Andy Boyer

Author: Andy Boyer

  • On Site Super Bowl 42

    So, I would love to go into detail about the NFL Experience, a giant travelling tradeshow attached to Super Bowl 42. And so I slogged out the 30 miles to God forsaken Glendale to file a report at 1:00pm on Friday.

     
    However, much to my chagrin, the NFL didn’t have an experience for the public from 1:00 to 3:00pm. During those hour, it’s only experience is for season ticket holders and special guests. Since I had already burned a half day and $10 in parking, I gamely decided to see what else the NFL had for me.

    Unfortunately, the only experience I was allowed, was Westgate Center.

    Now I need to properly frame Glendale Stadium. And I think the best way to do this is to weave in a popular conspiracy theory. You see, 10 years ago there was this giant expanse of desert wasteland far west of Phoenix. The conspiracy theory is that a bunch of rich guys bought up this worthless property. Then, for some unexplained reason, a highway was built through this wasteland, a giant loop that ran around Phoenix, from I-10, all the way around the city and back to I-10 on the other side. Shortly thereafter, legislators decided all this open land with this convenient highway would be an ideal place for a new sports stadium. And since the stadium was so far removed from ANYTHING, the natural solution was to build a hockey arena as well, and build up the property around the stadium with hotels, bars, restaurants, condos and shops.So if you google Glendale, what you will see is 2 huge stadiums, a shopping mall, and then acres of empty land in all directions.  Desert wasteland which is now worth a fortune.

    But I digress.

    Now I’m out amongst the cacti and my only option is to go hang out by the shopping mall and hope for the best.  To be fair, Westgate is pretty cool if you are looking for a place to grab food and drink before a game.  All the standard chain bars are there (Margaritaville, Bar Louie, Fox Sports, etc….)

    But this really re-iterated the point that at Super Bowl Weekend, you need VIP or Insider Status if you want to do anything cool.  Sure, they have parkinglot exhibits and stuff liek that, but without any kind of priority access, you are really getting about 10% of the total experience.  That’s not a lament or complaint, just a realization.  And now that I think about it, I kind of remember things like the NBA and MLB All-Star Game being the same way (but I had the access then, so I didn’t care…)

    So, no great report from NFL Experience.  I heard secondhand stories that it was crowded, there was no food and the exhibits were so so.   So, i probably lucked out.

  • Super Bowl Thursday Night

    So, the weekend has officially begun here in Phoenix. 


    Last night Old Town Scottsdale took on a somewhat bizarre and surreal transformation.  In the middle of town square, the ESPN studio is set up.  (You have to wonder why ESPN chose a place 30 miles from the stadium to set up their Phoenix Studio.  Perhaps no one at ESPN wanted to spend any time in Glendale. I don’t know.) 


    Certainly no celebrities wanted to spend any time in Glendale, and as I documented yesterday, all the mega-parties were being thrown in Old Town.  For comparison’s sake, imagine if a giant shiny new stadium was built up north of Everett for the Super Bowl.  And yet ESPN set up shop and all the celebrities threw parties in Belltown.  Just kind of bizarre.


    Thus, the normal “see and be seen nightclubs” were closed for private events (or pay $200+).   Ordinary bars that normally cater to the 30-something set charged $25 cover.  And the college bars were dead.


    I guess this is what happens when you schedule the biggest sporting event in the world, on the same weekend as the biggest sporting event in Phoenix, and also split the Super Bowl scene into two areas about 40 minutes apart.  Word on the street was that while Scottsdale bars were filled with tourists, Phoenicians themselves were up at the FBR Open Thursday night, and planning to return Friday and Saturday as well.  In fact, rumors are that few people from this area are going to the game at all, preferring to spend Sunday afternoon at TPC before heading home to turn on the game at 4:20.


    But back to Marketing.  Coolest thing – or stupidest depending on your mood – are the walking TV sets.  How can I describe this?  There’s a guy walking.  And he has a harness on his back.  And rising up from this harness to a height of about 8-9 feet, is a flatscreen.  And that flatscreen has commercials.  So if he walks right at you, you would look up a few feet and watch the ad.  These guys are all over the place.  Walking TV Billboards.  They kind of look like Hammerhead from the Cantina on Tatooine.  I’ll try to snap a picture later today.


    Now this question came up for debate yesterday.  Suppose a non Super Bowl sponsor, especially a competitor of a Super Bowl sponsor, somehow came up with 500 tickets to the game.  And they ran a contest for fans to get those free tickets.  And those fans had to wear clothing from the sponsor inside the stadium.  Could they be refused entry?  Let’s pretend it’s Burger King.  McDonald’s is a sponsor, so Burger King gets 500 tickets and puts people (maybe even rewards top employees)  in BK shirts all over the place.  Maybe they have to walk around Super Bowl events all weekend.  Now, could they also wear “King” masks?  Or does that step over the line?  Can they hand out business cards with coupons on them?  Is it Freedom of Speech?  Or do corporate rights trump the Constitution?  Just random thoughts…


    Funniest and dumbest thing we saw yesterday.  A couple of guys walk in with about seven 21 year old blond girls, all  dressed in a different color of the same mini-dress.  You can’t NOT notice when something like that enters the room.  And all the guys in the bar are asking each other, “Are those dudes rolling with hookers?  Could they be anymore obvious about it?” And then we heard a girl say, “I think they are promoting jewelry, because they all have necklaces with a similar design.”  We never really figured it out.


    I’m trekking out to Glendale today to see what the scene is like out there.  I expect this is where most of the corporate guys will be staying, especially those who don’t know Phoenix.  Probably a little different atmosphere.

  • Doing Marketing Research at SB 42

    Now I just wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t venture down to Phoenix this week to learn all the tips and tricks the professionals marketers at Super Bowl 42 can teach me.

    So, this weekend I’ll be posting some thoughts, revelations and observations from the various venues making up the ecosystem that is the Big Game.

    We’ll try to stop by the NFL Super Bowl Experience this afternoon which is essentially the party for the rest of us who can’t gain access to any of the cool ones.

    The Arizona Republic and AZ Central Blog has some highlights from some parties, including The Big Ticket Gala, the Matt Leinart Foundation Party, a party I suppose I *could* have attended that didn’t sound too fun, Thursday night’s P.Diddy block party, and a long list of others.

    Predictably, every bar in town is decked out with Super Bowl paraphernalia, even the ones 30 miles from the stadium.  It makes for a fairly misleading proposition, when a bar "Welcomes Super Bowl Fans" and then you realize that you’d have to be really really lost if you were an out of town guest.

    As if this isn’t enough for one city to handle, Phoenix is also playing host to the FBR Phoenix Open, a 4 day 100,000 person party/golf tournament at TPC.  And just for fun, tonight the Suns host the World Champion San Antonio Spurs.  If anyone goes to work on Friday, I’d be shocked.

    Anyway, more to come thru the week, as Marketing’s Reason for Existence approaches. 

  • How Come Only My Expensive Facebook Ads Get Clicked On?

    So here’s a question for you.

    I’m running a bunch of ads on Facebook, more out of curiosity than actually expecting success.  The Facebook Ad Manager Inerface is rudimentary, but fairly intuitive.  It has some definite limitations, but I’d expect it will start approaching par with AdSense this year.

    But here’s the interesting part.

    In one of my Ad Groups, I have about 2,500 impressions spread across 8 similar, but slightly different, ads.  I am offering $.45 CPC.  And in this group I have 0 clickthroughs. 

    In my other Ad group, I took one of the ads and EXACTLY replicated it.  The only change I made was to boost the CPC to $.90.

    Now, I expected that the $.90 CPC ad would get way more impressions from Facebook.  But what I didn’t expect, was that somehow it would generate a higher Clickthrough.  In, 1000 impressions my $.90 CPC ad generated 3 clicks.  While basically the same ad, generated 0 clicks in 2500 impressions when it is $.45 CPC.

    I’ll follow up with more data on this later.  But my initial question is, "Why does a more expensive ad get a better Clickthrough, when the user doesn’t know how much I paid for it?" 

  • Is Mobile Video “Supply Side” Product Development?

    For years, we have all been hearing how Mobile Video would soon breakthrough and become a major part of our media consumption habits.  And yet, for most of us, it’s rarely or ever something we use.  So the question is, "Why aren’t we adopting Mobile Video at the rates we’re expected to?"

    Last night at dinner some friends and I surmised the following, and I wonder if you agree.  Mobile Video is a "Supply-Side" product.  Some of the most powerful brands and industries – Mobile Carriers, Broadcasters, Sports Leagues, Ad Agencies and Media Distributors – would absolutely love if we were never disconnected from highly visual mediums where ads can be placed, or content can be charged for.  There is a wealth, or excess supply, of content out there, and the only thing holding back their revenues is our ability to escape from that content.  So of course, they look at us and say, "When Andy leaves his Living Room, we need a way that he can keep watching TV." 

    But very few of us look at our phone – which is our telecommunications device – and say, "Damn, it sucks that I can’t watch TV on this."  Now, I have a high DEMAND for a phone that I can take with me wherever I go.  I have similar high DEMAND for Text Messaging, a car that runs, laptops I can take anywhere, online services I can use to order anything, and hundreds of other things that I can’t make it through the week without.

    But television on my phone? I don’t really demand that.  I understand it’s available.  I think it’s cool that it’s available.  But I can’t think of a reason that I would demand it be available.

    And I think that is the crux of the mobile video problem.  The marketing campaigns are awesome.  The technology is cool.  I trust the people bringing it to me.  And I love the shows that are available.  But those are all supply issues.  Until there’s a demand scenario that makes sense for me, I think it will continue to languish. 

    And so, as we head toward potential Web 2.0 bubbledom and a possible recession, I’m putting all companies into these two categories.  Which companies are trying to create their own market out of an excess supply of something, and which companies are providing products and services that fill an already establish demand? I think the demand side companies will survive whatever economic blip we run into.

  • Art Thiel Talks About Funding Husky Stadium with Tax Dollars

    Art Thiel has a great article lambasting Frank Chopp and other arguably ineffective Washington State Legislators.

    There are definite arguments against funding the ridiculous arena package the new Sonics owners proposed.  But then it’s equally insane when the same people ignore their previous arguments to support the same package, but with the Huskies as benefactor.

    Anyway, intresting read.  

  • Now THIS is a PR Stunt

    I know, it’s supposed to be a political statement from Italian Anarchist Artist Graziano Cecchini, as “Every ball represents a lie told by a politician.” But imagine if every one of these had your company’s logo on it? Now that would be good PR.

  • Relief 4 Teeth – Fundraiser this weekend

    I don’t usually do this, but I’m plugging a charity fundraiser a friend of mine is hosting for another friend of hers.  The event benefits a guy who did not have health insurance, and suffered a pretty severe head injury. In a lot of ways, this is a unique fundraiser because you can actually see and meet the beneficiary of your generosity.  Heck, you can probably choose which bill you want to pay.  Here are the details:

    Location: SodoPop – 2424 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA US

    Date: Saturday, July 19, 2008 at 8:00pm

    Here’s a link to the evite.  And here’s all the info you need to know:

    Hey all!  This evite is a two-for-one deal (1) Join us for a kickass party and (2) Support our dear friend Orion with some seriously steep medical bills.

    The party: Killer bands.  Stellar DJ’s.  A charming MC to delight and entertain.  Drinks. Dancing.  Friends.

    The background:  Orion (whom you may know from such favorites as North Hill Bakery, The Hopvine, Uptown Espresso, or just being an all-around sweet and stand-up guy) took a really nasty spill on his bicycle, losing several teeth and fracturing some bones in his face.  Without insurance…we’re talking about five-figure bills.  No joke- add insult to injury, squared.

    The benefit:  Stunning art will be auctioned. Incredible gift certificates will be furiously bid upon. Drinks are hosted but all tips are donated to the cause, capiche?  So bring your checks and your cash, dig deep into your pockets, and with only a $10 cover for the best party in town, everybody wins.

    Please forward this evite, and we hope to see you there.  If you must send your regrets, you could also consider sending $!  Simply make a check out to "Relief for Teeth," and mail to our PO Box at:

    Relief for Teeth
    1463 E Republican
    Mailbox B55
    Seattle, WA 98112

     

  • Whirlyball

    I’m giving this place free ad space, just be cause I think the banner is funny.  How many of us have wanted to make a campaign that makes fun of how addicted we are to a certain brand of cell phone?

    whirlyball.jpg
     

  • How Many Customer Service Opportunities Are Airlines Missing?

    When you think of industries with technological tools at their disposal, but that go unused in the realms of customer service and consumer experience, the airline industry really does stand apart.

    Think about this. These guys all know the exact number of people who will be getting on their planes. They know where everyone is sitting, and exactly what time the plane will sneak away from the gate and into a line ready for takeoff. Yet somehow, none of that knowledge makes it to the marketing or customer relations people.

    Here are 3 things that I think would improve my personal flying experience.

    1) Real Time Updates of Security Lines.

    Every airline knows how many people are leaving on each plane, and they know which gate each plane is leaving from. Therefore, they know that within a 2 hour period, exactly how many people will need to go through a security checkpoint. They can also look back at past data and see how many people went through that checkpoint a day ago, a week ago, a month ago and a year ago. And they know how many people will be working. Based on this, they should have no problem giving you an estimate of how long it should take to get through security. They should be able to show averages over periods of time, as long as a fairly real time estimate of how the day is going in comparison to other days. This will give me a much better idea of what time I really need to be there.

    2) Let Me Choose My Seat Based on Who’s on the Plane.

    I’m sure this will get the privacy advocates in an uproar, but I’d love it if I could build a little public profile of myself inside the airline’s account system, or even just let it access my Facebook account. Then when I choose my seat, and I see all the seats available, I know not to choose the one next to the mom with the 2 little kids. Not only that, you can give the kids their own section, in the very back and behind a curtain.

    On a different track, another 6 foot guy would know not to choose the seat next to me because we’ll inadvertently be playing footsie all flight long. Plus, if you got really imaginative, you could put in your profile if you are a chatter or a sleeper, so those who like to yak all flight long can be placed on the wing or in the baggage cargo area. If it’s all voluntary and optional, and the technology is there anyway, why not use it? Think about it – if there are 2 seats left to choose from, and one is between two 120 pound women from Thailand, and one is between two 320 pound brothers from Green Bay, I think I should get to make a wise decision on which one I sit in.

    3) SMS Updates

    I don’t see any reason that I can’t subscribe to SMS updates. Often, a bar or restaurant is far from my gate. Let’s say I’m a considerate flyer, and get there 90 minutes early thinking there’s going to be a security line. But, since there was no line, I slide right through and now have 85 minutes to kill. Well, when they decide the plane is going to leave 30 minutes later, I want to know via SMS while I’m sitting in the restaurant, not after I’ve given up one of 2 power outlets in the whole airport to shlep down to the gate.

    I’m sure there are 100 ideas so I’m looking forward to hearing some of yours.