Archive for November 21st, 2006
Posted November 21st, 2006 by Scott
Did you ever dream of becoming a professional athlete when you were a child? How many times have you sat in front of the TV screaming at the top of your lungs for the coach of your favorite team to take someone out of the game? An online phenomenon has swept the nation over the last decade, putting the power of coaching a team into the hands of the everyday viewers. It’s called Fantasy Sports. Currently, there are anywhere between 15 and 18 million fantasy sports players in the US. The competition covers a wide range of sports including football, baseball, and basketball.
When football season comes around office spirits tend to rise as fantasy league participants take charge of their own fantasy football team. A Washington Times article stated that companies could lose an estimated $20 billion in productivity a year because employees spend an average of 10 minutes per work day managing a fantasy football team. Despite the negative impact on productivity, some executives have learned to live with it. In the same article, CEO John Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas stated, “The potential damage to morale and loyalty resulting from a fantasy football ban could be far worse than the loss of productivity caused by 10 minutes of online team management.”
What exactly are you part of when you join a fantasy league? Many users sign up for fantasy leagues merely to be able to talk about it around the office with colleagues. Others use fantasy as a way to stay in touch with friends from whom they have drifted apart over the years. And believe it or not there are even those sports fanatics who actually think they should be a coach in the NFL. Whether you’re a first time player or a defending fantasy trophy holder, everyone is brought together to be part of the same social channel.
Posted November 21st, 2006 by Kristin
NBC’s “It’s Your Show” (IYS) is up and running. Carson Daly has recruited YouTube’s equally loved and hated darling, Brookers, to tap into the social media phenomenon. The goal is to push viral video to the next level.
It works like this. Pick a challenge, read the rules, click on the toolkits and create your original video. All the ingredients needed – music, video clips, sound effects, etc. — are only a click away. The catch is you that can’t run stuff on IYS that isn’t yours or from the toolkits.
Hoping to win the weekly $1,000 or the ultimate $100,000 prize, a lot of users are submitting videos. Unfortunately, most of the videos lack the charm, wacky personality and irreverence of Brookers.
Corporate America is trying to tap into social media and harness it to its advantage. But the real draw of social media is that it’s unrestrained and uncensored. You can’t push the viral video world to the next level when you’re placing restraints on it. IYS says, “We know it’s harsh but this is the big time.”
IYS is not your show. It’s big time NBC’s. It’s forced and watered down — a homework assignment with a $1,000 carrot.
Posted November 21st, 2006 by admin
We’re finally coming full circle on corporate blogging. Or at least close to full circle. After the whirlwind of finding out what a blog is, and setting out the benefits of corporate blogging, Charlene Li of Forrester is questioning how corporations are measuring their efforts in blogging. She has an interesting post on corporate blogging measurement as she searches for the right process in helping companies calculate their blogging ROI.
Li suggests three main components for companies to consider:
- Potential benefits and measurement
- Potential costs and measurement
- Potential risks and measurement
Like any other marketing project, effective measurement can only come about when companies establish objectives at the outset. Corporate objectives may include strengthening customer relations, media relations, recruitment and testing ideas. Whatever the objectives, at the end of the day, it is not about traffic ranks or being the top blog on Technorati. It should be about speaking to your audience(s) and engaging in conversations with communities related to your business objectives.
Posted November 21st, 2006 by admin
The NFL has now jumped on the wagon of hosting user-generated content. The Cincinnati Bengals have become the first NFL team to launch a video site attached to their NFL main page. Fans are now able to upload user-generated content to show their support and love for the Bengals.
“The addition of fan-contributed videos is aimed at trying to get as much traffic to the site as possible and trying to keep people engaged throughout the year,” said Vince Cicero, the Bengals’ director of corporate sales and marketing.
The video site is being hosted by ViTrue, which recently acquired Sharkle.com. It looks to be a smaller version of YouTube by providing marketers with tools for creating consumer interactions.
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