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Five-Time Champions

 

For the past few weeks our nation has been enthralled by the world of college basketball. Not that being captivated by college sports is a new phenomenon for our country – nearly every season we tune in for the big game or the big championship, wanting to share the glory with our favorite team or athlete.

But what is it about the NCAA Tournament that fascinates us for an entire month?  Year after year –following heated discussions from the classroom to the dinner table to the workplace water cooler – Americans excitedly fill in their brackets (most likely more than one) to see if this will be the year they can best predict the Madness of March Madness. This year the chaos was taken to a heightened National level following the ESPN interview with President Obama. While Obama didn't come in first place (he had Pittsburgh winning it all), he did rank in the 80th percentile among ESPN tournament entrants. Not bad, not bad at all!

Of course, it's easy to be consumed by the excitement of College basketball when there are enticing pools everywhere you look. Sportsbook.com highlighted a $12 million pot for the perfect bracket winner. ESPN.com offered a $5,000 prize for the top 30 brackets and similarly Yahoo! offered a $1 million grand prize.

According the U.S. News & World Report, this year in particular, given these tough economic times, March Madness offers the perfect time for companies to build morale and camaraderie. From moving TVs into the break-room and filling out brackets for an office wide pool to wearing your favorite team’s apparel, there are a number of different ways companies could use March Madness to bring a little more life into the office this spring.  

Regardless of what teams you were pulling for, the 2009 NCAA tournament held up its end of the bargain –bracket busters, unbelievable scores and sport memories were created, and in the end the UNC Tar Heels went home with their fifth National Championship win, beating Michigan State, 89-72.  

Did the Madness win out in the end? How did your bracket fair this year?

 

By Carrie Crabill

Lost in Social Media Land?

The social media movement has taken over the lives of more than 60 percent of Americans, according to the recent Cone Business in Social Media Study. More importantly, the survey also found that 93 percent of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media, with 85 percent who agree a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media. Now, how is that for a sign your company should be social networking?!

We all get that Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, MeetUp, Digg, Flickr, Del.icio.us, Linkedin and on and on can be very overwhelming for companies choosing to dive in! The fact is, using these sites and many more can be a very effective, low cost way to market your company. Whether you are B2C, B2B or Not for Profit, there is something out there for everyone. 

At Trevelino/Keller, we believe that weaving your way through the social media world can be painless…and even as easy as a game. You see, we have created SocialStatus^TK, a platform designed to take a game board approach to introducing companies to the world of social media. SocialStatus^TK makes social media easy to comprehend and seamless to implement. All you need is a starting point and a glossary of social media terms and you are on your way.

With help from The Content Factor, Bemyad.com, Mobile Media Enterprises and Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP Trevelino/Keller is hosting a social status seminar, sponsored by Marketing Mine, where attendees can expect an initiation into the social media landscape from bloggers and social networks to user-generated content platforms, mobile messaging campaigns and virtual worlds and essentially any viral communications environment. The seminar draws from each partner company’s fields of expertise which includes public relations and social media (Trevelino/Keller), content creation (The Content Factor), web video ad promotions (Bemyad.com), mobile marketing (Mobile Media Enterprises) and legal implications (Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP). For the seminar, we have selected EARTH University Foundation as the working brand for SocialStatusTK game board experience.

Seminar cost is $25 per person. The event begins at 8:15 a.m. at Market in the W Hotel Buckhead and will conclude around 10:30 a.m. For additional details just shoot me a comment below and I will get back to you with more information.

 

Happy social networking and we hope to see you there!