I was relaxing in my kayak late Sunday afternoon. It was the day before Labor Day and the water was calm in Narragansett Bay. No wind. No waves. I leaned back into the boat and let the tide take me back up the bay towards my home as I basked in the sun.
Then I heard a knock. It was like a faint knock on your front door. Another knock. Another. Another. Louder. Louder. Louder. I sat up and looked around me. The water was churning. Bubbling. The water around me appeared to be boiling. Dead calm one minute. Ready to cook pasta the next. Then I could see who was knocking. They were bluefish. Hundreds…thousands in a feeding frenzy. They chased baitfish up the bay into my exact location. They were jumping out of the water, banging against my kayak, fighting each other for a morsel of baitfish.
One jumped high enough and landed in my kayak. A nasty sucker with measurable teeth. He started flopping around and was puking out some of the baitfish he ingested. The kayak rocked as I jerked back startled. Startled turned to frightened as I thought what would happen to my flesh if I rolled too far into the water. I used my paddle to flick the fish back into the water. He wanted to get back into the fight. His teeth were chomping as I scooped him back into the bay.
The fish started to move a little away from me, further up the bay. I watch with a sense of wonder at how rabid the bluefish were fighting and gnashing at each other to get just one taste. Watching this frenzy made me think – this must be what the line looks like at an Apple store on the day of a new iPhone release.
Welcome to Swimming in the Flood; a podcast where we develop the resilient leader’s mindset by navigating difficult currents in business. My name is Trent Theroux.
According to marketing firm Stella Pop, there are five required components to creating a successful marketing media frenzy. First, allow your audience time to learn about your new offering. Create a curiosity gap for your audience. When audiences are shown teaser content, it’s proven that they will want closure from the enticing advertisements. In 2019, Shark Week ads started two months before the official Shark Week, and the announcement stating the dates of the week contributed a lot to the hype. Here are a few ways to build up to the event or launch.
Second, Communicate Creatively. After allowing enough time to be promoted properly, you will need to think about where and how you are communicating. Focus on which social media platforms are most likely to have your target audience actively using them and strategize your communication.
Third, use partnerships to your advantage. Look for a sponsor or spokesperson to endorse your event or new product. They don’t have to be celebrities; just well known in the space you are trying to conquer. This is a perfect time to use influencer marketing!
Fourth, involve your audience. Create spaces where you can interact with your audience. This could potentially be creating a Facebook Event or Group. That way, friends can invite others, share, and promote the event or group, ask questions, and meet new people.
Last, Deliver! After all the hype has been created, make sure that the official launch or event is well worth the wait and don’t stop marketing once it is live or out on the market. Encourage your audience to share their experience and repost their reviews and photos across your own page. This will ensure anyone who is just buying into the hype knows it’s well worth it!
Apple iPhone releases are a good example of executing marketing awareness. Have you ever stood in line on day one for a new phone? Would you want to? Apple early adopters are a special breed. Last year in Dubai, the excitement was so palpable that the Apple store had to be secured a day prior to the official iPhone launch. Security personnel were tasked with urging a huge rush of enthusiastic shoppers to consider visiting on subsequent dates or exploring online booking options. Then, came the violence.
This is no different than standing in the grammar school lunch line on pizza day. Everyone wants to cut in front of you. At the Apple store, it led to bruises and several broken bones and plenty of tears.
Apple knows how to build up their product. But I will tell you. They are not the best.
I am now going to give you my unscientific, non-peer reviewed, resilient leader theory for executing marketing awareness. Are you ready? Got your pencils out? Here’s it is. Create A Frenzy. You heard it. Create A Frenzy. The theory is simple. Here’s how it works.Top of Form
I went to Detroit to watch Superbowl XL. The matchup was the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Seattle Seahawks. As the New England Patriots were sitting out that year’s Superbowl, I decided to cheer for the Steelers. To say that I just went to the Superbowl is an injustice. The Superbowl isn’t a regular three-hour game on a Sunday – it’s a weeklong event!
My friend Andrew and I arrived in Detroit on Friday afternoon and followed the crowd to Radio Row. This is where hundreds of radio broadcasters line up to speak to millions of people around the world about the Superbowl. We saw legendary star after legendary star seated in broadcast areas telling their football anecdotes and making predictions about the game.
We left Radio Row and were hit in the face with the aromas of fifty street vendors vending polish sausage to popcorn and everything in between. Stuffed to our gills we continued to follow the crowd and the NFL signs and ended up at a party in the General Motors tower. We just walked in and were served free drinks all complements of the National Football League. We looked out over the city from high above and couldn’t imagine a better day. Then came Saturday.
The day started at the NFL Experience. This event was held in the Joe Louis Arena – a really big open area space. The centerpiece of the space was football related activities in which you could compete. You could throw passes to moving receivers, you could long snap into a target, there was a full-scale obstacle course, and you could try to kick a 3-yard field goal. Can you kick a 30-yard field goal? We found out that I can’t.
There were memorabilia draped and hung everywhere. You could try on a leather helmet to learn was a good hit in the head would feel like back in the day. Essentially, it was the greatest playground I’ve seen since Disney.
We staggered out of the Experience, our bodies a little sore from hitting the tackle dummies and found a bar stacked with Steeler fans. These weren’t the prissy, wave your terrible towel fans. They were the men who came right out of the steel mill. Faces still smudged with soot. Beards the length and girth of Norse gods. Beer dripping down the chins from the 32-ounce stein they chugged. Those types of fans. And they were happy to have us. We were escorted from bar to bar with these guys.
Finally, Sunday came. Superbowl Sunday. My body was vibrating with excitement coursing through me. Our seats? Didn’t matter. We were there. Stevie Wonder came to sing. Stevie Wonder! I was beside myself. Then he was joined on stage by Aretha Franklin who sang the national anthem. The Queen of Soul! The audience, 75,000 strong helped her finish the high notes. In the minutes before the kickoff, everyone was standing. Foam was coming out of my mouth. I was rabid. Screaming at the top of my lungs to no one in particular. Howling at the ceiling.
That’s how you create a frenzy. That’s a textbook frenzy. The NFL followed the five steps we talked about earlier. They gave the national audience time to anticipate the event. They communicated the event to the world clearly. They partnered with Detroit and other major corporations. They involved the fans. And, lastly, they delivered. Boy did they deliver.
The next time you want to create an event for yourself or for your company. May I please recommend you pay attention to how the NFL does it. Oh..and it doesn’t hurt if you can get Stevie Wonder at your gig.
Folks, thank you for listening to Swimming in the Flood. Resilient leaders face challenging currents, and it is tough navigating, but with one tack or another we can get there together.