The Edmonton Arena District is a hot topic right now. Dare I say even hotter than the closure of the Municipal Airport (which by the way we are completely stoked about—awesome job Councillors!). Let the evolution begin!
That’s right. The Jungleheads and virtually everyone we’ve talked to supported the closure of the Muni, and now support the development of the EAD 100%. We see the vision. We want it to happen. We want to be a part of it. Now it’s just a matter of City Council getting it done.
Why do we support it? Let me count the ways.
The current situation is broken.
If we look at the existing situation and location with Northlands and Rexall Place, be it Oilers games, concerts, exhibitions, rodeos, shows, etc.—it’s broken.
What makes it broken? Because we (Edmontonians) say it’s broken.
Northlands clearly doesn’t think—or care that Edmontonians think it’s broken and there are some people out there with ulterior motives and conflicted interests that will preach to us that it isn’t broken. But all it takes is a quick look at some of the incredibly daft, narrow-minded comments on the various blogs out there and you’ll soon see that it doesn’t matter how broken this situation is, some haters (you know who you are), attempt to knock others down with negative comments and say, “I don’t think it’s broken fool…and here’s why….”
News flash haters—I don’t care that you don’t think it’s broken. If I think it’s broken, it’s broken. If Eric thinks it’s broken, it’s broken. If Sarah thinks it’s broken, it’s broken. If anyone thinks it’s broken, it’s broken!
How many Edmontonians out there love to race home after work, then race to Rexall, then hoof it for 3 blocks in freezing cold temperatures through the dumpiest part of the city; all just to watch mediocre play whilst forking over way too much money for bad beer and worse food; then hoof it for 3 blocks back to their unheated cars in freezing cold temperatures again, trying to beat the rush, and finally race back home? I doubt there’s any, but we do it anyway. What we have is one of the worst brand experiences in the entertainment industry and it’s amazing to see what Edmontonians will put up with just to be entertained. I wonder how positive and successful the situation could be if the entertainment experience in this city was fun? Warm? Easy? Taking this one step further, I wonder what it would be like if the downtown core was more exciting? More beautiful? More desirable to live in and be around?
The bottom line is the Edmonton Arena District solves more problems than it creates.
The evidence. There’s lots of it.
Read some of the blog posts out there. Councillor Iveson’s is a great place to start. Some people choose to look at the information, a.k.a. the “evidence,” and good on them for doing it (someone’s got to). While evidence is important, it’s not what Edmontonians are interested in. Evidence is what lawyers and accountants are being paid to come up with on both sides to rationalize their decisions and to persuade with in their pitches. I’m not interested in commenting on the evidence of either side, which is why I choose not to write about it.
In my opinion, rationale is not enough. Why? Because Edmontonians don’t have time for information. We eat on the run, we drive our kids to soccer and dance practice, we work, we workout, we do it all. We do not have the time, nor do we really care to be convinced that what happened in X city and at X arena intellectually was the wrong decision. We don’t care because it has no relevance to us. We are emotional beings and therefore, information isn’t a competitive advantage like it used to be. I'd also like to think that both the Katz Group and Edmonton City Council are smart enough to learn from the past mistakes of others.
This isn’t about the Oilers.
For some reason a lot of people keep bringing the conversation back to the Oilers; and more specifically, the taxpayers funding a billionaire’s hockey team. In my opinion this isn’t about the Oilers. If it were, I wouldn’t have bothered weighing in on this topic in the first place. I don’t care that much about the Oilers—that’s Katz’s business. What I DO care about is Edmonton.
The Edmonton Arena District is much bigger than the Oilers. This is about the evolution of Edmonton as a first class city. It’s about rebuilding a downtown core that we all can be proud of. In Katz’s defense, why should he have to foot the entire bill for a facility his team only plays in a small fraction of the year? Of course he should pay some, but should the City/Province/Nation decide to make a serious push for Expo2017, this is a facility that we would have to build anyway. The only difference is that now we can get it for 50% off. A 50:50 partnership seems fair doesn't it?
Why a partnership? Because a partnership is the only way this idea will work. Partnerships create accountability. Molson failed in the development of Montreal’s arena partly because there was no incentive for the city to make it work. The same goes for the cities that were 100% responsible for building their arenas—there was no vested interest of the teams’ owners. Some people call this proposal "too risky." Yes technically it's a risk, but given the current state of Rexall Place I think it’s a bigger risk for City Council not to pull the trigger on this deal. As a true 50:50 partnership, both sides will make it work because they have to, thus mitigating the risk.
We don’t know how lucky we are.
I think we should consider ourselves pretty fortunate to have a hometown boy that actually gives a damn about investing in Edmonton and evolving this wasteland of mediocrity into an amazing place that everyone will talk about, appreciate, and reap the rewards from for generations to come—not many other cities have this luxury.
Kudos to the Katz Group. Kudos for taking a bashing like they do and still caring about Edmonton. Their hearts seem to be in the right place and we should respect them for it. Kudos for having a vision. Their vision is what has—and will continue to inspire us. As for those who feel a sense of entitlement? Shame on you. You act as if Katz owes us something. Grow up and get real—he doesn’t owe us a damn thing. He is a businessman who owns a team that many Edmontonians happen to care about. At the end of the day the haters and naysayers need to be reminded that he has the right to do whatever he wants with this team—just as any business owner does with their business. Katz has done a lot of good for Edmonton but it still doesn’t seem to be enough. There’s always someone ready to pounce on him for not doing more.
Moving on.
If you are anything like me you want more for our city. Wouldn’t you like it so that when people think of Edmonton they don’t think of “the mall?” Wouldn’t you like it so that when people ask you, “why the heck do you live in Edmonton?!” you have more reasons to give them than, “because my family lives here.” I know I do.
Edmonton is a business, and part of any successful business is caring about customers and creating experiences that we love and are proud of. The Edmonton Arena District (in it’s proposed location) is the catalyst to creating a critically contagious pulse in this city. A pulse big enough to give us not only a minute shot at winning Expo2017, but a chance at becoming a creative and intellectual mecca.
In my opinion we are in the beginnings of what could be one of the most profound times in Edmonton’s history. We are re-establishing our city. This is the age of Edmonton’s self re-discovery.
The sleeping giant is waking up and everyone at Urban Jungle is stoked to live here and be a part of it.
The ripple effects of losing an event like Indy will be detrimental to our City.
Vancouver didn’t know what they had until they lost it—and the same might end up happening to us if we’re not more cognizant of that fact. The only difference is we will never—ever get it back if we lose it. Vancouver’s kung-fu grip will be tight. They’ll never let it go a 2nd time. That being said, if (and that’s a big ‘if’) Edmonton gets 1 last chance at making Indy über-successful in 2011, the following is a list of 21 things that must be done in order to have any hope of a shot at Expo2017.
1. Create a shared vision, purpose and strategy.
Instead of a bunch of disjointed events, create 1 major event, with a central theme running through all supporting events. This gives Capital Ex (under a new name), A Taste of Edmonton, The Edmonton Indy, as well as shops, restaurants, pubs and bars a shared purpose and an aligned strategy. More importantly it gives the customers something to rally behind.
2. Establish ownership by all stakeholders.
Accountability rocks! Wouldn’t it be awesome to see all of the companies involved in running the event put their profits on the line? If it’s a success, you reap the rewards. If it’s a flop, sorry pal—no pay cheque. (This only works if everyone is on board and we don’t have dead weight).
3. Articulate innovation as an organization/event-wide commitment.
Without innovation and a sense of “nowness” you’ll have bored, uninspired staff. This trickles down to bored, uninspired customers.
4. Think long-term.
What do we want this event to be 3, 5, 10 years from now? The short-term, ‘year-to-year,’ ‘go with the flow,’ ‘take it as it comes’ attitude is so “Edmonton.” Let’s get our stuff together. Seriously.
5. Focus on the customer experience—the brand; rather than the internal processes.
Otherwise you are just going through the motions.
6. Focus on challenges of the future rather than successes of the past.
Unless you’re in the business of selling Transformers or the Rubik’s Cube, you cannot build a profitable business on nostalgia.
7. Evolve or die.
Be willing to change when your platform is burning. Even more important—be self aware. Know that your platform IS burning!
8. Leave politics out of it if-and-whenever possible.
Politics can open a lot of doors, but in many cases it leads to sustaining the status quo in order to support entrenched, misguided and conflicted interests. See #7.
9. Reward crisis prevention rather than crisis management.
10. Get rid of any hierarchies that exist.
Inspire. Undermanage. Constantly review new ideas.
11. Fund new ideas in the wake of kiboshing current underperforming efforts.
12. Kill any initiatives that are not succeeding, especially ones that are funded and staffed.
13. Think critically.
Fear of criticizing current practices and commitments is a high-risk activity.
14. Make decisions with your heart.
Addiction to left-brained, analytical thinking (“data is God”) is corporate crack. People are emotional and heart-driven beings. Data is no longer the advantage it used to be.
15. Ideate-collaborate-deviate.
Adopt a more user-friendly idea management processes.
16. Find people that understand (and more importantly care to understand) the customers.
17. Be willing to acknowledge and learn from past failures.
Why is this one so difficult? It shouldn’t be. Own up to your mistakes and move on.
18. Make innovation part of the performance review process.
This goes for every single company/stakeholder/employee/volunteer involved. “How much did we/I innovate this year?” “Did we/I raise the bar?” If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.
19. Create room for more “spec time” to develop new ideas and opportunities.
Good ideas take time. The best ideas might take longer.
20. Coach innovation and creative thinking.
I’m serious. Just as execs would bring in coaches/trainers into the office for their staff, Indy should do it too. This is after all a business (or at least it should be).
21. Create reward and recognition programs for every portfolio.
People like to know that their hard work means something.
That’s next year’s headline. I’m calling it right now.
No, I’m not an oracle, and no, I don’t have Zoltan in my basement. But I can show you why we’re going to lose what could be—should be—a world-class Edmonton event.
Do you know why? Because we haven’t been given a reason to care! There’s no public buildup of excitement. There’s no celebrity endorsement. There’s no branding to turn the Indy into a can’t-miss experience.
I have to be honest: I’m a little embarrassed to be an Edmontonian right now. Our city was awarded an amazing opportunity! The Indy should be a world-renowned event, even more attractive than the Calgary Stampede (racing vehicles at mach speeds is a bit more exciting and relevant than racing chuck wagons). But the powers that be are completely squandering the opportunity.
How did this happen? (Please circle the best answer.)
a. Many years ago the City awarded an exclusivity deal to Northlands to market and manage all major events (whether penned or implied is irrelevant)
b. Corporate greed, laziness
c. Politics
d. All of the above
If you chose “d,” awesome! You get a gold star.
Exclusivity promotes laziness, complacency, short-sightedness, and greed.
Don’t believe me? How inspiring and memorable is the “Make it your Indy” campaign? Laziness brained it, and laziness approved it. What you see in this campaign is the business model of “let’s do the least amount of work possible and still get paid.”
I’m sorry, but that doesn’t work for me. Organizers should be going above and beyond to make this one of the most memorable events in Canada. Northlands isn’t working hard or getting creative because they don’t have to. They’ve got the job. They’ve got all the jobs. Why put any effort into creating vibrant and exciting events that tell the world that Edmonton is the place to be when you don’t have to?
Northlands is not a marketing or branding company.
Northlands’ business is to provide space and coordinate the logistics of events (and they do a really good job at it), but that’s it. They are not a marketing company. They have failed to generate buzz and excitement around events and draw the throngs of people that should be attending because that’s not what they do!
That’s right. The wise decision makers in our city made an exclusive arrangement to market events that could draw who knows how much tourism with a company that isn’t a marketing company. While this might not be killing Edmonton, it’s definitely holding us back.
Instead the City should award the contracts for creating buzz around events and attracting large crowds to branding and marketing companies. (Earth-shattering idea, isn’t it?) Then they should hold those companies accountable. The current zero-accountability situation simply doesn’t work and is a waste of taxpayer money.
What would happen if accountability existed? For starters, the marketing of the Indy wouldn’t be left up to the sponsors, as it seems to be now. This is ridiculous and something no professional marketing and branding company would do. When sponsors are solely responsible for marketing, they aren’t getting the potential value out of the partnership. No wonder they’ve had an impossible time trying to secure a title sponsor and must find new sponsors every year. I wouldn’t renew my sponsorship either.
Make us care, and we will show up.
We are blessed with a many great cheerleaders in this city. @MasterMaq, @CaryWilliams, @ChrisLaBossiere, @KenBautista among others are all doing their best to help Edmonton evolve into a world-class city. But I’m worried that they too will one day give up, (Please don’t. You guys are awesome!).
Edmonton city council needs to start acting like a business. That means caring about its customers and creating brand experiences that we love and are proud of. Like any business, Edmonton must give the people what they want; otherwise, we will suffer the consequences of our customers’ choosing the competition. Vancouver is our competition. Calgary is our competition. Right now, they have much more to offer our customers.
I find it odd that Mr. Mandel is scoping Shanghai’s World Expo right now. It’s great that he’s taking the initiative, but I find it a little presumptuous. We can’t even manage a little Indy event properly. Does anyone seriously believe that Edmonton could land Expo 2017 if we were to lose Indy? And if we did, what impression would be left at the end of it?
Enough is enough. Quit killing opportunity. Quit killing creativity. Quit killing evolution. We need some new players—people and companies willing to do all it takes to make Edmonton a world-class city. The exclusive arrangement with Northlands has to stop if Edmonton is ever going to have a chance.
I bet the Indy will be pulled from Edmonton’s portfolio within the next year. Perhaps it will be given to a city that actually gives a damn about evolution, creativity, and inspiring its residents to live there. Vancouver—you’re well in the lead. Calgary—you are a close second. Edmonton—you are the dark horse I am rooting for.
To most of us the idea of flipping a car, let alone rolling one a full 180 degrees, sounds like an idea to avoid. For Mercedes, shooting a two-minute spot to do just that, in the Canadian China Bar Tunnel, was the main component of their creative brief.
Despite the valiant efforts of the throes of car advertisers out there, few have ever achieved the level of audience intensity and viral attention that the Mercedes group has with their latest piece shot to promote their new AMG sports car; the SLS.
It is shot in quick cut, behind-the-scenes style marrying action movie chase music with slow motion frames to keep its audience squirming in their seats while attempting to slow their ever racing pulse. The quiet, yet breathtaking, British Columbian landscape is used as juxtaposition as the roar of the 5.5 litre, V8 biturbo engine chainsaws through the silent backdrop.
Employed to take down this ever-impossible stunt, while making this mad machine look as sleek and sexy as possible, is the seven time F1 Driver Champion, Michael Schumacher. The sheer impossibility of him actually making it will have you watching it repeatedly. AND for the true car buffs, you are doing just as Mercedes planned; chatting about it on blogs, emailing it to friends but best of all you are trying to sort out just how you are going to finance this beast.
(Thanks to the car buff in my family who sent me this!)
“Lovemarks” is a marketing term that was intended to replace the idea of brands.
The term was coined a few years ago by Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of the advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. Roberts claims, “Brands are running out of juice.” While I don’t entirely agree that brands are running out of juice, I do believe that the term “brand” has become so watered down and misunderstood that companies need some extra jos to reconnect with customers.
Love is what’s needed to rescue brands. This love stuff isn’t marketing “fluff.” It’s the truth and whether or not you choose to believe it is irrelevant. That being said, if you are interested in building loyalty beyond reason, if you are looking at becoming truly great; the following are key ingredients to elevating your company’s status to that of a Lovemark: Mystery: Tell great stories. Exercise your past, present and future. Tap into dreams, myths and icons. Inspire people.
Sensuality: Sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste. Excite the senses. We are sensual beings making emotional decisions. Tap into the 5 senses and you’ll be a winner.
Intimacy: Commitment, empathy, and passion. Show your customers you are an intimate person/company, and they’ll show you love back.
The difference between a product, fad, brand and Lovemark is simple.
The schema is based on respect and love.
Mere products (commodities) command neither love nor respect. Think salt. (Or Comic Sans).
Fads attract love, but without respect this love is just a passing infatuation. Transformers anyone?
Brands attract respect, even lasting respect, but generally without love. I respect Burger King, but I don’t love them. Lovemarks command both respect and love. BMW. Grey Goose. Virgin. These are Lovemarks and they’ve achieved Lovemark status by binding the holy trinity of mystery, sensuality, and intimacy.
Talk about taking a campaign to the next level. Not only did Wear It With Pride encompass web, print, apparel and public events into their marketing plan, they also helped create a hit single and spark a fashion movement in Australia.
When Australia reformed their 85 formerly discriminatory same sex laws, a national campaign called Wear It With Pride was formed to educate the public about the changes. The campaign officially launched February 2nd, 2010.
Wear it With Pride, along with designer/art director Hannes Ciatti, commissioned 85 artists to interpret each law and create a t-shirt graphic around it. These t-shirts would become the centre point of the campaign.
Apart from the shirts there was also an interview/story element of the campaign showcasing various Australian celebrities and public figures battle with discrimination and homophobia. The stories and interviews were published on the site and created into posters to be displayed across the country. Ciatti commissioned a number of typographic artists to work on the posters, and the end result is really eye catching and powerful.
As if the web site, print and t-shirts weren’t enough, the Wear It With Pride Campaign also partnered with Australian pop star, Natalie Bassingthwaighte who dedicated her single ‘Love Like This’ to the cause, donating all the profits to the LGBT community. Within 24 hours the single had reached number 10 on the iTunes album charts.
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