Dear Gentle Readers,
As a preface … I’ve been told by certain corporate communications execs (who may actually know what they’re talking about!) that pool’s approach toward national media coverage has been rather backwards.
Historically, our attitude has been hat-in-hand. Humbly beseeching film, broadcast, cable and internet titans to - - would you, ever so kindly, please, please - - consider covering our sport?
These seasoned media pros (mostly my dad’s friends and also pals of a certain Wall Street guy I used to know) have indicated that the more proper - - and more prosperous approach - - would be to position and package our sport to highlight the benefits (read profits) that pool could help deliver to select media enterprises.
NB: to those babysitters of corporate bottom lines, there is nothing sacrosanct about pool. The following scenario might apply just as well to biking. Or to darts. Or to home brewing. Well, perhaps not to fermenting.
For some reason, this is my season to have become infatuated with the professional pool scene, domestic version.
When I first became intrigued with our sport -- this was around 2010 -- I had some very preliminary corporate conversations about pool (through my dad and that fella I used hang with) with execs from some astonishingly successful companies. Three of those organizations:
> Weiden+Kennedy (Nike’s marketing agency).
> InBev (think Budweiser) -- in this particular instance, it was actually my former beau who met with his exec-chum in Leuven.
> Disney … because - - through ABC, ESPN and other partner companies - - this particular media company has compelling audience reach, target-appropriate demographics and multi-platform disciplines.
In all three corporate instances, pool wasn’t on their radar. However, the emerging streaming market was of some interest to all of them. As was the goal of expanding dedicated corporate sponsorships into ever-increasing revenue relationships.
In the interest of brevity, I’ll speak only to my conversation with my dad’s Disney friend ...
He is a fascinating guy. Skilled, suave and successful. Not at all smug.
Dinner with him. And his wife … killer look! Think Chloe vest, Gap tee, casual stovepipes (that I bet anything were Maison Martin Margiela), boots that whispered ‘class’ and (one simple pendant) very tasteful, very understated bling nod. Combined with an almost serene and oh-so-quiet confidence.
Back to the business of pool … I was so enthralled with the rapid-fire ‘here’s what we could do’ scenarios my dad’s Disney pal spun out almost as quickly as I broached any aspect of the subject:
1) How easy -- from his corporate perspective -- it would be to incorporate pool into various levels of his company’s multifaceted media empire:
With pre-committed (more on this in a mo) sponsors such as Nike and Bud, it wouldn’t be a challenge for ESPN to slot pool events on one or more of its channels.
With the participation of those universally respected companies, the ESPN sales teams would then find it even easier to solicit additional sponsorship revenue from companies that Disney is already doing (or wants to do) business with. ESPN would thus have the ability to package ‘billiards’ into its corporate parent’s much larger marketing campaigns.
In other words … Disney companies could be instrumental in signing pool’s original corporate sponsors. And in then delivering additional corporate patrons.
What would be huge money to us would be merely a sidebar investment for both the sellers (Disney) - - and the investors - - (our mutual sponsors).
2) This billiards parcel could dovetail with ESPN’s granularity direction. They had, back then, moved into local sports coverage in city after city, even down to the high school level. So local billiards streaming and local sports coverage could cross-pollinate by providing ad-bundling opportunities for their regional sellers.
3) Our billiards program could fit in also with Disney's verticality goals. My dad’s friend told me that I should be thinking beyond just the sports networks. He suggested the example of an ABC comedy show where an actor might join her local pool league. (Lessons from Earl, a grudge match with Jasmin, etc.) Then, edited cameos could be dovetailed into the ‘buy’ meetings to promote Disney’s upcoming network season.
And for us?
We would have celebrity-embedded, professionally-produced vignettes to publicize our own events. And our own celebrities.
4)Product placement. Billiards-line products and sponsors’ products could, for appropriate considerations, be woven into Disney movies, television programs, their remarkably large interactive media group, etc.
5)Pool is international and this is a key for Disney. As it is for Nike. And for many other potential sponsors.
6) Disney could see itself becoming the gatekeeper for the still-nascent number of international billiards stream viewers.
As the digerati morph from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, pool streams - - by themselves - - command only a fraction of today’s audience attention. Yet, from an aggregated perspective, all of the pool streams from all of the international sources could eventually cume to the boxcar audience numbers that Disney wants to market to its sponsors and to its advertisers.
7) The entry fee is laughably low to 'own' the pool industry.
Bogarting the dream-pipe is my life,
Sunny
P. S. Sorry, that in this sorry ramble, I’ve managed to bury the lede:
Professional pool, American edition, can, indeed, come back.
P. P. S. Pool - - as would be true of bicycling, or darts - - is merely the convenient wrapping paper on the corporate sponsorship package.
P. P. P. S. Media execs wouldn’t view pool manufacturers and promoters as competitors. Quite the opposite.
My admittedly-vague sense of the corporate sense is that it doesn’t much matter to successful companies whether there’s a single governing organization in pool. Nor whether there’s player solidarity. The cold corporate calculation seems to be that even a tiny bit of cash will result in all interested parties clicking heels, saluting the company flag and pledging everlasting allegiance.
Cynical? Realistic?
Sunny reports, you decide.
As a preface … I’ve been told by certain corporate communications execs (who may actually know what they’re talking about!) that pool’s approach toward national media coverage has been rather backwards.
Historically, our attitude has been hat-in-hand. Humbly beseeching film, broadcast, cable and internet titans to - - would you, ever so kindly, please, please - - consider covering our sport?
These seasoned media pros (mostly my dad’s friends and also pals of a certain Wall Street guy I used to know) have indicated that the more proper - - and more prosperous approach - - would be to position and package our sport to highlight the benefits (read profits) that pool could help deliver to select media enterprises.
NB: to those babysitters of corporate bottom lines, there is nothing sacrosanct about pool. The following scenario might apply just as well to biking. Or to darts. Or to home brewing. Well, perhaps not to fermenting.
For some reason, this is my season to have become infatuated with the professional pool scene, domestic version.
When I first became intrigued with our sport -- this was around 2010 -- I had some very preliminary corporate conversations about pool (through my dad and that fella I used hang with) with execs from some astonishingly successful companies. Three of those organizations:
> Weiden+Kennedy (Nike’s marketing agency).
> InBev (think Budweiser) -- in this particular instance, it was actually my former beau who met with his exec-chum in Leuven.
> Disney … because - - through ABC, ESPN and other partner companies - - this particular media company has compelling audience reach, target-appropriate demographics and multi-platform disciplines.
In all three corporate instances, pool wasn’t on their radar. However, the emerging streaming market was of some interest to all of them. As was the goal of expanding dedicated corporate sponsorships into ever-increasing revenue relationships.
In the interest of brevity, I’ll speak only to my conversation with my dad’s Disney friend ...
He is a fascinating guy. Skilled, suave and successful. Not at all smug.
Dinner with him. And his wife … killer look! Think Chloe vest, Gap tee, casual stovepipes (that I bet anything were Maison Martin Margiela), boots that whispered ‘class’ and (one simple pendant) very tasteful, very understated bling nod. Combined with an almost serene and oh-so-quiet confidence.
Back to the business of pool … I was so enthralled with the rapid-fire ‘here’s what we could do’ scenarios my dad’s Disney pal spun out almost as quickly as I broached any aspect of the subject:
1) How easy -- from his corporate perspective -- it would be to incorporate pool into various levels of his company’s multifaceted media empire:
With pre-committed (more on this in a mo) sponsors such as Nike and Bud, it wouldn’t be a challenge for ESPN to slot pool events on one or more of its channels.
With the participation of those universally respected companies, the ESPN sales teams would then find it even easier to solicit additional sponsorship revenue from companies that Disney is already doing (or wants to do) business with. ESPN would thus have the ability to package ‘billiards’ into its corporate parent’s much larger marketing campaigns.
In other words … Disney companies could be instrumental in signing pool’s original corporate sponsors. And in then delivering additional corporate patrons.
What would be huge money to us would be merely a sidebar investment for both the sellers (Disney) - - and the investors - - (our mutual sponsors).
2) This billiards parcel could dovetail with ESPN’s granularity direction. They had, back then, moved into local sports coverage in city after city, even down to the high school level. So local billiards streaming and local sports coverage could cross-pollinate by providing ad-bundling opportunities for their regional sellers.
3) Our billiards program could fit in also with Disney's verticality goals. My dad’s friend told me that I should be thinking beyond just the sports networks. He suggested the example of an ABC comedy show where an actor might join her local pool league. (Lessons from Earl, a grudge match with Jasmin, etc.) Then, edited cameos could be dovetailed into the ‘buy’ meetings to promote Disney’s upcoming network season.
And for us?
We would have celebrity-embedded, professionally-produced vignettes to publicize our own events. And our own celebrities.
4)Product placement. Billiards-line products and sponsors’ products could, for appropriate considerations, be woven into Disney movies, television programs, their remarkably large interactive media group, etc.
5)Pool is international and this is a key for Disney. As it is for Nike. And for many other potential sponsors.
6) Disney could see itself becoming the gatekeeper for the still-nascent number of international billiards stream viewers.
As the digerati morph from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram, pool streams - - by themselves - - command only a fraction of today’s audience attention. Yet, from an aggregated perspective, all of the pool streams from all of the international sources could eventually cume to the boxcar audience numbers that Disney wants to market to its sponsors and to its advertisers.
7) The entry fee is laughably low to 'own' the pool industry.
Bogarting the dream-pipe is my life,
Sunny
P. S. Sorry, that in this sorry ramble, I’ve managed to bury the lede:
Professional pool, American edition, can, indeed, come back.
P. P. S. Pool - - as would be true of bicycling, or darts - - is merely the convenient wrapping paper on the corporate sponsorship package.
P. P. P. S. Media execs wouldn’t view pool manufacturers and promoters as competitors. Quite the opposite.
My admittedly-vague sense of the corporate sense is that it doesn’t much matter to successful companies whether there’s a single governing organization in pool. Nor whether there’s player solidarity. The cold corporate calculation seems to be that even a tiny bit of cash will result in all interested parties clicking heels, saluting the company flag and pledging everlasting allegiance.
Cynical? Realistic?
Sunny reports, you decide.
