Internet Marketing NYC, LeBron James Heats Up Miami, NY Yankees Steinbrenner Dead at 80, Beautiful Rainbows: What your business can learn from sports legends and viral video
Posted by Salem Global on Jul 13, 2010
There’s only 1 thing that can ruin my regular friendly poker game. No – not a bad flop. Nope, not my friend’s quads beating out my full house. It’s a ridiculous hour of LeBron James hour-long TV special on ESPN. Come on people. It’s like a Christmas special in July. Wait – that’s EXACTLY what it was. But that’s the advertising and media for you. Why just make an announcement when you can go on TV, get paid by a network and have advertisers and sponsors foot the bill. Because WE, the consumers actually foot the bill. Thinking about it now, I should’ve paid more attention to the advertisers during the hour long special. My guess is that it was all beer, cars and shavers. While my poker friends were betting team jerseys and numbers (23 – James and Michael Jordan), I took advantage by focusing on my OWN game. Let’s just say that though Miami will be paying James $11 – $15 Million dollars next year, I came home with an extra $20 bucks in my pocket… that paid for beer and hot dogs for the SalemGlobal Internet staff at Rudy’s Bar & Grill on 9th Avenue and 44th. (http://websitestrategymarketing.com/salemglobal-staff-summer-2010) So who ELSE is the big winner huh?!?
It got me thinking about the true ROI (Return On Investment) one player actually brings to a team. Well, considering how much an average ticket to a sports event costs these days $30 – $60 per game. Multiplied by how many seats in a stadium or arena? Plus don’t forget box seats, lounges, food, beverages, sponsorships and the list goes on for moneymaking opportunities in the billion dollar industry of sports marketing… Yeah – why not. It’s only another $15 million dollars. But as I understand it, it truly wasn’t so much about the money anymore. I think I read that the Chicago Bulls were actually offering even MORE money. And the Cleveland Cavaliers were offer even MORE money than the Bulls! It had to do with actually winning a championship. Similar to what do you get for the person who has it all? You get them something more special than a material possession. In James’ case, he was looking for a ring – but not the one you can buy. I guess he sincerely believes (or maybe his agent does) that Miami offers the greatest hope for a championship. By the way, if you want to know who are the top paid athletes in the US – check out http://www.gkmen.com/sports/north-american-sports/who-are-highest-paid-athletes-2010190210. And if you want the international list, check out the following link for the #1 at $110 million. Here is a hint before you click on the link; he is a better driver on a course instead of his own driveway… http://www.mensweekly.net/2010/04/17/10-highest-paid-athletes-2/10/.
On a sad note, we lost a great one today. New York Yankees brilliant, charismatic character, (former) owner and frequently mentioned on Seinfeld, George Steinbrenner. I grew up with the Yankees and Steinbrenner has always been a huge personality in New York. But even outside of NY, Steinbrenner is known and will always be remembered as the guy who brought (and bought) greats like Reggie Jackson, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Catfish Hunter, Dave Winfield, Gooose Gossage, Joe Torre, Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Darryl Strawberry (and the list goes on) to New York. The Bronx Bombers won seven World Series titles and 11 American League pennants since Steinbrenner took the helm. He will surely be missed.
What does all this have to do with Internet Marketing? Sports marketing. Want to sell more product or services (mostly to men)? Start incorporating sports into some of your marketing. Need I say more?
Think stupid videos are just plain old stupid? 3,664,719 think so also. If you haven’t seen it already, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI. And if you want to experience my sense of humor, please check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLSvEe7No_w. What does it mean? It means that anything can go viral on YouTube. But the real winners are the 4 kids – ok – young adults – who put together a song “honoring” the double rainbow video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX0D4oZwCsA (1,966,418 views). Why aren’t they implementing the Google AdSense feature where they can make money every time someone clicks on an ad? I don’t know. But maybe they share in the ad revenue derived from the advertisement on the right? If your business isn’t utilizing video in your marketing approach, you should start. Your competitors are thinking about it right now.
Last comment for this week: Great book (and blog) www.WaiterRant.net. You will think very differently next time you eat out in a restaurant. Also started billion dollar IMG CEO Mark H. McCormack “On Selling.” Gives some good insight into the world of sales. Also reading Michael Wolff’s “Burn Rate.” It’s an “old” tale about the early days of the Internet from 1994 – 1998. It’s a fun read. It overlaps with the beginning of my career but it’s very relevant to all businesses and its written well.
Want to know more about sports marketing, website marketing and how video can help your business, give me a call at 212-993-5828 or email raphis@salemglobal.com to set up a conversation or check out www.SalemGlobal.com for more information. Or even better, come to one of my events. We are taking it easy in August but we will be doing a full court press in September.
