[barmar]

Al_U_Card, on Sep 23 2005, 10:24 AM, said:

Are 14-19 yr. olds the target market? How will they be exposed to this video, on MTV? No one will ever see this on the ACBL web-site and who amongst us will distribute this inanity to anyone except as a joke?

Aren't they better off targeting the 35-50 demographic? Speak to the economic, mental exercise, etc. issues. This was your parent's game, NOT your kid's and interestingly your parents (as we come to realize with time) were not wrong about EVERYTHING.....

ACBL has been working on getting bridge into schools. I guess the bridgeiscool.com web site is going to be promoted that way.

And the 35-50 demographic would be a very hard group to get. These are people busy with jobs and families, it would be difficult to hook them on a new activity like this. You have to get them while they're young.

I agree with the goal, I'm not sure if this video is at all helpful. I'm not sure what would be better, but what do I know? It does remind me of a cellphone commercial -- have you seen the recent ads for the ROKR?

I think the ACBL actually hired a real marketing firm to develop this web site and other parts of the youth promotional campaign, it didn't come out of the aged minds of ACBL management. If it fails, I don't think it's for lack of trying, it could just be that they've set themselves a difficult task. Games like this are not generally marketed, their popularity occurs naturally through the community. Read the interview with the Truscotts in this month's Bridge World -- they mention that bridge was popular during the depression because it was cheap entertainment, and during World War II bridge and chess were commonly played in bomb shelters. Lifestyles are different now, and it's harder for games like bridge to be passed on to the younger generation in the way they used to be -- since most bridge players are grandparents, it would have to skip a generation to get going again.

[DrTodd13]

The video is lame lame lame. It's like trying to sell refrigerators to eskimos. If a kid ever does go there and watch the video, they are more likely than not to be repulsed by it and never ever try bridge even if they might try it had they never seen the video. The reason is they think that if they try it they will be surrounded by people who evidently think that this video is cool. This just shows how out-of-touch ACBL marketing is.

I think something much more straight forward and sober that simply says "Bridge has gotten a bum rap. If you enjoy strategic games like Magic: The Gathering or chess then bridge is for you." Include some testimonials from the young people that are playing the game and you may attract that portion of the youth that are inclined to games of this type anyway. You're simply not going to attract the majority of youth that are slaves to our vapish culture.

[SoTired]

I agree. Trying to make bridge "cool" is ridiculous. As soon as you try to teach kids the scoring, they will realize that it is hard work.

Personally, I think the current poker craze will do more for bridge than anything else. First, it will get people familiar with cards and card games. Second, it will interest them in playing something that requires thought and a mental challenge.

[Rain]

I don't think this is the correct way of going about promoting bridge. Promote bridge by making it attractive, not *telling* people it is cool. Show people the advantages of playing a lot of bridge and doing well in it! This means $$$. Create some $$$$$$$ tourneys and they'll have their young generation of bridge players eating out of their hands.

[inquiry]

Rain, on Sep 23 2005, 05:32 PM, said:

I don't think this is the correct way of going about promoting bridge. Promote bridge by making it attractive, not *telling* people it is cool. Show people the advantages of playing a lot of bridge and doing well in it! This means $$$. Create some $$$$$$$ tourneys and they'll have their young generation of bridge players eating out of their hands.

Get Nike contracts for the top bridge players and let them wear back hats with the nike swoosh emblem on it....

[iggygork]

I showed this video to a colleague (who is a 27 year old male who does not play bridge) and he thought it was better suited to a cellphone commercial. His suggestion (which I thought was much better than the drivel that is in the video) was to use Bill Gates and Warren Buffett instead (preferably without cellphones) Hey, at least they are rich and well-known.

[tysen2k]

DrTodd13, on Sep 23 2005, 12:21 PM, said:

I think something much more straight forward and sober that simply says "Bridge has gotten a bum rap.  If you enjoy strategic games like Magic: The Gathering or chess then bridge is for you."

I tought a bridge class at UC Berkeley for students who were usually 18-21. When I put up flyers for this class, I took the direct approach and said things like "Bridge really isn't a game for just grandmas. It is actually a lot of fun to play as well as challenging and social." It must have worked since I got over 60 students trying to sign up for a class that was supposed to only have 30. I finally ended up with 45 at the end.

[GeeGee]

inquiry, on Sep 23 2005, 05:01 PM, said:

Get Nike contracts for the top bridge players and let them wear back hats with the nike swoosh emblem on it....

I don't know about gangstas playing bridge, but the idea of Norberto Bocchi in a back hat with the Nike emblem on it certainly puts the fear of God into me.

I intend to urge the EBU to post a link to this video on their web site. We British are far too reserved about these matters.

[Echognome]

I like Richard's discussion of advertising models. In economics, we use the buzzwords informative advertising and persuasive advertising. The first type is used to provide information about your product: what it is, where you can find it, how much does it cost, etc. The second type is used to get people to try your product, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Aside from the theory behind it, I personally think kids would respect more a direct approach. Something along the lines "Do you want a game that challenges you? A game that involves deep thinking and complex strategy? A game where you must use both cooperation and competition? Then give bridge a try. You can get lessons for free and play for free on the internet."

[tooncestdc]

This video seems like what would happen if the ACBL hired Donald Trump and THe Apprentice to have their two teams create a video in 36 hours to encourage kids to play bridge. Needless to say, this would have been the losing team, and someone's going to get FIRED!

---------------

Now for what bridgeiscool.com is doing right!

They are promoting a version of the game called "MiniBridge". It's bridge done without the bidding, and it's a really good way to play bridge without the learning curve.

How it works:
1) Everyone around the table announces their HCP. The side with more HCP are the declarers. Of that partnership, the player with the fewer points is the dummy and places down his hand.

2) The remaining declarer chooses the trump suit (or NT) and decides whether to play for a part-score (7 tricks) or game (Why not slam? I dunno...).

3) Left of the declarer leads and play and scoring are identical to bridge.

----------------

Now, I think this game is ideal to teach or get people interested in bridge. What I would do is the following:

1) A bridge class should be playing this game at the end from Day 1

2) An attempt should be made to support multi-player MiniBridge for Yahoo games or other places where card games are played.

3) All 1st-year bridge members should be eligible to play in the "MiniBridge National Championship" tournament held at a Summer NABC with local qualifiers.

The problem is that I'm sure that once you catch the bug from MiniBridge, you will want to learn and would rather play real bridge, but without a significant number of people playing MiniBridge, the ones learning the game will have noone to play with.
-----------------

As for making it any more popular, that's really hard to do. Bridge doesn't translate to TV like Hold'em poker does, nor can a novice compete with a pro on similar footing. Some things just somehow catch on (like Soduku). Trying to force it is pretty hard to do.

[kenrexford]

From experience as a past kid player. Here's what worked for my friends.

1. The ACBL used to let kids into the hospitality room (beer) with supervising adults (drunk, but supervising).

2. The caddies were usually hot.

3. Beating up on the old folks was cool.

4. Travel, including the hotel room for the kid players.

5. Midnight games. Especially the after-the-midnight-game games.

6. Wacky conventions.

I started as a kid player (11), playing tournaments at that age. When I was in college and law school, in the D.C. area, I ran into a lot of kid players and partnered with some at tournaments. I got friends to play in high school.

What we liked was beating adults (what kid does not?), playing bridge during study hall and "home room," traveling to other cities, and all the cute caddies. Back then, also, alcohol and cigarettes wer "part of the game."

The "bridge is cool" website, in my opinion, would benefit from some of this being reflected. Granted, some stuff would go too far. For example, a short movie clip about four kids crushing the old folks, with beers and cigarettes at the table and a hottie bringing the boards might be a tad too much, but something like that.