Describe how and why you would change the team name and marketing strategy for any professional American sport organization.

2. I enjoyed Ice To The Eskimos and its insightful look at an NBA teams marketing strategies to keep consumers content and returning. The strategies presented in the book are very simple and straightforward which make them instantly relatable and easy to replicate for a reader interested in successful marketing. I appreciate that the strategies laid out are presented in a sports setting but are applicable to other business outlets where marketing is necessary. The most simple principle takeaway being know the consumer is such a simple statement with deep reaching implications that Spoelstra lays out. It is simple to ask who are your consumers and say “teens” or “female young adults”, but diving deeper to know who exactly the identities are of the people in your demographic that actually consume your product are will lead to a more effective and efficient marketing strategy. Spoelstra calls this the quick-fix silver bullet and its a simple concept, but it allows the marketer to target directly who is most interested in the product. This is the best example utilized throughout the book in my opinion of an effective way to be efficient. Spoelstra talking from the position of high power within the Nets organization makes his statements more effective as he displays the thought process behind decisions, followed by how the strategy was marketed and brought to life. Seeing how these strategies play out in a sports setting provides depth that engaged me as a reader who is interested in sports.

The book is dated from the 90’s and it shines through at times but I fully believe the principles still apply. If anything, technology has made the approaches presented by Spoelstra more easily accessible by the marketer. One critique I have of the book is that Spoelstra discusses the Nets in a very opinionated fashion which is hard to cut through at times. He buries the organization at times to build up his own ideas as more effective. Stating how bad the organization was and how his idea benefited the organization in such a fashion comes across as braggadocious and the book does not feel like it is written from an objective state. I enjoyed the book but at times was frustrated with how subjective Spoelstra was in presenting his work.