Maybe Barbie Had It Right Always Having A Perfect Ken

A few weeks ago, I was inundated with emails and texts about the book "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook. My female colleagues and friends were buying it and they wanted to know if I was reading it too. I'm a bit of a book nerd, so I was in fact reading it because I saw Sandberg on one of the talk shows and a few comments really struck a chord with me.

Three C’s for Social Media Success

I’m a people person. Everywhere I go, no matter where I am, I sincerely enjoy talking to people. I am hyper-social by nature, and I love learning about people’s backgrounds and hearing their stories.

In turn, this also means that people ask me a lot of questions. And I have to say, I’ve finally started to realize a pattern.

As soon as I tell people that my job is to teach and educate people on how to build and execute successful digital communications strategies, especially in regards to social media marking, I get this question:

“So Elly, tell me this: what are the keys to being successful at social media?”

Making Your Ideas Happen

You have that "one" idea that no one has thought of before (and that no one has been brave enough to try). It’s one of those concepts that could set your marketing team apart from the rest of the teams and the schools.

But can it be successful? But remember that some of the greatest ideas don’t work out because they don’t execute them well.

When the New Jersey Devils came up with innovative idea for the Social Media Mission Control Center, everyone thought it was a brilliant idea. It was a great success. But if they had not thought through all of the details and executed it properly, the idea would have fallen flat. Without the trailblazing Devils, we may not have seen other mission control centers such as Oregon’s Quack Cave popping up.

The Champions League Final & American Sponsors

The Champions League Final is undeniably one of the most popular sporting events in the world. In 2009, the final match between world club powers Barcelona and Manchester United drew a television audience of 109 million, finally surpassing the Super Bowl in viewers that year by nearly three million people. Ratings analysis indicates the difference in viewership appears to be caused by the fact that the Super Bowl draws its audience from a mainly domestic base, while the Champions League is a continent-wide tournament and accordingly draws fans from a wider audience. Indeed, by nearly all accounts, over 300 million people tuned in globally to watch the Champions League Final in 2012, and there are no signs that this event will slow its growth in the coming years.

Despite the global popularity of this event, American ratings still lag far behind. In 2011, even though the event scored a 3.3 rating in Washington D.C., and a 2.9 rating in Seattle, the Champions League Final scored a measly 1.8 rating across the U.S. despite being available on 100% of U.S. households on a broadcast station. For reference, the typical MLS Cup Final scores a 1.0 rating in the U.S. These poor ratings results, however, have not stopped American based companies from becoming one of the select few Champions League sponsors. Of the eight official sponsors of the UEFA Champions League, two are based in the United States: MasterCard and Ford.

Wedding Bells - The Marriage Between Social Media and Sponsorships

There is much to be said about the marriage of social media and sponsorships today. Greater emphasis is now being placed on social media during our needs assessment discussions. Additionally, we understand that every day we are unable to provide a “digital solution” is a day and a dollar lost and potentially an unhappy client if their goals and objectives run towards the social side of things.

With that in mind I decided to turn this month’s column into an interview with two of the smartest social media mavens currently working in Major League Baseball; Amy MacEwen (@TweetAmyMac), Marketing and Advertising Manager and Stella Koh (@SK_408), Advertising Assistant. 2013 marks Amy’s ninth season with the Athletics and Stella’s second with the club. Aside from their social media duties Amy and Stella work on a broad range of projects for the A’s including our general marketing campaign, creation of our A’s Magazine and working with my department to help develop creative partnership assets.

During my interviews with Amy and Stella I posed the following questions and have provided their astute answers below.

Leave A Lasting Impression…Just Be Sure It Isn’t Too Memorable

Getting the undivided attention of a prospective partner is something that all property contacts dream about. Whether it is the new guy trying to make a good impression on the boss or someone trying to climb the corporate ladder, their goal is the same. The question is…what is the best approach? As a brand contact that receives countless solicitations a week (and is very big on relationships), I like to think I have gotten pretty good at discerning between people that are truly skilled/knowledgeable and those who are just trying to get ahead.

College Sports – A Paradigm Shift is Coming through Marketing, Social Media and Technology

The world of college sports has grown over the years to be a key part of the business operation. The sports programs have grown and the dollars generated have followed suit. We all know how much technology influences us, but few understand how dramatically technological innovations are affecting our world. Technology is changing the way we are marketed to, communicated with and the way our fans, the consumers, get information, who in turn share the information through social media technologies with their friends and families. Every corner of the world is connected through technology.