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Sick and Healthy "Viral Marketing"

3/21/2020

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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Difficult times bring out the best and worst in individuals and organizations.  You’ve likely seen some of each during recent days.  Although it’s frightful to find our world battling a pandemic, it’s a healthy occasion to diagnose what is and isn’t Mindful Marketing.
 
One of the ‘sickest’ cases has involved two entrepreneurial brothers from Tennessee.  When Matt and Noah Colvin heard of the first U.S. death from coronavirus, they quickly began buying all the hand sanitizer and antibacterial wipes they could find—around Chattanooga, across Tennessee, and throughout Kentucky.
 
After emptying stores of the valuable virus-fighting products, they piled palettes of their pillage in a garage and began selling the items online for a premium: between $8 and $70 each for the first 300 bottles of hand sanitizer M. Colvin listed on Amazon. 

The gig lasted for about a day before “Amazon pulled his items and thousands of other listings for sanitizer, wipes and face masks” and “eBay soon followed with even stricter measures.”  The retailers’ swift actions and accusation of price gouging left Colvin sitting on over 17,000 bottles of sanitizer he couldn’t sell, even as people around the world were desperate to get their hands on the products and the product on their hands.
 
Was Colvin “profiteering from a pandemic,” or were Amazon and eBay unnecessarily constraining capitalism?  Colvin claimed he provided a “public service” by exploiting market inefficiencies and redistributing products to other parts of the nation where they were needed more. 
 
Could he be right?  Perhaps he was improving the supply chain.  Also, how different were his actions than someone making a significant purchase of a publicly-traded stock with the hope that their big investment will help push the security’s price upward?
 
First, it’s safe to assume that national and regional retailers like CVS and Walmart, with decades of logistics experience and cutting-edge supply chain processes, didn't need Colvin to help get products to places in the country where they’re in short supply.  Furthermore, any person with an internet connection could conceivable buy hand sanitizer online and have it shipped directly to them, no matter where they live.
 
Second, there’s a big difference between playing the stock market and ‘playing the hand sanitizer market,’ especially in the face of a pandemic.  People don’t need to own Apple, Tesla, or any other specific stock; however, Individuals do have to have products that can help them avoid contracting a serious illness that could kill them or someone they might infect.
 
The Colvin brothers’ actions were the epitome of “Single-Minded Marketing,” which quickly turned “Mindless” once Amazon pulled the plug on their online sales.  Such blatantly selfish actions are pretty easy to diagnose, but what about the wide continuum of tactics other organizations have employed amid the outbreak?
 
Some emails that have hit my inbox within the last few days seem tone-deaf to health advisories that have asked us to forgo nonessential services, to practice social distancing, and to be extra careful with hand hygiene.  Although less extreme than those of the Colvin brothers, these tactics also seem “Mindless”:
  • Groupon: specials on Swedish massage, axe throwing, ice skating, and even “group bowling”
  • Local Flavor: offers on experiences such as billiards, salt room, and climbing walls
  • Bed Bath & Beyond:  promotional copy reading, “Put a spring in your hosting game with fresh and EXCLUSIVE picks”; “Dazzle guests without breaking a sweat (or the bank)”
  • Old Navy: ad image showing two women walking with arms wrapped tightly over the other’s shoulders while smiling at each other, with faces about eight inches apart
 
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Meanwhile, certain other companies have shown healthier situational awareness by quickly adjusting their marketing communication from “Mindless” to “Mindful”:
  • Coors: pulled its “Official beer of ‘working’ remotely” spots that lampooned the nation's annual loss of productivity during March Madness
  • Hershey: removed ads that featured people shaking hands and hugging while sharing candy.
  • KFC: pulled its ‘finger lickin’ ads in the UK
 
There’s also been an abundance of vibrantly “Mindful” correspondence from companies aimed at calming our anxieties by describing what they’re doing to keep employees and us safe:
  • Enterprise: “Aligned with guidance from health authorities, we are implementing additional measures to clean and disinfect our locations and vehicles.”
  • Chase: “We've ensured that our branches, including ATM screens and keypads, are cleaned daily with EPA-approved disinfectants and we have hand sanitizer available in our branches.”
  • Best Buy: “The first [goal] is to protect our customers, employees and their families. The second is to do the best we can to serve the millions of Americans who are looking to us for increasingly vital technology tools to stay connected, as well as household necessities.”
  • Office Depot: “We’ve reinforced existing Office Depot policy encouraging employees who exhibit flu-like symptoms to stay home and consult with a medical professional.”
 
Finally, a few firms have ascended to the highest level of corporate health and community consciousness by going above and beyond what might be expected even for “Mindful Marketing,” for instance:
  • U-Haul is offering 30 days of free self-storage to students who need to move due to coronavirus.
  • Highmark Blue Shield has waived all copays, deductibles, and coinsurance for 90 days for those with telemedicine access “because the safest place for you if you’re sick is at home.”
  • Wiley is providing instructors and students who do not have an online learning solution free access to its courseware for the remaining spring 2020 term.
  • Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe has increased production of its popular potato rolls and other bread products in order to keep stores stocked during periods of intense demand.
 
To unpack the last example, there are few things as anxiety-inducing as walking into a grocery store during a crisis, only to find shelves empty of bread, which may be the most staple of foods for Americans.  However, people living in areas where Martin’s distributes can still find its products on their store’s shelves every day, even on Sunday.  Scott Heintzelman, vice president of finance and administration for Martin’s explains:
 
“Almost no commercial bakeries deliver [Sunday]. However, our awesome bakery and transport teams have been working around the clock to make and move truckloads of extra product to our warehouses.  The result is on Sunday morning, many of our amazing distributors and sales teams are out making deliveries to help feed people.  I am truly humbled by our team members.”
 
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As a writer, I should disclose that Martin’s is a faithful supporter of Messiah College, where I teach.  Also, Heintzelman, who I call “Scott,” was my college roommate, the best man in my wedding, and still a best friend.
 
During this moment of nearly unprecedented uncertainty, many people probably feel like Martin’s and other firms that have gone above and beyond to meet important, life-sustaining needs are their best friends.  It’s times like these when we really need friends, and when we can be especially grateful for organizations that practice “Mindful Marketing.”


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Giving Poor Athletes an Assist

3/5/2020

7 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

Few fans of major professional sports ever say, “I feel so sorry for those players.”  After all, the average NFL salary is about $2.7 million, and MLB and NBA players earn even more: $4 million and $7.1 million, respectively.  However, what's a dream for many athletes can quickly turn into a nightmare once their playing career ends.
 
Yes, there’s the long-term impact of knee surgeries and head trauma, but many former professional athletes also endure another kind of body-blow: a financial one.  Now a reality TV show with an unlikely host hopes to pull past players out of their poverty.
 
The NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has proposed increasing the minimum player salary from $495,000 to $510,000.  You may be thinking, “That’s a ton of money,” which it is.  There are, though, other important circumstances to consider when playing careers end.
 
While there are the rare retired athletes who land very lucrative endorsement deals, like the $130 million Michael Jordan makes annually from Nike, and the $17 million-a-year broadcasting contract former NFL quarterback Tony Romo recently secured from CBS, most former athletes’ incomes fall off a cliff.  Once retired, they command only a fraction of what they earned on the field or court, partly because elite athletic competition often comes at the expense of developing other marketable job skills.

It’s possible to blame some athletes for spending too much and not saving enough, but it’s also true that many enter professional sports in their early twenties or even in their teens, where they may encounter corrupt financial advisors and temptations to make bad business decisions, all during playing careers that often last just a few short years.
 
Unfortunately, there’s a growing list of former professional athletes, including long-tenured ones, who have found themselves in financial peril after their playing careers ended.  Some on that luckless list include well-known former NFL players Bernie Kosar, Warren Sapp, Lawrence Taylor, and Vince Young.  If these once high-equity athletes can lose most of their money, it’s easy to imagine how ones on the opposite end of the earning scale can end up insolvent.
 
So, who has stepped to the plate to help poor past pros?  It’s someone I wouldn’t have expected:  former MLB player Alex Rodriguez.
 
During his 22 seasons of major league baseball, twelve with the New York Yankees, “A-Rod” established himself as one of the greatest players of all time with stats such as a .295 batting average, 696 home runs, 25 grand slams, 3,000+ hits, 14 All-Star appearances, and three Most Valuable Player Awards.
 
However, despite all that success, and two Gold Glove Awards, Rodriguez made an epic error: To deal with chronic back pain and so he could “put up big numbers,” Rodriguez violated MLB policy and used steroids.  That mistake caused the league to suspend him for the entire 2014 season, which Rodriguez says, “cost me my reputation, and it may have cost me the Hall of Fame.”
 
Now, fast forward to a few weeks ago:  I’m watching television, and a show comes on CNBC called “Back in the Game,” starring . . . Alex Rodriguez.  I remembered promos for the program describing its premise—Rodriguez helps former athletes and entertainers rebound from financial ruin.  I’m about to change channels when I see who he’s helping this episode:  Ryan Lochte.
 
If you’ve forgotten, Lochte is a very accomplished U.S. swimmer who won 12 Olympic Medals but infamously embarrassed the entire nation after the 2016 Summer Olympics with a drunken escapade that included vandalizing the bathroom of a gas station in Rio de Janeiro.  To cover up the mess, he filed a false police report, claiming that he and three teammates were robbed at gunpoint.
 
Not being a big fan of Rodriguez or Lochte, I have two good reasons to change channels, yet something compels me to stay tuned—maybe the unseemly sense of an impending train-wreck. 
 
Reality-TV-show-host is just one of Rodriguez’s post-retirement gigs.  He’s also an announcer for EPSN’s Sunday Night baseball.  Furthermore, he’s the founder and CEO A-Rod Corp, a firm that “identifies, originates and manages investments across a broad array of industries, including real estate, sports and wellness, media, and entertainment.”  On the corporation’s website, Rodriguez tells how his desire to start the company came from an impoverished childhood in which his mother tirelessly worked multiple jobs to afford ever-increasing rent.
 
Now, with annual income of about $33 million and net worth over $350 million, Rodriguez has clearly broken the cycle of poverty and achieved financial freedom in his post-playing career.  Several pictures on the A-Rod Corp website visually support that success, such as one of the former slugger sporting sunglasses and a stylish grey suit as he poses proudly in front of his private jet with the firm’s ‘baseball swing’ logo emblazoned on the tail.
 

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During his playing career, some described Rodriguez as “moody” and “aloof” and even as “the most egocentric player in Major League Baseball.”  Could someone who was and still seems caught up in his own success, truly care about the well-being of others?  Despite such skepticism about Rodriguez and Lochte, I can’t look away from the reality show spectacle.
 
As slugger met swimmer, the former challenged the latter to make lifestyle changes that could help anyone facing financial peril.  For instance, Rodriguez urged Lochte to reduce reoccurring expenses by replacing pricey monthly payments on two very posh cars with a single lease on a much more modest ride.
 
Rodriguez also helped Lochte identify new income earning approaches, including some personal brand-appropriate endorsement deals and several solid speaking engagements.  However, these new PR opportunities seemed likely to sink Lochte, unless the swimmer could rise above one ostensibly unsurmountable obstacle: his ego.  Given Rodriguez’s own epic fail and apparent self-absorption, how could he possibly coach Lochte free from such hubris?
 
As it turns out, Rodriguez had come to terms with his own rocky past, several years before.  A 2017 ESPN article described how the former all-star genuinely owned his steroid error, tearfully admitting the hurt he had caused his wife, daughters, and others and accepting full responsibility for his “stupid” mistake.
 
In the Back in the Game episode, Rodriguez also recounted how he undertook another extremely difficult task—apologizing to his former teammates.  Now the slugger was asking the swimmer to attempt the same formidable feat.  At first Lochte balked, but eventually he picked up his phone and started making calls.
 
With just his first apology, Lochte’s countenance visibly changed.  One could see how the normally brash competitor was visibly broken.  One also could hear how those on the other side of the phone calls were moved by his genuine humility, as they accepted his heart-felt apologies.
 
As I watched both Rodriguez and Lochte realize redemption, my cynicism subsided.  I gained new-found respect for these former athletes, and I was reminded of three things: even the mighty fail, everyone needs help in some way, and all people have the potential to change.
 
I haven’t yet watched other episodes of Back in the Game, and I’m not sure how many others have seen the show.  It seems, though, that an interesting TV program that encourages personal responsibility and restored relationships can rise to the level of “Mindful Marketing.”


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    David Hagenbuch,
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    Mindful Marketing    & author of Honorable Influence

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