Michael Phelps Teaches Golden Marketing Lesson from Beijing

(Photo by Donald Miralle, Getty Images)

As the world watches Michael Phelps collect gold medallions and shatter world records at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I had one of those "Aha!" moments as he was collecting his 10th Olympic medal on Monday night, August 11, 2008.

Michael Phelps followed the same superstitious ritual he has gone through prior to each swimming event the past several years. He listened to his Rap music, removed his ear buds, took off his jacket, climbed up on the block and flapped his arms like a gigantic bald eagle about to swoop down on an unsuspecting meal.

But it was how he managed this particular race, just like all the others, that gave me a take-away that I can immediately apply to my business as well as my clients'.

Tense Moments
Phelps left the block, effortlessly motored himself under water and suddenly emerged on the surface somewhere in the middle of the pack. As we watched, my wife stated what I was thinking, "He's not leading. The guy in lane one is." Right on cue, as if he heard my wife and millions of other viewers gasp in unison, the announcer reassured. "Oh, but he knows exactly where he his and where his competitors are."

Aha! That's it. Here is a guy not only swimming to be the most-decorated Olympian in history, but he's also teaching a valuable marketing lesson at the same time. Phelp's course syllabus might read something like:

Do you know where your competition is? You've worked too
hard to let your competitions take the lead and increase it's market share. In this course you'll
learn how to monitor your competition, get to know their strengths and weakness, and implement both a proactive and reactive marketing strategy to help you reach for the gold in your business and personal lives.

Practical Application
I am currently working on a competitive intelligence project for a client in. Like Michael Phelps, this business has been working hard for the past twenty years is truly a champion in its industry. But, a sagging economy combined with some emerging technological challenges has put a recent drag on the business. My client wants to know where the competitors are. Where do they excel? Where do they fall short? What are the opportunities and threats that can help or hurt their business? Are we truly a leader or is someone else threatening our existence? These are all valid and important questions for any business to ask every single day.

Michael Phelps teaches us that you don't necessarily need to pull up and look at your competitors. He keeps kicking and pulling water with each stroke. He's focused. Most importantly, he keeps his head down and concentrates on the task at hand. But, he is instinctively aware of his competition. He's done his homework and due diligence. He's watched endless hours of video on each competitor and himself and he's replayed his races time and time again inside his head.

Game On
In your business, you need to keep your head down and move forward. But, equally as important, you need to understand your competition and environment. Review their website. Acquire their brochures. Be on the lookout for their advertising and scrutinize it as if it were your own. Monitor their pricing strategies. Once you know where your competition is, you'll be better poised to know when to save your energy and when to turn up the heat. At the end of each race, you'll find yourself breaking all kinds of records and standing atop the podium.

BTK & Associates can coach your business to victory conduct Competitive Intelligence. You'll learn who your competition is both in your market space and geographically. You gain confidence knowing that you can make the necessary adjustments to grown your market share and be a leader in your market.

For more information on how BTK & Associates can help your business stand out in a crowd, visit www.btkmarketing.com, email me at brian@btkmarketing.com, or call 317.696.6734.