Swanson Russell

When I tell college students that part of my job entails watching hours and hours of fishing shows on TV, they all scramble to get to the door and line up to apply for my job. Okay, it’s only a small part of what I do, but to my clients it’s pretty darn important.

I have clients who literally invest hundreds of thousands of dollars sponsoring fishing shows that target anglers who are just waiting to spend money on new products. Most of those sponsorship contracts include clauses that allow for editorial inclusion of sponsors’ products in the programs. However, the challenge becomes making sure that the producers and hosts live up to their end of the bargain.

If you know anything about product managers and brand managers, the last thing they have time for is to sit down in front of a TV and watch 12 half-hour episodes of someone screaming “Now that’s a hawg!” That would be my job. But the task entails more than sitting in front of the tube, mindlessly watching these shows while enjoying a cold beverage.

I actually take notes. And I write a detailed report after watching a whole season’s worth of shows. What do I look for? I want to know just how much exposure my client gets for their products throughout the entire season. More importantly, I want to make sure that the products are represented and used by the hosts in an appropriate and informative manner. In other words, making sure my clients are getting the “added value” they are promised.

All in all I watch over 100 episodes of various TV fishing shows in a season. But you know what? I love my job. So don’t bother getting in line.