Going Viral

I can't believe that we are getting more snow tomorrow. I just thought that I would start off on that happy note. Anyway, I think that one of the most exciting things about growth is when it takes off virally. For those of you who haven't been in a business class for a while, it basically means that growth occurs exponentially by going from one person to another in a network. Facebook obviously makes this easier given its focus on networking, but many YouTube videos have gone viral just by being reposted on different websites and message boards. This is what I think is going to happen with power soccer and is already happening to some extent. For example, one person with a disability may see a video online and want to develop this team. After that team starts, it might be seen by someone else who wants to start a team. Even though only one person saw power soccer originally, with growth like this, now at least eight players are playing which is a lot more than one. Viral behavior is one of the most powerful things power soccer can do right now, so I hope we continue on that path because when something that is viral keeps growing, it grows faster the longer it goes on given its exponential behavior.

Back to Alternate Reality aka Fiction Friday

As I sat in my office working on my latest advertising campaign, I have to admit that neither my heart nor my head were really into it. I love my job; I love trying to figure out what turns people on and how I can play off of that and motivate them to buy a product. I realize that this might sound slightly creepy as if I am some mad scientist trying to achieve mind control; however, I am not that evil. I find it as a particular challenge to try to convince people; I never hooked them up to any creepy machine to mess with their brain waves.

Anyway, enough justifying my confusing mind. I was sitting at my desk attempting to develop some way to market frozen waffles. Honestly, I was drawing a major blank. Sure, I'd marketed food products before, but that was a long time ago. Recently, I had become a quasi-specialist for our company whenever a high-tech client came and needed me to saturate the Internet. I had viral marketing on my mind, and honestly there was no hope of shaking it. However, advertising on Facebook and utilizing other social media outlets did not seem like a good way to advertise frozen breakfast products, but that was all I could think about. I grabbed my head and figured that I just needed to step back and remember all I learned in business school.

As it always seems to happen, right when I was on the verge of some amazing idea that would develop into potentially the greatest campaign I had ever developed, I heard the very distinct bass beat that begins John Bon Jovi's classic anthem "Livin' on a Prayer." I realize that this song is relatively popular and could be heard in many different places included in an office that always had the radio on, but how many reasons are there for John Bon Jovi echoing out of your coat pocket? I all but dove at my jacket and clamored for my iPhone which, as always seems to happen when you want something, got stuck on the way out. I stubbornly refused to give up and answered.

I don't want to bore you with a word for word transcription of our conversation, but I will tell you that I hadn't gotten the job... yet. I had to fly back to San Francisco for a second interview. Great, I thought, how am I ever going to tell my boss that I need another week off to interview for a job that is threatening to steal me away? However, I knew I had to do it, so I headed to the symbolic as well as literal corner office that was inhabited by my boss. After knocking and being admitted, I began what was apt to be a very awkward conversation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasqfamily/ / CC BY 2.0

Fiction Friday #3

It seems as if some mornings come far too soon while others seem to be an entirely different century than the night before. This morning was like the latter; I felt as if the job confirmation or rejection was taking far too long. Practically, while the hours might have been long, I realized that my fear was irrational because many of those hours were overnight. However, that did not change the fact that I wanted a response now.

As I got ready for the day, I took extra care to make sure to make sure I looked presentable. When the call came, I wanted to feel good as well as look good. Practically again, I realized that the people on the phone would not see me, but I still felt the need to look slightly better than the usual. Pulling out my pale blue oxford and a conservative royal blue tie, I guess I was thinking that if I was going to tell my old boss that I was leaving for a better job in a bigger company, I wanted to look worthy of my new office.

No time for breakfast; I never really had an appetite in the morning. I hopped into my somewhat beat up Nissan Cube. I know, since I said I was one of the fastest rising executives in Creative Marketing Solutions, I bet you were thinking I would be driving a Porsche 911 or some other high end sports car. Well, in title, I was an executive, but if I recall my Civil War knowledge, I could call myself a brevet executive. I had been promoted to approximately an executive position, but I was told that the pay raise would be coming depending on my performance. Anyway, for now I was driving my Cube to the metro station, about 5 miles down the road from my apartment, in Owings Mills.

After the 20 minute subway ride, I got off at Shot Tower/Marketplace and headed to the office. I have been in offices where nobody ever talks and all they do is work. However, this was by no means our office. While we weren't as loose as Dunder-Mifflin Paper Company, the fact that we ran a marketing firm allowed us to have more creative collaboration and sharing than perhaps an accounting firm would. While this should be an ideal working environment, I felt like I needed more. Yes, we had a big business within the city of Baltimore, but that was it. I wanted more; I wanted to discover more challenges and experience greater success

However, all of that sat on a phone call that I was anxiously waiting for. As I booted up my Dell Studio laptop, I had the feeling that this day would be one of the longest days of my life.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davies/ / CC BY 2.0

True Power

Today, I had a very interesting discussion that got me thinking about the perceived power of social media and whether or not it really deserves all the media attention it gets. According to an article I read about Facebook, on December 1, 2009, Facebook had 350,000,000 users. That is approximately 5% of the world with or without computers taking the estimate that the world has 7,000,000,000 people for ease of calculation. However, there were only, according to the Computer Industry Almanac, about 1.6 billion Internet users in the world in 2008. This means that Facebook attracted approximately 22% of Internet users. If this chunk is not large enough for you, take into account that in July of 2009, China, the world's largest Internet user, banned its 235,000,000 Internet users from accessing Facebook. That means that these 235,000,000 could not be included in the count of Internet users who use Facebook simply because they are forbidden by the government. Therefore, of the Internet users who are able to access Facebook, just about 26% of them do. Think about it; one social media site is able to attract over one quarter of the Internet using public. This is immense power; being able to market to 350,000,000 people possibly simultaneously is amazing. If you posted your product on enough fan pages and group pages, it would definitely be possible to appeal to almost all of these users all for free.

I definitely realize that posting on thousands or possibly millions of group pages would be an incredible waste of time because not every product would appeal to each market segment that each group represents. Nevertheless, I find it amazing that it would be so easy to appeal to so many people for free. I have seen Facebook utilized in so many different ways to publicize various types of events and news stories. For my readers in Vermont, do you remember Pete the Moose? An animal's life is worth 2910 fans. Imagine what could happen to anything that is able to find a few media outlets to publicize their Facebook page like the Moose did.

I realize that I have not written about sports at all today, and I am sorry about that. However, I just wanted to alert all of you to the immense power that social media has, Facebook in particular as it is the largest social media site on the Internet. So, I guess the application to sports is that if you have a team or an event, such as an AAU tournament, that you're trying to publicize, you can use traditional mediums such as the newspaper, but don't forget about the impact social media can have. How many newspapers do you know that have a circulation of 350,000,000 potential customers?

Image Courtesy Of:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaycameron/ / CC BY 2.0

Fiction Friday!

Welcome to Fiction Friday! I have decided to turn every Friday into a short story still related to sports, business, or both, but it will have a definitely different feel to it. So, let me know if you like this, hate this, or just don't like any of my writing in general. Here it is.

Sure, we've all been there. We've all had that moment that we felt would determine our entire future. This was one of those times for me. The off-white walls that surrounded me seemed to contain everything I had worked for up until this point. That cherry boardroom table surrounded by the five individuals who seemingly held my fate along with the fate of every other job applicant intimidated me. The intimidation came not from the fact of sheer size; I was intimidated by being on one side of the table while all my career goals were on the other side.

I stood awkwardly in my admittedly underused black tailored suit in front of a committee of five of the most powerful people in the business world. They really didn't care that I had been one of the fastest rising young executives at Creative Marketing Solutions. They really didn't care that I graduated with high honors from the Harvard Business School and was told by my professors that I was one of the most promising graduates they had seen in their whole tenure. These five people in their $2000 Armani suits wanted to know what I could bring to Jackson International, one of the biggest marketing firms in the world. With offices in all major cities, this potential position as assistant to the Director of Marketing in the San Francisco office had a very significant opportunity for advancement. Success in this office would almost certainly lead anywhere that I wanted. I could go from Hong Kong to Helsinki, from Rome to Rio.

But all of these thoughts did not mean much because thoughts are just that until they're acted upon. The future was about to be acted upon.

"Mr. Jones, we would like to thank you for flying across the country to attend this interview. I hope that this time will be worthwhile for all of us," began a middle-aged lady with short dark hair and square framed glasses. I settled in to the large leather chair on wheels and waited patiently for the barrage of questions that I knew were coming.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexfrance/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Any Publicity Is Good Publicity

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phil313/ / CC BY 2.0

I will assume that most of you have seen this semi-new Disney movie, The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid. For those of you who have not, the Cliff's Notes version involves a former major-league baseball prospect who blew out his arm but eventually made the Major Leagues through a challenge from his high school baseball team. As shown by this move, many athletes have a hard time letting go of the game they love. Take for example Michael Jordan who retired twice before he finally decided he was over the hill (although he was still a good player at his time of retirement, but he was a shadow of its former self). More recently, look at the revolving door that Brett Favre has probably broken entering and exiting the press room after announcing his retirement and subsequent return to the NFL. However, many athletes do realize when enough is enough, and they want to move on with their lives. Some athletes are forced out of the league because nobody wants them (think of recently Nomar Garciaparra who just retired after several subpar seasons), and I admire those athletes who recognize that they need to find something else to do with their lives.

When these athletes don't realize that perhaps they better move on, I at least feel that it is no more than a publicity stunt. In the past two days, I have seen two stories that make wonderful business sense for the organization, but I wish that the players would realize what a move like this will probably do for their reputation. First, there is the return of Antoine Walker to professional basketball. You remember him right? Paul Pierce's trusty sidekick who would lead Boston to a championship? Yeah, none of that happened. Walker was shopped around for a while before being nailed with a DUI and put on trial for writing bad checks to casinos. Well, one team was willing to take a risk on Antoine, one team in Puerto Rico that is. While I like the business move by the team, I have to wonder what this will do to this already disgraced former star. He will be a star in Puerto Rico simply because he used to be a star in the NBA and that will sell tickets which is the ultimate goal of the basketball team. However, if I was Antoine, I would have moved on from this chapter of my life and instead focused on dealing with the $4,000,000 of debt I had accrued.

The next story I found highlighted the signing of Marion Jones in the WNBA. Jones won five Olympic medals in the 2000 Summer Games, but they were all stripped when she admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. On top of this, she lied about this use and ended up with six months in jail. Now, she is 34 years old; this is normally beyond the prime of most athletes, and she is trying to pick up a sport that she hasn't played competitively since college. Just like anything in life, you might be good at something at one time, but without practice for approximately 10 years you'll probably get much worse. Again, this is a great publicity move because people buy tickets to see Jones try to make a comeback. However, I think that perhaps she should close the door on the athletic portion of her career and move onto a field where the stigma would not be attached to her.

In thinking about why businesses would want to bring stars with troubled pasts into their marketing fold, I believe that this quote sums it up much better than I could. “She’s [Jones] clearly a global figure, who people are interested in,” Orender said. “Having somebody like that associated with our league is positive.” This just reinforces the idea that no publicity is bad publicity.

Heroic Deeds

While I was watching the preliminaries to the closing ceremonies for these amazing Olympic games, all of the stories that were covered featured the athletes who had overcome previous adversity to finally reach the Olympic dream. Athletes such as Hannah Kearney and Steve Holcomb took center stage and were honored by the news broadcast. This caused me to think however about the role of the athlete as a role model and hero to entire nations. I found an article from a few days ago in the USA Today that considers the role that athletes play in the public realm. This article mainly focuses first on athletes such as O.J. Simpson and Tiger Woods who have had various publicity problems. It then progresses to analyze the actual role of the athlete in regards to being a role model. Finally, the part that was most interesting to me was the business implications to having a spokesman run into some kind of scandal. Surprisingly however there seems to be a very tiny effect on the brand itself. However, it does make sense because before the hero had been disgraced in some form after influencing perhaps thousands of consumers to use a product. The athlete only convinces the user to buy the product; once the product is bought, it must stand on its own. If the consumer liked the product, then the athlete endorsement would have lost much of its meaning. The only thing that having a spokesman or spokeswoman who is involved in a scandal will change within marketing is the effect that he or she will no longer be able to be as successful in this capacity. However, there are so many popular athletes to choose from that all marketing would need to do is hire another one. Saying this though, there are some athletes who would not be replaceable. The first image that came to my mind was Michael Jordan in his prime. He was the most recognizable figure in athletics and certainly one of the most famous people in the world. It is very difficult to find someone else who has that appeal. Luckily, or perhaps not, there are not many Michael Jordans in the world, so the dilemma of replacing one does not come along very often.

It is a shame however that we even need to worry about scandals. However, public figures are human as well and mess up just like the rest of us. The only difference is that their mistakes are broadcast on international news whereas many of our individual mistakes might not even be seen by another person. Public figures should realize that they are indeed held to a higher standard because they are essentially heroes to so many. Whether this standard is fair or not is not really even the question; the point is that athletes need to realize this standard and do their best to live up to it. When they don't, the public needs to realize that they are human, and while that doesn't excuse what they did, it does reinforce the tradition of sinful humans.

World Differentiation

How many companies are there that don't need to worry about sales? After all, doesn't anyone who takes an introduction to business course learn that businesses are there to make a profit? Well, this story from the Winnipeg Free Press changes the rules. The reason that this business does not need to worry about finding potential business partners is because who would not want to have their brand associated with the standard for international competition? If you did not cheat and look at the hyperlink that I inserted a few lines ago, you might be thinking about a brand such as McDonald's or Wal-Mart that are simply everywhere. However, this brand is the famous five rings of the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee is able to be extraordinarily selective as to the brands they associate with in and of themselves. In order to be associated with the IOC, the companies must be willing to sign an eight-year agreement. Even though many companies might be willing to do that, the IOC only allows 9 or 10 sponsorships at one time. Through this strategy of product differentiation, the Olympics logo has become a symbol of elite athletes and products. When a product can have this type of brand power that allows it to even turn away perfectly viable companies, you know that they're doing something right with this strategy. This is the type of product differentiation that companies should strive to achieve.

The Wide World of... Disney?

People continually worry about the fact that giant corporations are crowding out any hope of a successful small business. Some examples of this are Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and the Disney Corporation. Well, here's one more reason for those people to hate Disney even more.

ESPN, which is owned by Disney, hosts an annual weekend at Disney World that turns into a sports extravaganza. This huge event will be visited this year by a team that for many has symbolized the essence of athletic independence. The Harlem Globetrotters will affiliate their barnstorming game with the corporate giant of Disney. Some may see this as a simple business procedure that will mutually enhance both groups' exposure. Others however will see this as another victim of the age of capitalism and big business. Since the Globetrotters built their image through an almost circus style atmosphere, the affiliation will perhaps make some people believe that in order to be successful, the company must join the system.

However, I don't believe this is why the Globetrotters would join forces with Disney for this weekend. I tend to believe that the opportunity to broadcast the game to millions of people would be very hard to pass up. In fact, this almost seems like free advertising because they were invited to play; they did not buy their way in. All they need to do is get there and publicity is theirs. Any publicity is good publicity, so even if some may not like the idea of the Globetrotters affiliating with Disney, even if just for one weekend, this move will ultimately improve their business as well as help ESPN attract as many viewers as possible.

Expansion

The sports world is becoming smaller and smaller. While this movement has been particularly evident in Major League Baseball as many Japanese baseball players have been coming to the American ranks, the NBA is looking to make a move of its own. In a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, I read that David Stern announced the opening of a new NBA office in Johannesburg, South Africa. I think that this move will allow the NBA and basketball in general to tap into the potential of a continent that holds about 1,000,000,000 people. Only 25 players from Africa have ever played on NBA rosters, yet I wonder what would happen if more African players came to the NBA. I think about what happened when Yao Ming came to America after playing in China. He became an even bigger star in his homeland than when he was still there. I bet the same would happen in Africa; players who would be superstars in their own land would become even more than this by entering the NBA simply because it is the ultimate stage for professional basketball. Nothing against the various other professional basketball leagues around the world, but many great players have been recruited from these leagues to join the NBA. From a business perspective, imagine the potential of drawing approximately one seventh of the world behind their continental athletes. Again, think about how many All-Star votes Yao Ming receives every year because of the vast support he receives by being one of the few Chinese players.

Basketball may have been developed in America, but it has become a world sport. It is one of the few sports that seems to have caught on in all corners of the world. Bringing an NBA office to an area will only improve the exposure to the sport and will hopefully encourage athletes in that area to become more involved in the sport and develop into even better players which will therefore increase the quality of worldwide NBA talent.

It's Everywhere You Want to Be

As I sit here watching the opening ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, I am reminded of my first Olympic Games. Even though I had been alive for a few Olympic Games previously, I remember the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympic Games most clearly. This is a somewhat sad fact, but I cannot remember many athletes individually. What I do remember of these Olympics are namely figure skating, ski jumping, Mount Fuji, and extensive advertising by Visa. It's kind of sad when as a seven-year-old kid I was already being influenced by extensive advertisement. I remember the tagline "Visa, it's everywhere you want to be." Visa has been a major sponsor of the Olympics for as long as I can remember, but according to an article I read on the Portfolio website, Visa will be even more prevalent during these Olympic Games. The company has tapped the potential of YouTube to create a channel that broadcasts Olympic footage along with Visa commercials. Also, they unleashed an unprecedented campaign where Visa cardholders can be entered in a sweepstakes for lifetime tickets to the Olympics. Honestly, this is an amazing prize, but I wonder how effective this promotion will be. I think that a prize of this magnitude will be a great incentive, yet I wonder if the profits and new customers that will be gained through this approach will outweigh the obviously hefty expense that will accompany this prize. Visa wants to maintain its hold on the Olympic market, and I feel like this is a great way to do it that will appeal to people of all ages.

A Brave New World

When I was a young child in daycare, my friend Isaac and I would play Madden 95 on his Sega Genesis. Talk about high-tech! Looking back on what the videogame was, I wonder why I was so amazed by the graphics. At this point in my life though, I did not have any videogame experience beyond the Sega. Ever since, Madden has been pumping out the game after game that allow children to play just like I did. However, the future of Madden, while it seems to intend to remain in the console market, will be branching out soon. In multiple articles released today, Peter Moore, the president of the EA sports, has said that a version of Madden will be released on everyone's favorite social networking site, Facebook! While I could not locate many details as to how the game would play, I'm wondering if it will be along the lines of Farmville. Farmville is incredibly popular in that it allows people the ability to benefit through the increased participation of friends. In order to do well, it is definitely helpful to have many friends beside you. I wonder if maybe Madden will adapt a similar mode. The more friends you have, the more talent you will be able to add to your team. I definitely do not anticipate Madden being a live play football game simply because that would be an incredible load to put on an Internet connection. Therefore, it might be more along the lines of NFL Head Coach where the user chooses the players and the plays but does not actually execute them. Also, it is possible that this game will be nothing like the rest of the franchise. Because it is on a different platform, it does not necessarily need to live up to the high performance expectation that people have come to expect from the best-selling videogame franchise. Simply using Madden on the name of this application will cause amazing traffic and usage because of the brand recognition. Brands can sell better than the product can often times.

Will I be playing Madden if it ever debuts on Facebook? Without playing it, I cannot say whether or not I will become a loyal follower. I have played Facebook games and enjoyed many of them, so I will give Madden a try as long as it is free. I would also really appreciate it if the game would be competitive even if the user does not feel like buying points through PayPal. I just want to play a fun little game; I don't want to become enthralled with a game that will lead me to drain my savings as I have seen World of Warcraft and other MMO's do to many others.

Leaving the Door Open

I have heard of people criticizing last night's Super Bowl advertisement featuring David Letterman and Jay Leno simply because they are each promoting their competition. However, I am more confused by the fact that the NFL Network will begin to broadcast a game of the week from Arena Football One according to an article in the Chicago Tribune. It seems like the NFL will be promoting their competition on their own network. Did anyone else watch the ESPN documentary "Who Killed the USFL?" In this TV special, the fact is emphasized that many key players, including turned MMA fighter Herschel Walker who was also the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, were abandoning the NFL for the new upstart. The USFL did this without the support of the NFL; I wonder if this could happen again. Granted, arena football is an entirely different breed of football, but I wonder why the NFL would promote competition. Arena Football One will only become a legitimate threat if they can find money to back them up. The only way the USFL competed with the NFL was because moguls like Donald Trump were able to come in and lure players away from the NFL. I would assume that this television exposure will help this league gather the sponsors it will desperately need. Also, playing in the spring just as the USFL did will give Arena Football One the opportunity to appeal to diehard football fans who need something to occupy their time between the Super Bowl and the preseason. Again, there is no way that Arena Football One will be able to compete with the NFL at any time soon; however, what I am saying is that if this new league can use ingenious marketing paired with innovative on the field action that will hopefully accompany a very fast-paced and exciting game might have the potential to eventually be appealing to NCAA athletes if they can gather enough money. Of course, there is the potential for this to turn into another XFL that was hyped as a more violent football game but turned out to be unsuccessful. Only time will tell if I am an amazing visionary or just a dreamer.

The Obvious Post

Well another Super Bowl has come and gone. Congratulations New Orleans on a great 31 to 17 victory! However, the Saints needed more than just skill to best Indianapolis; they needed guts. I will admit that the onside kick that started the second half was not even on my radar. That was the first time there was a successful onside kick before the fourth quarter in Super Bowl history! I doubt I was the only one who was surprised by this unorthodox move; in fact, I know this because many Colts were already dropping back to cover the kick return. I guess that in a game like the Super Bowl where any play might define the game the great teams make plays happen instead of reacting to what already has happened. Can you imagine the second-guessing if that play had failed? The only man who would have been more hated than Sean Payton would have been in New Orleans would be Steve Bartman in Chicago. However, as Aristotle astutely pointed out, "No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness." Hey, if madness is what it takes to win the Super Bowl, I don't think anybody in New Orleans will be complaining.

Another comment on a different aspect of the Super Bowl would be my feeling that halftime show performers should not be receiving Social Security checks. I am not age discriminating here; on the contrary, it is hard to see bands who were great in their day be so reduced in vocal quality. Tonight, they did not sound like the band who sang "Pinball Wizard" on my favorite playlist of downloaded music. I know people get old and voices change; however, I wish we could remember The Who as the band they were.

I am sorry to admit that I totally missed the Tim Tebow commercial. I'm sure you all know how it is when you are scurrying around to gather your full plate of the Super Bowl buffet before too much of the game is finished. While I was completing this ritual, I saw the end of the commercial but could not hear it over the general clamor in our house. However, it seemed too simple. I feel like such a big deal was made over this ad that was undeserved. I decided I needed to log online to review the commercial and see if it was as "un-American" as it was deemed before. No way! Watch the video here! With all the media hype that has been generated, I almost expected to see essentially a protest video. However, all Mrs. Tebow said was, "I call him my miracle baby. He almost didn't make it into this world." If so many people would not have made such a big deal over this advertisement, many people could have thought that Tim simply was a sickly baby who almost didn't survive. While it could be implied from the commercial that an abortion was suggested, there are other possibilities that could have occurred. All in all though, I am glad that Tim stood up for what he believed in regardless of the opinions of others.

It was a good Super Bowl even though my team didn't win. Maybe I need to have a religious experience with Sister Jean Kenny of the St. Francis Borgia Parish. She is 18-7 in choosing the Super Bowl over the last 25 years and has been dubbed the "Super Bowl Sister." As I continue my streak of picking the wrong team to win the Super Bowl to three years now, maybe it is time for a long-distance phone call...

Super Bowl Mania

While it always amazes me what control popular culture holds over many Americans, I am even more amazed by the fact that the Super Bowl so many viewings. I realize how popular football is in America, but it is crazy how many people watch the Super Bowl who have no clue about football. What makes this game so popular amongst people who care less about football the other 364 or 365 days of the year? I believe that this phenomenon can be largely attributed to the fact that the Super Bowl has become more than a football game; it has become a national institution. Some schools in Indiana have even considered canceling classes the day after the Super Bowl because the Colts are in it. You do not need to know much about football to appreciate the spectacle that has been built around the game. Some people even watch simply to see the sometimes innovative, sometimes controversial, but always entertaining commercials. Some people might watch just to see the half-time show (although given the past few half-time shows, I was less than impressed). Some people watch just so they won't be totally ignorant around the watercooler or office photocopier. There is nothing worse than being the only person in the office who has no idea that the Steelers beat the Cardinals last year. Also, the Super Bowl means camaraderie; how many other times throughout the year do you get to have all your friends over, eat the amazing food, and all share a single focus for about three hours. What has this single football game able to rise above the traditional boundaries of its market and appeal to a vast majority of people? I do not really know how to answer this; I would say, however, that the Super Bowl is a beautiful example of viral marketing. You need to know about the game, or you will be the only one or at least one of the few. Granted, the Super Bowl does spend a lot of money on direct advertising, but this feeling of necessity to watch the game seems to show similar trends with viral marketing strategies. If a buzz can be created surrounding an event so that everyone needs to know about it, the event will be successful. The Super Bowl is extraordinarily successful; they have discovered how to get all of society talking. I know I'll be watching the Super Bowl, and I hope that the rest of the country will catch the great feeling surrounding this game of all games.

Should It Be In You?

As I was sitting at a girls' basketball game between Spaulding High School and Rice Memorial High School on a cold night in Barre, I noticed that there were two titans competing. While the teams were great, I noticed what was that the end of the benches. I'm not referring to assistant coaches, statisticians, managers, or any of the players who happen to be avoiding the coach; this battle was between Powerade on the Crimson Tide bench and Gatorade on the Green Knights bench. Gatorade is obviously the household name as it has been immortalized through many "Gatorade moments" such as the tradition of dumping that signature orange cylinder of odd colored liquid over the victorious coach's head. However, Powerade has come into the market as a larger force in recent years because of a more modern image headlines by a new version of Gatorade's classic spokesman, Lebron James who has been compared to His Airness many times. Realistic videos of Lebron doing the impossible such as nailing full-court shot after full-court shot have given Powerade an image. As opposed to just being a lesser substitute, Powerade has arrived as a legitimate competitor even though Gatorade still holds a vast margin on the overall market. Why has Gatorade remained so dominant? After all, according to research done, Gatorade and Powerade are not significantly different in formula. The first reason is, as I mentioned before, the tradition. For so long Gatorade has been directly related to winning as a celebratory gesture. Therefore, any new entrant into the market will not have any possible way to compete with this history simply because they don't have it. You can't create history. Another reason Gatorade will remain dominant is because they already are dominant despite the fact that they charge more for teams to use their product. Upon viewing both companies' online stores, for the same amount of money, which would be one of Powerade's large kits and two of Gatorade's, I discovered that:
• Gatorade would give you a larger cooler (60 quarts versus 40 quarts)
• They would both provide two 10 quart coolers
• Powerade would give 14 more towels
• Powerade would give 26 more clutch bottles
• They would both provide four bottle carriers
• Gatorade would give 500 more disposable cups
• Gatorade would give 12 more gallons of beverage made with powder

In looking at these, it appears that Powerade would give the consumer more for their money with a product that is seemingly of equal quality. Why then would people not use Powerade? Through ingenious marketing, Gatorade has been able to differentiate themselves from the market in a way that most companies only dream of being able to do.

Tim Tebow and American Freedom of Speech

I'm sure that any of you who have turned on the news in the past few days have heard about the marketing fiasco surrounding Florida quarterback Tim Tebow. One would think that a story of this magnitude would be something along the lines of the infidelity of a trusted politician or a case of corporate corruption. However, neither of these stories are anywhere near the truth. Tim Tebow is taking an intense amount of scrutiny for appearing in commercial sponsored by Focus on the Family that displays a pro-life message. Please do not stop reading here; I'm not here to lecture you on my own personal beliefs on this issue. I'm here to talk about the issue of basic American rights and the right to free speech. The Bill of Rights asserts that all Americans are guaranteed the freedom of speech. Therefore, where is Tim Tebow beyond his rights? Tebow is being attacked as being "un-American" by organizations such as Choice USA. I don't follow this logic; by actually expressing his right to free speech that is guaranteed under the American government, he is being un-American. I think that most people would not attack Tebow for his own personal views as each person is entitled to his or her own opinions. However, upon seeing how obsessed many people are with absolute fairness, I would be willing to guess that many people feel that this commercial is simply being used to advance the agenda of one side. However, CBS has offered to allow pro-choice groups to run "responsibly produced" commercial as well. If they choose not to exercise their right of free speech in this manner, Tebow cannot be blamed. He has nothing to do with their decision-making.

I support Tim Tebow in this commercial not only based on my own views about abortion but also on the simple fact that he has the right to say respectfully whatever he wants. To deny him his right based simply on the fact that what he said might not be popular would make a joke out of our Constitution. The claim that people are free to share their own personal story is valuable. Throughout my own life, I have heard many views presented that I will never agree with. However, I believe that hearing these views has only helped me further justify my own beliefs through forcing me to really consider why I believe what I believe. People do not have to agree, and many people will never agree on certain issues. Nevertheless, both sides at least deserve the right to be shared and heard. Acceptance is a personal decision; no amount of Super Bowl advertising can force people to accept opposing beliefs.

Inspiration Sells

It seems like foreign made cars are all the rage lately because they are more reliable, less expensive, and more fuel-efficient. However, as Honda, Toyota, and Mazda have been gaining momentum, little has been said about Nissan's luxury brand Infiniti despite the fact that they have been selling well since 2000. This is about to change though.

Earlier today according to an article on the PR newswire, Infiniti has decided to play Cinderella. Through an agreement with ESPN, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, the SEC, and the Big Ten, Infiniti will unleash a new marketing campaign that will run until the national championship game on April 5. This article also notes that the campaign will run through television, print, and digital media. This way millions of people will see these advertisements, and Infiniti hopes that by unveiling the 2011 Infiniti M during the tipoff of the championship game will generate enough buzz to make the costs, which I assume are ridiculously high, worthwhile.

Despite the price, I believe that this marketing strategy will work for a few different reasons. First, when a product can associate itself with the elite of a group, it gains the reputation of being the choice of the elite regardless of whether or not this upper-class really uses the product. Several interviews with the perceived best coaches in NCAA such as Mike Krzyzewski, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, Billy Donovan, and Roy Williams will explain to the viewer how important inspiration is in college basketball. I assume then that this will then be expanded for the need of inspiration in each of our lives. Wow! What a coincidence! Infiniti prides itself with the message of "Inspired Performance." So the message will be clear that without inspiration life would be less exciting or possibly less successful.

Another reason I believe this marketing strategy will pay off is because of the sheer number of people who watch the NCAA tournament. According to The Nielsen Company, last year 136.8 million unique viewers tuned in to at least one minute of an NCAA tournament game. Even if Infiniti only influences .1% of viewers, they will still sell 136,800 vehicles. This would be amazing considering in the calendar year 2009, the entire Infiniti division only sold 81,089 units according to PR Newswire. I do realize that many television viewers would not be able to buy these vehicles due to age, price, or a multitude of other factors. However, the ability to reach such a large market for a few months while appealing to America's obsession with March Madness I believe will allow Infiniti to move ahead and improve their position in the fight for sales.

I Love Nostalgia!

I was so excited yesterday when I saw the Coke Zero commercial featuring Troy Polamalu during last year's Super Bowl. It is a remake of one of my favorite commercials of all time featuring "Mean" Joe Greene coming off the field and receiving a Coke from a little boy played by Tommy Okon. However, in this commercial, the little boy is about to hand Troy a Coke Zero when the Coke guys swing in claiming not only taste infringement, but now also commercial infringement. I believe that this is an amazing marketing tool. First, the original commercial was one of the most popular commercials of its era. However, it has a new and ridiculous twist. It almost reminds me of the ending of Monty Python And the Holy Grail when they are about to storm the castle. This is going to be the defining moment of the entire movie in the similar sense to which Polamalu receiving the Coke Zero from the boy will be the defining moment of the commercial. However, these "epic" moments are interrupted by people who seemingly have no place in this scene with newspaper reporters interrupting the movie and Coke brand managers invading the commercial. This commercial made me also think about the time when this commercial was first developed. In 1979, although I wasn't there, I've heard that the world was a much different place. In today's world, people seem to want to return to their childhood and to escape the admittedly trying times the world is in right now. Nostalgia is a powerful advertising tool as many people who had been famous in old TV shows are back to advertise new products. Their fans will follow their previous favorites and buy products. It is amazing how powerful these images from the past can be.

I hope I don't sound like an advertisement for Coca-Cola, but I believe that this is ingenious advertising. Prior fame can be drawn upon again in the right circumstances. When something has become synonymous with a brand, it must be executed until it is no longer useful. Assuming this commercial is as popular with many others, I think that this image will not prove by any means to be too old.

This is a link to the newer commercial!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjII6F-nJBQ
Here is a link to the classic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xffOCZYX6F8

Comparison Shopping

I was surprised to see the new marketing strategy unveiled by DirecTV. As I was watching Deal or No Deal while eating dinner tonight, I saw the new DirecTV commercial. It consisted of two identical flatscreen TVs set on a solid background. One TV was labeled DirecTV and the other was labeled Dish Network. The narrator proceeded to explain that despite the fact that Dish had been advertising a lower price for the same service, there were hidden costs to subscribing to Dish that you never need to worry about if you subscribed to DirecTV.

I really should not be surprised by this competitive strategy as Apple has been duking it out with PCs over whose product is really cheaper and more effective thereby having greater value. However, I thought of these two companies in a different light. Through very shallow research on both companies websites, I found that DirecTV offers cheaper coverage and more channels on every level of programming except for the "Family Package" which are of comparable size and are offered by Dish Network for $24.99 whereas DirecTV charges $29.99. The only feature I did not compare were the actual channels in each package. I compared the bulk number of channels offered, but admittedly I do not know how they compare.

The reason I mention all this is because it is very interesting that DirecTV has to advertise that Dish Network is more expensive because of added on fees. From all I can tell, DirecTV is cheaper, but Dish has become the brand that represents the value in satellite TV. DirecTV is forced to advertise this way because they have become a differentiated brand; therefore, it is very difficult for them to also appeal to consumers as a price leader. Dish has found a way to become a price leader in image without leading in price. That is good marketing and good use of cornering their opponents into one category of consumer perception.

If anyone wants to double check my information and tell me if I'm wrong, here are the sites I used to draw my pricing information from:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/packages/programming/default.aspx
https://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/new_customer/base_packages.jsp?footernavtype=-1