August 2009

shaqTrue to the social-media savvy, NBA All-Star’s form, Shaquille O’Neal’s two-day stay in Vegas tipped off with on-the-street giveaways as a part of an all-night social media blitz that took place to launch the weekend’s enlyten events.

Digital Royalty planned the first-ever progressive tweet-up, known as a Tweethop. It’s a mixture between a Tweetup, a meeting between Twitter acquaintances, and club hopping with Hip hop dancers in town. The Hip hop squad handed out enlyten product samples throughout the evening in some of the trendiest clubs along the strip. The entire event was planned via social media.

Watch how it all went down during this video, and see Shaq dance…

 

About Amy Martin

Amy Martin spent eight years living the agency life working with clients such as the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Coyotes and the the Super Bowl XLIII Host Committee. She recently spent three seasons with the Phoenix Suns developing and monetizing their digital media platform. During her time with the Suns, she was responsible for concepting, pitching, executing and measuring digital marketing partnerships (sponsorships). Digital Royalty, Amy’s Digital Integration and Social Marketing agency, focuses on developing strategies to help corporate brands, professional sports leagues, teams and athletes build, measure and monetize their digital universe. She has developed a proprietary Return on Influence (ROI) measurement formula to demonstrate the value of social marketing. Her most recent example of social media success is the growth of Shaquille O’Neal’s digital brand via social media and implementing measurable strategies which have resulted in securing major endorsement deals.

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We’re terrified of cold calls.  Can we admit that?

Cold Call

There’s nothing that strikes fear in the hearts of men and women quite like the icy grip of the COLD CALL.  Even the name sounds like a bad B-movie: “You never know who’s on the end… of a COLD CALL!” (Cue terrifying shriek, bad music)  “Rated “R” for Run Toward Another Job Right Away.”

The reason we hate them so much is because we know how we feel when we RECEIVE them!

Think about your feelings when someone calls or visits you out of the blue looking for you to buy something.  You’re thinking about all the negative words that people use to describe salespeople, and don’t want to be thrown into that same category.  Right?

So here’s the secret… [click to continue…]

About Bill Guertin

Bill Guertin is CEO (Chief Enthusiasm Officer) of The 800-Pound Gorilla, a dynamic sales training and consulting company whose list of blue-chip clients includes the ticket sales departments of dozens of teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL, Major League Baseball, and Major League Soccer.  He is the author of the Gold Medal-award-winning book Reality Sells, and The 800-Pound Gorilla of Sales: How to Dominate Your Market.  Subscribe to his Sports Ticket Sales Newsletter at www.The800PoundGorilla.com, or follow Bill on Twitter at www.twitter.com/800poundgorilla. 

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Mark Buehrle

The Chicago White Sox, a Digital Royalty client, practiced perfect social media agility on July 23rd as Mark Buehrle threw a Perfect Game. What were the measurable social media results? The White Sox experienced a 21% increase of their online ecosystem, Positive Sentiment grew 8 percentage points and words like “LOVE, BUEHRLE, PERFECT and OBAMA” were added to the White Sox online semantic cloud that historic day in social media.

Watch the video below to see what online results the White Sox received from this experience…

Photo Credit: Mark Buehrle

About Amy Martin

Amy Martin spent eight years living the agency life working with clients such as the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Coyotes and the the Super Bowl XLIII Host Committee. She recently spent three seasons with the Phoenix Suns developing and monetizing their digital media platform. During her time with the Suns, she was responsible for concepting, pitching, executing and measuring digital marketing partnerships (sponsorships). Digital Royalty, Amy’s Digital Integration and Social Marketing agency, focuses on developing strategies to help corporate brands, professional sports leagues, teams and athletes build, measure and monetize their digital universe. She has developed a proprietary Return on Influence (ROI) measurement formula to demonstrate the value of social marketing. Her most recent example of social media success is the growth of Shaquille O’Neal’s digital brand via social media and implementing measurable strategies which have resulted in securing major endorsement deals.

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facebook There are not enough hours in the day to successfully manage a plethora of social media profiles.  The bottom line is that you need to make money.  Social networking sites will help you build a strong network of contacts, but you still must devote a large portion of your business day to selling and perfecting the actual services you provide in order to generate some sort of income.  Personally, I have taken a liking to Facebook and Twitter.  I never managed to build up a strong enough Digg reputation and StumbleUpon is not a site I travel to very often. [click to continue…]

About Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner is a CEO, sports agent, journalist, entrepreneur, and innovator. Darren created the first sports agent blog on the internet, SportsAgentBlog.com, which receives upwards of 5,000 unique visits per day from sports agents, athletes, media sources, and the general public. In the blog, everything from contract negotiations to endorsement deals are examined, providing the framework for a great deal of information upon which he has been able to depend. In 2009, Darren created EntertainmentAgentBlog.com, which has the same purpose of SAB, but focuses on the entertainment industry. Darren is also the CEO and Founder of Dynasty Athlete Representation, a full service sports and talent agency that handles contract negotiations, marketing endorsements, financial planning, legal services, etc. Darren graduated from the University of Florida in May 2007 with a Political Science Major and was valedictorian of his class. He is a member of many Honors Societies including, Florida Blue Key, Phi Beta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi. He is now in his third and final year at the University of Florida Levin School of Law, where he is serving his second consecutive term as the President of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society.

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Stephon Marbury

Stephon Marbury should’ve refrained from life-streaming. Starbury TV, as far as I’m concerned, was an epic failure.  Why?

David Neiman of Athlete Interactive put it so poignantly that I’ll just share what he had to say and let you judge for yourself:

“We want athletes to awe us, and that’s precisely what they do when they’re doing what they do best: playing sports. Think of your favorite highlight — Michael Jordan hitting over Bryon Russell, John Elway going head over heels into the end zone, whatever comes to mind. That moment has an epic, emotional power; you might find yourself shaking your head in amazement right now just thinking about it. But more than just witnessing that moment, you felt part of it. A critical part of being a fan is sharing in the experience of athletes you like.”

Do you see where this is going? [click to continue…]

About Ryan Stephens

Ryan is an Associate Media Analyst at Sports Media Challenge where he helps champion social media strategies for sports, lifestyle and entertainment brands. In his spare time he serves as a social media consultant who is passionate about the power of web 2.0 and its ability to cultivate conversations, build relationships and spread of ideas. Feel free to leave your thoughts on his article in the comments section below, connect with him on his blog at Ryan Stephens Marketing or on Twitter @ryanstephens, and read the rest of his bio here.

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Red Sox Fan

In the economic times of 2009 everyone is trying to define and produce value.  Like most marketing buzzwords, value can be a very ambiguous concept.

When fans look to spend their discretionary income to take in a ballgame, they base their purchasing decision on the emotions that the product of sports provides.  The emotional aspect in purchasing the experience can at make fans even more discretionary.

Fans are seeking the best deals to see their favorite teams and teams are consistently trying to add value to the fan experience.  Fans want deals, but buy value.  However, while teams often sell by adding value, fans buy based on their perceived value.  ESPN’s recent Ultimate Standings survey encompasses eight categories that relate to the fan’s perception of value. The objective of the survey being to measure nationally how well teams turn fan dollars into wins.

There is a paradox in this measurement.  First, the poll was created based on what fans want, not what they consume.  Second, it was only 50,000 plus responses, while by July [click to continue…]

About Tyler Johnson

Tyler Johnson is an innovative thinker inspired by the likes of Bill Veeck, Jon Spoelstra, Pat Williams & Brooks Boyer. Currently working for Kroenke Sports & Entertainment as a Group Sales Account Executive for the Denver Nuggets. Prior he worked as the New Business Development Executive with the Chicago White Sox. Tyler has also worked directly with the inventor and creator of Arena football and also for Mike Ditka’s former Chicago AFL franchise. As a former collegiate athlete and business sensed individual Tyler ventured to combine his passions to get into the business side of sports.

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Billy Mays

“Hi, Billy Mays Here!”

was his famous tagline and for years he made late night television his home, moving millions upon millions of cleaning products like the Awesome Auger, OxiClean and Orange Glo – two minutes at a time. Mays died recently at his home in Florida, but not before leaving us with many an infomercial gem.

While he had his critics and his style certainly was not for everyone, few would argue with the fact that he was one of the most successful pitchmen in television history. Mays could captivate talking compost with his high octane pitch, which often included witty one liners like “it takes the hardwork out of yardwork.” So how did he do it and what can sponsorship sales execs learn from him? [click to continue…]

About Kris Mathis

Kris Mathis is the Founder/CEO of SponsorPitch.com, a New York City-based sponsorship networking start-up. Kris started his career in sponsorship representing Fortune 500 clients at Edelman PR's sponsorship consulting division prior to jumping to a brand management position at Paris-based mobile gaming startup, Gameloft. In between, Kris attended graduate school in Nashville (Music City!), Tennessee. In his spare time, Kris enjoys eating, running, the beach, UFC and Bryant Park. Follow Kris on Twitter @Sponsorpitch!

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erin andrews

As the old Virginia Slims tagline for the Women’s Tennis Tour said  in the 1970s, “WOW!” Oh, wait … that line was,

“You’ve come a long way, baby.”

The way publicists communicate with sports editors and reporters has changed along with the rest of the media world. What people on the outside of the industry may not know, however, are that the details that were carried out with physical and cerebral strength years ago, are today, combined with professionals’ organizational and technical abilities.

But I digress…

I venture to say that the most visual change among sports publicists and media are in the way each look. Sports were once all about the guys…the good ol’ boys…reporters chain-smoked or fashioned cigars hanging out of the corners of their mouths. Along came Title IX , which brought more women to the playing field. At the same time, press row began to show its feminine side.

While the majority of sports executives remain male, the overall composition today, is mixed. Issues from locker room access to who is allowed to play, put a spotlight on society’s shift as more women delayed marriage and took jobs outside their homes. [click to continue…]

About Gail Sideman

Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.

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