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Posted Thursday May 17, 2012
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The Real Reason You Have an iPod/iPhone Instead of a Zune

This article features a Microsoft executive’s breakdown of why XBox succeeded, and why Zune – their MP3 player – failed.

Microsoft Zune I was at the product launch of Zune in Seattle, where Bill Gates waxed enthusiastic at the marvel that his company had created. Indeed, for those who owned one, Zune was a superior product to the iPod in a number of ways. So why did it fail so spectacularly? In the above referenced article, Robbie Bach shakes his head and points his finger at the music industry, blaming a narrow-minded allegiance to a single music delivery device – the iPod – rather than being open to multiple systems that would increase their business and be less dependent on any one method. Okay, that make sense I guess.

But one cannot ignore the absolutely dismal marketing – or rather, lack thereof – that supported the Zune player. Apple creates a killer product and markets the hell out of it. Microsoft, by comparison, appears to be chasing after Apple products in an attempt to garner some market share long after the former has established itself as the dominant brand; then compounds the error of that bandwagon thinking by implementing a marketing plan that is so anemic, stilted, and haphazard as to wind up being just a waste of money. No surprise, then, that the Zune player was scrapped just a few years after its introduction.

Great marketing requires great commitment from any brand or business. The fundamental underpinning of marketing is that the more frequent and multi-channeled a marketing campaign is, the more successful it will be. Simply put, a strong marketing campaign will increase business. And a weak campaign, as demonstrated by Zune, can kill a great offering.

Posted Thursday May 17, 2012
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The Scourge of Ambush Marketing

Ambush marketing is best described as brands conducting onsite marketing activities in an attempt to align themselves with an event with which they are not officially associated. In other words, brands will act as if they are sponsors or supporters of an event when they have not paid for the right to do so.

Events rely on sponsorship as a critical revenue stream, and offer sponsors many kinds of benefits in exchange. These benefits range widely from broadcasting rights to onsite sampling and promotion to pre- and post-event engagement. Sponsors pay good money for these rights because (IMHO) the right to engage consumers using events is unparalleled in what it can achieve for brands.

When non-sponsoring brands use ambush marketing, sometimes sugar-coating their activities by calling it “guerrilla marketing” (thereby diminishing an otherwise perfectly fine type of marketing), they are piggy-backing on and taking advantage of an event and its attendees without proper buy-in from either. Often it’s the official sponsors’ direct competitors that do this, trying, among other things, to dilute their competition’s presence at an event. Ambush marketing activities can include hosting parties, giving away samples and/or swag, data collection, “wild-posting” (putting up a wall’s worth of posters), street or sidewalk stenciling, to name just a few. (Read this post for a few examples.)

It is incumbent upon event organizers to do everything possible to protect its sponsors and mitigate the effects of ambush marketing. However, these folks have gotten quite clever at placing themselves just out of arm’s reach of events by doing their thing outside of an event’s purview, such as pop-up stores/venues or handing out samples outside an event’s perimeter. But there are plenty of times when an unauthorized team will gain access into an event and then commence activities until being told by organizers to stop or getting tossed out of the event altogether.

Ambush marketing is often a cheap, lazy alternative to more legitimate and creative marketing efforts, and on those occasions when a real investment has been made it’s still dirty playing and can even backlash. Says this article: “In 2003, Coors settled with the NCAA for $75,000 because Coors held a sweepstakes using NCAA tickets as the grand prize. At the time, NCAA tickets clearly stated that they could not be awarded as prizes without the consent of the NCAA. Despite being asked to desist, Coors went ahead and awarded the prize, and even planned another sweepstakes for the following season. The NCAA threatened to expel any winners who tried to redeem their tickets.” This would clearly have damaged Coors’ reputation, not to mention the experience of their fans. In my opinion, ambush marketing is a scourge that all marketers should vehemently discourage.

What your thoughts and experiences on ambush marketing?

Posted Monday April 30, 2012
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Thoughts on SXSW 2012

Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly be more of a behemoth, SXSW breaks yet another barrier. Of note this year were the huge crowds that seemed not to have the festival’s badges or wristbands, but rather just party-seeking folks who converged on downtown Austin to partake in the plenitude of revelry where the only required credential was an RSVP. Eventbrite and other websites made RSVP-ing somewhat simplified for the literally hundreds of parties, only 200 of which were “Official”, meaning sanctioned and marketed by SXSW. All this makes for more bloat than seems possible, and probably more than downtown Austin can really handle. Traffic and parking hassles (and costs) were at an all-time high, and one can only hope that the police department reviews and revises their plan for next year.

Because SXSW has become such a huge event, it follows that marketers are eager to reach the many thousands of attendees and will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to do so. Paradoxically, there were so many creative sponsorship activations that none really popped as “the” wow campaign. Doritos placed a huge branded ‘vending machine’ stage in a parking lot; Chevy offered free rides all over downtown if you could catch one that was available; daytime showcase parties were hosted by Dickies workwear and every music mag, label and brand you can think of; branded lounges abounded, where one could take a load off while charging their device(s). Samples were offered, data was collected, swag was everywhere. One promotion that I eagerly participated in was American Express’ Sync With Twitter campaign, in which a card-holder could sync their card to their Twitter account, Tweet where they are and access special deals. Saving money for your stakeholders is a smart promotional move these days.

Suggestion to sponsors for next year: free foot massages and anything else that helps feet survive.

One inside source informs me that anything less than $100k in sponsorship gets you all but ignored by the festival, and it was evident that the vast majority of sponsors spent well over that. Was it worth it? In the cacophony that has become marketing at SXSW, even great ideas and clever execution get diluted in the noise. Not to mention the ambush marketing by non-sponsors that descends on the event, including a bash at Stubb’s sponsored by Ford, a Marlboro pop-up, and energy drinks on virtually every corner.

Continuing a trend that began two years ago, the Interactive portion of the festival numbered higher in registrations than either Film or Music. Indeed, even CNN has gotten in on the Interactive buzz. But the crowds were definitely biggest during Music.

Music showcases were disappointingly tough to get into in many cases. One friend resorted to bribing the door staff to get into the Jack White show, this after waiting two hours in line, and I have a feeling that was not an anomaly.

Personal favorites seen for the first time this year were Diamond Rugs and Trampled by Turtles. Other highlights were the keynote speech delivered by Bruce Springsteen, audience award-winning film Eden, and a documentary on Big Star.

What did you think of this year’s SXSW?

Posted Monday March 19, 2012
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Will You Be At SXSW 2012?

What panels, bands, and parties are you looking forward to attending? New to Austin? Check out the SXSWChat on Twitter for great tips. Wanna meet up? DM me here.

Posted Monday March 5, 2012
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Trail of Lights Delayed

Trail of Lights Austin has been delayed until 2012. Should have followed my own advice.

UPDATE 2/1/12: Trail of Lights 2012 will be produced by the RunTex Foundation. Please contact them directly with any inquiries.

Posted Tuesday November 15, 2011
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Trail of Lights Needs a Production Intern

Trail of Lights Austin PRODUCTION SUPPORT INTERN JOB DESCRIPTION

BrightBlue Marketing Incorporated has an immediate need for a highly organized production assistant that will be reporting into the Production Director of the Trail of Lights Austin events team. This position will start on an internship basis and have the potential to move to a contractor basis. The position involves support in technical and construction related aspects of the event including, but not limited to all aspects of festival execution, assistance with scheduling and coordination of equipment rentals, lifts, bobcats, and transportation needs.

Prior hands-on experience with all aspects of festival implementation and execution including live music, public address, IT requirements, hospitality, audience management, construction, and transportation a must. Proficient in computer skills, preferably Microsoft Office applications and solid communication skills are necessary.

A flexible schedule is required for pre-event planning and set-up starting almost immediately, but also must include on-site presence at event through tear down completions. Event dates are Dec. 9-18, with setup expected to take 5-6 weeks and strike expected to take at least 1 week. Expect long hours. Physical demands to include heavy lifting, possible operation of lifts and other machinery, walking and standing for extended periods of time.

Contractor is responsible for providing own laptop, mobile phone and reliable transportation.
Pay for this work is a possibility starting at $11/hr.
This position may require Background Security Checks and Drug Testing.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for the open position without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identify, disability, veteran status, sex, or age.

Submit resumes to info@trailoflightsaustin.com

Posted Friday August 12, 2011
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The New Rules of Event Marketing

This is a great article for those wishing to find new ideas on consumer engagement at events, and engagement is what it’s all about these days in marketing. There’s nowhere better to engage your customers than at events!

Posted Friday August 5, 2011
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The Trail of Lights Austin is Back!

Combo Platter is proud to work with BrightBlue Marketing in bringing back Austin’s beloved holiday tradition, the Trail of Lights, back to the community after a 1-year hiatus.

The event was put on hold after 46 years of being produced by the City of Austin due to budget shortfalls. In the Spring of 2011 the City issued a Request for Proposals to outside event producers for the outsourcing of this event. The request said that the “Holiday Event” could be just about anything, anywhere in Austin. Only one proposal was received! And that one proposal happened to come from Combo Platter and BrightBlue Marketing. We know and appreciate how meaningful the Trail of Lights is to Austin, so we put together an 85-page proposal to bring the original event back to Zilker Park. Among the exciting ideas envisioned in the proposal: a snow patch, flash mobs, a 5K run, an added live music stage, one free night for military servicemen and -women, an Austin Trailer Food Court, an I Live Here I Give Here Circle of Charities, an Adopt-A-Display refurbishment program, and of course the Trail of lit displays.

The process to work with the City is a long one and the event was officially okay’d by Austin’s City Council on August 4. So we are, as of this writing, just now able to ramp up production plans for the event, which leaves less than ideal time to implement many of those elements. What WILL happen: the Trail of lit displays, Circle of Charities, Austin Trailer Food Court, flash mobs, and a single entertainment stage which will feature a mix of live local music and community group performances.

An admission charge will depend on the amount of sponsorship revenue that is raised, but as of now we are planning on $5 per person 11 and older, with kids 10 and younger free. One dollar from each ticket sold will go to the City of Austin. (To find out more about sponsorship, email sponsors@trailoflightsaustin.com)

Follow the Trail of Lights Austin on Twitter and Facebook!

Go here to see coverage by Austin’s KVUE.

We hope to see you there in December! (Firm dates will be announced soon.)

UPDATE

Posted Friday August 5, 2011
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Large-Scale Event Management

Read my guest post for BrightBlue Marketing here

Posted Monday July 18, 2011
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