Goal: To Make Fans Love Hockey - WSJ.com

As the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings face off in the Stanley Cup finals, which start Saturday, Mr. Bettman, 55 years old, is that rare top executive who was behind the wheel when his business went over a cliff and now has the opportunity to put it back together. He is doing so by making a classic management choice: Instead of obsessing over growth, he is concentrating on keeping the league's existing customers happy.

Goal: To Make Fans Love Hockey - WSJ.com

I've heard and read this adage time and time again over the past decade (and more) ... but too many marketers and agencies refuse to execute against the strategy. Acquisition versus retention. Why not do BOTH?!?! Then I hear ... "Well, it can't be done." And I say to myself, "Why not!?!?!" Isn't that what "viral" is all about? And "word of mouth"? You start with a core constituency -- loyalists, influencer, connectors -- and as their enthusiasm grows and affects pockets of the population around them ... the buzz grows and newbies enter the fray. Pretty soon, you've got a movement. It's what I like to call a phenomenon.

Why just be a brand? Your brand can become a phenomenon.

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