGwire's image, a season cut short by injury didn't matter: ?There are certain faces that cut through all that,? she says.

A representative from a sports agency estimates that DirecTV is paying McGwire more than $500,000 for his endorsement. It's part of a marketing investment designed to combat a slowdown in satellite growth.

Through August, DirecTV has added 645,000 subscribers, down from 1.2 million during the same period a year ago, while rival and prospective owner EchoStar has picked up 1.1 million, also down from 1.2 million.

DirecTV declined to say how many Extra Innings subscribers it added, but ?maybe McGwire kept them from doing worse,? says Jimmy Schaeffler, analyst at the Carmel Group. ?My gut instinct is that it couldn't have been that effective.?

Hancock stressed that NFL Sunday Ticket, DirecTV's multigame NFL offering, is the main force of DirecTV's annual acquisition campaign; she described NBA League Pass, NHL Center Ice and Extra Innings as upgrade campaigns.

DirecTV began using athletes in its advertisements in 1998. Since then, according to Chris Brush, DirecTV senior director of marketing, ?players [have] wanted to participate.? Many different NFL players, such as Peyton Manning and Ricky Williams, appear on DirecTV's most recent commercials endorsing NFL Sunday Ticket.

Hancock says that having more than one NFL player in Sunday Ticket advertisements better represents the product. ?It makes sense to have two to four faces, because it speaks to your choices,? she says.

DirecTV also has easy access to NFL stars because it sponsors the NFL Quarterback Club, a licensing organization formed by NFL players. ?By gaining access to that,? says NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy, ?they have a selection of nearly 40 players? who are among the NFL's most visible. The players are ?clean-cut, and they appeal to a wide demographic,? he says.

About the Quarterback Club, DirecTV's Hancock says, ?Collectively, they're a better marketing property than individuals are.?

According to an industry marketer, there are 1.3 million NFL Sunday Ticket customers. The campaign begins each August, and although DirecTV wouldn't provide numbers, in August 2001 DirecTV had a 20% increase in signups over the previous month, when the satellite provider was offering free installation.

Selecting several players for the Sunday Ticket campaign might also have to do with the NFL's lack of a distinct, transcendent star. The Yankee Group's Kishore says that for the Sunday Ticket ads, DirecTV needs more faces ?because there's no single rallying point, like McGwire.?

It can be dangerous when companies like DirecTV choose a single spokesperson. According to Dean Bonham, CEO of the Bonham Group, a Denver-based sports and entertainment marketing consultancy, ?If you're going to go with one representative, you should be as certain as you can be that their character is unassailable?. You must be sure that you can wake up each morning and not see a headline that will embarrass your company.?

Agreeing that subpar performance doesn't undermine a superstar spokesperson's message, Bonham adds: ?It doesn't matter if they have a bad season or if they retire; their legend protects them.?

Ed Tettemer, president of Red Tettemer, a Narberth, Penn.-based telecommunications and entertainment advertising agency, says the players are more important than the package. ?When you're buying the [DirecTV sports] package, you're watching the hottest players, so you're marketing that,? he says. ?You're not marketing the opportunity to get 26 teams every Sunday.? Also, he adds, the DirecTV athletes ?don't take themselves seriously. You feel like you have a personal relationship.?

Which explains why, playing hurt or retired, Mark McGwire is a good spokesperson. DirecTV spokesperson Marc Altieri gave McGwire a DirecTV hat during a spring training shoot, and two days later, when the first baseman announced his final contract extension with the St. Louis Cardinals, he was wearing the hat.

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