Attention is Earned

Over the weekend, during ESPN’s College Game Day, a smart fan used his time on TV wisely. 

So wisely that he raised more than a million dollars for Children’s Hospital. 

If you haven’t heard the story yet, I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes version. 

A college football fan stood behind the Game Day commentators and proudly held up a sign that was asking for money to replenish his supply of Busch Light along with his Venmo username.

What started out as a simple idea to maybe get some extra beer money turned into a feel-good story AND a valuable lesson for marketers.

The lesson here is that it’s all about attention and doing something impactful when you have it.

In marketing, you could have the best messaging in the world but if you haven’t pinpointed your target audience, your message won’t resonate. 

It's just as the famous saying goes, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

This guy is smart. He used the attention that he knew he had and capitalized on it. 

He knew that the demographic that was watching College Game Day would not only think this was funny, but that they'd also take action. 

This shows that attention + strategic messaging is the combination that you need to leverage in order to improve your client's top and bottom line. 

It’s all about doubling down on consumer attention when you know that you have it. Not only does this take skill, but it also takes time and effort to do the marketing intel and use what you’ve gathered to create and implement a Big Idea that speaks directly to your target audience.

Cheers!