I'm no fan of Michael Vick and don't think a dog-killer deserves to make another dime in pro football, but I'll give the Philadelphia Eagles' PR people big kudos for their expert management of a potentially explosive situation and its aftermath.
According to ESPN, Vick had been signed for 48 hours before the story broke and in a world full of leaks, inside tips, blogosphere rumors and 24/7 media focus on Vick himself, keeping the signing quiet for that long was nothing short of amazing. This tight-lipped, disciplined bunch provided the team plenty of time to carefully schedule an announcement, get everyone's sound bites in order, line up "character" surrogates like Governor Ed Rendell and Tony Dungy, and even scoop 60 Minutes' own Vick interview that aired last night.
The Eagles may have questionable morals and (temporarily) angry fans, but their deft PR operation gives Vick's signing a chance of not blowing up in their face.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Jet Blue Reclaims Its Mojo
Looking for an excuse for your business to be aggressive? Jet Blue just gave you one.
For one month - September 8th through October 8th - Jet Blue is offering an all-you-can-fly monthly pass for $599. And they didn't buy an expensive ad to tell us. They simply tweeted this offer with no hard cost and within three hours, it became the 3rd Top Trending Topic on all of Twitter with thousands of comments and re-tweets.
The pure brilliance of this campaign extends beyond the obvious cache acquired on social media sites. First of all, Jet Blue correctly identified its ideal customer base by realizing the aggressive, traveling, profitable businesses of 2009 are run by web-centric, tech-savvy entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs don't read the print version of the New York Times - they are instead on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc.
Jet Blue knows they are dealing with smart people who appreciate other smart businesses and can easily adapt a one-month business strategy for new client pursuits in any city the airline services. With casual travel traditionally diminishing after the summer, Jet Blue is building loyalty among a targeted customer base that will be spending money this fall.
Secondly, it is obvious this campaign is partially designed to increase Jet Blue's frequent flier membership, as monthly pass-holders must become a True Blue members to book flights through this offer. Do the math - a bigger frequent flier base means better contracts with corporate partners like American Express...which means more money in the end.
While the low-cost airline featuring those leather seats with TV's had been somewhat listless in 2009, within a few short hours today, Jet Blue reclaimed all its lost mojo.
For one month - September 8th through October 8th - Jet Blue is offering an all-you-can-fly monthly pass for $599. And they didn't buy an expensive ad to tell us. They simply tweeted this offer with no hard cost and within three hours, it became the 3rd Top Trending Topic on all of Twitter with thousands of comments and re-tweets.
The pure brilliance of this campaign extends beyond the obvious cache acquired on social media sites. First of all, Jet Blue correctly identified its ideal customer base by realizing the aggressive, traveling, profitable businesses of 2009 are run by web-centric, tech-savvy entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs don't read the print version of the New York Times - they are instead on Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc.
Jet Blue knows they are dealing with smart people who appreciate other smart businesses and can easily adapt a one-month business strategy for new client pursuits in any city the airline services. With casual travel traditionally diminishing after the summer, Jet Blue is building loyalty among a targeted customer base that will be spending money this fall.
Secondly, it is obvious this campaign is partially designed to increase Jet Blue's frequent flier membership, as monthly pass-holders must become a True Blue members to book flights through this offer. Do the math - a bigger frequent flier base means better contracts with corporate partners like American Express...which means more money in the end.
While the low-cost airline featuring those leather seats with TV's had been somewhat listless in 2009, within a few short hours today, Jet Blue reclaimed all its lost mojo.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
PR for the Ponies
As an avid fan, I refuse to believe horse racing is a dying sport. But it sure needs an Extreme Makeover.
One way to fix the worst-marketed business in America is to model a new beginning after one industry participant who “gets it”.
Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego is horse racing’s shining star because it realizes tracks need to be destinations far more than gambling venues. Del Mar didn’t take the good California weather for granted – instead, it offered meaningful rewards to bring high-income phone bettors into its exclusive turf club. Del Mar then turned its attention to the most important consumer in America - professional women from 25-50 years old. Ten-thousand women in the Clubhouse on a Friday is no accident – it took restaurants and bars with patio seating, cross-promotion with area spa’s, and aggressive sales to company and social groups. Add to the mix a clever branding campaign - “Cool as Ever” - and it’s easy to see why Del Mar succeeds where everyone else fails.
The track identified its “wheelhouse”, targeted numerical goals for its base customers and then went out and got ‘em. Drive around any yuppie neighborhood from the Gaslamp to West Hollywood and you’ll see strategically purchased, tastefully designed billboards featuring the track’s best amenity of all – attractive, well-dressed customers with money to burn. And no other racing venue has mastered the power of the Internet – from social media to trendy websites, Del Mar gets the word out that this is a place where you want “to be seen”.
Racetracks elsewhere need to wake up and emulate Del Mar. Granted, a day at Aqudeuct in New York (which is a dump) is not an easy sell in February, but there is no excuse for a majestic venue such as Belmont – located just 5 miles down the road - to be barely drawing 2,000 fans on a summer Friday.
Last Sunday’s showdown venue in New Jersey – Monmouth Park – has blown it even worse than Belmont. The track’s affluent location, neighboring amenities such as multiple spa’s and restaurants, proximity to the beach resorts, cost-effective summer calendar, and quick accessibility from New York easily rival Del Mar. And every Friday from late May through September, thousands of young, affluent New Yorkers looking for a release pass right by Monmouth (there’s even a train stop at the track) on their way toward summer beach houses. But with poor management, Monmouth has lacked the vision and organization to grab this demographic, let alone bring them back. Instead, the track markets itself ineffectively to the wrong audience, schedules daily racing at inconvenient times, and provides few amenities to attract women.
With a dearth of creative thinking, the debate at many East Coast tracks like Monmouth and Belmont now centers on slot machines. This is, at best, just another option for blowing the family fortune on the penny machines, and just plain old bad news for racing. Adding slots is nothing more than a desperate attempt by politicians to bolster bloated state agencies that could easily be eliminated.
So don’t believe that naysayers - horse racing is not unwatchable and nor is it pre-ordained for extinction. It is, however, a victim of small minds with short-sighted
vision.
The ponies deserve some good PR, so here are four quick ideas to fix horse racing:
4pm summer post-times – Races at noon will keep the broke degenerate with 8 Racing Forms busy, but it is pure insanity to ignore the after-office crowd of thousands who’ll drop $200 a person at the track...right now, they opt for the martini bar down the road.
WiFi in track restaurants – with explosive growth of virtual entrepreneurs, more business than ever is being done in creative venues - cafés, bars, planes, and even the beach. Any reason why someone wouldn’t bet the 3rd race before a conference call with clients?
Stop incessantly promoting trainers – the casual fan doesn’t really understand the role of a trainer, so stop wasting time promoting them. Top owners with big checkbooks already know who the best trainers are – and that’s what matters most to trainers anyway. For the rest of us, we want to know more about the jockeys. Several female jockeys, by the way, are savvy enough to be tweeting regularly.
Don’t make the Triple Crown impossible – Fans love rivalries, so why not make every entry in the Kentucky Derby commit to all three Triple Crown races? To make it even more interesting, the top 14 in Kentucky would go to the Preakness and the Top 10 in the Preakness would go to the Belmont. Kind of like a playoff system with higher purses and every competitor having to race the same schedule. And while the Kentucky Derby should remain at the beginning of May, make the Preakness the weekend after Memorial Day and the Belmont on July 3rd. Then we’d have fresh horses in every race and end the anticlimactic, fan-killing pattern of unknowns taking down a goliath at Belmont.
One way to fix the worst-marketed business in America is to model a new beginning after one industry participant who “gets it”.
Del Mar Racetrack in San Diego is horse racing’s shining star because it realizes tracks need to be destinations far more than gambling venues. Del Mar didn’t take the good California weather for granted – instead, it offered meaningful rewards to bring high-income phone bettors into its exclusive turf club. Del Mar then turned its attention to the most important consumer in America - professional women from 25-50 years old. Ten-thousand women in the Clubhouse on a Friday is no accident – it took restaurants and bars with patio seating, cross-promotion with area spa’s, and aggressive sales to company and social groups. Add to the mix a clever branding campaign - “Cool as Ever” - and it’s easy to see why Del Mar succeeds where everyone else fails.
The track identified its “wheelhouse”, targeted numerical goals for its base customers and then went out and got ‘em. Drive around any yuppie neighborhood from the Gaslamp to West Hollywood and you’ll see strategically purchased, tastefully designed billboards featuring the track’s best amenity of all – attractive, well-dressed customers with money to burn. And no other racing venue has mastered the power of the Internet – from social media to trendy websites, Del Mar gets the word out that this is a place where you want “to be seen”.
Racetracks elsewhere need to wake up and emulate Del Mar. Granted, a day at Aqudeuct in New York (which is a dump) is not an easy sell in February, but there is no excuse for a majestic venue such as Belmont – located just 5 miles down the road - to be barely drawing 2,000 fans on a summer Friday.
Last Sunday’s showdown venue in New Jersey – Monmouth Park – has blown it even worse than Belmont. The track’s affluent location, neighboring amenities such as multiple spa’s and restaurants, proximity to the beach resorts, cost-effective summer calendar, and quick accessibility from New York easily rival Del Mar. And every Friday from late May through September, thousands of young, affluent New Yorkers looking for a release pass right by Monmouth (there’s even a train stop at the track) on their way toward summer beach houses. But with poor management, Monmouth has lacked the vision and organization to grab this demographic, let alone bring them back. Instead, the track markets itself ineffectively to the wrong audience, schedules daily racing at inconvenient times, and provides few amenities to attract women.
With a dearth of creative thinking, the debate at many East Coast tracks like Monmouth and Belmont now centers on slot machines. This is, at best, just another option for blowing the family fortune on the penny machines, and just plain old bad news for racing. Adding slots is nothing more than a desperate attempt by politicians to bolster bloated state agencies that could easily be eliminated.
So don’t believe that naysayers - horse racing is not unwatchable and nor is it pre-ordained for extinction. It is, however, a victim of small minds with short-sighted
vision.
The ponies deserve some good PR, so here are four quick ideas to fix horse racing:
4pm summer post-times – Races at noon will keep the broke degenerate with 8 Racing Forms busy, but it is pure insanity to ignore the after-office crowd of thousands who’ll drop $200 a person at the track...right now, they opt for the martini bar down the road.
WiFi in track restaurants – with explosive growth of virtual entrepreneurs, more business than ever is being done in creative venues - cafés, bars, planes, and even the beach. Any reason why someone wouldn’t bet the 3rd race before a conference call with clients?
Stop incessantly promoting trainers – the casual fan doesn’t really understand the role of a trainer, so stop wasting time promoting them. Top owners with big checkbooks already know who the best trainers are – and that’s what matters most to trainers anyway. For the rest of us, we want to know more about the jockeys. Several female jockeys, by the way, are savvy enough to be tweeting regularly.
Don’t make the Triple Crown impossible – Fans love rivalries, so why not make every entry in the Kentucky Derby commit to all three Triple Crown races? To make it even more interesting, the top 14 in Kentucky would go to the Preakness and the Top 10 in the Preakness would go to the Belmont. Kind of like a playoff system with higher purses and every competitor having to race the same schedule. And while the Kentucky Derby should remain at the beginning of May, make the Preakness the weekend after Memorial Day and the Belmont on July 3rd. Then we’d have fresh horses in every race and end the anticlimactic, fan-killing pattern of unknowns taking down a goliath at Belmont.
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