Marketing On Ramp

Marketing 101 to build your brand seems pretty simple but can easily be overlooked or forgotten.  Since most affiliate owners can teach you how to squat but not necessarily know how to place an effective media buy, here's a Marketing On Ramp reminder to help make your affiliate become more recognizable in the CrossFit Community.

RxD:
Logo: Design your logo and don't change it= brand recognition!
Colors: Ever heard of Invictus' Sea of Green?  Despite having phenomenal athletes, they've also mastered selecting a color and sticking to it, they stand out in the crowd.

2013 SoCal Regional- Brick in Orange and Invitus' Sea of Green

Slogan/Tagline:  All I have to say is "Just do it," and it still doesn't get old.

DNF:
Logo: Illegible logos; for example- script logos look cool but often are hard to read.
Colors: Refreshing your colors each time you order t-shirts throughout the year, then that big event comes and 1/4 of your box is in red, 1/4 in black, and 1/2 in blue. Mixed colors doesn't give that unified community vibe, besides it messes up the team photo too!
Slogan/Tagline: If you change this then what does your box stand for? What's your statement?  What else will you #hashtag?

RxD+:
Want to make a statement at the next event, Regionals, or the Games? Keep your box's logo, colors, and tagline the same but add a unique component.  Example: At the 2013 SoCal Regional, did you notice these shades?

2013 SoCal Regional- Jarett Perelmutter, Brick CrossFit

For more advice on making your affiliate successful and profitable, email.

Anniversaries

It's always good to reflect and respect special benchmarks (good and bad) in your life.  I tweeted the other day that I have a few special anniversaries coming that I'd like to share because it will give insight to where I am today, crazy how time flies!

4 year Anniversary- Cross-Country Move:
  July, 2009 I decided to leave my tenured position as Spanish Teach in Inner City Baltimore to pack everything I could fit in my car to move to California on whim to pursue my dreams.  My goal was to work in Marketing in the Sports Industry, particularly Action Sports. Through hard work and networking, I was able to land contract consulting positions with USA Water Polo, TCA Volleyball, and OC Marathon for most of my first year in California. Then I landed the below opportunity and now have the position I've always wanted.
  Rx Lessons:
  Follow your Passions
  Take Risks
  Network, Network, Network

The Grand Canyon on the road trip to CA

3 Year Anniversary- Oakley:
  June, 2010 Through my contacts at OC Marathon, I was able to land an interview at Oakley (funny story- I brought my parents with me to the interview since they just flew in to visit for the first time).  After a few interviews, I didn't get the original position but was offered a temp position in the same department.  I jumped on it to get my foot in the door and prove what I could do, which I quickly did- I went from temp to managing a $5M Regional Marketing budget.  I'm blessed to work with the best director, I've learned so many valuable lessons from him and he's given me so many opportunities.  Some accomplishments in my time here:
  Interviewed/Trained 6 additional team members
  Development of the Global Direct Marketing tool
  Launched and advanced development on a universal Marketing site (that manages budgets, monitors
    Marketing collateral requests, tracks spend, and calculates ROI)
  Identified the need for an Oakley Marketing App
  Successful integration of an automatic forecasting system
  Increased window campaign graphics (and some kick ass concepts too!)
  Rx Lessons:
  Learn, observe, ask questions, take notes, from an expert
  Swallow your pride to get your foot in the door
  Never settle- with your position, with your processes, with what is "given" to you, with anything.





Successful 3-D Window Concept at Foxwoods Casino

1 Year Anniversary- Hypertensive Crisis:
  June 2012 I had just officially completed my beginner class at a CrossFit affiliate, tons going on in the office with the Olympics and the eve of a huge Women's event I was apart of the planning team.  I had woken up in the middle of the night with an odd headache, that continued throughout the day despite taking ibuprofen then I started with dizzy spells.  I just knew something didn't feel right and after convincing from family and friends I finished work (and errands) and drove myself to the ER.  They took my vitals at check in and then told me to wait; it was packed, I thought about leaving.  Why was I here for just a headache while others are bleeding, bones sticking out, appendicitis, etc?  I waited for about 2 minutes when the nurse quickly called me back.  I was immediately hooked to a monitor without knowing what was going on- my blood pressure was 215/122.  The average should be 120/80, someone in healthy condition like me should be even less.  I was having a hypertensive crisis, which meant my BP was in the stroke/heart attack range.  It was scary; I spent months going through tests, so far genetics is the only answer as to why I have to take meds infinitely.
  Rx Lessons:
  Be authentic, meaning don't make your brand sound like a robot with scheduled Social Media
    postings.  Have some compassion, share your story, relate to your audience.
  Listen to your gut, intuition is usually right

1 Year Anniversary- Official CrossFitter:
  August 2012 After being introduced to CrossFit in 2009 through a friend who opened an affiliate, I started following the sport and dabbled in doing CrossFit style workouts on my own at the Oakley gym.  I came to the realization I wasn't pushing myself nor did I know all of the proper techniques so I took the plunge and joined Orange Coast CrossFit, and like thousands of others around the world it has changed my life.  It has become my life- I train min. 6 hours/week, received my Level 1 and coach, joined the CFG SoCal Regional Media Team, and recently was able to connect my 2 passions Oakley and CF.
  Rx Lessons:
  The community is like no other- I've made lifelong friends, networked, business partners; there are
    endless opportunities.
  Performance-Obsessed (this is also a value of Oakley) its gets you hooked to perform your best
    which then translates to meticulous details in other aspects of life.

When I first started at OCCF and needed a band to do pull-ups

For more information on how to take risks, never settle, be authentic or performance-obsessed with your brand (personal, affiliate, product, service) email

Winning

We're competitive by nature and love to win, it's no new idea to add contests/promotions/sweepstakes to your Marketing Strategy.  Now that we're in the full swing of The CrossFit Games season and the low barrier to entry that Social Media provides, social feeds seem to be clogged with "enter now" "tag this" "like that" etc.  Most Marketing sites will recommend contests to grow your brand, but are all contests a win-win situation with a positive outcome for the brand? Absolutely possible, with a well drawn out set of guidelines and official rules.  But as always, when not executed on the right terms, there can be some serious issues.  You decide if it's worth the investment to reach your goal.

Majority of the promotions now-a-days are called "User Generated Content" (UGC).  Think- Instagram Photo contest by #uniquehashtag with you interacting with X product.  With UGC, most entrants will already be consumers actively interested in your brand so their responses are likely to be more authentic. 


***UGC Contest Example***

Here are the benefits of RxD contests and then some DNFs to take into account with your strategy:

RxD:
1) Inexpensive Advertising: With a UGC contest, outside of the prize (and after dealing with #1 on the DNF list), you generate a lot of content to be used and shared.  And let's be honest, the prizes don't even have to be that extravagant, people just like their 5 minutes of fame to say they WON.
2) Sharing the Brand: Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful means of Marketing, and in this sense Digital counts too. Consumers are more likely to buy a product based on a personal recommendation.  More simply, Digital sharing builds your fan base to friends, friends of friends, and so on.
3) Consumer Ownership in the Brand: Keeps the consumer engaged, makes them feel like they are apart of the brand and this can lead to an unofficial ambassador of the brand (correlates back into #2).

DNF:
1) Legalities: Federal and State laws govern the usage of contests, as well as each medium of Social Media have their own usage rights.  Research and legal advice is key, along with a well drawn out set of contest rules, so you don't get underwater with enforcement .  With UGC contests, usage rights and performer releases will have to be cleared if the submissions will be used for further advertising.
2) Control over the content: When the consumer is in charge of the content that will be posted, you lose control over the content being shared.  Will it be brand right?  Will it be positive towards your brand?
3) External and Internal Business Risks: Will the consumer be unhappy if they think the contest is unfair?  Will the response be worth the investment?  Will it drain your internal resources collecting entries?

For more information on effective, legal contests email