NHL Rangers Hopping On Lin Bandwagon, Run Ad In Newsday Promoting "LinQvist"

The NHL Rangers are the latest organization to hop on the Jeremy Lin train, as the team referenced the Knicks G in an ad that ran in Newsday Thursday, according to Harrison Mooney of YAHOO SPORTS. The ad promoting Thursday night's game against the Blackhawks featured a photo of Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist, but included the text, “LinQvist!” The move “did more than remind people that the Rangers were playing Thursday night.” While Lin has the Knicks "riding a seven-game win streak that's pushed them all the way up to eighth in the NBA's Eastern Conference,” Lundqvist "has the Rangers in first in the East and is arguably the best goaltender in the NHL right now.” However, Mooney wrote, “The Rangers shouldn't have to incorporate Jeremy Lin puns into their advertisements to get people to pay attention to them” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 2/16). On Long Island, Steve Zipay wrote, "Maybe if his name was 'Lin-qvist', he’d get more notice in New York" (NEWSDAY, 2/15).

A LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Rebecca Ford cited a social analytics study by research firm General Sentiment that found that Lin’s “rapid ascension to fame has led to the NBA player becoming one of the hottest subjects of social media.” From Feb. 6-14, Lin “generated the most Twitter volume of any NBA player,” as users mentioned him 2,610,684 times "on social media and Twitter.” Lin also is "more talked about than the president.” The study also stated that “within that time period, users mentioned Lin more frequently than President Barack Obama on social media and Twitter” (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 2/16). The Marketing Arm’s Davie Brown Index found that Lin currently ranks No. 64 in endorsement scoring. His score puts him alongside celebs like Saints QB Drew Brees, Colts QB Peyton Manning, Steelers S Troy Polamalu, actor George Clooney and investor Warren Buffet. Lin ranks No. 24 in aspiration, with consumers finding him within the same category as Baseball HOFer Cal Ripken Jr. and actor Denzel Washington. For awareness, the DBI found that he is known by about 38% of U.S. consumers. He is about as well known as Bears LB Brian Urlacher, Mariners RF Ichiro Suzuki, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch, Baseball HOFer Ozzie Smith and Thunder F Kevin Durant (THE DAILY).

TRENDY ... FOR NOW: Lin said of his No. 17 jersey being the No. 1 seller in the NBA, “I think it’ll be like that for a little bit … and then things will resume to the way they were before.” He added, “Right now, this is the thing that’s going on, and the Knicks are just a team that everyone’s watching, and so you’ll see a spike in jersey sales like when (Tim) Tebow first started, his jerseys went up, and then as the season went on, it kind of leveled out” (N. Y. POST, 2/17).