I think parents buy stuff for their kids when the kids watch WWE and ask for merchandise from it. I really don't see this key demographic or whatever of parents that tune into RAW specifically because Cena was on Good Morning or whichever for ten minutes.
I understand there's a general brand ambassador required as the "face" of the WWE, but I think people have too narrow a view of what can be. In any case, I think it's a bad idea to only have one "face of the WWE", because you end up with Cena, who much of the audience dislikes, yet he's used for everything.
Having 2-3 top stars seems like a better idea, they can be aimed at different demographics. Punk was never used right in this regard, he should have been the face for the adult demographics in many ways.
In a way, Punk was - paraded around on nerdier things that reach more young adults (not full adults like morning shows) that hit a different demographic.
I think the thing is that the parents see John Cena on a morning show and they see his personality and what he's about and say "yeah, I want my kid to be like THAT" so they support him when he says he likes John Cena, or whatnot. I don't deny Bryan CAN do some of that, but doesn't have that same kind of reach.
Morning Shows in America are a pretty big deal - keep in mind each network runs their own at the same time, and here's the breakdown:
Total Viewers: ABC: 5.798M / NBC: 5.122M / CBS: 3.064M
And Sokantish yes some of us DO do research on this! Ya dork.
EDIT: Also you'll notice Orton never did that same kind of circuit - he's not marketable in the same way, and I don't know how he could be. Just doesn't fit his character too much.
