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Working Out with Weed

6/25/2016

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by David Hagenbuch, Founder of Mindful Marketing
What do you need to get a good workout?  The right equipment, comfortable sneakers, some cold water?  How about a joint?  The idea of mixing pot and push-ups may sound absurd, but it’s actually the basis of a real business model from a famous athlete.
 
Former NFL football player Ricky Williams and partner Jim McAlpine are planning to open the world’s first cannabis-gym in San Francisco later this year.  The goal of “Power Plant Fitness” will be “to incorporate full mind training along with body training.”  Customers will be encouraged to bring their own marijuana products or buy the pre- and post-workout, drug-infused edibles that the company will sell on site.
 
In terms of core business competencies, each partner can be considered an expert in both workouts and weed.  After 20+ years in the ski and snowboard industry, McAlpine founded the 420 Games, “a series of athletic events advocating responsible use of cannabis,” designed to “destigmatize the many people who use it in a positive manner.”
 
The 420 Games take place in a handful of western cities (San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Boulder) and involve one main athletic event: a 4.2 mile “fun run,” the idea of which is to take the typical 5K (3.1 mile) jaunt and go an extra mile “for cannabis respect.”  A 420 event also normally includes "beer tasting, great music and educational speeches.”

Ricky Williams is perhaps an even greater leader when it combining sports and stash.  Not only did he win the Heisman Trophy while a Texas Longhorn running back in 1998, his 2,124 rushing yards that season set a new collegiate record.  Williams kept on running into the NFL, where he amassed 10,009 yards and 66 rushing touchdowns, setting Dolphins franchise records for single-season yards and touchdowns.
 
Williams’ professional career was also distinguished by run-ins with NFL rules.  He “violated the league's drug policy a total of four times—three times for marijuana and once for another substance.”  Williams claimed that cannabis was a preferred approach for reducing pain and taking care of his body, an argument he now maintains under the mission of Power Plant Fitness.
 
Perhaps Williams has a point.  Most of us can’t imagine the beating the body of an NFL running back takes.  Maybe marijuana is a way to escape some of the post-impact pain.  Also, the legal acceptance of cannabis continues to grow.  Twenty U.S. states have now legalized marijuana for medical purposes, and four states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington) permit its recreational use.  What’s more, one-in-three Americas have supposedly tried the drug.
 
I’ve never used drugs, played in the NFL, or suffered severe physical trauma that might merit some extreme medical treatment, so it’s hard for me to refute Williams’ point, other than to suggest that thousands of other elite athletes somehow manage without weed.  A more direct debate is whether a fitness center should encourage ordinary athletes to use marijuana as part of their routine exercise regimen.
 
In tackling this question, it’s important to consider the effects of cannabis.  Whether it’s smoked in a reefer, drunk as tea, or baked into brownies, THC, active ingredient in the hemp plant “makes you feel high.”  That euphoria is, of course, the sensation that most pot users are pursuing, but they may not recognize the other effects that cannabis has on one’s body, like the ones that WebMD identifies:
 
  • “It affects almost every organ in your body, and your nervous system and immune system, too.”
 
  • “Smoking pot can increase your heart rate by as much as two times for up to 3 hours. That’s why some people have a heart attack right after they use marijuana.”
 
  • “It can increase bleeding, lower blood pressure, and affect your blood sugar, too."
 
  • Because smoking irritates your lungs “regular pot smokers are more likely to have an ongoing cough and to have lung-related health problems like chest colds and lung infections.”
 
While each of these potential outcomes is concerning, some other related side-effects make the combination of pot and exercise seem seriously irresponsible:  Marijuana often causes dizziness, shallow breathing, and slowed reaction time.  These are certainly not the kinds of symptoms one wants to experience while lifting weights, striding on an elliptical machine, or doing most other kinds of exercise.
 
Another very important consideration is that Power Plant Fitness is a public gym, not one’s residence, which means customers need to travel to and from the facility.  It’s reasonable to expect that some people will make that commute in a drug-impaired state, which could be extremely risky, especially if those customers are driving.
 
Drugs.com warns, “Do not drive, operate machinery, or perform other hazardous activities while using cannabis.  It may cause dizziness, drowsiness, and impaired judgment . . . making activities such as driving a car or operating machinery difficult and dangerous.”  WebMD adds, “If you drive after using marijuana, your risk of being in a car accident more than doubles.”
 
People tend to use marijuana because of the ecstasy they experience, but there also can be a variety of negative psychological consequences including anxiety, depression, paranoia, random thinking, and short-term forgetfulness.
 
Perhaps the biggest risks of cannabis use, however, are addiction and potential transition to more serious drugs.  “Nearly 10% of people who use [marijuana] become dependent on it.”  In addition, although the evidence is still unclear, it’s possible that cannabis use could inspire one to experiment with harder drugs like heroin and cocaine.
 
A big variable impacting Power Plant Fitness’s potential success is the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes, which should appear on the ballot in California this November.  If the referendum passes and Californians gain wide-ranging use of cannabis, it’s likely the gym will experience a flood of business—my speculation based on the apparent success of the 420 Games and America’s increasing acceptance of pot.
 
Still, the picture of people combining exercise and ecstasy is not a pretty one for society.  Besides the many negative physical and psychological outcomes outlined above, there also seems to be real potential for other drug use to increase and for people to try to integrate those addictions into other areas of their lives, like work and home.  For these reasons, encouraging weed-aided workouts represents the bad state of “Single-Minded Marketing.”


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World's Best Dad-vertising

6/18/2016

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by David Hagenbuch, Founder of Mindful Marketing
Advertisers have been trying aggressively to tap into our shared sentiments about fathers.  Most of their methods have missed the mark in one of two ways: Either they’ve made dads look really bad, or they’ve failed to make their sponsors memorable enough to boost their bottom lines.
 
One set of ads, however, both honors dads and advances the organizations paying for the promotion.  Here are three categories of dad ads—bad, better, and best—which serve as a model for all successful marketing.
 
1.  Bad: Dumb Dad--effective but not ethical
 
You may have noticed several years ago an onslaught of ads lampooning dads.  One such commercial was AT&T’s “Piece of Cake in which a wife goes on an extended business trip, leaving the house in the hands of her largely inept husband.  As she says goodbye, she asks doubtfully if everything will be okay, to which he naively replies “Yeah, this is a piece of cake; I got this.”
 
The rest of the spot shows the dad making blunder after blunder: forgetting how to get to the kids’ school, failing to put down the garage door, letting the kids stay up too late, and forgetting to turn-on the home security system.  Fortunately, mom amends each mistake, using AT&T’s remote monitoring system and digital home controls.
 
Several other TV commercials that seem to intentionally disparage dads are Huggies Dad Test, Doritos Princesses, State Farm Road Trip, and Libman Mop Power-Washing.  The list goes on and on, making a trend that many have recognized in advertising as well as in media in general.
 
Most of these dumb dad ads were probably effective.  Although an unfair characterization of fathers, many people found the stereotype funny, as the dad-driven slapstick grabbed attention and kept interest.  Furthermore, some of the commercials, like AT&T’s, made legitimate connections to the advertised product, leaving consumers with not just a laugh, but also a reason for purchase.
 
Of course, the bad thing about these ads was their unflattering portrayal of fathers.  A couple of dumb dad ads wouldn’t have mattered much, but with so many media messages painting the picture of an inept parent, there grew genuine concern that the next generation might believe that dads are inherently incompetent, which could hurt families and society as a whole.
 
2.  Better:  Warm Fuzzy Fatherhood--ethical but not very effective
 
Thankfully the era of dumb dad ads has ended:  We see fewer ads with failure prone fathers and more men depicted as competent caregivers and practical providers.  In fact, the pendulum has swung back so far that many ads seem more intent on furthering fatherhood than on promoting the products and companies behind them.
 
For instance, a thirty-second Johnson’s commercial sets to music a litany of likeable video clips of dads loving their children.  There are no noticeable references to Johnson’s or its products, however, except at the very end when the company’s logo briefly appears with the tagline “For Every Little Wonder.”  A similar commercial for Dove Men+Care also contains quick clips of dads and kids with a slightly longer corporate tag at the conclusion.  A Traveler’s Insurance ad takes a slightly different twist, following the life of a specific father-daughter duo as she matures, while a Toyota Camry spot mirrors that plot and also ends with tears and a brief corporate tag.
 
Although these ads are heart-warming and entertaining, they do little of what might be considered effective advertising.  Instead, they’re the kinds of commercials, after which people ask “What [product] was that for?”  Or, they say, “I really liked that ‘dad commercial,’ but I don’t remember the company,” indicating that key product and company messages have been overshadowed.
 
Yes, organizational image-building is important—not every ad has to highlight a product.  It’s also nice for firms to support social causes like fatherhood, but if after an ad, consumers can’t remember the organization, it’s unlikely that any brand equity has been earned.  A company’s commercials must do more than entertain.  Ultimately, they should help sell the firm’s products and services, which is critical for all company stakeholders, including the dads it employs.  Warm-fuzzy, but ineffective fatherhood ads can actually do a disservice to dads.
 
3.  Best: Mindful Marketing--effective and ethical
 
Fortunately, a few advertisers have figured out how to maintain dignity for dads while also making a positive marketing impact.  They do so by connecting the favorable dad depiction to the firm’s unique selling proposition.  In other words, they show respect-worthy fathers benefiting from the organization’s distinct set of value.
 
A Hyundai Genesis ad features a dad saving his young son from a series of near mishaps involving bricks, bikes, and bats.
  The commercial concludes with the father and son in the car, averting a near collision, thanks to the vehicle’s auto emergency braking.  If consumers remember the danger-diverting dad, they also might recall the clever car and its unique way of protecting people, which is what Hyundai needs in order to sell automobiles.
 
Gillette also understands the fatherhood formula by its recent “Go Ask Dad” ad.  In this touching spot, teen boys find that their fathers are a better source of advice than the Internet for activities such as learning how to shave, which of course is relevant to Gillette's main product line.
 
Too often in life people assume opportunities are either-or choices, when both-and options are readily available.  The case of Dadvertising is no exception.  Just as the best fathers do many things well, the best dad ads are at the same time effective and ethical, which makes them “Mindful Marketing.”
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Daddies Who Pay for College

6/11/2016

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by David Hagenbuch, Founder of Mindful Marketing
People find many ways to pay for college: jobs, scholarships, loans.  Some get really creative, like an enterprising University of Michigan-Flint undergrad who sought to offset $30,000 in college debt by selling advertising space on his commencement cap.  Unfortunately, a significant number of students are literally selling themselves in order to pay their way through college.
 
According to Yahoo News, “Two million students reportedly have 'Sugar Daddies' to help pay off student loans.”  If you’re thinking, “That can’t be what I think it is,” it is.  Sugar daddies are generally older, wealthy men who use their abundant financial resources to secure the companionship of young, attractive women who desire financial security, if not pampering in the form of lavish gifts, trips, etc.
 
If you’re thinking, “That sounds like the oldest profession,” you’re right.  One main difference is that sugar daddy arrangements tend to involve longer relationships, not the one-night stands of ordinary prostitution.  To be fair, sugar daddies don’t necessarily demand physical intimacy, but realistically most do.  Either way, it’s the buying and selling of affection.  
 
In the spirit of gender equality, it’s important to recognize that these retail-like relationships don’t just involve older men and younger women.  Some consist of mature, financially secure women, dating younger, needy men.  These women are known as sugar mommas, or they’re sometimes called cougars. 
 
Sugar daddy dating is certainly not new.  Such relationships have probably existed for millennia, but why are there now so many college students willing to embrace a sugar daddy or momma as their financial plan?  The rising cost of college and the desire to reduce debt probably play a role.  Maybe a shift away from marriage has made it more acceptable to entertain these types of exchanges.  There’s also the possibility that millennials’ fear of missing out (FOMO) plays a role—a young person doesn’t need to forgo participation in expensive activities when an older significant other bankrolls them.
 
Regardless the reason, sugar daddy dating has become big business.  A plethora of websites cater to this unique desire.   Some of the most popular ones are: SugarDaddyMeet.com, SugarDaddyForMe.com, SugarDaddie.com, and Seeking Arragement.com, the last of which is reportedly “the largest of the sugar daddy websites.”  Understandably, it’s hard to find many statistics on such an industry, but anecdotal evidence suggests that sugar daddy subculture has “become more mainstream in recent years” and is “expanding rapidly,” including among students who comprise a full third of SeekingArrangement.com users.   In fact, “enrollment jumps during August and January when tuition is typically due.”
 
What exactly does a sugar daddy relationship look like?  According to SeekingArrangement.com, sugar babies, the attractive young women, receive average allowances of about $3,000 a month.  In return, they provide companionship that almost always includes sex, in relationships that are not necessarily monogamous.
 
According to an ABC News special report, one former IT executive named Tommy supported seven different sugar babies at the same time.  Likewise, some sugar babies juggle more than one sugar daddy at a time.  In total, Tommy spent $150,000 dollars a year on the women, including breast implants for at least one, Monti, who he compared to a “really nice car.”  In an ABC News interview, Tommy admitted that he wouldn’t be involved with any of his sugar babies if all he received from them was companionship.
 
Meanwhile, SeekingArrangement.com founder Brandon Wade claims that his website is not intended just to facilitate sex-for-money exchange.  Instead, he contends, participants are expected to be interested in ongoing romantic relationships.

So, what’s wrong with consenting adults engaging in exchanges in which each receives something of value?  The website SugarDaddySite.org describes the outcomes as “mutually beneficial relationships,” which is eerily similar to my definition of marketing (the science that facilitates mutually beneficial exchange relationships).
 
Well, maybe there is mutual benefit for the immediate stakeholders in the short-run, but in the long-run it’s hard to image that both parties will continue to feel the same as they begin to reckon with the fact that they are only wanted for their looks or money.
 
In fact, one of the young women ABC News interviewed cried as she described only being desired for her body.  Another lamented that her sugar daddy was often not there when she really needed him.  Given these kinds of regrets expressed by women currently involved in sugar daddy relationships, it seems likely that emotional scars will only deepen over time with greater appreciation of what was given up for financial gain.  The sugar daddies and mommas might also experience remorse, especially if their actions represent marital infidelity.
 
So, an argument can be made that sugar daddy relationships are not really mutually beneficial for the individuals involved.  Furthermore, most participants also have other relationships (e.g., current and future spouses and children) that may be adversely affected by the sugar daddy experience.  The aggregate effect, therefore, is a potentially negative impact on families and society.
 
In light of the apparent popularity and growth of sugar daddy relationships, we must say that the organizations that market them are effective.  However, the long-term, negative consequences of those relationships are not good for society, which makes sugar daddy dating a rendezvous with “Single-Minded Marketing.”
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Should Gaming be a Spectator Sport?

6/4/2016

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by David Hagenbuch, Founder of Mindful Marketing
Watching other people is something humans have probably always found entertaining.  For centuries or more we’ve enjoyed seeing actors and athletes perform.  Now, with reality TV and YouTube, we can watch ordinary people do everything from shop for a dress to build a shed.  Almost anything can equal entertainment, but what about watching people play video games?
 
To some, viewing video game players seems about as interesting as watching others eat: It’s great if you’re the one eating, but who just wants to observe others indulge?  Well, serious video game players increasingly understand the appeal.
 
If you haven’t noticed, gaming, or the playing of electronic games on consoles, computers, mobile phones or media has become very big business, with worldwide revenues totaling over $100 billion.  The best-selling video game for 2015 was Call of Duty - Black Ops III, which reached $550 million in revenue just 72 hours after being released.  In comparison, the biggest opening weekend for any film was for Star Wars – The Force Awakens, which pulled in $247.9 million in domestic box office receipts.
 
In the U.S., 155 million people play video games regularly, with 42% of them playing for at least three hours a week.  Americans spend an average of 23.2 minutes a day gaming.  Dedicated video game consoles can be found in 51% of households.  Of those people who play, 26% are under 18 years old, 30% are 18-35, 17% are 36-49, and 27% are over 50.  Men make-up 56% of gamers, while 44% are women.

Worldwide, more than 1.2 billion people play video games.  That’s a huge market, but again, just because people like to do something doesn’t mean they want to watch other people to it.  Well, Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) recently tested that principle for gaming.

On May 27, in partnership with WME|IMG, TBS hosted the primetime television debut of ELeague, a competitive video gaming association based on the online first-person shooter game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.  The league consists of 24 teams, two of which battle head-to-head in each competitive match.

To make for a spectacular TV viewing experience, TBS “built a 10,000-square-foot arena at its studios in Atlanta” that contains “26 cameras, including one that can capture 360-degree views of the floor."  While the individual team matches play-out during the week and can be streamed live on the ELeague website or through Twitch, TBS’s Friday night broadcast provides the highlights of those contests as well as stories about the players. 

So, after such a considerable investment of time, money, and effort, did anyone watch ELeague?  Yes, they did.  TBS’s broadcast of the Group A finals between Luminosity Gaming and Cloud9 drew an average audience of 509,000 viewers from 10-11 pm.  It’s important to note that the top network shows typically pull in several million viewers or more for the same timeslot.  Still, over half a million viewers is a rather respectable result for this television gaming debut.
 
Given these first-time ratings and the overall popularity of gaming, is looks like televised video game competitions have potential to create stakeholder value in the long run, if not right away.  The other question, then, is “Are these broadcasts ethical?”  In other words, do they support values like decency, fairness, honesty, stewardship, and respect?
 
On one hand, there is the legitimate concern that many have about the overly sexual and violent content of certain video games.  Furthermore, some people become addicted to video games.  Both of these characteristics are bad for individuals and for society.  It’s important to note here that Counter-Strike is rated M for Mature because of “Blood” and “Intense Violence.”

On the other hand, research in American Psychologist suggests that playing video games may provide learning, health, and social benefits.  More specifically, some contend that gaming produces such enviable outcomes as reducing stress, curbing cravings, and helping make faster decisions.
 
Like many things in life, video games can have both positive and negative impacts, depending mostly on the nature of the specific games and how much they’re played.  The question here, however, is not just whether it is good to play video games but whether it’s right to watch other people play them.  That answer comes down mainly to personal preference in entertainment.
 
When given charge of the television remote, some people will choose a classic movie, others a soccer match, and still others a sitcom.  Provided that the content is not indecent or consumed in excess, none of these choices is necessarily better than the others; they’re just what each individual likes most and finds most effective in satisfying his or her need for leisure.
 
In 1958, Physicist William Higinbotham created a simple electronic tennis game that some consider the world’s first video game.  Since then, technology has advanced tremendously, enabling the development of much more sophisticated games and devices, spurring the $100 billion+ gaming industry.  Provided that content is decent and play is moderate, broadcasting video game contests for others to enjoy represents another round of “Mindful Marketing.”


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