Been doing a lot of interviews for the ol' Pow! book, and one question that's recurring on a regular basis is:
"How can Surprise tactics help in today's frightfully down economy?"
Here's the answer I gave all last week, courtesy of Jon Birger's article "Baseball Battles The Slump" in the most recent Fortune Magazine. In the piece, Jon talks about the efforts of the small-market Arizona Diamondbacks, most notably its tirelessCEO Derrick Hall.
In addition to outlining Hall's meticulous attention to detail and his obsessive response to the fans, Jon cites this "expanding the boundaries of delightful extremes" Pow! Moment:
"As focused as Hall is on keeping existing fans happy, he's even more obsessive about cultivating the next generation. If he's out to dinner and sees a youngster wearing a D-backs hat, he'll pick up the family's tab."
Thanks for the help, Derrick. It's stories like this that don't merely fill blog posts, but fill seats. It's this type of grass-roots, never-say-die action that may be the difference between survival and extinction as the abyss of the economy swallows up the bloated and the indifferent.
Next time I'm in Phoenix, I'll pick up a ticket or two for a sun-drenched afternoon game...
...and hang around local restaurants sporting a D-Backs cap. Just in case.