Monthly Archives: March 2010

A Question for the MLS

Posted by Andy Boyer in Sports

It’s the Wednesday night before the Sweet 16.  Since I don’t watch the NBA anymore, and baseball is still in Spring Training, I look at my cable box and shrug.  No sports to watch, and no reason to even turn on Sports Center.  I have NCAA Analysis burnout – I’m just ready for the Thursday games.  It’s a shame that there isn’t another sport getting ready to kick off, one that could monopolize my adrenalin for the evening.

But wait, there is.

MLS Soccer is starting this week.  In fact it’s starting…..the same day as the Sweet 16.  

So the MLS wants to take its annual grand entrance, and drop it right in the middle of the biggest TV sports event outside of the Super Bowl.  Now I get why ESPN is driving this. ESPN is annoyed that CBS stole the entire tourney from them a few years back.  So they want to program something sports related against the basketball games on Thursday.  But it really makes no sense for the MLS.

The MLS doesn’t just play a back seat to the NCAA tourney – it’s in a different car on a much smaller road.  Sure people in Seattle are going to be jacked for the game tonight.  But, you are going to see a late arriving Seattle crowd, as they sit in bars across from Qwest Field waiting for the Husky game to be decided.  God forbid the game go into OT, we could have 20% of the seats empty until half.

So why, MLS?  Why battle the Sweet 16?  Why not just open on Wednesday night, and own Sports Center?  What could possibly be the benefit of having people at a sports bar watching a sport that isn’t yours, while your season is kicking off?   Can we get this fixed for next year?

Congrats to the MLS and Players

Posted by Andy Boyer in Uncategorized

(Weird that the rest of this article didn’t post the first time.)

There’s nothing good about a labor dispute, and the recent gap between MLS owners and players looked to be pretty devastating.  On one hand, the league only has a couple of profitable teams, and despite it’s slow and steady growth, still regularly plays in front of crowds smaller than WNBA crowds.  Meanwhile, while some of the MLS stars make a very good 6 or 7 figure wage, you still have a lot of players making $30k a year on non-guaranteed contracts.

It was a situation where both sides had valid gripes, and with the start of the season looming, things looked bleak.  But instead of taking a page out of the NBA and MLB playbook of, “Screw the fans, let’s stick to our guns,” the MLS and its players actually got the deal done.  Score one for common sense.  All the owners and players who gave a little to get a lot should be commended for their solutions oriented approach.

Soccer By Ives has a good recap of the high points of the deal.  Here are some bullets from that article (and my uneducated additions in italics):

  • The MLS salary cap will increase from $2.315 million to $2.55 million and will increase by 5% each season thereafter.  (Small win for players, tolerable for owners who should expect revenues to increase by some small % every year.  Players would have liked a bigger win here, but gave up some of their ask when they realized “something” is greater than “zero.”)
  • The CBA provides for guaranteed contracts for all players 24 years old or older with three years of MLS service. (Big win for players, tough concession for owners.  You could see teams stick with bad or injured players longer, since the team has to pay them anyway, and stay under a salary cap.  Good for current players, bad for those hoping to get a job.)
  • Minimum salaries for senior roster players will increase from $34,000 in 2009 to $40,000 in 2010, with an increase of 5 percent each year thereafter. (Win for some players, not a big concession for owners.)
  • Player Contracts will now have a limit on the number of option years they can have. The limit is two option years for players who are at least 25 and have four years of MLS service. All other contracts can have up to three option years. (Win for players)
  • MLS will establish a Re-Entry Draft. Players eligible for the draft include those whose options were not exercised, those whose contracts were terminated and those whose contracts expired.  (Good middle ground here.  Free Agent would kill the league, because everyone would want to come play in from of 32,000 people in Seattle.  But players were getting killed by getting cut, but not having their contracts renewed, but not having the right to sign with a new team.  Good agreement here.)
  • Players whose annual compensation is less than $125,000, the minimum base salary increase will be 10% for players who play in at least 66 percent of his club’s games and 12.5 percent for players who play in at least 75 percent of club’s games. (Players win)
  • Increases in 401K contributions by the league, appearance fees, per diem and relocation expense reimbursement. Among the addtional player benefits in the CBA are full health care benefits for every player and his family at no cost, 401K contributions and expanded insurance benefits. (Players win)
  • Bonuses for wins and exhibitions. The CBA includes a package of bonuses for wins in MLS games and international tournaments, as well as appearance fees for international exhibitions. (Common sense, players win.)
  • The sides will establish a joint committee to study the re-launch of a Reserve Division. In the event the rosters are expanded, the salary for those players will be a minimum of $31,250, with additional annual increases. (Basically this says no decision has to be made.  if the league starts to profit, they’ll build a reserve division and there will be more jobs.  if the league doesn’t turn a profit, no new jobs for players.)

Now let’s go Sounders.

 

Pete Carroll on “How to Run a Social Media Program”

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Creative Writing, Favorites, Seattle, Social Media, Sports

(Republished from Spring Creek Group blog.)

It’s not often that you get the chance to sit down with a two-time NCAA National Champion, and current NFL coach, to talk 1-on-1 about business and strategy.  And sadly, this was not one of those times.  But I did get to share a room with 300 other people to listen to the new chief Seahawk, Pete Carroll, share some wisdom and philosophy about business and coaching.

Carroll’s presentation was not actually entitled, “How to Run a Social Media Campaign.”  But with 400,000 Twitter followers, he could probably run an entire event on the matter if he so wished.  He spoke about general leadership and business philosophies, but when you peel away the adjectives, they are also extremely sound strategies for a social media program as well.  In honor of the 12thman, here are 12 philosophies I walked away with (and which will likely soon in up in one of our presentation decks).

(Quotes are paraphrases of Carroll’s speech, not necessarily direct quotes, and the photo is from the PSBJ recap.)

1)      “I wasn’t ready to be a head coach when I ran the Jets.  So it was a mistake to get involved.  But when I finally figured it out and was ready for the next role, I knew exactly what I needed to do, and what it would take to put it together.” Social media translation – If you don’t know what you are doing, don’t rush in.  Figure out what you need to do, and what it will take to get there.  Write everything down, start your program and make refinements along the way.  But know what the goals are, and what pieces you need to make them happen.

2)      “Look forward to the challenges ahead of you, rather than worry about them.” – If you’ve built out a solid plan, you can anticipate where there may be hurdles. When you are prepared and ready to face difficulties, whether they are organizational, technical, or content centric, you are in the proper mindset to find the right solutions in an efficient manner.

3)      “We all win sometimes.  But if you want to win forever, you figure out why you are winning.” –It’s not just that anyone can get lucky, it’s that everyone will get lucky at some point.  If you rest on a few wins without figuring out what exactly got you that bump in traffic or spike in friends, you’ll only be successful until the next company (possibly a competitor) gets their stroke of luck.

4)      “Winners battle for a competitive edge in everything they do.  Find those who want to do things better than other people, and you all will achieve greater things. Fight, scratch and claw to find a better way.” –Don’t just pick an employee or agency because they are convenient or easy.  Pick those with drive and passion to be better than others, and your campaigns will reflect that more so than someone who just wants to get a check.  Simply doing something because, ‘it’s how we’re used to doing it’ is not acceptable for a social media or marketing program.  Do what it takes to make something special happen.

5)      “Accomplishment is one thing, but it’s more important to understand how someone feels about that accomplishment.” –A line on a resume or a completed project only gets you so far.  Understanding whether the person thinks they could have done better, and how they’d do it over, is a better predictor of who is going to execute a quality campaign for you, and how your campaign is going to evolve over time.

6)      “Find the folks that other people are listening to.  Make an impact on them first, then the rest is easier.” –Identify your influencers.  But don’t try to sell them garbage.  Carroll used the word “impact” which is key.  Be “impactful” to those who matter the most, and you’ll get their support.

7)      “3 or 4 people in a crowd out of 15,000 can change a community.” –Carroll’s program to fight gang violence had a monetary return.  It cost about $100k to support each of these 3 or 4 influencers.  Each gang-related death costs the city $1 Million in legal fees.  So for every death Carroll’s group prevents, the city avoids having to pay out $1 Million.  Social media may not lead to direct sales, but can you determine if it is preventing additional costs on expensive PR efforts later?

8)      “Do things better than anyone else has ever done before, in all the things you choose to do.” — You don’t have to do everything, but if you are going to do it, don’t just do it well, shoot to do it better than everyone else. Basically, “mediocrity” not “failure” is the enemy of “excellence.”

9)      “Know your philosophy.  If you can’t articulate your own philosophy in 25 words or less, how do you expect anyone who works for you or around you to explain it to others?” –Your social media program needs a vision and a voice, and it needs to be articulated to everyone in your company.

10)    “John Wooden had his own way of doing things that were unique.  He could draw on people from all walks of life, because they could all focus on his unique way.” –Your brand needs its own unique identity, philosophy and vision if you want people to be drawn to it.  If you do things out of a standardized process or playbook, you only cater to those people who agree with that playbook.  If you do your own thing, you can draw everyone who believes in the vision.

11)    “Empower yourself to do everything you can do, in the areas you control.  Don’t worry about the things you can’t.” –Don’t stress about whether people will say something negative.  You control the product you develop, the price you sell it for, and the way you promote it.  You control how you respond to your customers and how you cater to their needs.  Focus on that, and don’t waste energy on the other stuff.

12)   “Evaluate, Address areas of concern, and fill the holes.”  –This goes to the Spring Creek Group philosophy of 1) Analyze Data, 2) Develop a Strategic Plan, and 3) Engage the Community.  Take a good hard look at what you have, figure out the best course of action, and then be relentless in fulfilling those needs.

You can follow Carroll on Twitter at @PeteCarroll.  Also, a full-length video of his speech can be found on the Seahawks web site.

Syndicated Post – What Channel is Your Phone Turned To?

Posted by Andy Boyer in Social Media

(Sorry guys – too much to do and too little time.  And since I’m spending more time now posting on the Spring Creek Group blog, my guess is that I’ll be reposting some content that I write over there…such as this article.)

What Channel is Your Phone Turned To?

There was a time when you used your remote to change the channel.  Now more and more often, the remote and channel are the same device.

Pew Research released a report that claims 33 percent of cell phone owners now access news on their cell phones.  So we’ve finally figured out what the people who aren’t Facebooking or texting are doing with their phones – they’re reading the New York Times or Perez Hilton.

The Pew report discusses, “two significant technological trends that have influenced news consumption behavior: First, the advent of social media like social networking sites and blogs has helped the news become a social experience in fresh ways for consumers. People use their social networks and social networking technology to filter, assess and react to news. Second, the ascent of mobile connectivity via smart phones has turned news gathering and news awareness into an anytime, anywhere affair for a segment of avid news watchers.”

pew1 What Channel is Your Phone Turned To? Social Media photo

Younger cell phone owners are more likely to look for news on their phones than from Katie Couric. In fact, according to the report, about 43 percent of those under 50 said they are mobile news consumers.  And social media plays a big part, as more than 80 percent of respondents get or receive news via e-mailed links.  But as Breitbart points out in their analysis of the report, the more things change, the more they stay the same.  People’s #1 one concern is still the weather (72 percent), followed by current events (68 percent).

John Cook from Seattle’s own TechFlash found it worthwhile to mention that, “The authors of the study write that news has become omnipresent and people’s relationship to news is becoming portable, personalized and participatory.”

I think John is right when he focuses on the fact that news (and other information) is omnipresent.  The “news cycle,” so to speak, is no longer valid.  The classic product launch is a thing of the past.  Making a big splash with a marketing or ad campaign is not effective unless there is credibility in the claim, and you can prove that the message is sustainable over time.  There’s an effect in which every marketing action has an equal and opposite reaction.  The more you promise, the more upset the crowd will be if you don’t deliver.

So how is this affecting the way news is being delivered?

“In one way it’s uplifting that over 60 percent of people using their phones for news are logging on to check current events. That goes against the passive news consumer we’ve heard about in TV for years,” says Cale Ramaker, an anchor at WOFL-TV in Orlando.  “On the other hand it means all news outlets, in any median, need to refocus on not only delivering the news in multi-formats – but do it with an emphasis for the right now consumer.”

Cale’s point is valid.  We now have more sources of information, more editors of the information, but also more opportunities to make critical decisions on whether the information is tainted.  And seventy two percent of the survey’s respondents said that “most news sources today are biased in their coverage.” If the “objective” sources are biased, then the marketing sources are unbelievably easy to see through.

So at the end of the day, information continues to flow, and people can find it whenever and wherever they are.  In fact, even if a marketing team lands an article with Kara Swisher, we may not read it there.  We may get it via a friend’s Facebook post or Tweet while waiting for the bus.