OK, so no… I didn’t uncover leaked information about who won the Murphy-Goode Really Goode job. But I do know who the real winner is, it’s Murphy-Goode.
In case you haven’t heard about this let me give you the background. The folks at Murphy-Goode wine set up a contest where they asked people to apply to become a “Murphy-Goode Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent.” This means that you blog, vlog, Tweet and social network all about Murphy-Goode wine. And they are paying the winner of this contest $60,000 to do this for 6 months and the winner gets to live in a house in wine country on MG’s tab.
Now, I say that Murphy-Goode is the real winner because I would estimate the value of the “free” media they’ve gotten from this contest to be worth ten-fold what they’re paying the so-called winner, if not more. And that’s even before they’ve picked a “winner.” Bloggers everywhere, as well as traditional media, jumped all over this story and have given Murphy-Goode huge volumes of “share of voice” in the media. And here I am, another sucker giving Murphy-Goode more free publicity. At least I’m in good company.
I know that cost of the prize is not all that Murphy-Goode invested in this promotion though. I would guess they spent about $250k with a marketing agency on the creative. If they paid less, then their agency is undercharging. But either way, Murphy-Goode comes out way ahead on this one.
When I first heard about this contest I was into it. I had 4 or 5 people tell me about it and suggest that I enter it. I thought about throwing my hat in the ring, but then I remembered that I already have a really good job. And once I started watching the videos that were submitted, it confirmed that I didn’t want to enter. It just seemed way to narcissistic to me to sit in front of a camera and proclaim why I deserve this job. That’s just not me. And when I really think about the responsibilities the winner will have, I think they are underpaying for this job. On the surface it sounds like all fun and games, but if the winner takes this seriously, it will be an exhausting job that requires dedication to Murphy-Goode 24/7.
I laughed at and made fun of many folks who entered, but at the same time I give a nod of respect to all of them because I could never put myself out there the way they did.
Dozens of wine bloggers have rallied behind Hardy Wallace from Dirty South Wine and endorsed him to be the winner of this promotion. To be honest, I was a little put off by how quickly everyone got behind Hardy. I like Hardy, but I didn’t want to endorse a candidate until all the entries were in. That just seemed more thoughtful and genuine to me. In fact, my plan was to watch all the videos and pick my favorites from them. Then over 900 videos were submitted and I tossed that plan out the window. I’m not going to assume that responsibility unless Murphy-Goode wants to hire me to watch them all.
But now they are down to 10 finalists and the winner will be announced tomorrow, July 21. So, it’s time for me to make my endorsement. And my endorsement goes to Hardy Wallace! He got a lot of support when he first got into this and I’d like to give him that little extra push here at the tail end of the process.
When I first heard about this contest, even before I considered entering it myself, I thought that Hardy was perfect for this. I’ve met Hardy and he is… well, I’ll say it again… perfect for this job. He’s super friendly and super funny. He’s the kind of person who you feel like you’ve been friends with him for years only moments after meeting him. He knows his wine. He has a good following online. In fact, practically overnight he amassed an army of supporters in his bid for this gig. He’s not only good with blogging and social networking, but he’s apparently a PR machine as well. He’s gotten publicity for himself all over the place. He even flew out to California from Atlanta to attend the kickoff of this contest, which shows his commitment to it. And he’s “on equity” for Murphy-Goode, to use some marketing lingo.
And so, I hereby proclaim that Murphy-Goode should award this gig to Hardy Wallace. He has been endorsed, yet again.
Now Hardy, I hope you invite me for a visit if you win 😉