Marketing Idea: Underutilized Resource College Organizations

Your company is most likely neglecting a great resource that is inexpensive to use.  College Organizations, there is a college organization or group for anything you or your company needs to do or have done.  I was a member of the American Marketing Association at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.  As a member I was able to   meet with many company representatives that spoke at our meetings.  The representatives talked about their jobs, their company, and answered questions.  I was able to network with many individuals and different companies through the AMA, but that is where my relationship stopped.  These companies that spoke were helpful and informative but all came down to finding some perspective employees.  That is great for the company and the AMA members, but the company could have utilized the AMA more.

The AMA chapters participate in case competitions where they create detailed marketing campaigns for the selected company or organization.  As a member if a company asked me or the UWM AMA to help create a marketing campaign, slogan, plan, etc.  I would have been happy to do so.  All a company would have had to do was ask or make a proposal, for about a tenth of what it would have cost the company to do it the AMA could have.  I realized this and instead of waiting for a company to make a proposal I wrote one to Joe Sorge of the now famous AJ Bombers.

Part of the proposal: "An American Marketing Association fundraiser at AJ Bombers will increase the level of awareness University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee students have of AJ Bombers, while providing additional funding for the UWM Chapter of AMA. This will be done by promoting the menu and specials of AJ Bombers on campus by the use of strategically placed posters and flyers, and by word of mouth. The fundraiser will consist of promoting a new Burger of the Month, for the month of November 2009, called “The AMAzing Burger,” where one dollar of each burger sold will go to the UWM AMA."

While the fundraiser did not yield the projected results, it did increase the awareness of AJ Bombers on campus and gave me and other AMA members valuable experience in creating a marketing campaign. Most importantly it provided additional funds for the AMA so the organization could continue to provide their members.  So on behalf of myself and the UWM AMA I would like to thank Joe Sorge and AJ Bombers again for taking the chance with us.

So that was my personal experience with the underutilized college organizations.  

Why you should consider using a college organization?

1. The number of college organizations and ability to find one just right for what you need.
2. The ease of finding that college organization and making contact with the president, a simple search on the campus website for organizations should provide you with a list that you could use.  Or a Google search if you know what organization you would like to use.
3. It provides valuable experience to the college students in the organization.
4. Costs less than using an agency or going in house (or it should)
5. The money goes to the organization and is used for its members benefit.

I am not saying that using a college organization is perfect for every situation but it should be considered.

Do you or your company have any personal experience?  Do you know any college organizations that would fit with what you intend to do?  Have you considered using a college organization?  Any other reasons why you would or should consider using a college organization?

When is it Time to Change the Status Quo?

This post focuses on only one aspect of business, change or the need for change with the introduction of social media.  Change is a difficult decision because a majority of people do not like change.  A lot of businesses are changing their approach in reaching customers and are venturing out into new social media markets.  While others are weary of this change and keep doing the same thing.  There are three contradicting approaches to businesses.

The first is don't fix what isn't broken; keep doing the same thing until it no longer works.  These are the businesses who have steady sales and wait to change something until they need to.  This is a dangerous approach where you are waiting for something to go wrong before you fix it.  Instead of repairing a small leak they wait until it bursts and turns into a flood.

The second approach is stay with the times; do what the other businesses are doing.  Once your competitor(s) is successful on Twitter or Facebook you join in social media as well.  With this approach you remain close to the competition but always a step behind.  That wait gives you the extra time to see how the new strategy is working for the competition so you can adopt their strategy, alter it, or ignore it.

The third approach is to be a trend-setter and a first mover.  This approach is being the first to get and use the latest technology or strategy.  They might be unproven and risky but that extra risk may hold a great reward.  By being the first mover you will have a step up on the competition, one in which they might never catch up.  With this or any approach it is important to not only adopt the new (social media) tools but to stay current with the changes and evolution of those tools.

So which approach works best, that will depend on your industry and companies preference.  Each approach has its pros and cons, some more than others.  But in this current environment of constant change keeping everything the same is at the very least not going to improve your business.  You don't need to make a big change, in fact it is better to continually make numerous small changes. People tend not to like change especially a large change, many small changes help ease the transitions.  There is no perfect business, formula, or strategy each and everyone can be improved and refined.  By remaining content with the status quo you are hurting your chances for growth and improvement.

A similar blog post talking about change (or lack of) from Inoveryourhead.net

Which strategy does you or your company use?  Is their another approach?  When should or do you make a change to how you or your company operates?  This post mostly applies for marketing, advertising and sales, what other areas would fit?


Photo Credit to Chapendra

Continual Education: Always Learning

I graduated in December 2009 and I am learning MORE now that I am out of college. All being self taught for my enjoyment and to stay on top of the changing trends in the business world. I am putting more time and effort in now than I did during college.  I am also having to absorb a lot more because of how much information I am taking in daily.  Honestly I am not sure how long I will be able to go at this pace.  I am currently teaching myself about SEO, proper social media use for different brands and other topics.  My class load is huge right now and it is getting harder for me to retain this information.  To help aid myself in this task I am starting to teach myself like this was a class and taking notes to review later and less like a hobby.

How am I continuing my education?

• Watching numerous webinars on topics that interest me including social media, marketing, and engagement. 
• Reading numerous books on marketing. Some books I recommend are UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging (affiliate link if I did it correctly) and Twitter Works.
• I read numerous blogs every day a quick list of my top 5 because of the content, quality, and consistency are:

1. Social Media Examiner
2. The Brand Builder
3. Jim Raffel
4. UnMarketing 
5. Translator Digital Cafe

• Writing blog posts talking about marketing and getting my ideas out onto the web.
• Conversing with other marketing professionals on Twitter and Linkedin.

Photo credit: ZadorSpain

What webinars are you watching and participating in?  What books are you currently reading or would recommend that I and others read?   Which are the blogs you read daily, I read more than those 5 but they all offer consistent quality posts.

5 Easy Ways to get me to follow you on Social Media (Twitter)

My followers on Twitter have been steadily increasing, mostly with spam bots and people I have no interest in following or don't know. That and my twitter time line (Twitstream) is pretty full especially when I get to it at lunch break. Usually I don't have time to read all the posts but I do click on a few of the people I follow to see what they posted. A few that I always read include Coalesce, FitMke, Tom Snyder (triveraguy), and Jim Raffel. The reason why I check these 4 before any others is they tweet great content and links about Marketing and Social Media and for Fit Milwaukee they offer great tips for running. They pertain to me and my interests and are not cluttered with a bunch of Foursquare check ins or blip songs. This list is also great suggestions for Follow Friday.

Now on to the ways for me to follow you and to get my attention

1. Follow me first- This is a basic start, but just because you are following me doesn't mean I will follow you back. I follow about 1/3 of the people who follow me mainly because I don't have time to read thousands of tweets. I also only check my followers once a week to see if I have any new followers.
2. Have a logical reason to be following me- If you are following me you should be doing so for a reason.
   A. Are in my geographic location (Milwaukee or Appleton, Wisconsin).
   B. Have a common interest whether it is video games, sports, G4, Olivia Munn (OMFG), or some other commonality.
   C. Like my awesome, witty, hilarious tweets. Which I am sorry have been lacking a lot as of late.
   D. Or most importantly are in the marketing or a similar industry.
   
3. Don't have half your tweets be from apps- I had a hard time wording this but in lament's terms don't have most of your feed be filled with foursquare check ins or similar programs (gowalla) and to a much lesser extent songs from Blip or what video you rated on youtube. Now don't get me wrong its fine to use these apps and post where you are or what you are listening to I just don't want that to be all you do or tweet about.
   
4. Have quality tweets in your timeline- This goes back to point 3 but if you are a new follow the last 20 or so of your tweets determines if I am going to follow you back. Comical tweets are great for a follow but tweets that have information and something I can learn from is best. Have a reason for me to follow you.
   
5. Have a conversation with me- Reply to one of my tweets let me know you are following me and reading what I tweet. Let me know that you exist, this is one of the main ways I follow you.

Do you have any other ways or rules for following someone? Do you agree with this list? Do you follow me on twitter? Do you have someone who I should be following?

Marketing/Dream Idea: Streetza Pizza

Be warned this will be an interesting and different post to say the least…. So here it goes:

Last night I dreamt that I was the General Manager (I know that’s for baseball but it was a dream) of a pizza shop in Milwaukee. It was part of the Streetza family but had an awesome name… which I do not remember… since it was a dream parts have been forgotten and was not a pure idea. I will describe my dream while making marketing advice and suggestions on why it would work or wouldn’t and what should be changed.

Breakdown of the place

The dream started in the middle of the “story” and had some flashbacks with what I believe was my subconscious filling in the missing parts to make it work. It was a small pizza place with a handful of tables a counter, 2 cash registers, an awesome menu display up top, and some pizza warmer racks behind the counter. The pizza warming racks had timers on them that kept track of how long the pizzas were out, I will explain this later. The back had a large oven(s) (It was one oven but changed to many ovens later, but still fit a lot of pizzas) a large chart/board on the wall with times and when the pizzas should be made and placed in the over for maximum efficiency. There was a nice prepping table a large fridge with all the fresh ingredients, some random people working on making pizzas and an office. I was usually in the office taking phone orders for a full pizza and working on the social media aspects of the pizzeria. During busy times I would come out and help with the extra demand, whether I was making a pizza or working a register.

This part of the dream made plenty of sense since it was all based on prior knowledge of restaurants. The menu over the top of the counter was similar to McDonald’s but not lit up, more closely resembling that of Bella’s or Kopp’s. It was plastic or wood that was painted and had the name of the business in the upper left… the name which I forgot. It offered the four normal slices offered by Streetza and a fifth special slice of the day. The prices were 3.75 per slice (same as Streetza) but if the slices were over an hour old they were a dollar. Not sure if an hour would be a good amount of time, might need to be shorter in real life to make it more effective. You could order a whole pizza for 18 dollars if you called it in ahead of time. If you were ordering a slice you could have it to-go or here at the pizzeria. The to-go had a nice cardboard triangle wedge that the slice of pizza fit into. The menu also offered soda in three sizes from a Pepsi machine to the side and an option of garlic bread. The cash register was very simple with an easy layout of each type of pizza with three columns, whole pizza, slice, dollar slice. Then on the right side the three sizes of soda and garlic bread. There was a sales tax added onto the purchase which angered one customer. The board in the back was a white board with magnets of each pizza and times for when they were to be in the oven. I assume this was because of the different demand for the slices so there would not be a wait on a particular slice, as well as to keep track of the phone orders.

How it began

Later in the dream I sequenced back to how it all started. I won a large lottery (wish I knew when and the winning numbers) so I moved back to Milwaukee and enjoyed myself but eventually got bored (yeah right). So I contacted Scott Baitinger of Streetza Pizza about opening up a Streetza store that operated during the day. Montage sequence later and after 3 months of planning we were set to start a business. We decided on a location (no idea where that was but I think the location was between North and Brady based on the surrounding buildings) had some interviews and stories written up and found and trained some employees. Pretty sure it took a total of 6 months before the stores grand opening and opening special of dollar slices all day.

Since it was a montage of sorts most of the exact details were skipped. The first three months would have included coming up with a solid business plan that listed the prices and procedures as well as the goal and mission of the business. Also needed to be done near the end of those three months would be proper research to find the right location, since that would be key. Either by a college or a bunch of businesses would be a prime location. Down town Milwaukee would have also been good but there is some decent competition there with Rustico and Brick 3 and the other numerous restaurants and the rent prices would be higher. But any prime location will have competition so the location would come down to some graphical equation plotting price vs. customer base/potential profits. The building would also take time to renovate the location to fit the needs of the pizzeria. Then there is the hiring and training of the employees and finding a local company to purchase the ingredients from. The final piece that would need to be done prior to opening is the buildup of awareness and social media. More information about how to create a successful restaurant (a restaurant I would go to and frequent) will be a future blog post, stay tuned for that.

Other tidbits

The dream was very unlinear much like an episode of Lost so some other key parts will be placed here since they happened “randomly” and in no real order. One of the reasons the business in my dream was so successful was not only the great brand that Scott built up with loyal patrons but because I also took a very hands on approach and was heavily involved. I am a person who gets my hands dirty and will do the work that needs to be done, even if in the example I had no real need to (lottery win). I also worked with a few groups at UWM, including CEO and AMA. I spoke to both organizations about the idea and the steps taken to make it a success. Answered some key questions about the aspects of the business, might I add I was awesome in doing so… even if I don’t remember the exact questions or answers. Sponsored CEO and AMA by providing pizza at the meetings and presenting them with fundraising opportunities. One fundraising opportunities was creation of the pizza of the day which would be sold for an extra dollar a slice that went towards the organization. Which gave birth to the AMAzing pizza, which in my dream was AWESOMLY AMAZING, I could really smell and taste it even if it was just a dream. We also helped Panther Pack out (UWM Panther Athletics) by being a sponsor for their rewards program, after attending so many games given a coupon or other item donated from a local business, for a free slice of pizza. We also catered much like Streetza does now; this would allow the truck to be open on those nights when they would be catering an event. Also in my dream there was a break in/ vandalism which was solved by social media help and the person who gave information that led to the conviction of the vandal got free pizza for a year.

And that sums up what I can remember from the dream, it would be nice if that managed to happen. One problem is I did not win a lottery so I could not invest in the business as well as the other cash flow problems that could arise. However Scott if for some reason this idea has some traction I will be more than happy to help out make it a reality and even be the(general) manager.

What location would you like to see a streetza pizzeria? What would you name it? Would you frequent a place like that? Any other suggestions or comments?

Marketing Idea: College Video Game Tourney

Large Marketing Budgets for upcoming games, even larger for the highly anticipated titles.
Video game companies invest a large amount of time, money, and effort in upcoming games and new releases. This is so the interest and awareness is there, but isn't the awareness already there. Avid gamers already know the release date to the titles they want, from numerous magazines, tv shows, web shows, websites, posters, store listings, and blog posts. Most of which cost the companies little to nothing for advertisements.

Should the advertising and marketing budgets be cut?
No if anything the budgets should be increased. A larger investment in advertising and marketing will result in more sales. Their is a point when more advertising will not result in more sales. Tradition advertising does work but more can be done to improve sales and awareness. Bungie and Microsoft spent over 250 million on the creation and promotion of Halo 3. This allowed for one of the best first day sales ever, as well as the best selling game in 2007. What should happen is the budgets should be adjusted to allow for new ideas and avenues for advertising.

One idea would be for hosting a video game tournament at college(s) around the country.
Taking 10 million from the budget, or cutting the number of commercials by as little as 10 airings could cover setting up and running a tournament at a large college. College students are one of the main demographics of video game players. Video game tournaments have been around since the days of the arcade machines. Many movies about video games and tournaments have been made including The Wizard showed the popular Nintendo World Champion Tournament. Tournaments are continually becoming more popular with profession circuits, teams, advertisements, fans, in all aspects a sport.

Tournament logistics for a successful event:

• The tournament should be held on a campus with the resources and size to be able to host a large gaming tournament in both space and utilities.
  
• The tournament should be the weekend prior to the release date, this will allow for fair play, the game will be completed, as well as the most "buzz" will be generated.
  
• There will be a tournament entry fee and prizes similar to other cash tournaments.
  
• Each participant will have 1 hour practice time to get accustomed to the controls of the new game and strategize.
• The platforms and games will be provided for the tournament from Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo.
• The number provided will be dependent on the number of entrants and size of campus but between 100 and 200 platforms and copies of the game.
• The televisions will be rented out as well as anything else that is required.
  
• The game chosen will be one with multiplayer, a highly anticipated release, and can have quick yet detailed matches.
• The format will follow standard cash tournament setup with matches, eliminations, and rules.
• Held once a semester, at different campuses.
  

Simplified Logistics
Basically the rules and set up will follow those of other cash tournaments. The systems, games, and anything else that is needed will be rented or provided from the game system's company, who ever the tourney is for. The game will be one that will be released in the upcoming week and has multiplayer.

Halo 3 Tournament: What could have been
As stated earlier Halo 3 had one of the largest budgets for a video game. There was a lot of press for the release of the game and numerous parties. Bungie and Microsoft could have also held a video game tournament with Halo 3 the weekend prior to its release at one of numerous colleges. This tournament would have brought numerous popular video game all stars to the event and press coverage. College students would also attend and compete and the hosting college and city would receive a large amount of press and increased revenues from the travelers and event. For the cost of about 10 national commercials Microsoft could have paid for the tournament, or had the fees cover a majority of the costs. To also help with the costs, which are minimal for the amount of exposure that will be received, many sponsors could help spread the costs. Some sponsors could include beverage or retail companies including Walmart, Best Buy, and GameStop. Additional PR is always a benefit especially when its free and gets covered and picked up all over, which this tournament would have.

Would you like a tournament like this at your college, city? Would you attend a tournament? Would this make you more likely to purchase the game?

Future Blog Topics

Milwaukee – Top 5 things to do

• Sporting events
• Brewery Tours
• Museums
• Festivals
• Burgers, Brats, and Beer

Milwaukee – Man v Food, Food Wars

Excessive advertisement, downfalls, negatives

Tips for bars and restaurants

• Prices listed
• Fresh Food
• Quality, Speed, Price

College Video Game Tourny

Cheap advertising and PR – College groups/ Orgs

Appleton Bars
Not new person/ search friendly

Social Media, not going anywhere
New tool in marketing and Advertising

Printing, newspaper industry problems

Buy Local

Theft Prevention

Any preference in which post should be first? Want more info on any of the topics?

Marketing Idea: Sports Venues

Empty Seats

It is rare in this economy to find a sold out sporting event, or venue. This affects the amount of profits a team or complex can receive. While the breakdown of revenues will differ with each venue/location and the actual numbers unknown and approximate breakdown follows:

• Admission (ticket sales) 40%
• Parking 10%
• Food and Beverage sales 30%
• Merchandise 15%
• Other 5%

With unsold seats there is the loss of revenue and potential revenue

One of the largest sources of revenue for teams and arenas is corporate sponsorship. With an increased attendance the companies sponsoring the team will get more brand awareness and would be able to be charged more as well as more companies would be willing to sponsor.

Real world example

Figures and stats are not actual and just estimates

The Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee still have seats available even during their current hot streak. Even with the current promotions and discounts there remain unsold seats. The image to the left shows all the seats available for a Friday night game against the Miami Heat. Most of the back row(s) remain available for sale. If the Bucks or any team would have a cheap ticket deal for dollar seats or even 5 dollar seats the attendance will rise. There are numerous promotions available for discounted tickets which should remain the primary focus of the organization. The cheap tickets would be for individuals who have no preference for where they would sit and for a spur of the moment decision. A suggested distribution system and restrictions is explained below. The team and facility already are paying for those seats to be used similar to an airplane, if they go unused it is a loss of revenue and potential revenue. One possible downside of these cheap tickets is the loss of revenue from people willing to pay more. But these seats would be in the nosebleed section top rows.

The Setup

A special ticket window for individuals can purchase one dollar tickets, with a set limit of 500 per event. One ticket per person, cash only, no selection the tickets would be handed out in order of available seats starting on the highest row circling around the arena. This will allow for a quick transaction and a faster turnaround. One person taking the dollar (cash only) then giving the ticket should be able to hand out 10 per minute, so the 500 would be handed out in under an hour. The selling of the tickets would start 1 hour prior to tip-off/ start of the event.

The Benefits

With an estimate that each person attending a Bucks game would spend an average of $10 on refreshments and souvenirs and an estimated loss of 50 higher priced tickets that would have been sold at normal price.

• 500 dollar tickets at 1 dollar each $500
• Average $10 spent per person $5000
• 50 lost revenue tickets (Would have paid $18) ($850)
• Would have spent (Already were going) ($500)
• Overall increase of revenue of $4150

That would be every home game, increased attendance and increased revenues.

Promoting the Special

It can be promoted by social media; the Bucks and Bradley Center already have a great social media presence. In short amount of time blogs and local news will pick up the story.

Similar Successes

The Brewers have dollar tickets for the seats that are blocked by the pillars which are sold on game day only and always sell out quick.

Andrew Bogut started “Squad Six” where he supplies 100 tickets for fans to help support and cheer on the team. “Squad Six” has been a huge success the atmosphere in the arena has improved much from last season.

This is a first attempt to get some of my ideas out on paper, tried to organize my thoughts as best as I could. All stats and figures were estimates done with some online research but not definite.

Would this idea work for the Bucks, or other venues? Would it detract from other promotions and result in a loss of revenue? Would there be a problem with people buying the dollar seats and moving closer?