As we head into what promises to be a memorable Final Four Weekend, a look back at this year’s NCAA Tournament should be a reminder to all of us just how exciting college basketball – men’s and women’s – can be. This year has had it all – the upsets, an amazing Cinderella team, the drama, and some truly great games.
And here we are, down to the last four teams standing, and they are names that have all been there before: UNC, Duke, Villanova, and Kansas. That first matchup among the two North Carolina powerhouses should be a classic.
So, is your bracket still alive, or did it blow up in the early rounds?
That’s the question that the still spry brother Bill Jacobs is contemplating today – along with millions of others here in the U.S. and around the world. Whether you’re back in the office or still at
home, chances are pretty good you filled out a bracket this year. When you have that many people participating in a leisure activity, it invites creative copycatting. Or stealing – better put, “glomming” – someone else’s idea.
At least that’s what us consultants call it – a way for any radio station to take advantage of a fun, mainstream pursuit that everyone instantly “gets” how to play. Bill has combed the interwebs to find some of the best and most creative brackets – in and out of radio.
And it begs the question why more spoken word, public and Christian radio stations don’t suit up themselves for their own unique tourney. Whether it’s 64 Bible characters (the divisions write themselves) or its famous NPR hosts and journalists of yesterday and today, “breaketology” is a alive and well, even when other activities are on-hold.
I actually don’t mind being benched for a game, while Bill ties his witty hand at “blogology.” Now, if I could just convince him to write 64 of them this year. – FJ
By Bill Jacobs
One in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808.
That’s over nine quintillion, if you gave up after the fourth comma. Yes, it’s the odds of filling out a perfect March Madness bracket by flipping a coin for each game. If you did that this year, let me know.
In spite of those odds, tens of millions of people valiantly try to pull it off every year. Some form of creative “bracketology” has become the impossibly difficult default promotion for stations trying to tie into the season – “pick all the games right and win $1 million.” But the best part of mimicking this sports institution is its broad appeal – and it gives radio a fun diversion coming out of winter, and heading into the competitive spring ratings season.
Here is a number of compelling reasons why brands should look to tie into what so many of your listeners are doing:
- It’s estimated 60-100 million brackets are filled out every year
- There’s no more advertising avails – it’s sold out, with prices up double digits and spots in the final game going for $2 million
- The ratings are the highest they’ve been in years
Savvy marketers and smart brands know it’s a lot easier to glom on to someone else’s promotion than creating one from scratch. For a great example of how this works, check out how NBC’s new streaming service, Peacock, just one-upped the NCAA Tournament network, CBS.
The “Cinderella Story” of the tournament (until they lost to UNC this past weekend) was little St. Peter’s, a commuter school in New Jersey with fewer than 3,000 students whose teams just happens to be called the Peacocks.
When the promotional wizards at NBC found out the St. Peter’s cheerleaders couldn’t afford to go to Indianapolis for their second-round game, the network bussed them over. When the Peacocks won that game, NBC transported fans to Philadelphia for their next game, and gave a free month of their streaming service to every St. Peter’s student. For one of the sporting events of the year – on rival CBS.
It’s a perfect example of how any brand can attach itself someone else’s success, even if you don’t broadcast the games, couldn’t sponsor a concert, or have no corporate connection to a big event, like the city’s fireworks show.
In the creativity department, a number of brands got nothing but net with their versions of “bracketology.” Here are the ones that caught my attention:
Starch Madness – The website Serious Eats put together a bracket with 64 different potato dishes. Now, with no offense meant for the state of Idaho, potatoes aren’t exactly the most exciting of the starchy vegetables. But a look at this bracket, subtitled “Taters gonna tate” is a reminder of just how wild you can go with four spuds divisions (including my fave, “couch potatoes” (including latkes” for those of you who celebrate those “eight crazy nights” of Hanukah”). Sorry, Taylor Swift, this one’s a winner:
Mammal Madness – Because sports can provide those “teaching moments,” you have to give credit to an Arizona State University professor ten years ago, whose aim is to educate students about the exciting topic of warm-blooded high vertebrate mammals. But this bracket does just that.
Professor Katie Hinde is now the editor-in-chief of a tradition that even Dick Vitale would appreciate.
The ASU Sun Devils haven’t won a national championship in more than four decades, but this bracket electrifies the Valley of the Sun.
My pick to win it all – this year’s sleeper team: the grizzly bear in the Wild North America Division:
Greatest Brand of All Time – The website and newsletter maven, Marketing Brew, dreamt up a bracket designed to find the greatest brand of all time. With brackets dubbed Titans, Upgrades, Workaholics, and Disrupters, even Don Draper and Darrin Stevens would be impressed. Here’s a look at their Elite Eight:
March Adness – You know how competitive the world of advertising can be. Not to be outdone by Marketing Brew, Adweek cooked up a bracket designed to find the year’s best advertising effort. 
SUNY’s Mascot Madness – Those crazy team mascots make for a great bracket. That’s why the State University system in New York (SUNY) decided to pit their mascots on dozens of campuses against one another. There are a lot of talented mascots in this competitive field of 48 furry costumed cheerleaders, but my money is on Buff State’s Benji the Bengal:
John Prine’s March Sadness – What would bracketology be without a soundtrack? The late John Prine’s record label, Oh Boy Records, found that putting together a bracket is both a fun and effective way to bring more attention to the music of one talented artist. While there are many great songs in this collection, here’s a look at this year’s “Sad Sixteen,” and my favorite Prine diddy, “Illegal Smile” from the Top Tappers division:
WCSX’s Coney Dog Fight Bracket Challenge – Onto radio, and if you know anything about Detroit you know that one of the main food groups are Coney Dogs. They are a local delicacy, the topic of past JacoBLOGS.
This year, Classic Rock WCSX went the non-musical route with their morning show, “Big Jim’s House.” Jim O’Brien and producer Ryan in the morning pit the best coney places in town against each other. Special credit to Donielle Flynn for cooking up this bracket that captured the vibe of the Motor City, while knocking down super-impressive web metrics:
Speaking of radio, how did it do, creatively speaking, with brackets this year? In general, a lot of stations took the most basic avenue, encouraging listeners to sign up to try and get all the games right to win $1 million, something that everyone knows simply isn’t possible.
Other stations went back to that old standby, March Bandness/Rock Madness which remains an excellent way to brand your station, but some went another step forward in terms of creativity:
KCMQ Tournament Of Bad – A now annual tradition on The Morning Shag on KCMQ/Columbia, this bracket aims to crown “The Worst of the Worst.” And you have to wonder how “spam texts” can even compete against Jackson Mahomes.
The Hog’s 64 Things That Don’t Suck – Another annual tradition, this one from The Hog in Milwaukee aims to remove 63 things that suck more than the last item standing. It’s about everything that makes Milwaukee great, from custard to SummerFest to a weekend in the Dells:
Meatball Madness – T95 in Wichita’s didn’t co-opt the bracket, just the Madness. In this case, tickets to upcoming shows using afternoon driver Meatball as the face of the promotion.
WDVE’s 80s Classic Album Bracket – Let’s not forget the strategic size of stealing this promotion. What do you do when the mission is to highlight a decade of music, coinciding with a deluge of concerts coming to Pittsburgh? This:
So, what’s your plan? And how can you cook up something indigenous to your community, your morning show, or your brand? That is, local.
It could be a food, landmarks, sports stars, or anything that captures the imagination of your cume. And as you’ve seen from some of my favorite brackets, there are sponsors and brand equity on the line.
Jump ball!
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Clark, shouldn’t that be “Mormats & Farkets”??