Marketing methods and ideas can come from a plethora of sources. Industry professionals, your own brain, staff, colleagues, competitors and customers are just a few of these many sources. One source you may not think of is current TV shows. There are many TV shows out with a focus on business, and they are entertaining too!
One popular business show is Shark Tank on ABC. The premise of Shark Tank is entrepreneurs pitching their business idea to investors with the hopes of gaining a particular dollar amount investment in exchange for equity in the business. After the entrepreneur makes his or her pitch, the investors will ask questions, raise concerns and offer advice. Pay attention to what they are saying. Marketing often comes up in this discussion portion of the show. Some questions that arise are “How are you going to market and sell to distributors & re-sellers?”, “How are you going to raise awareness of this product or business?”, “What will make someone buy this over what the competition is offering?”, and “What will be the cost of acquiring a new customer?”. These are all great questions! Listen to the answers the entrepreneurs give and the responses and advice given by the investors.
Another popular business show is The Pitch on AMC. The Pitch features real-life advertising agencies going head-to-head in creating and pitching an advertising campaign to a major company for a real goal they are looking to achieve. For example, one episode featured two agencies creating and pitching campaigns to push breakfast at Subway to the late teens/early twenties market. The Pitch is full of creative advertising ideas, from interactive print advertising with QR codes to utilizing Youtube sensations. This is a great show to soak in the creativity and pick up unique ideas.
Be the Boss, on A&E, features excelling employees of a company competing for a major promotion. What the employees don’t know is that while one of them will indeed earn the promotion, the other will earn an opportunity to be their own boss within the company (i.e. own a franchise). The employees are given a series of tasks to evaluate their skills in areas such as leadership, drive, knowledge and creativity. Many of these tasks have strong marketing involvement. For example, one task saw the employees operating temporary pop-up stores in a park. The employees had to execute product displays and layout, offer special sales and drive traffic to the pop-up store (through radio promos, handing out flyers in strategic areas, etc.). This show is another opportunity to observe marketing tactics and pick up some tips and ideas.
Entrepreneurship is a desirable path in America. TV producers have picked up on this and developed shows such as Shark Tank, The Pitch and Be the Boss. These shows offer valuable business information including marketing strategies. So watch and learn (and be entertained)!
