Now, as you know, we are all about IT and "geek speak". To top it off, the email contained our physical mailing address, but it was our address 15 years ago when we started the company out of a spare bedroom at my mother's house. I was tempted to reply with an offer of my own to teach this guy a thing or two about IT and marketing.

     Heading to work today, I stopped by the post office and picked up the mail. I desperately needed to get my car washed as well so, the multi-tasker that I am, I took my car to a car wash on the way to the office. While the car was being taken care of, I used the time to sift through the mail I had just retrieved. What caught my eye was a brochure/sales slick from a neighboring county industrial development corporation. This was of interest to me since we have once again outgrown (or at least filled to capacity) our current office space. This was a great job done by using a bulk mail piece to reach a target audience, something that is practically unheard of these days. Yet, many still spend a great deal of money on this media because that is the way we have always done it.

     So, I open the seal and unfold the flyer. Very high-quality photo-ready paper. The photographic pictures of the sites looked great on that shiny white paper. There was a map and a bunch of words. Now let me tell you... I'm 48 years old (shocking I know!) and my eyesight is not as good as it used to be but I can still read a newspaper without reading glasses. What can I tell you about this particular offer (other than great photographs)? NOTHING. The freakin' font is so small (I'm guessing, at most, 7 point) that I couldn't read a single word! The map of the location is stupid (think Sunday comics) and the names of the few roads listed on it so tiny that I don't have a clue where this place is (and I am very familiar with the given county). Not one major landmark identified (at least that you could read the name), not one readable highway number, nothing! Oh, there is one thing you can read ... Their Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is... are you ready... "THE SMART CHOICE"... enough said... geez!

     Last week or so, the Pittsburgh Steelers kicked off this year's NFL season at home against Tennessee. Now, typically the NFL gets it when it comes to marketing. They completely understand that they are in the entertainment business and not the football business. So, they stage this big pre-game production with recording artists, Black Eyed Peas and some country dude (sorry I'm not a country music fan), and while I do like some of the Black Eyed Peas' work, I could do without a lot of it. Anyhow, the NFL advertises this free pre-game event like crazy -- there are billboards all over Pittsburgh. Returning from the BMW Classic, I see several of these ads in the Pittsburgh Airport. Obviously, a very high-quality production with the Black Eyed Peas, the country dude, Steelers and Tennessee logos. The billboard clearly showed what was going on (the Concert), where it was located (Point State Park) and the cost (FREE). One minor detail they left out... WHEN! Nothing about what time the event started... was it noon? Was it the same time as the game (didn't know that either), was it one hour in advance?? Nothing!!! Idiots...

     So, we get through the airport and jump in Tom's car. This was Friday night after we spent Thursday and Friday at the BMW Classic and had to leave prior to the end of Friday's round to catch our flight. So, Tom has Sirius radio (you know, that satellite radio thing with a thousand channels), one of which happens to be the PGA channel. For those of you that think golf is boring on TV, try it on the radio (we are not one of those by the way)! So Tom asks me if I know what channel the PGA is on so we can catch up on what we missed when we left Cog Hill. Being the resourceful geek that I am, I grab my iPhone, open a browser and navigate to the Sirius web site. In no time at all, I find the "Channel Guide" from their main menu. I navigate my way all the way through to the PGA Channel before we are even out of the airport parking lot thinking we will get all of the latest news on the 45-minute ride back to the office. The Channel Guide laid out everything you would ever want to know about the PGA Channel on Sirius. Things like Show Times, Features, Commentators, Specials, Tips, etc., etc., etc. Everything you would ever want or need to know except one crucial detail (I'm sure you can guess)... They don't list the freakin' channel number on the damn radio!!! No wonder I don't subscribe... freakin' idiots!

     A couple of months ago, I went out to Philadelphia for a trade show. I took a picture of what I think is a great marketing hook:

     I would love to tell you at which one of our CPS courses I found this. I would tell you which course it was even if they didn't use CPS. You know where I found this?? In the bathroom of an Irish Pub in King of Prussia, PA.

     I'm assuming it was Kildare's Pub, but being that I hate shopping and I was in the middle of mall hell (you know what I mean if you have ever been to KoP), and it was an Irish pub, and I was several pints of Guinness in by the time I found this poster, and I didn't even recall taking the picture until I unloaded my camera weeks later... I'm not sure what the name was.

    Why doesn't every bar at every golf course have this offer? What better way to get golfers to hang out and brag about who gets the cheapest pint (or coffee, or sandwich, etc., etc.)? Kudos to Kildare's though, maybe they should get in the golf biz.

     CPS was used for the F&B and Merchandise sales at the Fed-Ex Cup BMW Classic at Cog Hill. I will be doing some statistical analysis early in October and will share some results and, of course, some stories (including Tiger's new trick shot he is working on). Early results are that it was a complete success for both Cog Hill and Club Prophet Systems!

Until Next time,

Enjoy :)