the elevator pitch

Henry Paulson, U.S. treasury secretary, talks bailouts and economic woes.

The media are a fickle bunch.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we were consumed by the gaga over Sarah Palin. A week prior to that deluge of news surrounding the Republicans’ pick for vice president, we were inundated with coverage of presidential hopeful Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention. The price of oil dominated earlier in the summer and the housing collapse in the spring.

It’s been a year where news and potential newsmakers can slip through the lens with ease. When there’s big news, the mainstream media provides saturation coverage. That means TV, print media and talk radio will spotlight one topic because market research has shown viewers and readers are more likely to stay interested if the focus remains on the news of the day.

Producers and editors will exhaust all angles before providing “space” to other subjects. If you’ve ever wondered why the media fixates on a particular topic, now you know. However, if you’re trying to gain attention, you must understand how to get noticed by an industry that can suffer such tunnel vision.

This week, the $700-billion government package that aims to bring calm to the global stock markets will be at the forefront on Monday and Tuesday before giving way to the frenzy of anticipation surrounding Friday’s presidential debate between Obama and John McCain.

If you wanted to get a message out this week, some public relations firms might facetiously tell you good luck. Unfortunately, that’s an approach of surrender and business leaders don’t succeed by giving up.

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Guessing on the State of the US Economy

“This might be the beginning of the end of the American empire.” Those are the sober words of Nouriel Roubini as quoted by the New York Times Magazine in an article that has quickly spread around the World Wide Web.

Roubini is the prescient doomsayer who predicted the collapse of the global banking system two years ago. His astute forecast has launched him into a position of prominence in the economic and political community. Contrast the New York University prof’s gloomy outlook — he calls himself a realist, not a pessimist — with the enthusiasm displayed by financial-show talking heads and you have a bear vs. bull drama worth contemplating.

In Roubini, we can see a man who appears to have no motive other than to do his job as an economist, thereby gaining more stature within his profession. On the other hand, in CNBC personalities like Jim Cramer, we have people whose television success is tied to the health of the economy, specifically the stock market. Cramer and other financial gurus have risen to stardom during the past eight years because of Americans’ infatuation with day trading and passive income.

Best-selling books such as Robert Kiyosaki’s “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and Thomas J. Stanley’s “The Millionaire Next Door” preach that Americans should put their money to work rather than work for their money. With the rise of the investor class — or those who aspire to be in it — came entertainment that caters to the demographic.

During the past 17 months, cable business news programs that often resemble CNN political forums have had to report daily on the continued demise of the banking system. That’s difficult to do. There can be a sudden outburst — as Cramer famously demonstrated last August — when a collapse seems imminent but to go on air every day and tell Americans they are going to get poorer doesn’t make for good TV. It’s atrocious work, actually. For a business that requires enthusiasm to keep viewers hooked and playing the market, the slow and painful beat down of a bear run has made watching the financial news shows seem like viewing a grim crew adrift and desperate for shore.

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How valuable can a blog be to your business?

Try $4 million.

That’s how much Marriott estimates it has earned because of its blogging program, which began last year. Bill Marriott, the CEO of the worldwide hotel chain, has proven what so many online publishing experts have theorized for the past few years: blogging can lead to real profits.

In a recent report on MSNBC, Marriott credited $4-million in revenue to the advent of his blog, which deals with issues related to the hotel chain’s large base of customers. [Watch the MSNBC reporting here.]

Corporations such as Dell, Sun Microsystems and Southwest Airlines have also reaped the rewards of an intelligent blogging strategy. Blogs once were thought to belong to amateurs and teenagers in need of an outlet. But because blogs can deliver significant search-engine traffic, they are becoming a key component of corporate marketing.

“Blogs are often underestimated. Our clients will tell you that there are few values more powerful than a frequently updated online publication,” says Elevation PR general manager Kal Suurkask. “Blogs not only bring eyeballs to your product pages but they get your corporate message across better than other programs.”

The new-found respect for blogs means more corporations will be implementing or improving on their online publications. Blogs, however, are most valuable to small- and mid-sized businesses looking to gain market share at a low cost. Because they can attract search traffic in great numbers, a well-written and diligently maintained blog can help smaller businesses compete against major companies.

Georges St. Pierre rocked fans in his hometown of Montreal. (Photo courtesy of UFC)

Phil DeAtley traveled 2,500 miles last week to see a sporting event. His journey to Montreal wasn’t for a big game featuring a favorite hockey, football, basketball or soccer team. DeAtley wanted to be on hand to witness the first appearance of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in Canada.

Was the experience all he hoped?

“It was the best time. It was totally worth flying all the way across the country to see,” DeAtley told the Toronto Star after he and 21,000 others took in the spectacle at the Bell Centre. Most notably, the Edmonton man added, “I would do it again.”

The UFC has hooked fans with a branding effort that’s evolved to appeal to a mainstream sports audience without turning off its hardcore followers. When mixed martial arts arrived in North America in the early 1990s it was an extreme sport that courted negative publicity. Once Dana White took control of MMA’s premier fight league, UFC, the marketing campaign kicked in.

UFC eliminated its most controversial rules, allowing its outlaw tag to be removed, and built a stable of fighters from the ground up. It used an aspirational campaign to keep fighters hungry to reach the top, which is a spot on one of its pay-per-view events, such as Saturday’s competition that was highlighted by Montreal native Georges St. Pierre’s welterweight title victory over rival Matt Serra.

With boxing in decline because of mismanagement and lack of interest at the youth level, UFC also benefited from market opportunity. It has now replaced the sweet science as the world’s most popular combat sport and the potential for expansion is vast.

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