Spring Training began last week as pitchers and catchers reported to Major League Baseball camps in Florida and Arizona. For baseball fans, there is nothing like Spring Training. It is a time to forget about last year and look forward to a fresh start. It is a chance to shake off your blues and have a little fun in the sun. It’s like a break but not a vacation. Teams establish their goals for the coming season, and every player works hard, or they don’t make the team.
Hope springs in Spring Training. Whether they are rookies or veterans; All Stars or Minor Leaguers; Hall of Famers or guys who only had a cup of coffee in the show, everyone has a positive outlook. There are no egos in Spring Training. Everyone mingles with the fans and signs autographs. Every fan has a chance to sit in the front row.
We could all use some spring training to help us escape from the daily dose of gloomy news that makes us dread getting out of bed in the morning, and refocus on what we need to do to improve personally and professionally. From a PR perspective, spring training would be a chance to start fresh. You could:
- Examine your brand. Is your brand still communicating what you want it to? Does your organization still stand behind its brand promise? Spring is a perfect time to conduct a brand messaging session and get you back on track.
- Polish your key messaging. A key-messaging platform can help your team make sure that you are singing the same tune no matter who is speaking for your organization. If you don’t have one or haven’t updated it lately, now’s the time.
- Adjust your communications strategies. Are your target audiences still the right ones? Are your communication channels still relevant for those audiences? Spring is a great time to update your strategic communications plan or develop a new one.
To paraphrase Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham, “Baseball is a simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”
If we think about our own businesses and our own lives that way, we can boil it down and keep things simple. We can avoid getting hung up on the negative and focus on the positive. We can let go of our mistakes and start fresh. We can make sure that every player and coach gets on the same page and understand that only by playing as a team can we give ourselves a real shot at winning the title.
In Spring Training, every team starts out in first place. The teams that win in October are the ones that maintain that perspective through all the ups and downs they encounter over the course of the long season.
Throughout the year, Pushkin PR helps organizations examine and refresh their brand. Contact us now to see how we can help your team have a successful season.