Poetry in Motion

Today, in France, the US Women’s National Soccer Team will play Thailand in their first round World Cup match. It has been 20 years since the US hosted the third Women’s World Cup. Despite women’s soccer riding high after the US captured gold at the ’96 Olympics in Atlanta, the US organizers for the ’99 World Cup worked against a backdrop of skepticism.

FIFA Not A Fan

FIFA (the international governing body in charge of the World Cup) wanted the US Organizers to stage the ’99 Women’s World Cup on the East Coast in small stadiums, to mitigate what they believed would be a financial loss. But the US organizers had other ideas. Emboldened and encouraged by the public’s response to the women’s gold medal performance, they made some key strategic decisions. Luck, guts and athletic performances combined to make this event an epic game-changer.

Bold Dreams and Smart Strategies

Planning began in the summer of ’97. The organizing committee helmed by Marla Messing, had no money, no sponsors, and no advance tickets sold. The US Soccer Federation gave the organizers a $2M loan against virtually no assets. US Soccer took the risk and convinced FIFA this event needed to be in big stadiums across the US. Stadiums selected included Giants Stadium (NY Metro Market, and #1 TV market) for the opener, Foxboro, (Boston),Soldier Field, (Chicago), Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, (Washington D.C.), Portland Stadium, (Oregon) Stamford Stadium (San Francisco) with the finals at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles.

Grassroots Marketing

USWNT athletes became brand ambassadors in a nationwide grassroots marketing campaign. With the goal of inspiring the next generation of female soccer players, 10’ x 10’ tents promoting the event began popping up at soccer tournaments across the country, with Team USA players showing up for clinics, meet and greets and goodwill.  

Packaged Tickets at Affordable Prices

Organizers lowered the price from the US hosted ‘94 Men’s World Cup while creating double headers at all matches except the semis and the finals. Lastly, they sold the tickets as packages rather than one-offs. According to Sports Business Journal, a month prior to the event, Jere Longman of the New York Times reported sales of 388,000 – or 3.5 times the total for the entire Women’s World Cup in Sweden in 1995.  Ticket sales began selling at even a faster clip as the tournament began.

Sponsor Support

Advertising kicked into high gear with a Nike ad featuring Mia Hamm and Michael Jordon challenging each other in a variety of sports with a music bed “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better) reaching a crescendo with Hamm flipping Jordan over her hip onto the mat in the Judo competition.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liKnJ-ejztw.   Other sponsors included McDonald’s, Coke, Fuji Film, Gillette, All State and Adidas (equipment)

Stars Are Born

The US Women’s National Team were becoming celebrities. Midfielder and Co-Captain, Julie Foudy reminisced in an interview with Sports Business Journal, “We felt like the Beatles for the three weeks. We had no idea it would take off like that. When we walked into the last week of training in L.A. for the final and we’d literally get off the bus and it would be a tunnel of thousands of fans lining the way from the bus to the training pitch, and thousands of fans screaming the entire time, we were like, what is this? We barely got 1,000 people a game before. “

The Pay Off

Everyone agreed the USWNT had to reach the final to keep the country engaged, and they delivered. The Opener at Giants Stadium was a sell-out crowd of 78,972 fans.  The sold-out Final at the Rose Bowl between the US and China set an international record for spectators watching a women’s sports event with 90,185 fans. The TV audience peaked at 40 million during the broadcast. Pregame festivities included J Lo who introduced her anthem, Let’s Get Loud. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsXaw02G4ok

When Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey in exuberance after kicking the game-winning penalty point, a culmination of moxie, belief, smarts and luck coalesced to re-imagine opportunities for women’s team sports and post a $4M profit to boot.

Beyond Meat, Beyond Me

Beyond Meat sailed in its IPO today, but left one investor behind. I tried. At 8:15 am, dressed in a carbon neutral outfit, ready to receive my broker’s call and yell “buy,” I was poised to catch my first unicorn.  But the call never came. The paltry 500 shares parsed out to Merrill Lynch’s NY office were a jump ball for 200 advisers and their clients. My adviser wasn’t in the play. My first IPO and I was stuck on the bench for BYND’s NASDAQ debut.

A Whopper of an IPO

The IPO price was $25, it opened at $46 and exploded 163% to just over $70, before ending the day at $65.75.  It was an epic listing day performance. It felt like that dream where you know the winning trifecta for the Kentucky Derby, but can’t get to the betting window.
https://www.barrons.com/articles/beyond-meat-ipo-51556043270

Why BYND?

Bench players are afforded the time and perspective to analyze beyond the next play. My mind wandered to this conundrum. With an opportunity to select a shiny new stock symbol, a branding opportunity for sure, how did they land on BYND?  Obviously an abbreviation for beyond, their choice may signal a future diversification “beyond meat” to dairy, fish and poultry.
Stock symbol branding is a thing. Consider how these companies approached it. Southwest Airlines hugged its LUV tag, Ferrari accelerated with RACE, Harley Davidson vroomed with HOG, Molson Coors tapped TAP, Sotheby’s gaveled BID, and my favorite, Asian Tiger Fund, roared with GRR. To draft off the excitement an IPO naturally engenders, a crowd-sourced, stock symbol branding competition generates more hype and good will.

Creating new stock symbols on either exchange takes imagination. While not as onerous as creating a cogent Gmail address these days, there are over 3,300 companies listed on the NASDAQ and 2,800 on the NYSE.  One to four letters in length.

Ideas for Impossible Foods and Airbnb

Plant-based meat competitor Impossible Foods and hotel disruptor Airbnb may be going public later in the year, but to date, have not announced a date or a stock symbol. Impossible Foods, might consider VEG or REAL. (Unfortunately, LEAF and GOOD are already spoken for) Airbnb, this one is a layup – ZZZ. In return, all I ask for is 500 shares at the IPO price.

Seriously Change the World

$100,000,000 For The Best Idea

On the innovation super highway, nonprofits tend to drive in the far, right lane, with reliable strategies to engage donors, fulfill their missions, and not upset the fragile eco-system inherent in a donor/funder-based model.  This entrenched mentality is 180 degrees from where many nonprofits are conceived; with a vision and a passion to change the world.  Innovation can, and is, being achieved by organizations willing to break that paradigm.  A recent partnership developed a bold, simple program to help kids in Syria recover from trauma – thanks to a serious investor and two very evolved non-profits.   

In 2016 the McArthur Foundation launched 100&Change, described as a competition for a $100 million dollar grant to fund a single proposal that promised real and measurable progress in solving a critical problem of our time. The response was predictably overwhelming. Over 1,900 proposals were submitted. The evaluation process was refreshingly transparent from identifying the judges, to laying out their methodology and publishing the top 200 submittals.

Big Bird Helps Kids in Syria

In December of 2017 the winner was announced. The Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee had teamed up to offer programming and support to address the educational gaps and toxic stress of the 9.4 million refugee children uprooted during the Syrian refugee crisis. https://www.macfound.org/programs/100change/2017/

TV, Books, Home Visits

It was an inspired partnership with three tent poles, grounded in universally-adored children’s content. (1) Original, local, episodes of Sesame Street, televised and streamed in Arabic, English and two Kurdish dialects, for all video platforms. (2) An in-home, care-giving visitation program enriched with Sesame Street digital, game, toys, books and parenting resources. (3) NGO-based learning centers with companion print and educational teacher’s guides for children in Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.  Elmo, Big Bird and friends offering lessons in language, reading and math, in addition to a holistic curriculum in socio-emotional skills to help kids overcome trauma and build resilience.

Lego matches the $100,000,000

In December of 2018, the Lego Foundation matched the original $100 million grant to expand the program to Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh.

2019 100&Change begins in April

Next month, the second 100&Change competition begins. The McArthur Foundation should be lauded for its vision, execution and commitment. 

Imagine, a second chance to change the world. Nonprofits start your engines.

Hated the Midterm Show!

While middle-aged at 53, have you ever wondered how the Super Bowl continues to attract people who know nothing about football? People who refer to the halftime entertainment as the midterm show, believe a down is a tackle, a safety is running off the field, and a blitz is a dance in the end zone?  People who consider Super Bowl Sunday a holiday even though, it is, just Sunday. People who preen over dips, chili and wings, dress their pets in silly outfits, while admiring Greg Brady’s wife Gisele. And where is everyone? Officially, the game doesn’t kick until 6:30pm, but nobody is out and about. Did I miss the memo? Here are some lessons from the NFL on how to gather the nation at your big event.

How many people watch the Super Bowl?

The event generally draws approximately 100 million viewers. 114M in good years and 98M in off years, like Sunday.  While these stats are dwarfed by global sporting events like the Cricket World Cup Finals (’15 1B viewers) and the ’18 FIFA World Cup Russia 3.4B viewers (over half the world’s population) watched France defeat Croatia; these people are real fans.

Average viewership for NFL games in 2018 was just 15 million.  That leaves 85 million casual viewers, roughly the populations of California, Texas and Florida, sampling the wings and occasionally glancing at a new 65” 4K Ultra Smart TV.

Are they ads or mini-series?

The elixir? Accessible, sticky content – coupled with curated social currency and practically no competition.

When advertisers ginned up their games to create Oscar-worthy shorts to justify the eye-popping spend for a :30 spot ($5.25M this year) bathroom breaks went the way of the Woolly Mammoth. Anheuser-Busch and Director Jake Scott capitalized brilliantly with their trilogy featuring the Clydesdales, a Labrador retriever puppy and the touching performance of actor Don Jeanes playing the Clydesdale’s trainer.

2013 Brotherhood     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiJqzdOr4Ok

2014 Puppy Love      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlNO2trC-mk

2015 Lost Puppy       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPKgC8KPBMg&t=1s

Their spots didn’t target the core football fan, but a wider, more diverse audience – namely women, and became to some, more memorable than the game itself.

How did the half-time tradition begin?

In this, “there is something for everyone” panoply, the half-time show began with college marching bands in the 60’s, followed by themed entertainment dominated by Up With People in the 70’s and 80’s, to full pop/rock shows in the 90’s. Interestingly, networks not broadcasting the game created concerts to counter program against the Super Bowl, to capture non-football fans. As the NFL brought in higher value, more relevant talent and created a halftime musical extravaganza, non-fans followed. Eventually, the other nets pretty much ceded the night. Whether half-time was a mind-blower or a bust, the “must-see TV” factor brought a third of the entire United States into the conversation.

How do you attract drive-by fans?

While the “Big Event Phenomenon” is not unique to the Super Bowl, no other US sports event comes close to attracting this jaw-dropping number of casual viewers: not the BCS Championship, the Final of the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, the World Series, Daytona 500, Sunday at the Masters, the Kentucky Derby, the NBA Finals or the Olympics. These events stay in their lanes, not curating and manipulating every minute, to orchestrate a shared experience.

While 2019 was the lowest-rated Super Bowl in 10 years, 85 million casual viewers touched the altar.   

“Good is the Enemy of Great”

Bromides for the New Year keep rolling in. Banal fillers for slow news cycles, self-appointed experts chirp about routine, weight-loss, life-management, and expectations. None of the advice is particularly compelling or constructive. As I begin 2019, the person I continue to turn to is world-renowned sports and performance psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Bob Rotella.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqnOnAJtAqU

Rotella has coached the greatest athletes, and musicians on the mental aspects of performing. Bob and I worked together on a couple of projects.  Listening to him coach always has a profound impact on my ability to conquer new challenges.

Doc’s wisdom is shared with the best of the best. I bring you under the tent for a sneak peek.  

Dream Big.

Those who separate themselves from the pack never began with average aspirations. They have huge dreams. Create a feeling of destiny. Trust and believe in that destiny.

Good is the Enemy of Great.

Most people do not want to fail. They want to be successful, they want to be good. They really don’t want to go after great. If you want to truly separate yourself, you must go after greatness, and do things most people refuse to do. It is hard.

Accept Your Misses.

Under react and confidently move forward. To be great, learn to embrace pressure and thrive in it. That is the ultimate challenge. You need to win the battle with yourself. You may not always win the trophy, but you will create a mindset that is poised to achieve your dreams.

The Politics of Story-Telling Part Two

The mid-terms are over, finally, after 12 days.   How did Democrat and nascent Congressional candidate, MJ Hegar fare against her eight-term Republican rival John Carter in a heavily red district in the Lone State? Does great story-telling woo voters?

Hegar vs Carter Texas-style

Exactly two weeks before the election, polls had MJ Hegar trailing 38% to 53% with a 5% margin. In sixteen years, John Carter had never experienced a serious challenge. He won with just 50.7% to her 47.6.  An impressive showing for a candidate whose campaign framed an impressive narrative around her strength’s vs her opponents’ weaknesses. A win for inspired story-telling and a solid candidate. 2020 MJ

The Politics of Story-Telling Part One

Political Ads Run the Gamut

With just 14 days remaining before voter’s head to the polls in this charged midterm election, candidates are squeezing out one more tv ad, flyer, and social post. Since primary season opened last spring, campaign advertising has run the gamut from the predictable (glad you approve of the message, but would your mother?)  to the bizarre, to the offensive and finally to the inspiring. What political ads resonate with voters?

The Bizarre

Levi Tillemann, a Democratic congressional hopeful from Colorado, was intentionally sprayed in the face with pepper spray to prove it was a valid alternative to arming teachers in the classroom.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2l0wVX1aQco. This Yale and Johns Hopkins grad lost the primary.   

The Offensive

Michael Williams, a Republican running for Governor in Georgia, created a “deportation bus” to tour the state and demonstrate how he would round up illegal immigrants in a school bus. He came in last place with only 4.8% of the vote.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/michael-williams-deportation-bus–campaign-2018/2018/05/16/8ab23aa2-58c1-11e8-9889-07bcc1327f4b_video.html?utm_term=.d5b2c061869f

The Inspiring

Branding wisdom shone brightly as neophyte, female, Democratic congressional candidate, MJ Hegar dropped this ad on June 20th to challenge Republican incumbent, John Carter, in a heavily red, Texas district. Carter, elected in 2002, had no serious challengers over the past 16 years, until June 23rd.  The ad, titled, “Doors”, is a metaphor for the proverbial doors she opened and knocked down as a decorated Air Force helicopter pilot and change agent. Take a look

In just 72 hours, the ad went viral and she landed on the national stage. Her backstory was powerful without being boastful, the re-creations were authentic vs contrived and her voice-over was relatable. “Doors” was touted by marketing execs as the best campaign ad of 2018. If views and money were indices, the ad has received just under 3M views and the campaign reported $1.1M raised in the second quarter with $750K coming ten days after “Doors” hit YouTube. Carter has not counter punched with any memorable creative.   

Does Good Story Telling Win An Election?

With just two weeks to go how is she polling in Texas? Does solid creative trump trash when it comes to politics? Can inspired story-telling sway red voters to turn blue? New York Times pollsters have Carter ahead 53% to 38% with a 5% margin. However, as NYT political reporter, Alex Jones remarked, “it is just one poll.” https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/elections-poll-tx31-1.html 

Perhaps in Texas it will not be politics as usual on November 6th. 

Gen Zers Head to the Polls

What makes these digital natives tick?

This newest generation is growing up and voting. Defining Gen Z voters is important for candidates looking to connect with them for the midterm elections. To start, they comprise 25% of the US population, 76 million strong. Voters are aged 18-23. 63% consider themselves influencers, 48% think of themselves as entrepreneurs and 31% think of themselves as brands. Over 25% post videos weekly and over 65% enjoy creating and sharing content on social media. They crave visual storytelling…. but keep it short. Their attention span is about 8 seconds.  Their smart phone is their screen of choice, where they spend about 6 hours a day. But their interaction is more intuitive and less intentional as technology is woven into the fabric of their social world.

Z Kids Get Tech Fatigue

They unplug to recharge. A generation of readers, they prefer paper to eBooks.  Global social justice causes are important – they are just a click away from their peers on the planet.  Most do not remember 9/11, but random violence, school shootings and the economic upheaval from the great recession have defined their childhoods and their psyche.

Score One For Human Interaction

Connecting to this generation in a meaningful way may be counterintuitive. Events and experiences trump online deals and digital hype. They are thinkers, creators and readers who gravitate towards “acoustic connections” to validate their online perceptions. Score one for human interaction……….Handshakes still count.

Keep the Wild Boars Wild

A week ago, the world watched breathlessly as each Wild Boar and their coach were arduously extracted from the depths of the earth and reunited with the wind, the sun and the sky. The innocence of their story and the absence of grandstanding by the international rescue team metaphorically underscored the indomitability of the human spirit, the pureness of selfless effort and the randomness of sheer luck. This was a master class in crisis management.

Live Gripping Drama

Nothing was packaged, produced or scripted. Rather the opposite. Like players in a Shakespearean play, we watched the drama unfold over three achingly long weeks without interpretation, sensationalism or blame.

When former Navy SEAL Samar Kunan died delivering oxygen tanks to assist the rescue effort, we felt a collective stab and braced for more tragedies. Yet, the work continued, unabated. Quiet. 

Rescuers Manage the Mission and the Media

When the actual rescue mission commenced, Quiet. It wasn’t until the first Wild Boar was delivered from the watery tomb that we heard the triumphant news and awaited the 12 sequels. The rescuers even self-corrected after prematurely celebrating before the remaining Thai Navy Seals and the Australian medic had safely exited the Tham Luang cave.

Keep Their Story Pure

The quarantined Wild Boars are expected to be released later this week.  Countless story tellers with deep pockets are angling for the exclusive on their improbable odyssey. At a time when nothing seems sacred from spin and exploitation, the Wild Boars and the Navy Seals have an opportunity. Soon the cocoon will be pierced. Navigate this last passage and ban together to preserve the integrity, dignity and heroics of your story and thrill the world for years to come.