Thoughts on building a media network from the NBA Front Office Show that’s also great brand building advice. 🏀
You want to do things really well before you just try to do a lot of things.
That’s one of the biggest mistakes people make is, “I want to do everything.”
Let’s do one thing really well first.
Find your niche. Get great at that. Then you can branch out.
Why I think 11/6 was a release valve
⚡️ A question is now an answer, attention is freed up, and ad auction pressure is relieved.
As I said at the end of Election Campaign Spending Crowds Out Your Messaging:
Your marketing and messaging is like a fire, it needs a steady source of fuel to keep burning—to act as a beacon to the people it’s for. The election is a vacuum, it sucks all the oxygen (and attention) out, making it all but impossible for that fire to keep burning without any changes.
The election coming to an end, along with its ad campaigns (and the now unlikely possibility of a January 6 repeat), brings closure to the biggest uncertainty event of the year.
The oxygen is back.
The election ending opened a whole new can of worms, of course. I’m not saying it’s all rainbow giggles and unicorn farts now. But people and societies don’t do well with uncertainty.
It’s like when you have a vacation coming up—or a holiday—you know life continues on the other side of it, but all your focus is on getting to that date. It’s a planning and attention checkpoint. Your main focus is on getting prepared for and then enjoying that cabin getaway or Thanksgiving or girls’ trip.
That’s the election, but at the societal level.
The Guy Fawkes dam has burst, the emotions released. Now there will be hirings and firings, moves and migrations, revenge shopping and stockpiling. Oh, and the holidaze.
If I’m reading tea leaves, this is the brew I’m using to inform this guess:
- Halloween spend was big
- Inflations measures cooled a bit in September (specifically energy costs)
- The Fed dropped the rate again
- Consumer spending grew a bit more in September
- Amazon’s fall Prime Day event went big, but holiday shopping played a small part—like the OG summer event, essentials and little luxuries were the big drivers
- Tariffs are coming (one of the worms in said can), some purchases will be pulled forward to avoid their impact
The oxygen is back. The fires can be stoked again.
Some insight on Pinterest Performance+ bidding for shopping campaigns:
- Performance+ bidding optimizes for checkout volume—as many as possible.
- The new (& in beta) ROAS bidding optimizes for return on ad spend by focusing on higher-price items.
Algorithms give you what you ask for.
Nike: A Cautionary Tale
- Expensive in the short run
- Cheap in the long run
But a strong brand can also become a crutch.
See: Nike.
When you’re trying to build a brand you’re aggressive. Focused.
Your focus is on meeting your customer where they are and doing the things that create moments of delight for them. On doing the things that make people, first, fall in love with your brand and, then, talk about it to others. To begin to incorporate your brand into their identity.
Once you’ve built your brand—reached that mountain top—you can start to lose focus.
You can start to forget about everything you did to get to this spot and start to think you deserve this spot.
You can make choices based on financial models and balance sheet forecasts and forget those dollars come from people.
And while you’re looking in the wrong direction, the next group of brands is doing all the stuff you did to get here.
Building a brand is the beginning. Once built, it requires maintenance.
Brands aren’t owed anything.
&
Everything is customer service.