Gracie Communications

Posted by Lisa Sirkin Vielee

Already the experts are saying the boost to Indianapolis from hosting the Super Bowl may be short- term and not as robust as the city may like. While city leaders tally the results and marketing and social media analysts, like Exact Target, crunch the numbers from the Super Bowl, I think any report about the impact of hosting the big game is premature.

Let’s face it folks. Indianapolis has only played half the game. Yes, Indianapolis hosted and executed a near flawless Super Bowl. Yes, it is important to assess what we’ve done so far. It’s okay to pat ourselves on the back for 5.7 million tweets, 1.1 million visits to Super Bowl Village, 8,000 volunteers and countless celebrity sightings.  But we still have a way to go to create a positive economic return on the Super Big investment and capitalize on the city’s national brand exposure.

Here’s what we, as marketers, social media experts; heck, as residents of Indianapolis, need to do next to help the ICVA, Indiana Sports Corp. and others make the big plays:

1. Don’t stop tweeting, writing and bragging about Indianapolis. Jolene Ketzenberger has a terrific story in The Indianapolis Star about celebrities shining a light on local, independent restaurants during the Super Bowl.  We have some great restaurants in this city. So the next time someone claims Indy is the chain-restaurant capital of the world, look them in the eye and invite them to meet you at Recess. Or R Bistro. Or Goose the Market. Or Ball & Biscuit. Fly them in if you have to. Just dispel this and the other many myths about our city.

2. Volunteer for IDI to help develop the plans for the Georgia Street corridor.  Don’t just wonder if Georgia Street will get the right mix of patio dining and cool events, be a part of making it happen.

3. Support local bands, events, museums and arts districts. The outlying areas had mixed reviews when it came to Super Bowl traffic. That’s too bad, because there are so many great places in central Indiana to experience. Use the Super Celebration Sites map as your guide and be a tourist in your back yard.

4. Enjoy the legacies of the Super Bowl. Visit the 46 for XLVI murals, go see the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center (the Legacy Fitness Zone is free in February), and donate at the next Komen Tissue Bank SuperCure event on March 10.

5. Come up with the next the big idea. As the Super Bowl showed us, even scarves can become a big deal. We all have great ideas. But are we willing to do the hard work to make them happen?

6. Send convention leads to the ICVA. You may not work with the NFL but you might work with the top brass in your industry or field.  The next time you go out of town for a conference or training session, invite the event planners to consider Indianapolis for its next regional or national level event. There are plenty of hotel rooms and meeting space to go around – and they won’t fill themselves.

7. Stop the inferiority complex. When I was a teenager and would get in a mood, my father used to tell me to “pretend to be happy.” Sound dumb? Well it worked more often than not. So why not “pretend to be a big league city”? If we stop comparing ourselves to our larger counterparts and start taking pride in what we have to offer, we may just find others comparing themselves to us.

Twenty years from now, Hoosiers will talk about the Super Bowl the way we currently talk about the Pan Am Games – as a game changer. We are in the middle of changing the way our city is perceived and recognized.  But we aren’t even in the red zone yet. We can’t stop now, the momentum has just turned our way.

Image from flickr/indywriter

My friend and colleague, Tina Noel (@tinanoelPR), sent me a great link today: The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014. This annual list was first published in 1998. It ”was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references, and quickly became a catalog of the rapidly changing worldview of each new generation.”  (My favorites are a tie between #58, #12 and #55.)

This be-careful-what-you-reference thing works both ways, you know. So for all you 18-year-olds out there – not to mention you 20-something professionals – here is my Middle-aged Mindset List from the Class of 1990. (more…)

In honor of the series finale of Lost on Sunday, I’m reposting my blog post with the 5 Lessons Learned from Lost about creating customer evangelists.  I’m adding one more lesson.

Know when it’s time to go.

Thanks Lost for six great years of interesting, discussion-provoking television. You ended on your terms and reminded all us fans why we started watching the show in the first place.

Everyone knows how to talk. In 140 characters, one-page press releases, or 25-page white papers. On countless blogs, talk shows, and around water coolers. To friends, family, the teller at the bank (but apparently not the doctor).

Talking isn’t a problem. Discussion is. Americans seem to have forgotten the fine art of thoughtful discussion and meaningful debate. And that’s not just in Washington D.C. It’s true here in the heartland too. (more…)

This Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent is a period of 40 days that some Christians say represents the time Jesus spent wandering the desert, enduring temptations and reflecting on his life’s purpose. In modern times, it has become a time for Catholics and others to give up their own temptations or, better yet, add good habits to fulfill their own personal goals and purpose.

Most of my friends, when polled, have decided to give up their bad habits – everything from too much meat and Diet Coke to chocolate and alcohol. Two of my friends are giving up Facebook.  More on that in a minute…

This got me to thinking. What if we communications professionals gave up our bad habits for as well? (more…)

With the exception of some screaming chickens and a lame fiddling beaver, it seemed like every commercial during the second half of the Super Bowl focused on white men in their underwear.  What demo does this attract, exactly? (more…)

This post is half about communications tactics; half an excuse to write about “Lost,” my all-time favorite TV show, which has its final season premiere tonight. Whether you are a loyal follower or you hate the hype, the creators of Lost – and the marketing team at ABC – have created one heck of show with an enviable following.  I wish I could see inside Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse’s brains (so I could know all the show secrets, for one). But since I can’t, I instead offer 5 Lessons from “Lost” in creating customer evangelists. (more…)