When Alan Hunter first met Lorenzo Fertitta in 2001, Fertitta shared with him a vision for UFC that would take it to a mass audience. The focus would be on martial arts, not street fighting. Fertitta wanted to position UFC so it would appeal to a network – showing the extreme natural of the sport but emphasizing the traditional forms of martial arts at its core like jiu-jitsu. Photo courtesy of
Tim Duncan never wanted the spotlight, only the trophies. He never wanted the endorsements, only the camaraderie. He never wanted the accolades, only the collective achievement. So when one of the most understated superstars in sports decided to finally call it a career after nearly two decades of excellence, he made the announcement with a 15-foot bank shot and not a boisterous slam dunk. No big news conference. No victory
Social media marketing is a rich and valuable practice for most companies. Countless opportunities, from visibility and reputation to new partnership and employees, are out there for the taking. But most businesses think of social media as existing in only one dimension: one surrounding the corporate brand. In reality, it’s not only possible—but highly advantageous—to leverage the power of personal brands in conjunction with (or instead of) the central corporate
Ultimate Fighting Championship seemed for years to be a curio, a niche sport for those interested in seeing combatants pummel one another in an octagonal cage. But U.F.C. has become a global sports empire — and now commands an eye-popping price tag. The league, which promotes mixed martial arts, is expected to announce as soon as Monday that it has sold itself to a group led by the talent giant
Portugal’s Eder celebrates scoring the game-winning goal during the UEFA EURO 2016 Final match between Portugal and France on Sunday. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images) Portugal’s players crowded around Cristiano Ronaldo as he sat on the turf, but their tearful captain couldn’t withstand the pain of his injury any longer. The Portuguese had to win their first major trophy the hard way on Sunday, stunning France 1-0 after extra time in the
Social media is your most powerful platform, regardless of the industry you happen to operate in. If you want to make a lot of money in a short space of time, become a success on social media. You have 2.3 billion active social media users in the world, which means you have a huge audience to target. This is a lucrative platform, and with the right social media marketing plan
As pop culture and fan conventions have become a billion-dollar business, the biggest and oldest show of them all, San Diego Comic-Con, continues to stand apart. That’s not only because of its size (upwards of 135,000 attendees) and influence (billions of media impressions generated over the weekend), but because of its unique history and mission. Comic-Con began in 1970 as a fan-organized event, and in the 1970s became a 501(c)3
Venus Williams’ deepest Grand Slam run in a half-dozen years ended one victory short of what would have been yet another Wimbledon title match against her sister Serena. Unable to replicate the sort of turn-back-time performance that carried her to the semifinals at the All England Club, Venus was broken in her first four service games Thursday and lost to No. 4-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-4. The 36-year-old Venus was
When marketers think about social media, they mostly regard it as a top-of-the-funnel tool. Specifically, it’s an avenue for communication that’s best used to identify and filter unqualified leads. This is not an unreasonable characterization; social media is a great tool for starting off the conversion funnel. But who’s to say it can’t also be employed as a bottom-of-the-funnel sales tool as well? Social media marketing myths, debunked Many marketing
Today’s marketing strategy is predominantly digital. Tools like multivariate testing and out-of-the box analytics have empowered marketers to make data-driven decisions and quickly adapt to changing market and customer dynamics. Still, 35% of the average B2B marketing budget is allocated to events, which are inherently offline and, thus, hard to digitize. Fortunately, there are now tools available that allow marketers to apply the same principles to event success that are
