Playoffs?! You Kidding Me? Playoffs?
This is a great day for College Football fans. We get our playoffs, and maybe now we can agree on who the best team in the nation is at the end of the year. As of now, we will have the 4-team playoff beginning in the 2014 season, and maybe down the road it can grow to 8 teams, or even 16. The only problem with this is that there needs to be at least a week off in between games, which can deter us from ever getting a larger tournament similar to the NCAA Basketball Tournament. I think 4 is just fine, with 8 being perfect. In the 4-team playoff system, we can sometimes get a mid-major school in there to please everyone.
This change will bring in a ton of money to College Football, on top of pleasing the fans. Networks will bid on the rights to the game soon, which itself will bring in boatloads of money to College Football. For example, ESPN signed a deal with College Football in 2011 for a 4-year contract worth $500 million. That $500 million could be the new price of getting the game on your network for a year. And on top of that, ratings are expected to go up for these games which also brings about the questions of rates for ads during the games. Super Bowl ads have been around $3-4 million per 30 second spot recently, which isn't expected for the new College Football Playoffs, but the prices will be steep.
Although they have made the decision to hold a 4-team playoff, a lot of things still need to be ironed out. Such as, who will be a part of the selection committee. It seems to be headed for a change from what it was in the past for the National Championship game. That was part of the whole reason why we wanted a playoff, because a lot of the fans agreed that the former selection committee didn't do a good job of selecting the right teams. Last year for example, they chose Alabama and LSU. Not only did these two teams already play earlier in the year during the regular season, but they are also in the same conference, the SEC. Now, I know the SEC is a superior conference (and that's coming from someone who graduated from an ACC school), but we don't want to see a rematch from the regular season in the National Championship game, unless the first matchup was a great game. But it wasn't, a final score of 9-6 isn't that exciting. A matchup of their field goal kickers doesn't make for an interesting game. And because of this, the Nielson ratings for the game was 14.0, the third lowest ever for a BCS National Championship game. The new playoff system looks to change that, and will.
Foreign Ad Market
As I head to Italy – I will be on the lookout for all sorts of traditional and non-traditional media expressions and impressions alike. I’m looking forward to report on my findings, so as this initial setup may seem short, the American market will get biweekly updates from me abroad as I observe, react, and report on how those Europeans do it differently.
Stay tuned for an exciting adventure through the World of Advertising!
A World Without Internet
The internet has allowed us to do many things, talk to friends, share pictures, shop online, check out the score of the game last night, blog, email, and get pretty much any information on anything that you would possibly want. The internet is a beautiful thing, and life has changed drastically because of it. So, here are some internet facts that truly show how important the internet is and what life would be without it.
1. Since 2002, the number of internet users has quadrupled, an increase to 2.3 billion people worldwide.
2. The internet has allowed us to connect with virtually anyone, and has given us access to an infinite amount of information.
3. There are approximately 550 million websites, with 300 million sites added in 2011.
Imagine a world without the Internet
4. The cost of a full set of Encyclopedia Britannica is $1200
5. Paying for stamps instead of sending emails would cost the US $6.3 Trillion
6. The cost of online content is $0
7. Your favorite internet companies would have never existed: Facebook, Twitter, Ebay, Groupon, Google, Amazon, etc
Nobody would have an internet job
8. Facebook by itself created 450,000 US jobs
9. The internet creates 2.6 jobs for every job it makes obsolete
10. The spread of information would come to a screeching halt.
11. 65% of people get their news online
12. 1 minute of Twitter equals 100,000 tweets
13. In one month of Facebook, 30 billion pieces of content are shared
14. Revolutions would take longer: The fall of the Berlin wall took 4 months, it took one week for 90,000 Egyptians to organize a revolution and only 18 days of protest to overthrow 30 years of dictatorship
15. Collectively, we spend 35 billion hours on the internet every month
16. Every day we consume 3 times the amount of information that we did in the 60's
False Advertising
Honestly… how many times have you purchased a product, due to a very convincing commercial, so excited about the results they boast… only to be disappointed that you seem to somehow have different results than the beautiful model with perfect hair or the handsome man who's getting all the ladies due to his new body spray?
Advertising can be a businesses' best friend, but it can also ruin you just as quickly. Here enters False Advertising. As a business owner, I would much rather be honest about the product I'm selling, because at the end of the day, what is more important – getting 100 people to buy your product once and be disappointed, or have 50 repeat customers for years to come..?
As a consumer, I am frequently discouraged when I see a convincing commercial about a product that will supposedly make my life easier, or my hair smoother, make my skin better, or make me smell like a movie star.. but at the end of the day – I simply can't understand why a company would advertise in a way to go for the quick buck, taking advantage of the naive consumer, instead of taking the time to actually make a quality product that will keep them coming back for more. Now, speaking as one of the naive consumers out there, I have a vested interest in improving the market and what it provides. I'm saddened by the loss of trust that buyers have (something we commonly experience as a business ourselves, when speaking to potential clients). Every deal in the market now seems “too good to be true”. It makes it that much harder for the honest, hardworking businesses to convince the jaded public that they indeed do have a good product that will provide exactly what it promises.
I understand there is no immediate fix to this 'false advertisement'/'lack of trust' problem. Unless folks somehow regain their conscience… it's going to be here for a while. But, I do ask the consumer to try and hold onto your faith. Don't lose it completely. If something sounds too good to be true, as they say, it probably is… but sometimes, just sometimes… a business, service, or product comes along that prides themselves on providing quality. And those are the ones worth listening to. They are the ones worth buying into who deserve your loyalty, respect and repeat business.
Not everyone out there is trying to trick you – but it takes some attention and a good eye to spot the ones who aren’t!
Jumpin’ Jehosaphat Jacksonville Jaguars!
I don't fault Jones-Drew one bit for wanting to renegotiate. He's 27. He's in the prime of his career and a franchise player, playing a position with a very short shelf-life. He's the face of the franchise and receiving mediocre pay. Aside from that, Jacksonville could use more marquis players that spend their careers exclusively in Jacksonville, a la the beloved Fred Taylor. Jacksonville could be the new Mecca for runningbacks the way that Penn State markets themselves as Linebacker U or the way my alma mater, Southern Illinois University markets the defensive effort put forth by their tenacious defense on the basketball court as “Floor Burn U”.
Gene Smith, as general manager, is granted an enormous amount of clemency due to the fact that we have a novice owner, and he can leverage his knowledge and experience in his favor. Not only would releasing or trading MOJO result in poor fan reaction and possibly turnout, but it would change the culture of football in Jacksonville, and that's a very dicey thing to do. Without being too heavy-handed with the econometrics, it makes financial sense to give MOJO the contract extension he seeks (around 4 years with elevated salary and some performance incentives should do). You can even include in the contract that he MUST always appear at mini-camp and other optional team activities.
This blog is meant to be two-fold…shedding light on a flawed advertising campaign, and for me, as a 3rd party to parlay my wisdom to the business public and pray to the football Gods that Gene Smith or other top executives within the Jaguar organization read this and elect to alter their perceptions of the current situation facing our beloved Jaguars. Come what may, I will always be a Jags fan to the end.