Blog 8: Fantasy Football Outline

Fantasy Football Outline

I. Introduction

a. Thesis- Fantasy Football has become an addictive game that blends the love for football, the common connection of friends, and tactical strategy into a significant and elevated sports experience.

i. The Background/Basic Idea
ii. The Evolution of Advertising for Fantasy Football
iii. Research, Resources, and Reading
iv. Why People Play
v. My Own Insights

II. Body

A. The basic premise of Fantasy Football is that participants are organized into different leagues (with their friends or with strangers), draft a team of real life NFL players, and earn points based on their fantasy team’s production in real life.

i. Participants now have the opportunity to play an interactive role in the NFL games they watch.

1. It is no longer just a spectator sport, but something where fans can act like managers and control their own team of actual NFL players.

B. Over the recent years, Fantasy Football has garnered a wide range of popularity which has opened doors for a new target segment (17-39) to advertise to.

i. Companies now fight for rights to boast what Fantasy Football site is the best and most popular.

1. Popular Fantasy Football sites include Yahoo, NFL.com, ESPN.com, and SportingNews.com

2. These sites are either free or for those hardcore Fantasy Football players there are leagues with a fixed payment at the beginning of the season for enhanced league options.

ii. Companies also have taken advantage of the fact that die-hard Fantasy Football participants constantly want to check their players’ statistics.

1. Sprint has recently signed a $600 million deal with the NFL to directly advertise their phones’ features with Fantasy Football.

iii. Companies such as Frito-Lay and Pepsi have in turn also received success from Fantasy Football in terms of increased revenue from more football related gatherings and parties.

C. There has been no shortage on the amount of information on Fantasy Football strategy, which comes in the form of blogs, magazine articles, and online articles.

i. From what prospects to draft, to how to manage your team, the media has taken advantage of the fact that saavy participants want an advantage in their respective Fantasy Football leagues.

D. People play Fantasy Football for a variety of reasons that can range from competition among friends, to a deeper interactive role because of their love for the NFL.

i. Participants play to beat their friends and earn the right for bragging rights for the rest of the year.

ii. Participants play for a sense of self accomplishment, pride, and competitive drive.

iii. Participants play for fun and enjoy keeping track of statistics on their players.

E. From my own Fantasy Football experiences, there is a sense of bonding and community from playing throughout the season.

i. People in Fantasy leagues are able to build deeper relationships and develop topics of conversation.

ii. From being a part of the same league, we are thus more inclined to go out and watch games with one another which creates a sense of bonding.

1. I have been playing Fantasy Football since 7^th grade in the same league with, for the most part, the same people.

2. Now that we are far a part, our Fantasy Football league is our common connection with one another and that keeps us willing to pay and play every year.

II. Conclusion

a. Fantasy Football is an experience that is shared among co-workers, family, and friends that increases competitive drive, purchases of major resources, and participation in more leagues.

b. What I’ve learned from this study

c. Application to Customer Insights- By understanding the emotional and logical perspectives from Fantasy Football participants, Fantasy Football leagues, sponsoring companies and the NFL will better tailor their marketing for a more in-depth customer experience.

Blog 7: The Era of the iPod: The iTunes Rant

When I was little I absolutely adored my mini cassette playing boom box. I would record songs off the radio and pretend to be my very own DJ. Flash forward through Walkmans, CD players, and bulky MP3 players to the present where iPods are king. Now I can have the convenience of loading up an endless amount of songs onto my handy dandy iPod. However record labels and artists are being more and more concerned with their music being ‘stolen’ and loaded onto many people’s computers. There are now endless lines of red tape I have to go through now to download music onto my iPod. What happened to the good old days where I was able to record songs off the radio for free, shouldn’t technology make recording songs freely easier now? All I want is my [free] music…

I’ve had an iPod for a few years now and I can say I’m still not a big user of iTunes to get my music. I’ve gone through several different music sharing sites since I was in middle school (pre iPod era) to download music. I used to be an avid user of Napster, Kazaa, Imesh, among other sites to download songs and burn cd’s. In recent times (before my computer was infected with a virus) I resorted to using Limewire to download my free music. So there is tradeoff when we download off these sites by running the risk of downloading a nasty virus for the free music. Although I ran into my first virus, I still will take the chance to download free music than to pay for what I listen to. We (as college students) just would rather resort to other means than paying for music.

With iTunes, you can purchase entire cd’s or songs at fairly reduced prices, but when you can get music for free, $1 seems like a lot of money. From years of free downloading students now have collections of music that ranged into the thousands of songs. I know if they would’ve paid $1 for everyone song they dowloaded, many would be able to pay a year of college tuition. Yes, I know $1 is not overly excessive, but it does eventually add up in the long term. Apple must understand the mentality of a large portion of their target segment will look to free music first. We are, for the most part, broke college kids who will try to find loopholes in everything we purchase. We’re the ones that look on the internet for 15 minutes searching for buy-1-get-1-free coupons, paying with quarters and $1 bills at restaurants, and drinking one week and a half expired milk because we still think it’s ‘good.’ Especially since many of us grew up on downloading free songs off music sharing sites, paying for music is sometimes difficult to bear. Why pay for songs when we can get them for free?

As a consumer in this market segment, I feel that iTunes should implement discounts or promotions to better advertise their songs and increase market share. I would be more enticed to purchase music if there were more buy-1-get-1 free song offers on iTunes. I feel that music is fairly accessible, so if iTunes wants me to purchase songs from their company, I would want something more in return. I do like the fact that you do get the digital cover on the songs you do purchase and I feel they can emphasize the digital art more than they do now.

Now with emerging sites such as Pandora and LastFM which only play music and is not downloadable, music listeners are getting new ways of listening to the music they want. Rather than pay for songs or risk downloading a virus, music has been made more and more available. Also with features of tailoring playlists to a particular taste (as Pandora does), it opens the consumer up to new artists that they might like. If iTunes would do something where you could purchase a song of your choosing and they would pair it with a song you ‘might’ like, the consumer might be more enticed to buy more music from that particular artist. Also, getting benefits and discounts more often as an iTunes member would also appeal to the music listener. We are a generation that feeds off free and discounted products, so I feel if iTunes did more to give back to their customers, they would gain more market share. Until then, I will continue looking into getting my music at discounted rates (there is now apparently even a youtube à mp3 converter to translate songs/videos from youtube into accessible mp3’s) and remain optimistic for future music purchases.

Blog 6: The Conscious Unconscious

The Reptilian Code

The 3-stage technique utilized by Dr. Rapaille at first seemed that it would like something that would be used on 2nd graders in elementary school. Tapping into the subconscious wants and needs of customers also sounded ambiguous and a waste of time. Delving deeper into the human psyche by laying down in the dark seems a bit sketchy from my point of view. I also personally found it hard to believe that you can detect the code behind what people feel about products, ideas, and brands…but then again he’s the one with millions of dollars and Bentleys in his garage.

The 3-stage technique evaluates logical, emotional, and subconscious responses from the participants in order to develop the specific code for the topic. It seems like a mind game of sorts throughout the experiment. He allows the participants to logically voice their opinions through past reasoning, then he brings out their emotional perspectives by telling a story, then finally placing them in a state where he could explore their unconscious feelings aka their Reptilian Code. His study reminds me of an experiment they would perform in a typical psychology study, but after all marketing is essentially understanding the psychology of the consumer.

Initially, I thought this code he was after was merely another term for a subliminal message. By tapping into consumer’s minds and producing a resultant idea, companies could send subliminal messages to their target audience to unleash some sort of internal, subconscious feeling to actually go out and buy the product. There have been rumors and controversies that companies in the past have attempted to utilize subliminal messages in their advertisements to deceive consumers into purchasing products, but focus on ethics have halted many of these past schemes. There is also no clear cut evidence that these subliminal messages do effectively work. This code might actually not be a subliminal message whatsoever, i.e. the code for SUV = dominance, but from the deep analysis there might be some notice of messages that are more indirect.

A famous example of subconscious purchases arise when customers buy laundry detergent that their mothers would use. Some people might say they do this because they already have a sense of familiarity with the product/brand, but digging deeper one might argue that they make this purchase because it subconsciously reminds them of their mother/father and their childhood. You could say the code for laundry detergent could be familiarity, nostalgia, or family-ties.

A questionable concern I see in these studies is that people are inherently different and individualistic. Not everyone thinks alike, shares similar living conditions, and experiences the same situations growing up. I understand by using this code marketers are better able to lure a significant portion of their target market, but I still question how effective this code can be. Sure you can use this code to take advantage and tailor your product to their subconscious wants, but if a shopper is more logical/emotional when making purchases in general. Will they realize their wants and needs are being targeted subconsciously? Let time be the judge.

Song's Dilemma

Companies do try to rather use these subconscious codes to associate those feelings with their products. By first evoking positive emotions, companies believe customers would then link those feelings with the brand/product and then actually make the purchase from there. Song tried to use these associations of the ideal airline feelings to build a link between a quality experience and their airlines. I feel this is a good strategy, however it is being implemented at the wrong point in time. They are a new airline and people don’t recognize who they are and what they do, so when Song came out with their innovative and somewhat ambiguous commercials, it left many potential customers puzzled on what exactly the company did. People were definitely identifying with the advertising, but only 15% of viewers actually knew who they were. They did not establish themselves as new airline so many people confused their advertisements to travel agents for instance. They appealed to their consumer's needs and evoked the right feelings, but not establishing their company really hurt them in the end. I feel if they would’ve used a more direct strategy in the earlier stages of their advertising then gradually advanced to promote the ideal customer experience, customers would understand what and who they were dealing with.

Blog 5: Kenna's Dilemma

My first experience with Kenna began when MTV2 was still in its’ early stages of formation and had a featured artist each week. This one particular week however, there seemed to be a lot of buzz surrounding this “Kenna” character for his world premiere video of “Hell Bent.” It was definitely a unique kind of sound and was seemingly a big hit because it was played constantly on MTV2, but after that song, I never heard anything from him. However, flash forward to 2009 and Kenna is brought up once again in Customer Insights. I now see that through low ratings in test markets, his type of music had apparently no one true fan base according to the research, so his airplay was ultimately limited. The dilemmas presented in the article definitely relate to those we face as consumers, most notably the Pepsi ‘Sip’ Challenge as well as the power that packaging has on consumers.

The Pepsi Challenge was an interesting way to challenge their primary competitor Coca-Cola in a battle of what tastes better. Pepsi seemingly had the advantage in taste (obviously with the title “The Pepsi Challenge”), but as a consumer I never thought about a sip tasting any different from drinking an entire can. Pepsi’s sip of cola in this Central Location test was victorious and seemed to convert Coke drinkers, but in Coke’s defense their cola seemed to fare better when the entire can was consumed. Pepsi might’ve realized this and utilized the Pepsi ‘Sip’ Challenge to alter customer perspectives.

This test immediately reminded me of the movie trailer experience. It is perceived that you can judge an entire movie based on simply the ‘sip’ of the actual movie, and by exciting customers with the trailer, they are more likely to go see it. Personally, one of my favorite parts about going to watch a film at a theatre is actually the preview section. Great movie trailers that are innovative and captivating can leave you in itching in anticipation to go learn more and watch the film. Films like The Dark Knight, Knocked Up, and the Star Wars trilogies have all delivered to live up to their intriguing trailers. At the same time however, a bad movie trailer can make you care less about the film and make you wish you had gone to get popcorn instead. Movies such as Lions for Lambs, Gigli, and “From Justin to Kelly (The post-American Idol movie) leave the audience confused, bored, and may not deliver the necessary point to draw customers to watch the film. Although these ended up being horrible movies anyway, the buzz around the films did not help their numbers in the box office.

Conversely just because a ‘sip’ of a movie is good/bad doesn’t mean that the movie will follow the trailer of course. The latest example that comes to mind is probably Slumdog Millionaire. If I were to see THIS trailer prior to all the buzz and awards, I would probably brush it off and continue enjoying my popcorn. I would’ve never guessed this trailer would be the Oscar winning film of 2008. On the contrary good trailers with renowned directors and actors can cause quite an opening buzz, but leaves audiences with a sense of disappointment. Examples would be Will Smith movies (I still have love for Big Willie Style) such as Wild, Wild West, Hancock, and Seven Pounds as well as a couple of M. Night Shyamalans more recent films The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening. A ‘sip’ of a movie may not reveal the overall outcome of the movie, but good trailers can cause buzz and at least give movies momentum in box office sales. Movie companies should continue to deliver quality and unique movie trailers to lure audiences, and by doing this they can hopefully persuade them psychologically enough to have a positive pre-conceived notion of the film when they actually go watch it. Causing this initial buzz (as in Kenna’s case) helps draws audiences, but if many people criticize the actual movie, they still have the chance to resonate as a future cult classic following.

Another major issue that was brought up in the article was based on the importance of packaging. Whenever I look at products, the color scheme, font, and even the pictures it plays a major role in my purchase decision. For instance, when I search for toilet paper, I always have trusted the name brands because of their colorful designs and ‘soft’ aesthetics. The generic brands claim to have the same features such as softness and durability, but the look appearance of the packaging gives me the impression that the paper is rough and weak. Toilet paper might essentially have similar feels and consistency, but I need to feel assured mentally that I’m making the right choice. When it comes to the restroom, toilet paper for me needs to be the highest quality in my mind; I will not buy secondary brands.

Which tissue would you prefer?

Another issue with packaging arises when companies decide to alter the look of product to shape a new image in consumers’ minds. I’m a fairly avid fan to Mountain Dew, so when they decided to alter the style and change ‘Mountain Dew’ to ‘Mtn Dew’ I was somewhat confused. When I first was handed a Mountain Dew from my friend, I wasn’t sure if I was drinking a generic brand that was attempting to replicate the product so at first I took it as a secondary brand. When I first took a sip I thought it tasted strange and perceived it for a generic brand, but my friend reassured me that it was in fact Mountain Dew with a new design. So when companies decide to change an image of a product, it might also alter the customer’s image of the actual product (as shown in the E&J/Christian Brothers and Mountain Dew example). The slight change in name and look altered my perception of the product which then made me taste the drink differently. I’m not sure if this was just a coincidental example or if it has happened often, but I’m just saying that companies need to be strategic on how much they actually change their product packaging. Sometimes the alteration of a package can catch consumers off and guard and actually alter tastes and how we perceive the product.

Blog # 4

Living in a Fantasy (Football) World

Every fall since I was in the 7^th grade, I’ve been a complete addict. This addiction has taken my mind away from school, shifts my focus to other aspects of life, and worst of all keeps me coming back for more every time. I can’t help but to submit to this dependence and I wholeheartedly believe that this habit will never come to an end. But by simply reading the title of my blog, this addiction does not involve the use of drugs or alcohol, but something much more addicting…Fantasy Football.

To give you a basic idea of what fantasy football is, it comprises of a group of ‘managers’ (everyday people) who draft real life NFL football players into their fictional online team. Based on their players’ real life statistical performance, they score points and whoever has the most points or wins at the end of the season is crowned that league’s fantasy football champion. Fans from all over the world have the opportunity to connect with friends near and far to compete in building their own fantasy football dynasty and more importantly, in many cases, claim bragging rights for the rest of the year.

Fantasy football has become a constantly growing industry with increased users year after year. Now with the emergence of the internet and updates in technology i.e. cell phones with internet access, fantasy football has become a more accessible and mainstream industry. I now ask why fantasy football has become this active mainstream entity in recent years. Long before there was nearly no mention of anything fantasy football related, but now there are full length advertisements and commercials that feature fantasy football. Commercials like THIS combine the collective marketing of ESPN, a cell phone, and fantasy football at the same time, essentially ‘killing three birds with one stone.’

But why just fantasy football and not other fantasy sports? For some reason there's just more buzz and mainstream focus on fantasy football than other sports. Commercials and media are typically centered around football more than other sports. I would like to delve deeper and investigate why fantasy football has taken over as the benchmark of all other fantasy games.

I also would like to inquire why fantasy football is such an addicting past time (as noted in the opening paragraph). The article It’s First and Ten for Fantasy Football on Facebook published last August by the Washington Post delivers an interesting argument on the comparison between fantasy football and Facebook. We all know what kind of success Facebook has generated over the past few years and the article points out that people connect with each other in a common, online medium in both fantasy football and Facebook world. With the ever expanding creation of Facebook applications, it’s no surprise why companies have decided to blend the two ‘social networking’ devices together for added accessibility. In one aspect I hope to discover what similarities fantasy football holds with Facebook and what drives users to become infatuated with both devices. I would also like to research how fantasy football can connect with other social networking devices such as Facebook to provide a more worthwhile consumer experience.

To those who have never played fantasy football or do not care for football, this might seem overly ‘macho’ and merely a waste of time. However, to those who have played fantasy football and do care for football, they might understand that it is not only a game, but more over an experience. Many users are so engaged in their teams that they research their players’ historical data, analyze key match-ups, and constantly check game day statistics of their teams. By doing all these preparations and actions, games are more closely examined and passionate emotions tend to get involved. Emotions such as anticipation, victory, and sorrow are all common feelings that arise over the course of a fantasy football season, and the users tend to build a personal attachment to their teams you could say. HERE is a perfect example of how emotions and fantasy football can easily relate to one another. Finally, as an active and veteran participant myself, I want to discover why such a simple game could stimulate such intense emotions and attachment from users. When there’s feelings involved, it’s plain to see that it's not just a game anymore.

Journal 3

Buzz Marketing (What’s the Buzz All About?)

After reading about the article about the Alpha Moms pitching the Nintendo Wii, I immediately had to take a step back and think about what just happened. It took a while to process the fact that soccer moms were pitching one of the most highly anticipated, interactive gaming systems in the world. Mind boggling indeed. However, when I saw my 30-something sister get excited when she rolled a strike bowling on the Wii, it does seem to make sense to market an interactive game such as the Wii to this unknown group of social leaders (moms). Nintendo reached out to a whole new market, while at the same time creating buzz among their favorite customers…kids. Killing 2 birds with one stone never looked so fun. From this I’ve learned in many cases, such as the moms pitching the Wii, creating buzz by actual interaction and experience can gain much warranted attention better than any ad, billboard, or commercial could ever do.

So what exactly is buzz marketing? It is essentially creating hype or so-called ‘buzz’ around a product to stimulate a spread of word of mouth between consumers. It has been used as of late to spread knowledge about upcoming products such as the Wii in the Alpha mom example. Companies can also find other representatives that are already passionate about the product and ask them to use the product in public areas to attract other users, in return for free products and company ‘swag’ (accessories, decorations, etc...)

Buzz marketing is all around us, even when we don’t know it. Our peers, family and professors create hype about products (most of the time not getting paid directly by the company) which in turn builds interest about the product or service. By actually viewing or hearing about the service from ordinary people you see every day, people typically don’t feel like they are being deceived. By taking part of the product and experiencing it from these buzzing product users, you might personally get attached to it and eventually create product buzz on your own. Unfortunately, companies do resort to paying these ‘ordinary’ people to purposely display these products or services in public as if they were doing so with their own free will. I personally don’t have anything against this strategy, but there are many customers that feel deceived if they realized these ‘buzz marketers’ were a part of the company’s scheme. Unethical or brilliant? You can be the judge…

Does this buzz marketing seem to work? I definitely think that it does. Although this can be a time consuming process, the consumers companies do reach out to employ a personal, face-to-face experience. In my mind, as the consumer, you are more attracted to things you hear from your friends and this word of mouth definitely can spread quickly to reach a large number of the target audience. With the increased use of social networking devices and Youtube, buzz marketing can only spread.

Some companies however choose to create buzz in more of an open manner utilizing normal college students like me and appointing them as ‘Campus Ambassadors’ or ‘Company Representatives.’ There is definite merit within these positions, and I feel that it is an inventive approach of promoting the brand as well as gaining exposure through these mediums. We typically see these ‘Ambassadors’ playing with video games at study break sessions or eating and passing out free bags of goodies during student traffic between classes. All these scenarios are directed to create some sort of buzz throughout the student body. I feel this is more of an effective way to reach out to our generation, a generation that seems to 'know better.' I believe that by being directly hoarded with blatant ads from companies that don’t seem to care, their efforts don’t seem effective, but when I see ‘one of us’ gives me free, company umbrella on a rainy day, I feel that the company genuinely does care about their consumers. We are no longer a generation phased with direct advertising schemes, but rather a market fueled by word of mouth from our own ordinary people.

Blog # 2, The Choice is Yours

Turkey? Chicken Breast? Buffalo Shrimp Po’ Boy? As I stood in line in my favorite Sandwich store I was forced to make a crucial decision with so many options…well in fact TOO many options. I am a hungry consumer that needs to feel satisfied with the right meal, but with so many options how will I know if I made the right choice in only a matter of minutes? So after careful and long deliberation, I chose the Buffalo Shrimp Po’ Boy. Satisfaction here I come! But as I scrolled my eyes down, I began to see a barrage of toppings, dressings and cheeses and can’t help but to be unfortunately overwhelmed once again. By the time I placed my order, my two friends were already chomping away at their sandwiches while I’m still having second thoughts about that turkey on rye…

The mere availability of options gives consumers so much pleasure…yet so much pain as shown in the previous example. Although I feel like I am a pretty savvy consumer that knows what I want, when more than one perfectly viable option is presented, I am quite frankly, flabbergasted. This is when Barry Schwarz’s Paradox of Choice comes into play and smacks you across the face with his loaf of Italian, Wheat and White bread (toasted or not toasted is up to you).

Maximizing freedom = maximizing choice, or so we think. We as a society have a love/hate relationship when it comes to choice. When there’s not enough, we’re not satisfied and ask for more. When there’s too many, we’re still not satisfied and ask for less. How picky we are. The world presents us with an array of everyday choices that seem to please and confuse us simultaneously. Some hate the fact that they take a lifetime to select what shade of blue on a Polo emblem shirt will match their plaid pants better or what dry cleaning facility will offer better services. Alternatively some do in fact love the way they can order it their way and for instance, get a baked potato instead of their fries with their value meal (like me). So my next question I pose is what is the right amount of choices? Is it the size of the menu we see at McDonald’s or is it the selection of different sodas in a vending machine? That’s the job of us ‘Marketers’ to help find that perfect balance we desire through surveys, focus groups, and other types of marketing research. As more and more available choices open up and become discovered, it becomes more and more difficult for consumers to choose what they want leaving us marketers, still with jobs.

Another issue surrounding this topic is customization. We’re in an age of personalizing…um…everything. Oh how we love the funky colors on our Nikes and the iPods with our favorite quote inscribed on the back, and we definitely do adore those lovely Build-a-Bears. We are definitely living in the era of the Generation Y’ers where we can have selection and personal customization in the palm of our hands. However, for anyone’s that’s ever decided to customize their own items, how long does it take? There’s so many colors, so many patterns, so many…options. Customers may spend an eternity searching for the ideal color shoelace, and ironically when they see them in person they may have second thoughts of picking that other color. Cognitive dissonance definitely wanders in this realm of post-customization and rears it’s ugly head forcing unwanted returns and feelings of “I wish I wouldn’t have gotten this altogether.

I personally have trouble when it comes to making decisions about clothing and shoes; I am quite the picky one. I go through piles and piles of shirts and when I finally search two shirts I like, I sit there and debate over a long stretch of time. And when I ultimately do select the shirt I want, I am too tired to look through the stacks of slim-fit, stone washed, and boot cut jeans on the opposite end of the store and instead pay for the shirt so I could go home. This previous scenario has happened to too many of us; we find ourselves stuck on debating on a single product that saps away our attention and focus and ultimately leads to fewer or repeat purchases of the same product. In this respect, companies might lose profits down the road with customers buying less and spending more time debating on a variety of options. The ending scenario of this story as well as choice paralysis leave customers leaving with a sense of confusion, bewilderment, and second guessing, not feelings of joy, excitement and happiness like they’d want it to be. However looking at the big picture, in my opinion the option of choice does more good than harm by giving customers the freedom to choose their personal, ideal product that fits their personalities and lifestyles. The choice is yours and yours alone….