It’s that time of the year again – NCAA Tournament Time. March Madness is a time where workers everywhere become less interested in spreadsheets, and more interested in their bracket-sheets.

I’m convinced that if a study were conducted, research would show that the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament would be one of the most unproductive times of the year. People begin debating the merits of coaches, why college hoops are better than the NBA, and whether their almamater is going to make it to the final four, instead of discussing public relations, project roll-outs, and marketing tactics. (Clearly some people struggle with their priorities – not anyone here of course!)

This year, McKinley decided to have a little fun with the NCAA Tournament. Our goal is turn March Madness into Marketing Madness. The Summit has created its own tournament/bracket sheet, where you can refocus your attention to the proper place. We created two mini-brackets which pit rival marketing services against one another, in contests which we think represent decisions a company might have to make.

The “Non-Traditional” region represents new marketing tactics that have become increasingly popular since the internet-era revolution. While the “Traditional” region represents “tried and true” marketing strategies.

Fill out your bracket and let us know which marketing service you would go with, should your company have to choose between these match ups. Perhaps you will figure out which areas of marketing you feel strongly about, and which need more attention.

Who knows, maybe we CAN get something productive done with our brackets during March Madness?