The Atlanta Falcons and Unexpected Wins in Marketing

by Morgan Alverson | Jan 31, 2017

The other day I was reading an article in the Boston Globe – “It’s hard to get pumped up about a Super Bowl against..Atlanta.” Basically the author, Dan Shaughnessy, is annoyed because it’s JUST Atlanta vs. his New England Patriots, and he feels that makes for one boring Super Bowl. “This will be like the Larry Bird Celtics winning two of their championships by beating the Houston Rockets instead of the Lakers.” Be careful with your words, Dan.

As a native ATLien and big-time Atlanta Falcons fan, I was fired up. Treating this like just another boring game for the Patriots is crazy. It’s THE game. The Super Bowl! The Falcons made it there by being THE best team in the NFC this year, so I wouldn’t take that lightly. (Full disclosure, I’m sure the Patriots are treating it as such, but apparently the author of this article isn’t…) Many businesses do exactly what Dan is doing – he’s letting something seem insignificant, because of who it involves, and he’s not prepared for the unexpected win.

It’s dangerous to have a mindset in marketing that certain tactics just don’t matter.

Have you ever thought “it’s JUST a quick email, it holds no weight”? Or what about “It’s just a few tweets. Social doesn’t really matter to my business”? WRONG. It all holds weight. Every single thing. Every single time you reach out to your audience. It’s all important. Wins don’t usually just happen with one phone call to a potential customer.

Every aspect of marketing is important to your business, because unexpected wins happen all the time.

Just like the Atlanta Falcons weren’t expected to win the NFC (and aren’t expected to win the Super Bowl), your business may not expect to win a client through Twitter. But it happens! However, it won’t happen if you aren’t giving Twitter value in your overall marketing plan.

It’s dangerous to have the mindset that something (or an NFL team) isn’t important (ahem, Dan). Be ready at all times. Use all of your tactics in the game, because they’re all used to help you achieve that unexpected win.

P.S. RISE UP!