Fantasy football – Marketing Genius or Genuinely Malicious?

It’s about that time again, my favorite season of the year celebrating my one true love: college football.

So (kind of) along those lines, this afternoon we were discussing the fantasy football obsession that afflicts several of my coworker’s significant others.

What a genius marketing phenomenon that causes grown men to revert back to schoolyard temper tantrums and countless Sundays spent simultaneously affixed to a television and computer—much to the chagrin of girlfriends, wives and non-football fans everywhere.

It’s a great way to keep viewers engaged, not only in the teams they’re following in real life, but to play out ‘what if’ scenarios involving other teams and players. Cool idea. Great enough that it’s managed to zap the life out of millions of Americans (many of whom are members of 3-4 fantasy football leagues) every Sunday for a good ¼ of the year.

Quite the addictive marketing scheme! I’d love to see some statistics, if anyone knows where I can find them.

As for me, my heart aligns will remain true to my one and only Ohio State Buckeyes! No fantasy football league needed.

The best holiday you've probably never heard of...

It's not quite Christmas, it's not quite my birthday, it's BRINKMAS, and it's in this month's Cincy Business magazine feature story on holiday parties.

It's a rough life having a birthday so close to a big holiday like I do, so to be sure my special day didn't go unnoticed, our company celebrates a combo soiree in traditional EMG fashion- with lots of trivia, lots of pool and lots of...festivities!

The drink of choice for Brinkmas? Gin.

The ABC’s of consumer product marketing

Ambassadors, Bargain hunters & Champions?

The path a company takes to inspire consumers to pull out their wallets and spend megabucks depends on innumerous variables- so many that if I even tried to graze the surface this blog would span several pages (which I won’t torture you with.) En lieu of that torture, I’ll just give you the A-C and leave the D-Z for another occasion--


Ambassadors

Often make great Halloween costumes but otherwise nonessential to completing ‘the sale.’

Let’s face it, the St. Pauli girl, Carmen Miranda and the Orbit gum girl are iconic testaments to the products they’re selling (and have all been on my Halloween costume list in my never-ending quest to be as many brand icons as I can before dressing for the holiday becomes passé – or creepy.)

Bargain Hunters

Disloyal and fleeting, this frugal bunch is driven by promotions and savings.
Keeping this shopper’s attention is a losing battle. Let’s face it- you’ll always be undercut by someone with a cheaper system or better deal, no matter how hard you try. Who really wants to be the bargain basement brand anyway? There’s no equity in being cheap.

In line with most of my references-- If you’re reputed to be a cheap date- you’re probably not going to attract the crème de la crème of the opposite sex.

Champions

Well…duh. I don’t mean to state the obvious here, but you want champions. You want the Michael Phelps of consumers. Probably not the best reference, but it being Olympics season, I felt the need for it to be included.

You can’t always control who champions your brand i.e. Kendra Wilkinson of the Girls Next Door and The Olive Garden (see story here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2008/08/19/am.wynter.playboy.bunny.cnn ),
but these are the people you want out there on the streets providing you with invaluable word-of-mouth marketing…free! Love them! Embrace them! Olive Garden should be happy for all the free publicity they’re receiving from Kendra- surely other restaurants would kill for it.

Sadly, my endorsements of Pompillio’s, Skyline, LaRosa’s or Montgomery Inn won’t carry nearly as much weight, but I champion them none-the-less.

And there you have it.

Inquiring minds want to know…

For the life of me I can’t understand this phenomenon- which seems to happen relatively frequently- and I’m hoping that someone can shed some light on the following mystery:
We’re contacted multiple times by someone who wants a job. With tenacity like that, we just can’t ignore the person- it’s the sign of a good media relations pro. So, with an interview all arranged [this morning], she bails the day of, saying she just can’t make the commitment.

Respectable excuse, yes, but an interview certainly isn’t the guarantee of a job, and in this industry especially, it’s important to take every networking opportunity you can get. It’s not as though there are a multitude of agencies in the city- and when the time comes that she is ready to commit, previous networking experiences can really help her get her foot in the door.

It’s like clamoring for a date from someone you really like- if you ask enough, you might get one… so what sense does it make to stand the person up?

So, inquiring minds want to know, why does this happen? Perhaps they don’t yet understand the opportunistic nature of this business… perhaps they read our bios?
Perhaps…..?

Have no idea what day it is?

I usually don't either...but I will in 2009. That's because I will be quoted in the Women's advantage page-a-day calendar. The daily desk calendar will feature inspirational tips for better business practices from industry leaders.

...it's always best to plan ahead, right? Can't wait to see what day I get!

Check it out and buy your own at:

www.WomansAdvantage.biz/calendar

Some Peppermint Pig News--

I have some fun news from the Peppermint Pig Thrift & Gift on Beechmont Ave. that was visited by none other than the Kiss 107.1 morning crew. If you don't recall, way back in May (? I think?) I played "guest host" for one of the DJs and had a great time of it. It's a fun group, and I'm glad they paid a visit to one of my favorite haunts.


Check out the pictures and hear the show below!


right-arrow to pictures 3-6 (of Joyce at the Pig)
http://www.kisscincinnati.com/cc-common/gallery/display.html?album_id=131363


- the voice clip:
http://www.kisscincinnati.com/cc-common/mediaplayer/player.html?redir=yes&mps=tj_player08.php&mid=http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/30265/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/30265/1832/richmedia/TOTW_Anderson_3_pig.mp3?CCOMRRMID=17927844&CPROG=RICHMEDIA&MARKET=CINCINNATI-OH&NG_FORMAT=chr&NG_ID=wkfs107fm&OR_NEWSFORMAT=chr&OWNER=1832&SERVER_NAME=www.kiss107.com&SITE_ID=1832&STATION_ID=WKFS-FM&TRACK=TLOG_totw_anderson_peppermint_pig

Oh the power of advertising…

There’s a fight going on between the Ohio Legislature and the state’s payday lenders. Obviously coming out in favor of their own industry, the payday lenders have joined forces to reject the new legislation and have unveiled a new ad featuring an honest, hard working Ohio farmer talking about how he used payday lending responsibly to fix a belt in his truck, and why YOU, good Ohio citizen, should reject H.B. 545 in the next election.

Let me inform those who don’t know: farmers are largely self-employed, so getting a $100 advance on what someone pays himself doesn’t make much sense. Additionally, if his business (farming) is in such bad shape that he couldn’t fork up the extra cash (or, didn’t have savings), chances are he would need much more than $100 to get him out of this rut.

Moving on, and this is all my opinion at this point, payday lenders are extremely predatory by practice and 15% interest a week (give or take) is certainly not going to help keep honest, hard working Ohio families out of debt. As much as I don’t want to see 6,000 Ohioans out of work, I find it difficult to rationalize how these organizations are bettering our communities.

While I can appreciate the marketing spin, they’re trying to rally support behind a wolf in sheep’s clothing—something that makes me even less inclined to support their cause.

I encourage you to see the ad for yourself: http://www.ohioans4financialfreedom.com/.

Guilty reality show pleasure...

The season finale of So You Think You Can Dance was last night, and while I can't say I was as dedicated a follower as I have been to previous seasons, it's great to see such talented dancers sharing their abilities with the world.

Having done ballet for 16 years while I was growing up, I know firsthand the commitment involved in becoming even a proficient dancer... to master vastly different forms of dance in such a short period of time is nothing short of incredible. Kudos to them!

Enjoy one of my favorite numbers, "Night of the Dancing Flame" performed last season, with one of my favorite So You Think You Can Dance performers, Neil, and another performance from this past season featuring Gev (one of my favorites from this year who was voted off too soon!)

Have plans tonight?

Come to the Executive Perspective presented by the Cincinnati chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs.

Be prepared to network and listen to a panel of distinguished hispanic executives speak on the evening's topic: "Developing a High Performance Mindset."

The event is free and open to the public and starts at 6pm in the Taft room of the Cincinnati Westin.

More information can be found at: www.eisenmanagementgroup.com/nshmba.

Hope to see you there!

Pardon my dust!

I'm in the process of finding a new template for my blog, so if one thing or another isn't working right now, I'm getting to it, I promise!

Welcome Larry!

Let me extend an official welcome to Larry, our newest EMG crew member here to aid us with our data entry & research needs.

Yet another testament to networking... you may even find a job on vacation. Larry did!

Other than his boycott of seafood restaurants, he's a loveable fellow and I'm sure you'll agree.


Check out Larry's bio here:
http://www.eisenmanagementgroup.com/people/index.php

Come to the Newport Firefighters Local 45 logo unveiling!

EMG will be having a press conference this afternoon (Mon. August 4th) at 1pm to unveil the new logo created for our client, the Newport Firefighters Local 45.

Speakers will include EMG president Rodger Roeser and Newport firefighter Mike Volz who will discuss the importance of the new design and upcoming programs sponsored by the local 45.

Hope to see you there! Photos coming soon!