I recently attended a luncheon featuring John McDonough, the President of the Chicago Blackhawks who in a previous job used innovative marketing strategies to take the Chicago Cubs from mediocrity to one of the most popular franchises in all of pro sports.  While his talk focused on his life in sports marketing, many of his lessons hold true for B2B marketers and PR pros in the Advanced Manufacturing & Energy space. Here are three of the great concepts he shared:

1. Create a brand experience. Marketing is more than communicating about your products. You have to create a total brand experience. McDonough did this by marketing not only the Cubs games, but the ballplayers, the stadium (Wrigley Field), the announcer (Harry Caray) and the neighborhood (now known as “Wrigleyville”). This has created fans/customers out of baseball lovers and casual observers alike. We have to always ask ourselves — are we going beyond specific product features/benefits by connecting with our audience about other issues or factors that might matter to them?
2. There is no off-season. You must showcase your brand to your audience every day, consistently, year-after-year. Although the baseball season is only seven months long, McDonough did this via marketing tools such as the Cubs Convention, an off-season fan appreciation event that sells out each year and keeps fans connected to the team year-round. If we aren’t communicating with your audience during our own business downtimes, the competition will.
3. Drive your brand throughout the organization. Everyone on McDonough’s Blackhawks’ staff — from the pro athletes to the front office — is actively engaged in marketing efforts and trained to deliver a consistent image and message. This all creates a truly exceptional brand identity in everything the Chicago Blackhawks do, and has helped the up-and-coming team soar in popularity, gain new sponsors and lead the league in attendance. Similar internal engagement and training efforts help any business project a strong, consistent image in the marketplace.

OK, I’ll be the first to admit — most of us can’t say that our products and services are as cool or fun as a pro sports team. But doesn’t that make these concepts even more critical for those of us who don’t have tools like Fenway Park, LeBron James or Peyton Manning at our disposal?