Last night, some friends and I went to see WWE Raw live at the FedEx Forum right here in Memphis, TN.  Now, I won’t say that I am a huge wrestling fan or keep up with it.  But what I do like about WWE, is their ability to promote and market.  They are masters at televised marketing and building suspense.  They know how to get people interested and sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for what is going to happen next.  Of course, I am not speaking literally, but surely you get the point – they know to market their product and how to sell it.

Lately, from what I have seen of wrestling, it really isn’t to great.  The story lines just aren’t there and most of the “super stars” are weak and cannot carry the show.  Maybe it is because I am older and understand what it is now and that the wrestling I remember being awesome maybe wasn’t so awesome – after all, I was just a kid.  But, it seems that it has no real purpose or direction and the writers just aren’t doing a great job.  They get you all excited and pumped with the previews and commercials and then they fail to deliver.  I am not going to go into extreme detail or anything about their marketing ability and promotion, but I just wanted to give you a little glance into an awesome “marketing” entertainment company.

Epic, right?  Expecting a big, ominous force returning to conquer all.  They were showing this on the USA Network for weeks building up for this big event.  This “monumental” return.  What did you get?  Well, you got a guy running in circles for 10 minutes.  Lame.  And I am being literal, he didn’t talk at all.  He milked the audience for applause and wasted 10 minutes of air time.

So, why am I writing this post?  It isn’t to tell you to watch wrestling to watch wrestling.  I mean, there are plenty more productive things to do than watch TV, right?    You can always watch Jersey Shore instead… the fights look just as real and it is just as scripted.  But, if you are interested in marketing, promotion, and advertising, I would definitely suggest taking notice to the WWE.  You can learn a lot about their tactics and techniques.  You can apply them to any idea or business.

The WWE writers and team may not be able to write anything that will hold you attention for more than 5 minutes, but they sure as heck can put together awesome, suspenseful trailers.  McMahon and company are pure marketing geniuses. The have multiple ways of generating revenue, tons of licensing, promotion, and everything in between.  If you are looking for help with marketing and promotion, I would definitely take notice of the WWE.