The Torch

I must admit, I am an unrelenting fan of the Boston Red Sox. I have suffered from this affliction from the time I was a very young, and very impressionable boy. As such, I lived through some of the most heart wrenching disasters known to sports fans and I have the emotional scars to prove it. I have also experienced the jubilation of finally winning the World Series in 2004 and 2007.

Manny Ramirez has been a big part of the recent success of the team, winning the World Series MVP in 2004. Manny played with about a 50% effort for the last month of his stay in Boston in order to force Red Sox management to make a trade. The day that he was finally unloaded to the Los Angeles Dodgers had the effect of a force 7 earth quake hitting the greater Boston area. It is October 5, 2008, as I sit and write this blog post. The Trade happened over 2 months ago, and the story still dominates the airwaves of sports talk radio in Boston.

Yet, from a purely marketing standpoint, the Manny Trade was not the biggest thing that happened that day in Boston sports. August 1, 2008, the day that Manny left the Red Sox, was also the day that Gordon Edes resigned from the Boston Globe and Steve Buckley left the Boston Herald.

Both of these men are highly regarded sports writers and covered the Red Sox on behalf of their respective newspapers for many years. The interesting thing about the departures is that both of them opted to continue their careers as writers in the on-line sports reporting medium. Edes signed on with Yahoo! Sports while Buckley moved to WEEI.com.

This is huge! It says volumes about where the world has come from and where it is going. Newspapers are on the decline and have been for a while. Advertising revenues are down 5.6% in 2007 according to Investment Business Weekly via VerticalNews.com, but the trend was on an accelerating pace in the final two quarters. Internet display advertising continued to grow by 15.9% in the same time period. Newspaper editorial staffs are being laid off and seasoned reporters are being replaced by syndicated articles that can easily be accessed on line if you so desire.

The world of advertising is rapidly changing. The default type of thinking that leads to “put an ad in the newspaper” must change and give way to a more strategic approach to ad spending. There are more choices and maximizing ROI, driving results that are measurable and can be traced to particular campaigns and expenditures, is something that needs to be given serious consideration.

Strategic thinking requires more time and energy. It means that you must look at the entire picture and make your advertising and marketing expenditure decisions with extreme care. You may need to seriously consider venues that are fairly new to you and somewhat intimidating. It is important to explore every possible avenue as you create a fully integrated, multi-level strategy, that is designed to produce the results you desire.

George Wallace
President and CEO

The Discovery Communications Group is an award-winning, fully-integrated marketing agency located in Salem, NH, that specializes in professional web design, search engine optimization, and social media marketing strategy. DCG also provides printing and mailing services to meet every advertising need, servicing clients throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts.