This year, one of my goals is to do a deep-dive into NFTs, yet where should one start? I’ve been picking up stuff here and there; lots of Gary Vaynerchuk podcasts as well as YouTube, but it would be nice to have one centralized spot to start this journey. have a look at the accounting for non-profit organizations.

As if he was reading my New Year’s resolution list, Michael Stelzner just dropped his new podcast – Crypto Business in January. I’m a big fan of Michael’s content as I feel that his main podcast Social Media Marketing (along with his blog) is one of the best “how to” social media sources out there. I’ve recommended it many times on this blog and hundreds of times in my classes.

What makes Crypto Business an easy recommendation is Michael’s approach to his podcasts. He has a journalistic mindset where he brings the listener in when interviewing his experts on the show. Every episode feels like an explanation of some particular topic where the listener starts the show knowing little and ends the show with a solid feel for the subject. In short, Crypto Business will be a “must listen” week-in and week-out on my journey to figuring out this Web 3.0 world.

Something to listen to today!

Best regards,

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

The idea of an inbox, with ZERO emails in it, is an experiment I’ve always wanted to try. Yesterday, the experiment began…

Although the thought of just deleting everything sounded great, I took the more pragmatic approach and moved my entire pre-2022 inbox, dropping thousands of emails into a folder I labeled “Backfile.” By maintaining a neat and clean inbox, it will be one less thing I need to stress out with daily.

As for my other 2022 Resolutions:

First, I’ve been terrible with DigNuggetville over the last 3 years. So I want to strive more for consistency with uploading although with fewer loads in total. The goal of the blog is average at least 5 posts per month (once per week plus one bonus post).

Second, for the last 2 years (I actually think it’s the last 3), I set a goal to run the 8.4 mile Philadelphia Art Museum loop before Father’s Day and I have not reached that goal. It’s happening this year!

Third, I have not been reading as many books as I used to (I cannot same the same for podcasts as I listen to A LOT of podcasts). The goal this year is to read a least 6 books. The first two up are: (1) Gary Vaynerchuk’s Twelve and a Half and (2) Brene Brown’s Atlas of the Heart.

Speaking of podcasts, fourth, this is the year I start my podcast. I’ve been talking about starting a podcast for as long as I can remember. My role as with the Seton Hall Sports Poll fits nicely with a podcast. Stay tuned!

Fifth and finally, NFTs were one of the top stories of the year in 2021. I spent some (but not enough) effort on the NFT space as I believe this has the potential to be a significant shift to a Web 3.0 world. I’ve collected baseball cards for years and have been slowly unloading them but this year, I’m going to shift from physical collectibles (baseball cards) to digital collectibles (NFTs).

What are your goals for 2022?

Best regards,

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

Question! Is the rise of NFTs the dawn of the Web 3.0 era? Gary Vaynerchuck, who has made a career of being a step or two ahead of everyone, thinks so. Recently, he made a strong argument during one of his latest Marketing for the Now podcasts. Before I entertain the idea of a 3.0, let’s first briefly highlight the Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 eras.

A central thesis to my digital marketing philosophy is the shift from the top-down world to the current crowd-powered bottom up-world. Within this thesis is the Web 1.0 era (1995 to 2001) and the Web 2.0 era (2004 to the present). For those of you have not be been tortured in class recently and need a refresh, here we go!

-The Web 1.0 era featured the birth of a number of interesting Internet companies. It also was a top-down world at this time (meaning very few people were in control), the crowd was passive, and crowd culture was practically non-existent. While there was some value in first mover advantage, very few of these companies were built to last. In fact, we could probably count on our own two hands the number of companies that are still relevant today. Most of these Web 1.0 firms eat though their venture capital and IPO cash quickly since they had no idea how to be profitable. This era was certainly a bubble, where everyone “wanted in” even if they had no idea what the Internet was, how it worked, or how to describe it to friends and family members. (That kind of sounds like crypto now, right?) In reality, very few companies were doing anything different on the Internet than what was happening in the non-digital real world. (Look mom, I created the first pet store on the Internet!) In addition to the lack of profitability post IPO, a highly contentious 2000 presidential election, the weaking of the overall economy after a growth years of the late 90’s, the mind blowing worst merger in the history of business (AOL and Time Warner) and the tragic events around 9/11, all lead to the demise Web 1.0 by the end of 2001.

-One of my graduate students accurately characterized 2001 to 2004 as the “internet winter.” There was a change during this time period as all the venture capital and Wall Street money dried up. By contrast, the digital business that started during this time were funded by angel investors and/or individuals who cashed out when their Web 1.0 businesses were bought like the PayPal mafia.

-The Web 2.0 era ushered in a fundamental change in business practice and eventually consumer culture. Specifically, the world shifted to a bottom-up, on-demand, crowd powered digital world. We do not get a Facebook in 2004 or YouTube in 2005 or Twitter in 2006 if the crowd was not in control and provided 100% of the content for those platforms. What was key to Web 2.0 world was that businesses and industries were being created by doing something that could ONLY be accomplished digitally, as opposed to just recreating something on the Internet that was basically the same thing in the physical world (like a pet store). In other words, the Web 2.0 businesses accomplished something using the digital technologies (like crowdsourcing) that would be practically impossible in the normal non-digital world. Just as aluminium shop fronts have transformed retail aesthetics by offering sleek, modern solutions, Web 2.0 innovations have revolutionized how we interact and conduct business online. Without a bottom-up crowd powered shift in digital consumer culture, we do not get an Uber or Airbnb 10 years later. I also doubt that we would have seen the speed and scale of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements without the power of the crowd. Additionally, for further insights into our company’s operations, you can also click here for more information about how the payroll process works.

Shifting to the Web 3.0?

I’ve been teaching a digital marketing course on the undergraduate and/or graduate level continually since 2004. During this time, I also have been looking for the next shift, the next major new thing, the next major change in digital practice. In 2008, many argued that mobile apps were a new wave. In 2012, others argued the shift away from desktops to smartphones as the dominant platform for accessing the Internet was the new 3.0. In reality, it easy to make the case that these two phenomenon were fueled by the Web 2.0, not replacing it.

AR and especially VR could be a fundamental shift, but we have been talking about those for the better part of 8 years. Neither have fundamentally changed digital culture (yet), meaning the market of either of these digital technologies is not exponential. I thought the 2015/2016 “internet of things” conversation had potential. The idea of making the non-digital (i.e., keys, watches, light bulbs, appliances, etc.) and transforming them to WiFi connected products was super interesting.  A Rolex is a beautiful watch, but in reality, it really doesn’t do much other than tell the time and signal to people around you that you have the cash to buy a Rolex. My Apple watch is my primary fitness device, that happens to play podcasts when I go for a run, takes phone calls and texts when my smartphone is not around, and becomes my touchless digital wallet for 50% of my credit card purchases. A Tesla is more digital than non-digital. Ring, AirTags, Nest, Alexa (home controller functions), Philips WIFI light bulbs, etc., are all very interesting examples of taking a physical/analog product and transforming them to internet connected digital products, but I was unsure if this was huge enough to be a fundamental shift. Then, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) exploded earlier this year and this is something worth paying attention to.

Powered by blockchain, which provides a digital record of everything related to that NFT, imbues either a physical or digital product with a historical record or provenance that is undisputable. For instance, an entry level Hermes Birkin bag starts at $8,500 and it is a highly sought after fashion item with a wildly active secondary market. Well, if the Birkin bag also had a digital record of provenance and a particular Birkin bag was formally owned by Michelle Obama and happened to be the bag she wore when visiting the Queen of England, I could not imagine how much that Birkin would go for at a charity auction. Because of a digital record of provenance, fully digital products can also have significant value. I’ve collected baseball cards my whole life but those digital NBA TopShot NFTs are just mind blowing.

The digital record of provenance changes everything and once you have this thought in your head, it is easy to expand it to a multitude of markets. What if the 2021 Super Bowl was Tom Brady’s last trip to the big dance? Because of the pandemic and social distancing, the stadium was half full at best. If the NFL turned those few tickets into an NFT which feature the a digital record of provenance along with some video highlights of the game, I cannot imagine how much one of those gameday tickets would be worth. Music, books, collectibles, concert tickets – the list could be endless.

Powered by the blockchain, NFTs could fundamentally change everything, just like how the Internet (eventually) changed everything. Is this the Web 3.0? It could be, and it’s certainly something I’m following. We will know for sure in the upcoming years when we can reflect back and measure change. For now, keep investigating and enjoy the ride.

Best

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

It’s the end of the Spring semester, the end of our class, and the end of our professional selling journey… or is it?

Multiple times this semester, I stated (strongly!) that regardless if one considers a career in professional selling, the chapters on overcoming objections and closing techniques will be very useful in life after Seton Hall, check out the best payroll operations.

To keep these ideas fresh and also have an easy to find nugget resource to refer back to, look into TikTok followers, I created this BONUS Overcoming Objections and Closing Techniques lecture for the current class, as well as, all the previous professional selling students to took this journey with me.

Enjoy and Good Luck!

Best

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

What a wild week within the wonderful world of soccer!

While there has always been talk of a “super league” throughout the years, I never thought I would see one, other than the UCL. Yet, the pandemic’s impact still continues to be felt and the Super League creation and 48 hour implosion (even if some of the 12 still think it exists) was all about the money. In no particular order, here are a few thoughts:

• Yes, there was an American influence. American sports play in a closed system. Without a 3,000 word response on the pros and cons of a closed system, one of its unique factors is a significantly more consistent income stream than the promotion/relegation – UCL/Europa – non-salary cap model common in Europe. The super league teams were looking for a guaranteed income stream – period.
• The assumption was… these teams thought they could keep their other current income streams constant and just “add” this new Super League money to their balance sheet. We often talk in class about Theory X vs. Theory Y leadership models in this bottom up world where the crowd is control. This was a Theory X top-down move and the bottom up crowd (fans, leagues, and even politicians) were not having it.
• Financially speaking, some of these super teams are is super deep financial trouble, specifically Real Madrid and Juventus. When it comes to income streams, TV money is always the biggest piece of the pie. The Premier League TV deal is vastly higher (approx. 4.2 billion) than either La Liga (2.1 billion) or Serie A (around 2 billion). Juventus is a publicly traded company. Real Madrid did not make a single signing over the past two transfer windows. This is Real Madrid we’re talking about! There is no way the Italian or Spanish teams can financially keep up with the six teams from the Premier League, especially considering the next two largest income streams are down significantly; sponsorships (mostly down since the game day experience is non-existent) and game day revenue (also practically non-existent).
• Of course the Premier Leagues teams pulled out first. They had the most to lose! When even the smallest possibility arose that the Premier League teams might have their traditional revenue streams impacted (that TV deal and UCL/Europa income), then the super league money was not as “worth it” as previously thought.
• Yes, fans, politicians, and the leagues spoke up and it was nice to see the power of the crowd but the decision to pull out of the super league was all about the money… first.
• By pulling out of the super league, the Premier League teams actually hurt their Spanish and Italian competitors more than a win on the field. These teams needed the Super League cash infusion to keep their clubs running at the highest level.
• Will there be any UEFA sanctions or penalties on the 12 breakaway teams? To be direct, I really don’t know, nor can I imagine what the penalties would be. Points? UEFA as publicly stated that consequences are coming but at the same time, UEFA needs these clubs in the UCL just as much as the 12 need the UCL revenue. If anything, the severity of any sanctions should be weighted; the 6 Premier League teams with the lightest penalties. Meanwhile, a team like Real Madrid, whose President Florentino Perez still believes the 12 are still in, could face the most severe consequences: “I don’t need to explain what a binding contract is, but effectively the clubs cannot leave.”

In closing, do I feel this Super League action would have occurred if not for the pandemic? No! The announcement was poorly organized, the logo was not professionally created and it seems none of the coaches, players or staff were in the know on this effort. These teams are financially stressed and were looking for an easy way out. Fortunately for us fans, they are not going to get it.

Best

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

The most recent Marketing Club meeting, featuring a panel of seasoned marketing researchers, was a lively discussion centered around skill set recommendations needed for a successful marketing research career. [And] During the session, multiple hard skills were discussed [but] the conversation kept shifting back to soft skills and one soft skill in particular – storytelling. I did not have a shortlist of storytelling books handy, [therefore] I knew it was time create one and share it with the group.

We all know that I am a huge advocate of the science of storytelling and DigNuggetville has featured multiple storytelling posts throughout the years. Of course, book recommendations are scattered across these posts. The following is a fantastic shortlist of the dozens of storytelling books I have in my office. These suggestions will be more than enough to get anyone proficient on the topic… quickly. Here we go!

The Foundation

While you could read these books in any order, I’d recommend you start with:

• Lisa Cron’s Wired for Story
• Jonathan Gottschall’s The Storytelling Animal
• Randy Olson’s Houston, We Have a Narrative

Both Cron and Gottschall make the case how we, as humans, are biologically hardwired for story. Randy Olson is a former marine biologist Ph.D., turned Hollywood movie-maker. While in film school, Olson realized how horrible most academics and business executives are at telling their stories. Olson’s And, But, and Therefore template (aka the ABT) is just brilliant. If you review the first paragraph closely, you will see I used the ABT to set up this post.

Advanced Thoughts

• Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth
• Chip Heath and Dan Adams’ Made to Stick
• Ian Leslie’s Curious

Campbell is the godfather, quite literally, to all conversations related to storytelling. It is almost impossible to have a storytelling conversation without it leading back to Campbell at some point. (I can say the same for Robert Cialdini as he’s the godfather of persuasion and all persuasion conversations will eventually lead back to Cialdini). Campbell, an academic, identified the mono-myth or Hero’s Journey (the standard template for almost all Hollywood CGI blockbuster movies) from antiquity. His books are tomes – something one would expect in a college classroom (i.e., long and dense). However, journalist Bill Moyers interviewed Campbell for a 6-part PBS documentary and the transcript from that conversation became The Power of Myth book – the most approachable Campbell book in my collection.

Speaking of persuasion, Made to Stick is one of the best persuasion books you can find. Along with Cialdini, Stick serve as the texts for my MBA course, The Science of Persuasion. This happens to me all the time; I read a book or an article on some topic and I eventually say… this is a storytelling conversation. In summary, the most persuasive people you know also happen to be the BEST storytellers…period.

Curious – the desire to know and why your future depends in it – as the book’s subhead describes, is centered on the power of curiosity, which just so happened to be the second most popular soft skill mentioned by the executives in the Marketing Club session. I love this book as this is a topic near and dear to my heart and surprise, surprise… it is also a storytelling conversation.

The final book on this list, Park Howell’s Brand Bewitchery, is the only book I have not read yet and it is first up on my summer reading list. (I’m also teaching my MBA Brand Management course this this summer). I’ve been listening to Park’s The Business of Story podcast for years and I know that while this is a book on branding, it is really a conversation about storytelling.

If you are looking for any additional details about the books described above or are looking for something slightly different, I’m sure I have a storytelling recommendation, so drop me a note in the comments section.

Best

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

We’ve been having fun in my Digital Marketing class this spring and we often discuss (via our Topic Talks) what are… “the top 5 stories in digital?” One of my goals for this class is to prepare the students for their future digital marketing job interviews.

Without question, one of top stories of 2021 is… Clubhouse. So, what is Clubhouse? I’ve been playing around inside of Clubhouse for a week or so and I can easily say it is novel. In addition to the detail below, I’m going to answer a question that was posted to me on Twitter related to Clubhouse and fan engagement at a sports club.

First, what is Clubhouse? In short, it’s a new social platform (iOS only for the moment but once the founders get some additional VC funding, they will produce an Android version) and at present, it is invitation only. The key feature of the app is… live audio… only, meaning one can tune in and listen to a multitude of topics in numerous rooms but, there is no recording of the conversation for later on-demand, asynchronous consumption.

You know something… is something… if it is not easy to explain. In other words, Clubhouse is unique (i.e., has a stronger value proposition) because it is challenging to directly compare Clubhouse to the other social platforms. For an analogy, this often occurs in the music industry. Every band gets compared to another band. The easier it is to compare them (i.e., oh… so and so… yea, they are OK – they’re like poor-man’s version X), the less unique the band is. I’m going to have some fun here and do some Clubhouse comparisons.

• Clubhouse is… Digital Talk Radio

Meaning, we have been listening to talk radio for decades but it has not completely crossed over to social. Radio is almost 100% one-way communication, but Clubhouse with its rooms and the ability to raise your hand and be pulled on stage is more two-way communication. Did Sirius XM miss the boat here?

• Clubhouse is… A podcast that is not on-demand

I love podcasts. I recommendation podcasts to students and friends all the time. Podcasts are rarely live. Podcasts are almost 100% on-demand asynchronous consumption. Synchronous consumption, however, has the FOMO effect (i.e., get it now – live – or don’t get it at all).

• Clubhouse is… Discord for adults!

My kids understand this one. Discord was originally a multi-person version of a FaceTime like platform that is popular in the multi-player gamer community. Discord has since expanded a bit beyond the gamer community but is still rooted heavily in gaming. I feel Discord is Clubhouses closest competitor, however, Clubhouse has more of a LinkedIn or Medium audience compared to Discord’s B2C topic areas.

• Clubhouse is… Medium but in a live audio format

I believe the smartest conversations in digital are happening on Medium. Medium is a blogging platform (text), featuring long form content, completely on-demand/asynchronous consumption, and is not free. In sum, similar audience but different modality.

• Clubhouse is… an audio version of Twitch

I’ve heard this a few times but it is not a comparison. First of all, one is live video (Twitch) while the other is live audio (Clubhouse). Second, Twitch has live functionality and is the dominant live gaming platform, but many of Twitch’s streams are on-demand/asynchronous consumption either on Twitch itself or YouTube.

• Clubhouse is… it is a virtual conference space

This is a big deal. The conference business is a BIG business… abet in non-pandemic times. It is very easy to pull together 3 to 4 speakers and create a panel in Clubhouse. It is also very easy to pull an audience in to live session with well-known presenters in Clubhouse. The Zoom platform has exploded over the last year… predominantly because… we had no choice. It was Zoom (or Teams) or nothing. Yes, these video platforms are mostly live with the ability to record sessions for later on-demand/asynchronous consumption but that is not the commonly used case for Zoom. Zoom is limited in the number of people who could be in a room and when there is hundreds of participants, the video and crowd participation features diminish. It is easier for Clubhouse to have thousands of people in one room and sometimes, something great is happening that starts out with a few dozen and ends up with a few thousand people in one room.

In summary, Clubhouse is unique, Clubhouse is novel, and it will be one of the top 5 conversations in digital this year.

Recently on Twitter, I was asked about Clubhouse and sports communities. I am a guest lecturer in Professor Lionel Maltese’s Strategic Management and Advances Marketing in Sports Organizations class at the Kedge Business School in Marseille. Kedge’s masters program in Sports Management is one of the top sports management programs in Europe and they do a few digital sport media modules with Lionel. The student question was:

“Can fan engagement be created with Clubhouse for sport clubs? Direct engagement & feedback; low cost opportunity; sponsor message opportunity; multiple rooms with multiple regions with athletes. Can this become important for fan engagement in the future?”

We live in a bottom-up world, meaning the crowd (i.e., fans) are actively involved with co-creating the sporting experience with the sports club. Clubhouse could easily replace the traditional media conference when a new player is signed – fans and media could be in the same room! Clubhouse could be part of a corporate social responsibility initiative coordinated between the club and the fans. Clubhouse could also be used for meeting space between with the various fan clubs and the sports team to plan in-stadium activities at big matches. As long as there is a crowd and there is two-way participation, Clubhouse could easily be employed by any sports club.

Something to think about today!

Best

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

In essence, there is a cacophony of marketing information in the marketplace. Brands, therefore, often serve as a “mental short cut” meaning it is much easier (cogitatively speaking) to make a decision on a brand we are familiar with and like. But can the those mental connections be much stronger if the brand is more than just a mental short cut? Can the brand be more top of mind if the brand was more than a brand and had a purpose-driven mission behind it?

As detailed in a Fast Company article, Porter Novelli (a communications consultancy) conducted a brand study with 1,200 consumers to explore this very question. Using a implicit association test, an experience where the subject gets less than a second to indicate their thoughts on a brand (i.e., favorable or unfavorable). An mplicit association test proports to be a truer representation of one’s evaluation because the test does not allow one to “over think” their response. For example, a brand name or logo will appear on the screen and words like “transparent” or “ethical” can be selected… or not.

And the results? They even surprised me. I was expecting to see an effect but not ones as strong as detailed. For brands with purpose-driven characteristics, consumers were:

• 75% were more likely to trust the company
• 78% were more likely to remember a company with strong purpose
• 78% were also more likely to want to work for the company
• 72% were more likely to be loyal to the company
• 72% were more likely to forgive the company if it made a mistake
• 66% said they would consider the company’s purpose when deciding what to buy
• 71% said they would buy from a purpose-driven company over the alternative if cost and quality were equal
• 62% said that they thought it was important to consider purpose even when making an impulse buy

In summary, being purpose-driven could be the difference whether a consumer buys your brand or not. But don’t forget, being purpose-driven is just as important for all the corporate social responsibility impacts the brand has on the community.

Something to share today…

Best

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business

This year’s Super Bowl was a socially distanced one, both in the stadium and at home. And like  9 of the previous Super Bowls, this one also featured Mr. Brady – a winner yet again.

Other than Super Bowl 52 when my Philadelphia Eagles won the big game (one of Brady’s few defeats), I watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. It was a different year – just like everything else during the pandemic. Many big brands did not participate, many new brands did, and a lot of money was spent ($5.5 million per 30 seconds) to grab your attention.

Overall, there were some excellent spots that I’d say were above average compared to previous Super Bowls. As for me, my Top 5 (in no particular order) were: Alexa with Michael B. Jordan, Jeep with the Boss, Bud Light raining a years-worth of lemons representing a years-worth of a sour experience, GM/Cadillac with Will Ferrell, and Tide with Jason Alexander. Honorable mention goes to Toyota with Jessica Long. There were many other really good spots going all down to the bottom third of the 55+ commercials.

The annual USAToday AdMeter ranked Rocket Mortgage with Tracy Morgan (top 2 positions), Alexa with Michael B. Jordan, M&M’s with Dan Levy, and Toyota with Jessica Long in their Top 5.

In addition to watching the commercials, I also like to hang out on Twitter with other marketing professors (thanks to Angeline Scheinbaum of Clemson University and Spencer Ross of University Massachusetts at Lowell). Two of the themes we were discussing were (1) even more celebrities than normal (54 of the 57 ads) , and (2) longer commercials than normal. We were wondering if the ad agencies were struggling with storylines causing them to skew towards longer ads…and more celebrities.

If you need a distraction… something to re-watch today!

Best regards,

Dr. Dan-o

Daniel M. Ladik, Ph.D.,

Associate Professor of Marketing

Methodologist, Seton Hall Sports Poll

Stillman School of Business