http://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/rss/feedsSun, 03 May 2026 10:15:13 -0700http://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/true-blue-media-named-5th-fastestgrowing-privatelyowned-advertising-agency-in-texas-by-inc-5000http://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/true-blue-media-named-5th-fastestgrowing-privatelyowned-advertising-agency-in-texas-by-inc-5000True Blue Media is pleased to announce that we've been named the 5th Fastest-Growing Privately Owned Advertising Agency in Texas, ranking #62 overall on Inc Magazine's inaugural Inc. 5000 Series, Texas list. "During these challenging times, it's an honor to be recognized for the support we provide our clients as well as for the hard work and dedication of our team." said Jim Flint, Founder and CEO, True Blue Media Group. The Inc. 5000 Series, Texas list, is the most prestigious ranking of the fastest-growing Texas-based private companies. Born of the annual Inc. 5000 franchise, this regional list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the Texas economy's most dynamic segment - its independent small businesses. Learn more at: https://www.inc.com/inc5000-series-texas-2020.html Image credit: https://www.inc.com/inc5000-series-texas-2020.html Tue, 16 Jun 2020 07:23:00 -0700http://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/true-blue-for-tcuhttp://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/true-blue-for-tcuBy: Jim FlintIt starts before you know.“Off the bat, I knew it was fair,” Luken Baker said. “There really wasn’t a doubt.”Little did fans know that Baker’s clutch home run was launched more than a year earlier.A simple email that stated in no True Blue TCUuncertain terms: “Thanks for your interest, but I’ve decided what I’m doing next.” At the time, 30 major league teams and countless colleges were left wondering why.Now they know.There was someone who shared what he shared. Not just the talent. Even though there’s plenty. Prodigious home runs and lightening bolt arms make that all too clear.Baker and his high school friend, Durbin Feltman, each chose to play baseball at the next level together. The teammates believed that choosing their destiny and committing to the experience and the education would be worth it.Why put the possibility to chance?Or more possibly, why grind it out riding minor league buses for the next four or five years?Over the near term, they felt like there would be more that that.So, they passed on millions of dollars, or likely they just delayed its ultimate arrival. Call it delayed financial gratification on what will now be an even larger scale and certainly now more to their collective liking.Any inclination that this young and this talented would come together this way would have made the best Hollywood scriptwriters raise their eyebrows. Nobody saw it coming. Even though, in retrospect, it makes all the sense now.“The Hit” in TCU lore is now no longer a wide-receiver going across the middle against the Aggies. “The Hit” from here forward happened on Father’s Day at the College World Series against Texas Tech.Fans and my dad, in the stands with me, talk as they watch the game.“You know what got you here won’t keep you here. The stadium is new and home runs are way down.”“Gotcha here. Keep ya here? By design, seven of the eight teams will lose. Play to win.”The skies were blue. True blue. Not a cloud in the sky. The wind blows in and somewhere in between words and thoughts I’m hoping, praying, wishing, knowing that when talent this good meets effort this focused, it prevails.People are who they are. Now isn’t the time to give up, or give in. Not when you’re a home run hitter. Keep the fundamentals right and do what you do.The heat. The pressure. You feel it? It’s a record-setting heatwave against a conference foe on the nation’s biggest stage.Talent meets opportunity and the ball rockets out of the park to give the good guys the lead. Heat transforms into goose bumps and chills run down the spine. It never really was about the odds – not at this winner-take-all level.Game’s not over yet, though.Baker’s lifelong teammate, the aforementioned Durbin, comes in and finishes the game from the pitcher’s mound.It’s amazing what happens, especially when that’s exactly what you had in mind all along.Luken Baker 3 Run Home Run TCU Horned Frogs vs Texas Tech 2016 CWS Game 3Luken Baker smashes a 3 run Home Run to left field to win Game 3 of the 2016 College World Series for the TCU Horned Frogs. Mon, 29 Aug 2016 06:00:00 -0700http://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/super-powers--super-heroeshttp://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/super-powers--super-heroesWorking with talented associates helps you see things more clearly. I now know that Super Powers are greater than Super Heroes.Wonder Women, Super Men – all things to everyone. They lean on their powers.Superman could only leap “tall buildings in a single bound” – key word “single”. One thing at a time, people.My nostalgic, new favorite Super Hero? The Wonder Twins. Powers activate! Originator of the fist bump some say.Distilled down to a finer point, it’s really Super Powers that make Super Heroes, and that’s the transformative part of the Wonder Twins.Do you have Super Powers? Can you morph into any form of water? Can you transform into any animal?In today’s marketing reality, it’s more likely that you see the information in the analytics, or write the copy, or even develop the creative. All these skills have to work well together.Until you start working with people who get it and, just as importantly, care like you do, it’s going to be a really long day at your Hall of Justice aka office.So quit trying to be a Super Hero. Start working with people that have Super Powers and then start building your own Super Powers… one skill set at a time. Sun, 21 Aug 2016 23:30:00 -0700http://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/live-sports-media-playing-with-a-house-of-cardshttp://www.truebluemediagroup.com/blog/post/live-sports-media-playing-with-a-house-of-cardsThe Roman Empire brought order to western Europe for 1,000 years. It was a good run. In the end, Vandals and Barbarians took over. No literally – the Vandals and Barbarians.The other driver? Economics. Rome’s geographical expansion drove unreasonable expenditures for defense against developing powers at the edges of the empire.Which brings us to today’s media environment.We’re watching the beginning of a dramatic change with live sports programming. The initial expansion is complete and too much money is being spent on developing digital super powers at the edges of the empire.Thanks to time shifting, binge watching, and companies like Netflix who deliver superstar programming without commercial interruptions, we’ve pushed live events to create their own proverbial House of Cards.Two years ago, the NBA signed a $24 billion dollar deal with TNT, ESPN and ABC. It took a lucrative agreement of $930 million per year and bumped it to $2.6 billion. The deal runs through 2024-25.The teams, and now the players, will benefit spectacularly.At the top of the heap, Kevin Durant will now play for the Golden State Warriors as part of a two-year deal worth $52 million.Oh, and he left money more than $50 million on the table by doing so. His discounted two-year sum is more than the salary cap for any single team in the NBA in 2006-07.Something’s decidedly different about a decade later.How can players be worth as much or more than entire teams in that relatively short period of time? Is basketball that popular? Is Durant that good?The short answers are:Players aren’t worth more than teams. Basketball’s not decidedly more popular that it was 10 years ago and Durant will never get the credit – even if he is that good – because he joined a team that went 73-9 last year without him. The upside for him looks like 77-5.The downside for the NBA looks like a non-competitive league. The Warriors will take at least two titles because the money is more than the players could ever want.Durant’s deal notwithstanding, Mike Conley’s 5-year $153 million dollar deal speaks volumes. It’s more than Durant’s two year deal.You know THAT Mike Conley, the one with NO all-star appearances and NO championships. Valuations for elite performers make sense, but NBA athletes of lesser skills are receiving exceptional benefit.And that’s how elements come together to turn what otherwise looks and feels like an explosion into an implosion.The 2016 NBA Finals Game 7 with LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers was one of the most watched NBA championship in history with 30.8 million TV viewers. The 2013 NBA Finals Game 7 with LeBron James of the Miami Heat – just 3 years ago – garnered 26.2 million TV viewers.The difference now, and the reason for the big TV contract, is not due to an increase of TV viewers, but rather to the incrementality of platforms.Sports networks would have you believe that there’s another level of live event interaction. We’re now chasing people AND platforms in the new world order.ESPN would tell you, and I’m estimating based on a similar premise, that there were approximately 16.4 million additional people interacting with the NBA Finals Game 7 in 2016 vs. the NBA Finals Game 7 in 2013.All of which gives you the kind of lift you might expect from the long-term deal with the networks. Even though the 3-year TV ratings of the NBA Finals are up 17.6% the 2016 contract is up by 179.6%.That’s a 1,000% difference and even the most Jordan-esque leap of faith can’t be made unless you’re seeing an entirely different game being played.Beyond the 30.8 million watching on ABC, the new network is penciling in – by my best guess – 47.2 million viewers.The way it works? 3.8 million additional people watched through the mobile app oScreen Shot 2016-07-04 at 3.26.06 PMn WatchESPN. 8.2 more million people viewed on laptops or desktops via ESPN’s GameCast. Another 3.4 million watched in-game highlight streams and some 1.9 million more people received text alerts during the game.Split the difference and you’ll find that in my increasing viewership calculation the NBA would be up 80.2%. We’re halfway home to explaining the huge leap in the new contract; however, the fatal flaw in the calculation is that the same person is being counted more than once.I participated in Game 7 via no less than four platforms. The new platforms provide continuity and top-line growth; however, one level lower it doesn’t bring that many more people to the game or ironically that much more money. Don’t misunderstand, the NBA is here to stay.The house of cards is the television networks. Just like the Roman Empire, they should be weary as they spend large sums of money in an attempt to grow the edges of their television empire. Sun, 21 Aug 2016 23:30:00 -0700