There are many advertising pitfalls, but few are worse than advertising in a venue that is getting a great deal of negative attention. After all, how well would your ad be received if it appears on a site that really ticks people off? It wouldn’t be pretty, that’s for sure, and it isn’t pretty for the advertisers who paid a lot of money to be seen on NBC’s online Olympic coverage website, www.NBCOlympics.com.  Now, let’s be fair. NBC has the exclusive coverage rights and that is worth enough for them to want to defend it. Unfortunately, they have made some bonehead decisions that have led to a whole raft of resentment and a cottage industry in getting around NBC to be able to enjoy Olympic coverage online.  Pushing TV Coverage Let’s begin with the fact that NBC’s website is the only place on the Web where you can legally watch the big show. However, since NBC is also te... [Read Full Article]

Sure, you might not be able to get Lebron James to try out your company’s line of sneakers while he’s out on the court, but athlete branding by sporting goods companies isn’t the only way you can use the Olympics to promote your business. We know the Olympics in Beijing are huge, and that millions of Americans are watching. Why not leverage that interest for your own business? Here are five simple things you can do to promote or increase goodwill towards your small business while the Olympics are running.  Give customers the Olympics event schedule. Odds are, your customers in the store right now are going to go home tonight and turn on the Olympics. Odds also are that they don’t really know who’s going on at what time. Why not talk to your customers, and ask them which events they’re looking forward to watching? If they don’t know, you can create value for them by giving them a free schedule of the night’s events. It... [Read Full Article]