The NFL Playbook is filled with hundreds of techniques to help teams overcome their opponents. From the basic pass or run play to the quarterback sneak, this resource provides coaches and players a playbook of tactics to use when developing a game strategy. Sound familiar? Just like NFL professionals, we as marketers utilize our own playbooks to select which techniques to use when creating a new campaign. While the details of each playbook certainly differ in their respective industries, perhaps our Sunday pastime can teach us a little something about strategy and winning big during the work week.
In the spirit of the Super Bowl, let’s take a look inside an NFL Playbook and get some football inspiration for our marketing offense:
No Huddle Offense. The goal of the no huddle offense is to act before your opponent has time to react. In football, this involves the offensive team avoiding or shortening their huddle in an effort to catch the defense off guard. Flip this into marketing context and the no huddle strategy becomes an opportunity to capture the power of time. Rather than spend the time triple checking your work and making sure every last “t” is crossed, it is sometimes more valuable to move quicker than your competitor. This approach is vital for opportunities like becoming the first to break a story, capturing a new lead, or breaking into a new market. Just as in the no huddle offense, sometimes it’s more important to act quickly than to cover every detail of a play.
Ground Game. Football’s ground game refers to the traditional style of running the ball rather than opting for complex routes and long distance throws. It’s a back to basics approach that, while not as flashy as plays like the wildcat offense, provide a low risk means to advance down the field. In marketing, your ground game is your press releases, keyword optimization, and thought leadership pieces. They may not be as exciting as the launch of a new website or mobile app, but are vital to providing your company with a strong marketing foundation to build upon. Losing focus on the value of the ground game risks losing the means to embark on the more high-risk, costly initiatives.
Spread Formation. The strategy behind a spread formation is much like the strategy behind an integrated marketing campaign. Rather than focusing all efforts on a single outlet, the spread formation seeks to create opportunities across a wider area. In football, the spread formation positions the offensive team across the entire width of the field in an effort to open new lanes for passing and running plays. In marketing, this strategy involves utilizing a variety of channels and tactics to increase campaign visibility and brand awareness. Instead of limiting a campaign to a single media channel, utilizing the spread formation opens up new cross-promotional opportunities. This strategy can transform a print mail campaign into an integrated marketing campaign complete with an interactive landing page and social media contest.
While it’s clear you won’t be proposing a two-point conversion in your next marketing meeting, it seems as if we can all learn a little something about marketing offense from the NFL playbook. Channeling the motivation and tactful play of football can help us all better harness the value of time, basic tasks, and cross-channel campaigns. So as you tune into the game this Sunday, keep this outlook in mind and look for new ways to make 2013 a Super Bowl year for your company.
