Idea. Potential. #1
Ideas with potential. What could be more exciting than encountering one for the first time?
I’m going to pull together the things I encounter that have an effect on me, that seem or appear fresh, or just make me swoon. I’ll post one of these each week (Ok sometimes it may be each month). Kind of a record of influences if you like.
I’ll select from at least a few media or sectors and try to mix it up each week so that readers can find little moments of good stuff in different places and spaces that are relevant for them. It won’t just be sports marketing, I promise. Some ideas won’t necessarily be ‘new’. Some ideas — many readers may feel — could have limited or exhausted potential. Feel free to use the comments to give feedback on these points and hit me with what you’d like to find more of.
Listen:
Taking a giant leap from all the great content celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the moon landing is this podcast — 13 Minutes to the Moon — which is at times inspirational, at times mind-boggling, and often necessarily grandiose. There are plenty of goosebump moments.
For me, this type of storytelling has application in conventional leadership training, and that’s a huge source of untapped potential. Podcasts too often teach through shouting information, rather than crafting narrative (‘I’m going to tell you something you simply have to know!’). In an age of daily-delivered, generally low production quality content, this need for creators to maintain volume is understandable. But there’s a place for the finer forms too. If you’re a leader, or if you work in a team of people — no matter how small — and especially if you’re interested in the power of youth and big dreams, then this is the podcast for you. It soars. 250,000 miles above you to be exact.
Follow:
Mark Pollard. Strategy guy, thinker, media dude, and new/part-time football enthusiast. After coming across Mark’s work through family, I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with him at a game in Denmark in the Summer. He’s a joy to be around and your brain feels richer for sharing some time with him. His podcast Sweathead and his forthcoming book should catapult the guy into folklore.
Learn:
If, like me, you work in sport, this report on Esports from the Global Web Index is necessary reading. The young guns with consoles and joypads are munching their way through the corpus of rookie errors we made (and still make) in the physical sports world and learning fast. Much faster than we ever did. If you work in any other kind of business (yes: any) then read for the possibilities the report contains. The unique marketing potential of Esport — if you were in any doubt about it — is laid bare for all to see on the pages. With brands like Nike joining in within Asian-Pacific markets now, and with almost total digital consumption, Esports are set to define culture in the 2020s and beyond.
Watch:
Revisit this advertising campaign from Volvo during the 2015 Super Bowl. Yes you’ve probably seen it. Yes you probably already love it. But I maintain its still one of the greatest advertising hacks of all time, and I wonder if we’ve learned all we can from it, and understood its potential. The 2 minute video will make you smile at the very least.
