Advertisement Ideas: The Proactive Manifesto!!!
In business it is imperative to stay ahead of the curve by being proactive in all you do. Daily action in the advertising area is necessary to insure for revenue growth and brand recognition. Knowing what is going on in the marketplace as it pertains to your business is important as it will allow you to stay ahead of the curve so you can deliver what your clients/customers are seeking. The key is to come up with several advertising ideas that will drive clients/customers to you so that you can strengthen you brand and increase your revenue. As long time readers know I have worked in the sports related field for many years holding positions ranging from public relations intern to public address announcer. In each position I knew the importance of being proactive so I learned the lay of the community around where the teams played and began to market accordingly. I remember working for The New York Liberty of Major League Volleyball and Jerry Saperstein. If that name rings a bell it should as Jerry is the son of Abe Saperstein who was the founder of The Harlem Globetrotters. As I worked with Jerry I learned that you must plan your work and work your plan. Jerry once told me getting the fans to come is only 1/2 the battle the other half is getting them to come back. This lesson has served me well as I changed the word fans to clients/customers and over the years have come up with many programs that focus on customer/client retention. The key is to have a proactive manifesto that allows for several advertising ideas to be implemented. I remember a game we had on Mother’s Day and I partnered with a local florist to give us roses to give to the female fans in return for advertising and marketing consideration. We advertised that all mother’s get in free and the 1st 100 receive a rose this worked out very well as we had over 1000 fans that day and it was estimated that 750 were female. Guess where everyone from The N.Y. Liberty went when they needed flowers in the future? Yes, you got it to the flower shop that partnered with them. The lesson here is to be proactive and take advantage of marketing and advertising opportunities.
In the time I worked with The Liberty I saw the importance of marketing, public relations, media relations, and all aspects necessary to have a successful sports franchise. We went from averaging 300 fans a game to over 500 by the end of the season. I was asked how we did this and the answer was that we had a proactive manifesto. The 1st rule of this manifesto was that we all agreed that we would share The N.Y. Liberty with everyone we came in contact with. We began to do extensive outreach to every media outlet, school, church group, synagogue group, volleyball organization. If there were people to talk volleyball to we were talking volleyball. We came up with a plan and worked proactively to implement that plan making adjustments along the way. We even had a TV contract to show the games on ESPN.
After my internship with The N.Y. Liberty ended I went to intern with The Long Island Knights of The United States Basketball League. I will be forever indebted to Nancy Lieberman, Lady Magic, for the lessons she taught me about marketing. She taught me to always have inventory that the fans will purchase. She also taught me the importance of interacting with fans and corporate partners. The thing that made Nancy a success on and off the court was her ability to be proactive. She is responsible for the second rule of the proactive manifesto which is to know your audience and make them feel important.
After graduating from Hofstra Univeristy with a BBA in Marketing in December of 1987 I moved back to Florida and went to work at The Oaktree, a men’s clothing store, where i quickly became The #1 Sales Person in The Country. It was during my time at Oaktree that I learned the 3rd part of the proactive manifesto which was if someone was with in 3 feet of me to talk to them and invite them to shop in the store.
It was when I worked for Foot Locker that I learned some more important parts of the proactive manifesto. These components were greet the customers with 5 seconds of entering the store, tell them about the specials, get the customer their items, bring complimentary items to the bench with you, invite them to come back. As I continued to work in retail I started to add more to the proactive manifesto like getting customers information so I could contact them about special offers. As technology and social media came into the market place it was important to learn how to be proactive in utilizing the tools that were now available. over the years the proactive manifesto has been amended to use social media to reach your desired target audience.
When I worked for Sinbad Sports recently I added make videos and share them across the various social media platforms to the proactive manifesto along with the idea to engage every customer so they continue to come back to the store. I also added to follow all the key sports and make sure you have the inventory that the customer is looking for so as to maximize revenue.
I now work for myself offering PA Announcing Services, Emcee Services, Voice Over Services, and Marketing and Media Relations Consultations. I have continued to adapt the proactive manifesto in all I do as I search for opportunities. The key is to find a way to connect with people who can benefit from your product or service daily and to stay proactive in all you do.
