For the past month, San Francisco has been abuzz! Everywhere you go, everyone you talk too, it’s all about the Giants. With each playoff victory, the buzz has increased and the bandwagon grows. No one wants to bring up the long history filled with tragic woes of past playoff busts. It’s about the here and the now. Ask any fan and of course the Giants are going to win the World Series.
Of course, the problem with a bandwagon is that the fever takes over and the logic of managing expectations is thrown out the window. However, managed expectations are exactly what this bandwagon needs.
Take a moment and look at the Giants season and compare it to a PR campaign. Most new clients have an ultimate goal. It may be the front page of the Wall Street Journal or a profile in the New York Times. The Giants had a similar goal in the beginning of their campaign, win the World Series.
For the Giants, it means competing against other quality teams, series wins, an organization working together and, of course, the skill of a supporting team.
For a client to get to that dream profile, it also takes competing against other news, building momentum with press releases, quotes and other news items, the PR team working closely with the executives and, of course, the skill of a marketing team that can build toward that profile.
Along both campaigns there will be victories and there will be set-backs. As long as everyone’s expectations are managed the momentum towards the goal is maintained.
So feel free to join the bandwagon and root for the Giants. Just understand that if the Giants don’t meet your expectations, they are continuing to build momentum to eventually reach that goal.
Of course, if the Giants do win the World Series, then we really are going to need a lot of expectations managed as the bandwagon starts rolling toward a dynasty!
– Chuck Brown