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I saw someone weaving across the centerline on a two-way road this morning. It wasn’t long ago that I would have assumed I was behind a drunken driver. This was not the case, and as I passed the car it was clear—the driver was on a cell phone and attempting to write something at the same time. The distractions available to drivers today are numerous. A recent CBS News story highlights the problem.
A post on Doc Searls’ blog caught me off guard today. It’s a beautiful spring day in Minnesota lake country. The ice is out. It’s warm and sunny. There’s hardly a breath of wind. Between earth, lake and sky the world is as perfectly blue and green as it gets in this part of the world. Doc’s post focused on Daniel Henninger’s story (Wall Street Journal) about blogs, and the fact that maybe not all things should be shared, even if the Web allows that to be done almost effortlessly.
There was an interesting story last week in the Boston Herald about the bubble generation. Back in the 1990s, Faith Popcorn, a pop trend forecaster, gave us the concept of cocooning. Cocooning describes the trend for people to escape from the hubbub of society by retreating (usually evenings/weekends) to their homes (cocoons) and insulating themselves from the distractions of a hectic world. Affluence and technology certainly enabled this trend with things like gourmet kitchens, home gyms, recreational equipment, plasma TVs, DVDs, and the Internet. Many things that you previously needed to leave home to enjoy or do, can now be done at home: shopping, exercising, movies, gourmet meals, exploring, researching, going to the library, working, games, etc.
The NCAA’s March Madness marketing machine is through Rounds 1 and 2 and down to the the Sweet 16. As I mentioned in Part 1 of this post, this event is a classic study in branding. Branding connects with people on an emotional level, and anytime you have grown people yelling at their television sets, you know an emotional connection has been made. The television is not an interactive medium. It will not answer your plea for “What in the hell was he thinking?” or “How could he miss that?” You have been absorbed into the illusion and transported to courtside where your shouts of encouragement or disdain will no doubt be heard.
Everywhere I look I see headlines about March Madness. NCAA basketball has honed this annual classic into a premiere sporting, branding, promotional, and public relations event. Major college and professional sports tournaments are usually big draws, but this year, the March Madness marketing machine seems supercharged. Maybe it is because it follows closely on the heels of the Winter Olympics. At any rate, it has major legs. The buzz is pervasive and loud.
Part of the big draw for this event is no doubt the fact that you start out with 64 teams from all over the country, and in 20 days, whittle the field down to one champion. That is one of the great things about sports; only a few players are actually involved in the game, but thousands of fans are immersed vicariously as though they were at the very center of the drama.
One reason this tournament has such a powerful brand presence is all its well known, iconic names that are famous in sports lexicon: March Madness, Big Dance, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, and the Final Four. Talk about a reality show—this one is king.