Wolf Tracking

When Julius Caesar was summoned by the Roman Senate to Pompey’s Theater on the March 15, 44 BC, he had no idea it would be the last power struggle of his life. The now infamous warning by soothsayer Titus to Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March,” may always have a place in cocktail trivia, but the modern, main event in Mid-March is all about the “Madness.” 

On Thursday the NCAA men’s basketball tournament shot to the media forefront and is one of the best examples of creating killer content appropriate for any medium. 

Whether you’re a die hard college hoops fan with skin in the game, or the casual sports fan trying your luck at “that fun office pool with the bracket,” the NCAA Tournament dubbed “March Madness” is a major media event a kin to Caesar’s glory days. It draws you in with passionate players fighting for victory and keeps you there until the final basket has been cast.    

For the public and media – new and old – it is a content tornado that whips across network television, the Internet, radio, college campuses, office water coolers, and connected devices everywhere. And it is a great opportunity for marketers to leverage the power of “new media” and for consumers to experience it first-hand. 

I am a huge professional sports fan, but I don’t really follow college sports beyond the occasional inquiry to learn if my alma mater, Seton Hall, is doing well. Come March however, I become transfixed in highlights and updates morning, noon and night! I keep my bracket taped to my office door, another copy at home, and a third in my bag in case someone happens to bring up tournament updates and I need to account for new results. For me, it has all the excitement and suspense of playoff baseball when the Red Sox and Yankees are fighting for every win. 

March Madness also demonstrates the media madness possible when the right content is made available to consumers in a compelling way.  This year, even more tournament content is expected to appear online and viewed over mobile devices than ever before.  As a result, it is a great opportunity for marketers not currently tied to the annual tournament to explore and experience the power of “new media,” and its potential for their brand and products.  From viral videos of winning plays and at-the-buzzer reactions from local fans offline, to blow-by-blow blogging about the day’s battles, consumer promotions and contests, there is a swell of media opportunity. 

The “News Analysis & Commentary” section of the March 13 issue of BusinessWeek focuses on plans by CBS to attract millions of consumers to its “March Madness On Demand” for free tournament coverage online. BusinessWeek surmises that this year’s tournament could be a turning point for online video with the potential to attract the largest online audience ever for a sporting event. It also discusses the tournament as an opportunity for the Internet to showcase its advantages over television, including instant access to information, simultaneous viewing of games taking place at the same time and the opportunity to customize content to meet the consumers’ needs, from fair-weather fans to fiery fanatics.  

Regardless of your feelings about college basketball, March Madness is a valuable way to take in and weigh in on new ways technology is impacting how we experience this historical tournament that began back in 1939. While college players do battle on the court, it’s worth reflecting on brand marketing and the experiences and mediums that can be leveraged to communicate with broad or highly targeted consumer audiences. 

• Are you embracing interactive content and the viral nature of the Internet? 
• Are there communications assets not being leveraged across new mediums to reach new audiences?  
• In what ways can we as marketers create new dialogs with consumers?   

I believe the results and feedback to the media presenting tournament content will dramatically shape the expectations of consumer content delivery, and offer fair warning for marketers that even more innovative brand experiences will be required to effectively reach consumers in the future. It will be interesting to see if the madness leads to even more online video demand, and of course, the games are exciting too.  Here are some of the places I’m mad about for experiencing the NCAA Tourney… 

• http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/index
• http://sportsline.com/collegebasketball 
• http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab
• http://www.ncaasports.com
• http://www.aolsportsblog.com/category/march-madness
• http://digg.com/basketball/Watch_NCAA_March_Madness_Basketball_Online_FREE   
• http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1004668 
• http://www.bizreport.com/2007/03/march_madness_takes_advertisers_online.html  
• http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/default.htm    
• ESPN Radio 1050 AM (NY Metro Area) 
• Sirius Satellite Radio (the first radio broadcaster to provide national coverage of March Madness in its entirety)