El Gaffney

Ads, Brands, and ESPN: A Presentation

I just returned to the office from giving a guest lecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. The audience was first-year students in Professor Ansari’s Marketing class, which is part of their core curriculum. That means, they have to be there whether or not they give two hoots about this fuzzy stuff. And at 9AM, at that. However, I must give credit to the class – they were surprisingly awake and engaged from the get-go, and they asked very smart questions. All A’s, I say. (Unfortunately, I have no power to do such a thing.) So thank you to them, Prof Ansari, W+K, and ESPN – nothing makes up for lack of new thinking better than some “This is SportsCenter” spots. Thanks to the blogosphere and plannersphere, from whom I’ve learned (and stolen) much to make this presentation. And thanks to my parents, who as educators themselves, have instilled the importance of, and inspired the passion for, teaching. (Yes, I know it’s only a presentation, not an acceptance speech for an award show.) Enjoy and please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or on SlideShare. I’d like that.

(Note: Many of the slides contain hyperlinks to videos. Also, I have no idea why that clip art heart shape would upload properly. But I’m done trying since it’s not relevant to the pres. Plus, it’s only getting further away from Valentine’s Day.)

UPDATE: Many people have told me they need the VO with this or even the notes, and unfortunately I don’t think there’s a way to upload it with them. But in the absence of each, I must clear up just one misconception – I’m not feeling that State Farm spot creatively or strategically. Of course I understand that it was just to get the NFL sponsorship across; however, I used this slide to make the point that advertising is not the end game – that it must serve the brand, connect to your memories of the brand, etc. In hindsight, that was probably not the best example or title of that slide for those reading it. Thank you, Clay, for bringing it to my attention considering I got the idea to use when he and an ex-colleague bashed it on the same day.)

Tags: ads, b-school, brands, espn