Fear the beard - or grow one?

As "Fear the beard," slogan of the San Francisco Giants, took hold in the national sports conciousness,  I couldn't help thinking about the level of fear inside local media companies today.

In D.C., where I grew up, a bearded man usually don't hold elected office - people won't vote for them. In San Francisco, beards are also sported by "bears," not the sports team but a homosexual style that declines to fit the standard feminized cliche. Back Beard and Blue Beard had one. 

And, yes, "Fear the beard" became a rally cry in California, where I live.

In short, the nuanced implications of "beards" on men is that they are suspect, non-traditional, a sign of darker, hairier forces at work. And in this case, winning.

Which leads me right into text-message marketing. Yes, I will pull this off.
 This is not just another way to mention the huge, gigantic, walloping World Series win by the San Francisco Giants.

It’s about the darker recesses of the mind, where we have declined to study, failed to read or possibly ignored statistical evidence, we know that our advertisers are, well, doing something else with someone else.

The unruly, disruptive forces of economics - dare I say hairy - are at work in private rooms of our advertisers where we have not been invited. They are talking about email, groupon, ppc and text-messaging with someone, someone who is possibly less informed, but understands the math. Someone who has a (symbolic) beard.

That is why beginning this week we will post case studies not just from local media with great ad campaigns, but also from local advertisers to show what they are doing and how they think. 

As always on this site, you will find how local media can play a role, either by supplying the platform or backing up these great grassroots initiatives with broader media spends. 

While media is fragmenting there is too much imaginary fear and not enough studying of what advertisers are doing and why.

In most cases, embracing of the energy and power that non-traditional media is bringing to advertisers, results in much higher spends - and is local media's opportunity to seize or lose. 

Text marketing which we explore here and here is one of these opportunities.

We are working on the "Business Model in a Box" method of planning how you will respond to declining traditional revenues and if it will be enough (for a beta test-drive email me at alisacromer@gmail.com). 

But tapping into the real disruptive forces means, frankly, selling them. Be the change. Inspire your company. Grow a, proverbial, beard.