[Music] Welcome to On the Offense and uh this is

our 22nd podcast. I'm Jeff Bomb and this is my business partner John Clint Dennetting. Um we're excited to talk to

you today. It's still hot and it's almost October tomorrow. So um we're

working our way through that. We're going to be in the 90s for the entire week. And that brings you It's actually

a good segue into what our subject matter is today. seasonal marketing. Um,

and you're all aware of things like that. Christmas in July, back to school in June, all these different things that

you just shake your head, why are we doing this so soon? Um, I have heard or

if you've seen the great movie Tallaladega Nights, Ricky Bobby's dad says to him, "You're either first or

you're last." And that's one of the main things that drives this. So, um, we're going to have a nice little discussion.

I've got some feelings of my own. I'm sure John has a lot of feelings. Um I have I have

You have nothing. I have no feelings. Oh, okay. Well, I I knew that about you already, so it's not like it's anything

new to me, but uh Well, I'll start out. I'll start out. I I think for me, one of

the most disheartening things Oh, he's holding his hand up. John, I have a question before we You were

going to go into seasonal stuff. Before we do that, may I offer up my prop,

please? I've been waiting for this. I can't I can't even imagine what it is. Our viewers, our listeners, this is the

big moment. Wait for now. Now that Lee Corso is no longer on game day,

big reveal left for us to look forward to. That is true. And

you don't have a big head to put on, do you? I don't. I I have a small, silly,

worthless prop. Um, but hey, we all need to do what we can to contribute to

society. Um, and and right when society needs positivity the most, right? So,

and we do. And we do. And so, this is a seasonal thing in a way. The what season is it

now? Not one of the four seasons, but what season has just begun?

A month ago, football season. Football, baby. The best season of the

year. I am coming to you live for the first

time from my office on the Denton campus, the home main campus of the

University of Texas. Jeff and they do something like this. I'm not sure what

it means. What does that mean? Um, but uh and now I did uh two or three

podcasts ago I did that from my from the Frisco office of this is the first one

from the main campus. And so I'm here to hold up my small green plastic football.

Isn't that lovely? from uh courtesy of the G Brent Ryan College

of Business. Okay. A it was uh right next to my computer

and so it was an easy grab at the last minute. But two, did you know Jeff

little you know how I like to throw I'm a professor now so I like pop quizzes. Oh I know you do.

The University of North Texas the mean green. Hence the name of the football or the color of the football are 5 and0 for

the first time in how many years how many years has it been since the Eagles

which is the official name? That's probably where this comes in. But how many years has it been since the mean

green of North Texas were 5-0 and the Yeah. Can Can we go back before

it was called University of North Texas when it was North Texas State? Would that be

I don't know when that changed. That's a good I I wonder about that.

Yeah. Okay, let me take a stab at this hint.

I'll give you a hint. The answer is prior to the arrival in Denton, Texas of

Mean Joe Green himself. Ah, so he was drafted into the NFL in 69.

So we'd have to go back 69 68 67 6 Let's say 1965

was when he arrived when he arrived. 1965

years ago this year when Mean Joe Green arrived in Denton, Texas.

But the last time they were five and 0 predates that. Wow. Yeah, they were definitely North

Texas State back then. Yeah, because that's where he graduated from. What do you think? What year?

Oh, let me go back further. Let's say uh 1959. That's

Did I get it right? Is right. I'm the king.

That is the Yeah. Well, ah, you know,

future so bright I have to wear shades. There you go. Do you know what you win? You win the Bryant Ryan College of

Business UN football prop. Oh my god, you have just won the

I am so lucky. 1959. So the first time in our lifetimes

that the Mean Green or the Eagles or whatever you want to call them are five and0.

Terrific. Isn't you know worse both our teams fell. John,

I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it either. Last Saturday did not exist in college

football. We were so close. All we needed to do

was go down the field. He did not have to throw that ball. But anyway, and all we had to do

was block goal by not the fighting Aliite, the cheating Alinai.

Cheating is the official name of that tribe because they cheat and they cheat

and they No, they didn't cheat. They beat us. I'm kidding. But yeah, it was a painful day

for Jeff and John. It was It was fall this past Saturday. It was not a

painful day for the Mean Green. They beat South Alabama to go to 5-0. But uh

yeah, Jeff and I are suffering a little bit right now in the college. Well, a little bit. I mean, it could have been worse. It could have been

worse. I mean, you know, no, it couldn't have been. It's it's it's still early. You got one loss. One loss keeps you in the playoff.

It's all good. I hope so. That that was my uh that was my prop, but it turned into maybe an excuse to

cheer us up a little bit on the college football front. Well, there we go. And uh I I'm no

longer what I'd consider a Cowboys fan, but that game was actually pretty good.

I am. That was one of the best pro football games I've ever seen. I've ever seen. Yeah. And I think pro football is boring. So

yeah. Um anyway, so it is football season. There's It is football season.

A lot of marketing that comes with that, but that's a bit of an aside. I cut you

off. Seasonal marketing. Seasonal marketing. So, I remember after

a long nine months of school, um, every year,

summer came, we would unwind. Sometimes I'd go to the beach with my friends and

I'd be lying down on the beach. And this was back in the day when you had a transistor radio long before all this

digital stuff came along. And so you'd have on the radio playing tunes and then all of a sudden as you hear the waves

lap in they say it's back to school time and I think oh my god

can you just give me a couple of weeks and um I always found that to be one of

the most depressing things I had ever heard but it makes sense. It makes sense

because but then you a parent

Yeah, back to school. One of the best things you've ever heard, right? Um, yeah, but for me as a

student, didn't really love it all that much. But, you know, what are the things that drives drive these seasonal

marketing campaigns? It's it's competition first. You know, if Walmart does it, then Target needs to do it.

Yeah. And then it's uh it's demand from consumers. um if you can buy things less

expensively if you're trying to have a hedge against these tariffs that are coming in or whatever else I mean you

want to get shopping earlier and so you know I can understand it um it's kind of

an interesting phenomenon and if you go I think I told you this John if you go to Target right now half of the store is

Halloween and half of the store is Christmas and it turns October tomorrow no it's

Not. It's half Christmas. Half Christmas. We're rolling out Christmas stuff.

That is disgusting. That is That is It is disgusting. I Wow.

Yeah. I mean, it's not It's not so apparent. I mean, but it's there. It's there. Halloween's

much more dominant right now. I would hope so. It's Sep 30th.

I know. I know. It's just wrong. Nine days ago, it was summer. So yeah, so you're absolutely right

about what's driving all of this stuff. A lot of it I I think a lot of what's driving this earlier this rush to

judgment, if you will, is um is creativity and and um aggressive

marketing behavior essentially. And Oh, sure. And now that if if it wasn't working,

then the marketers would stop. But it's clearly working, right? It's working. So, the thing that really prompted Jeff

and I to uh line this topic up for this uh podcast was we heard a term that we

thought was funny called summerween. Yes, I love that term, Summer.

Summerween. And And it's true. So, I looked it up just to make sure I was right, and I was. When do Halloween

goods start to show up in stores? And the answer is July. And um and uh and

that's common enough now that this new term summer has taken hold. Um it's it's

crazy, but it but it seems to work. And you're absolutely right. Why is one of the reasons why this seems to wh why are

the consumers reacting well to this? And I would assume some of it is, hey, you

get in there early and you save money, right? But Before I forget, I just can't help

it. University of Illinois, I think their new name should be the fighting tariffs. The fighting tariffs.

I Okay. Hate them. I hate them. They stole that

game. No, they didn't. They outplayed us. I'm just bitter. I'm bitter.

All right. I've got to tell you, I thought Oregon was really good, but I thought that our our comeback was incredible. Oh yeah, we

were monitoring the score at the game we were at and uh I thought we had won it. I thought we had won it, but our defense could not

stop the dog down here. That's what happened. Daisy could run around the defense.

No, that's exactly what happened. Hold the line against the fighting tariffs one last time. Anyway, so all

right. So, first full week of fall.

Yeah, that's right. Which, by the way, I think you mentioned up front, it's still hot here.

Yeah. First, the arrival of fall, ladies and gentlemen, let me just say this. The

arrival of fall in Texas is Christmas,

Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, summer vacation, and spring break all rolled

into one because it means it's finally going to I was about to use a curse

word, cool down. Cool down. There's there's good news and bad news

there, John. Yeah, there's the prospect of that happening, but if you look at the long-term forecast, the end of the

next week is 92 degrees. The prospect, it's just a gleam, G, Jeff. It's just a gleam in my eye. The

prospect of cooling down. It will. And do do you know the term fake fall?

I've never heard fake fall. Really? I believe in North Carolina, where I was this past weekend, I believe

they call it false fall. And what that means is, and it's still warm in North

Carolina, too. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Dallas is alone. Uh, fake fall, false fall means

it starts to could you get this not cold snap, but a cool snap. Um, right around the time when summer is officially

ending and you think, "Oh, fall's here." And then a week later, it's back up to 90. So, it was it was it was a head

fake, right? So, um, yeah. Anyway, uh,

we're hoping, you're right, there's the prospect of things cooling down. We will hope, but but fall. All right. So,

Halloween summer Halloween's been the the promotional effort for Halloween's been going on since July.

Long, long time. It's it's crazy. Um, but there's another

thing that I've seen out there. um that the arrival of fall oftent times brings

with it fall sales not tied it's not necessarily tied to

Halloween and it's not necessarily tied to anything that has anything to do with

the product. So let me give you an example. Okay. Arlo electronics. Are you a are you a

big fan you big user of Arlo electronics Jeff? I don't even know what Arlo Electronics.

Okay. Well, let let me They are a security company.

Ah, I'm on their mailing list. I believe our alarms are from Arlo.

Okay. So, of course, you're then on the mailing list, which you will never get

off of, right? Forever and ever. And I got a

promotional email from them on the 22nd of September, which as we speak was 8

days ago. And I think that might have been the first day of fall, which I think may maybe was a day later this year. Whatever. I think it was the first

day of fall. They probably had it all lined up on their editorial calendar. And we're going to send out the fall

sale email for the following products that have nothing to do with fall.

security cameras, video doorbells, and flood light cameras. What does that

have to do with fall? But they le it was in the the arrival of fall was just an

excuse to discount some of these items, get some sales, etc., etc. So, at first

I thought, you got to be kidding me. But then I thought, you know what? I give these guys credit. Yeah, I've paid attention to this because it's

being leveraged as a false sale. Now, I had fun with this.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have so much fun doing these podcasts. We really have a ball. We hope that comes through. We

also have fun preparing for this. And I did a little brainstorm with myself, Jeff, and I thought, how could we take

Arlo electronics security products? You should see the look on your face.

Okay, I can see it. How does that apply to fall? And here's I have a great suggestion for a brand

promotion for Arlo Electronics. And that is

if you have a doorbell ditch problem in your neighborhood for Halloween or

maybe Hallow's Eve, buy our security cameras, video

doorbells, and flood light cameras, and you're going to nail those teenagers.

Yes. Yes. I think that's a great idea. That is a brand promotion waiting to

happen for the marketing department of Arlo Electronics.

You You better You better call them up. Let them know they're running out of time. Why did they not They could have had

some fun with that, at least in their social campaign. By the way, this is uh not is this is not funny at all, so I

don't want to make it seem like I think it is, but I think I know what you're going to say. The teenager who got shot?

Yes. 14y old. I don't know where it was. I was the Was

the person killed? Yes. Oh my god. So, some kid probably with

his friends was doing doorbell ditch and the owner got you know what and shot him

to death. [Music] A rifle and shot him to death. Okay. So, my brand promotion idea is

done. We're not going to recommend it. No, it's terrible. It's terrible.

You know what? First, the first thing I thought of when I saw that, first thing I thought of was, "Oh my god, that's terrible." Right. Second thing I thought

of, it's I I can't believe I was never shot because we did that a lot.

We did that a lot. Well, the other the other name of um the the day before

Halloween is um Devil's Night. Devil's Night. 100%. Yeah,

100%. Devil's Night is, I believe, what it's called in Detroit where it's a

really I think I have this right. I don't want to upset the people of Detroit, Michigan, which is a fine city.

Um, but I think in Detroit, it's it's not it's not toilet paper and trees and

shaving cream and mailboxes. It's like we're lighting cars on fire and it it's

like out of control at least Molotov cocktails. Yeah. Right. And um

Yeah. So anyway, so doorbell ditch Arlo electronics fall brand promotion idea,

but when teenagers are getting shot that kind of puts cold puts a damper on all this stuff. Yeah.

Which I wish you know times used to be simpler. You didn't have to worry so much about that. Uh

the world we live in today not so good when I Oh, absolutely. When I walk into

a a mall, I'm looking over my shoulder now. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You don't know.

I mean, it's really very disturbing. All right. Speaking of fall,

I have another pop quiz for you. And I And this is almost too easy. What is the biggest shopping day of the

year? biggest Black Friday. Absolutely. Black Friday, the day after

Thanksgiving. All right. Now, here's a factoy that blew me away. This is This

is second part of your quiz. What percentage of all retail sales annually

occur between Black Friday and Christmas Day?

So, what is that? That's call it four weeks.

I'm going to guess a really high number. I'm going to guess like 70 or 75%. It It's only 30.

Oh, okay. Well, there you go. 30%. That's a lot though. Four weeks, right? Now, that is Black

Friday is kind of a madeup thing. And why do they do that? They do that,

I'm assuming, for the same reason that you can get, you know, hey, it is the

Fourth of July. Come in and get 40% off a mattress or a washer and dryer.

Sure. That I assume it's because everyone's got the day off,

right? And so people are kind of in, you know, they're they're they're

resting their minds for a day. And so what do people do? They do family outings. They think in advance, what are

we going to do for the three-day weekend and they plan a shopping spree and and so you see these sales on all these

holidays? Black Friday isn't a holiday, but they essentially turned it into one because nobody's at work.

Well, it begs the question, why did God create Amazon?

You don't have to get in and lie. You don't have to get up at 3 in the morning and form a line outside Target or

Walmart or any department store you want to go to. You can actually just lay in

bed and have your computer and order whatever you'd like. Well, and yeah, that 30% I'm assuming

that that includes online sales as well, right? Actually, now that I think about

it, since it probably does include online sales, I am surprised the number isn't

closer to what you said, 70%. People go nuts. Well, and they get a jump. They

get a jump in the Christmas shopping. They get it cheaper than normal and and

they don't have to leave their couch. Um, I like the sound of that. I like the sound of every part of that,

which they're having trouble doing anyway because they ate too much turkey the night before.

Yeah. By the way, John, I lost lost two more pounds. So, I'm Good job.

Next podcast, I won't even be here. I'll just have a a head body. Well done. Now, of course, in

Dallas, there's a fourth reason that we don't go anywhere on Black Friday because we're still mourning the latest

Cowboys loss from the day. Yeah. Yeah.

Yes. Yes. Yes. You know, same crap, different year. I know. But we're all celebrating the tie

against the Packers, which is scary. But although they played a hell of a game, I will say they did. And the Packers are a good

team, so it's not to be discounted. But okay, let's get back to the matter

at hand, which would be Christmas in July. You know, h Halloween and July.

How do you make it special? I think one of the reasons that you do better than other companies if you is if you can

find a way to turn Christmas into July, give it a little hook. So, what could

you do? You could have an outdoor movie night featuring Elf or The Miracle on 34th Street, maybe local pool.

You could have a holiday cookie bake off in the summer. Or you could have like a

Christmas summer fashion show. Something totally unique, something totally

different. And uh you know how you catch a unique animal, John, don't you?

How you catch a unique animal? Uhhuh. I don't know. unique up on it. Um, one

of my my my father-in-law's jokes way back.

Yeah, you know, we can be goofballs, right? You've given us permission. You've seen us enough. We're like Laurel

and Hardy. We're like Abbott and Costello. We're like um God knows whom.

That was really well done. Well, I had to sneak it in on you. But there are a couple other things. You can

involve your community. You can collaborate with local businesses, host contests, donate part of proceedings for

the proceeds from stuff to holiday charities even in July. And then surprise and delight. You know, you can

think above beyond the expected promos, handwritten notes on online orders,

personalized offers, quirky gift guides. The little things matter. So that's

that's a bunch of uh well crappy vibes for me. No, I I I love those ideas. I mean, it

just goes to the point of that I referenced earlier of there's more and

more marketers being really creative. And I would argue that Christmas and July is really creative, right?

As you know, speaking of being a long-suffering sports fan, I am also an

Angels fan. Ah. Ah. a grasshopper.

You know what I just realized? The Angels have won the World Series. The Angels of all people have won the World

Series more recently than the Dallas Cowboys have won the Super Bowl. That is

very wrong. Wow. So, Dallas won last because I remember it against the Steelers in

1995. Yeah. The Angels won it all in 2002.

H so yeah that the the Cowboys well anyway so Christmas in July I was watching an

Angel game this summer they had it was Christmas in July night

at the stadium. Wow. And they were either in I I believe they had a giveaway which was like basically

a Christmas sweater which That's great. That's great. It's funny sweater in the dead of

summer, right? But I mean, I at first I was like, "This

is so stupid, right?" But then they kept talking about it during the broadcast

and I actually ended up thinking it was really well done. Um, but you're right.

It's just a matter of thinking creatively. And I don't know who started Christmas

in July, but you're right. I mean, I was going to bring it up. You brought it up. It's become this thing now, right?

Yeah. Yeah. By the way, July is not the halfway point. June is the halfway

point, right? That would be crazy to start in June, but yeah, they do.

But July is okay. Christmas in June maybe because of June weddings like

there's other than the 4th of July once you get past the fourth of July and then just assume especially for those of us

in the south school starts August you've really got between call it Fourth

of July and August 4thish you've got the month a a a marketing desert there's nothing

going on that's probably where this came from somebody was trying to fill an editorial calendar with some sort of

fake holiday. And it took off and I I give the people who do it right a lot of

credit. I really do. Yeah. A lot of creativity, a lot of originality and and just trying to

inject some fun into the stuff, right? Yeah. I can I can remember way back again when

Lori and I lived in uh Northern Virginia in the suburbs of DC and we went to

Oldtown Alexandria. I don't know if any of you have been down there, but it's a great great place. I've been there. It's spectacular.

Yeah, it's spectacular. And you go down to that street along the river. Yeah. And there are some really historical

buildings down there. But to my delight, um this was summer and I'm walking down

there and there's a Christmas store that's open the entire year and I

thought, "Okay, let's go in." And you know, you hear the Christmas music, you see the fake snow. I'm thinking, okay,

this is nice. This is getting my head in the right space. So, hey, it's not it's

not all bad. It's not all bad, but um I I I just think I feel rushed from season

to season. And um we didn't even discuss Thanksgiving, which you know, that's

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, but you know, Thanksgiving kind of gets lost in the mix.

It does. And why is that? I suppose because it's just about food.

It is about food. So, are you going to buy Thanksgiving food in September? It's food.

No. No. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Now, if you have some pumpkin- like things left over, that's a

nice decoration for Thanksgiving. But, um, but beyond that, I don't know.

I mean, it gets neglected. It gets gets lost in the ether. It You know what? I have a problem with all

things pumpkin. The pumpkin spice latte.

I hate the taste of pumpkin. It's disgusting. You want to know why?

I have no idea. Pumpkins are orange like the University of Illinois.

They are the those cheaters. They are the fighting pumpkins. They are the fighting pumpkin seeds. Because when

I think of pumpkins, real pumpkins, not plastic ones, you go in there and you carve it and it's all the guts in there

and the seeds and it's all that stringy disgustingness. You scoop it out.

I don't want that in my coffee. Scoop it out. Well, just you cut to the

quick. Just take the scoopings of the seeds and the put it right in your coffee. Then you don't have a minimum.

No, no, thank you. I went to Starbucks this morning and I said, "I'll have a" and I Okay, I shouldn't say this to the

world, but I'm not supposed to have carbs. Okay. University of Illinois, the

fighting carbohydrates. Oh, that's what they should be called. Um,

but I was having a weak moment. I said, "I'll have a piece of banana bread." And the woman behind the counter said, "How

about some How about a pumpkin loaf instead?" She tried to talk. I said, "No, I want the banana bread." And then she goes,

"Well, it is it is Halloween season. It's September, lady.

I don't want pumpkin seeds in my latte, and I don't want your pumpkin loaf.

You're You're going to hate me for saying this, John. You love pump You love I love pumpkin pie. And I love it with

some whipped cream on the top. I do love pumpkin pie. I have an issue with pumpkin pie and

certain people among us, including Gellman, who is listening in here. Haven't heard from Gilman yet on this.

I'm surprised. She and others in my life know that I have a texture problem. If something is

too mushy, like guacamole, I can't eat it. Can't eat it.

Oh my god. Oh my god. John pie. I mean, I'll just eat the whipped cream.

Can't do it. Best part. That's the best part. I can't do it. Yeah. Pumpkin spice

latte. I did hear today in class that there's a new thing called pecan oat

quartada. Okay. I asked no idea what that would be.

When they explained it to me, it actually sounds great. Now, I don't know if that's a fall

drink. Right. I don't know.

Well, pecans, you pick them in the fall. You do? Yeah.

Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. So, maybe that's a fall thing, too. And I'm willing to try that. I'm not against

fall. I love fall. I'm anti- pumpkin.

Well, you're the first person I've met who's totally anti-pump. I mean, I I you know, I paraphrase

Kramer who called Jerry an anti- dentite.

I am. Yes. Yes. And the dentist was played by Brian Cranston if you remember way back. Yes, he was. I am an anti- pumpite.

Pumpite. Pumpite. I can't stand it. Um, and it's

not because I don't love fall because I love fall. But anyway, so I don't know. I mean, I suppose going back to the

question, why does Thanksgiving get lost in the lurch here a little bit? I suppose because it's all about food and

how early can you buy food. Yeah, I think you're right. I think you're right about that.

But it I do love the food part of it though. I I really do. I love the food part of it.

I love food and football. I'll eat my dinner very early and then I'll go sit

in the chair, put on football, and most likely fall asleep.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that. Put Put it this way. I ain't eating

Thanksgiving dinner at somebody's house who bought the fixings in July.

True. True. Those those fixings are probably a little stale by then. No, thank you.

Or freezer burn if you put them in the freezer. Yeah, freezer burn. So, um All right,

I'm just looking for my notes here. I think I don't know. I mean, I think we've kind of beat a dead horse here. I

you know how we we're uh we're always wanting to leave our listeners and our

viewers with some helpful tips. I've got three um All right.

May I offer them? Absolutely. I've been waiting for this the entire broadcast actually.

One of them is not avoid pumpkin. I that came out of nowhere but I hate pumpkin.

Anyway, number one is don't or sorry, number one is understand the buyer's

journey, right? If you are thinking about doing Christmas in July and your

product or service has nothing to do with July or summer, uh, understand the buyer's journey. When

do people start thinking about seasonal purchases? And and and and when do they

um and when do they well it's one thing to when do they think start to think about seasonal purchases and when do

they actually execute the sale? When do they actually buy it? Right? You have to think about something like that. With

Halloween now, Summerween, Target and Walmart and all the retailers

have made a decision probably based on good data that people are willing that

the buyer's journey is just starting that much earlier for many of the reasons that you identified earlier in

the podcast, right? Yeah. You have to understand there may be some things that if you want to start to put

the stuff out three months in advance, it's a non-starter. maybe maybe the Thanksgiving thing, right? Um I would

say another thing is don't be afraid to leverage the arrival of a new season to

try and pump up sales of your product or service. And and you know this Arlo

electronics thing is a perfect example of nothing to do with fall. What do mattresses have to do with the Fourth of

July? What do washers and dryers have to do with Mother's Day? Right? people have

an extra day off, maybe they take a deep breath, think about buying something new. And then I think the third thing is

very much along the lines of what we're talking about here ultimately, which is don't be afraid to be creative.

Christmas in July, where the heck did that even come from, but it's a thing

now, right? Some smart marketer came up with that phrase, Christmas in July, right? And it's just a thing now. And

you know, marketing has the power. Marketing has power to create stuff out

of thin air. We do. Now, let's hope the right marketers are creating the right

things out of thin air. We don't want to do stuff or whatever, nor would we ever

counsel our clients to make stuff up that just doesn't make any sense at all or is somehow negative,

right? You know, for example, I I won't say who it was, but I was at a series of

meetings at ad agencies in Dallas last week, and one of the agencies very

proudly said, and the guy who came up with it, the copywriter was sitting there, and he apparently came up with

the tag, speaking of football, with the tagline, it just means more. Whose

tagline is that in college football? It all goes back to football, Jeff. It all

goes back. I don't know that one, John. I don't know that one. Green plastic football.

It just means more is the tagline of the Southeastern Conference, better known as

the SEC, which Gelman is a graduate of, having graduated from the University of

Georgia. It just means more. Go dogs, baby. and they go,

but the SEC, it just means more. It came out of research that that was all about that that this

stuff, college football and just sports in general because they don't do it just for football

is just everything in this and especially to the big sports schools.

And so this ad agency came up with the tagline, it just means more. And that has t and I know this because not only

did Caroline go to the SEC, but my son goes to Alabama. I see this stuff now and I notice it. And that tagline has

taken on a life of its own. You see t-shirts, you see swag, you watch game

day on Saturday, it just means more. Marketing is powerful. Marketing is

powerful stuff. And I, you know, yeah, I mean, I tell my students all the time,

you have to use that power for good. First of all, you have to be on strategy.

It can the greatest tagline in the world, but if it's not on strategy, it doesn't work. But assuming for the

moment it's on strategy, it it this is really powerful stuff, especially if your company or your client has a big

budget and can really blow something out. Now, nobody really owns Christmas in July, as far as I can think about,

but somebody at some point got all the retailers in bed with them, and now

everybody's doing it, and it's um it's become a thing. So, anyway, um All

right. Um you want to do uh our uh end of show commercial?

Absolutely. Who are we? We're Clients First. Clients First Marketing and Communications LLC.

We do it all. We do it all. We're writers. We're editors. We're strategists. John's just a pretty face.

I'm whatever I am. But, uh, you know, if you need help, you need a guiding hand

or whatever else, come to us. Come to us. We're here. We're ready to go. We're like Nixon was at the end. Tan rested

and ready. Um, ready. Always in our in our minds at least.

Right. Yes. and and uh you know, watch this video, hit like, follow us. We're

gathering up the followers. We already got a hundred on LinkedIn. Let's go to two. Let's go to a thousand. That's

where I'd like to be. Yeah, baby. Yeah. And and go visit us on all the different social networks. So, with that, I say so

long and um always a pleasure to be with you. Um and John, I turn it over to you

to say goodbye. So on Peterson Ad

number one, happy fall. Happy Halloween summerween.

Uh and the reason that we want you to

follow us, like us, and work with us is we have a tagline here at Clients First. It just means more.

I have no problem with adopting that. I've never heard that before. We just came up with it ourselves. Yes.

So anyway, thank you all. Um Christmas uh happy uh Halloween in uh October as

of tomorrow. This will come out the first full business week of October. So Halloween is really truly almost upon

us. Um last quiz question. Your best Halloween costume ever. Don't think

about it. Whatever comes to mind. Best Halloween costume ever. Mine was Captain America at the age of roughly

five. Wow. I was a pretty good vampire. I uh I

did a pretty good Dracula way back in the day. Outstanding. And I don't like blood. So

outstanding. Took me a while to get over that. Tell you who likes blood. The University of Illinois. They My blood shed my blood

was shed all over myself. I gouged my own eyes out when the field goal went

through the uprights. Oh god. I hope they're happy because they are cheaters. They are cheaters.

Cheaters. Cheaters. Cheaters. Well, my lions lost to ducks. How does that happen? Put a lion against a duck.

Is a duck ever going to beat a lion? No. No.

Folks, happy Halloween. See you later.