Monday Thought: Ya Gotta Believe

A quick one for my 3 new subscribers.

No sponsor today. Just yours truly.

This is for all my Met fan readers.

A Monday night surprise…

Meet the Mets. The Mets are an example of investing in “the long and the short of it” - the marketing principle that 60% of your budget should build future demand, while 40% of your budget should capture existing demand.

Ultimately, a near-even balance is required to win now, and in years to come.

The Mets invested big money to win now, while they fix their farm system for the future.

They’re also a cautionary tale if you rely only or too much on “the short of it.”

The Mets went all in on this year. They spent the most money in MLB history. Their roster includes former Cy Young winners and various all-stars.

But the team stumbled, and 17 games out of first place, they’re now selling the team off for parts right before the trade deadline tomorrow.

The Mets learned that money is no guarantee for success. Just like marketing, it’s not enough to spend a lot; you need to be disciplined, distinctive, and different in how you do it. And, it’s dangerous to expose yourself only to the present; you need to balance this with building for the future as well.

Two more thoughts on the Mets x marketing…

• In baseball, your cheapest assets are your most long-term ones (your minor league prospects). In paid media, your “cheapest” assets are your most short-term ones (your brand search, retargeting, etc.). Until marketing can move to a common currency of incrementality, we’ll be stuck misdefining cheap as “cheap.”

• Steve Cohen, the owner of the Mets, is paying more to offload players who aren’t working. This, after spending a record amount on players this year to start the year. It goes to show you that large brands with deep pockets have two benefits at their disposal - they have more money to spend at the outset, and they have more money to fix a campaign (kill fees) or redo one that didn’t work than smaller brands. If you don’t have Steve Cohen marketing money, think differently to win.

Stay thinkin this week!

Danny