Marina Maher Communications

First off, let me thank MMC for letting me take Tuesday as a vacation day so I could attend the U.S. Open! As you probably figured out from my moniker, “Tennis Enthusiast in Well-Being” I am rather passionate about tennis and this is the time of year when I get really excited. I’ve played tennis ever since I could hold a racquet, and have managed to keep the competitive spirit alive in my adulthood by playing in a USTA league in Manhattan. I have gone to the U.S. Open annually since I have been living in NYC and look forward to sitting in Arthur Ashe stadium every year to watch the champions battle it out.

This year, I have felt particularly inspired by the latest newcomer to women’s tennis, Melanie Oudin. Only 17-years old, it seems like she came out of nowhere to beat three top players at this year’s U.S. Open, including Maria Sharapova. Well, actually, she came from Georgia…and despite being “vertically challenged” at 5’6” (as compared to other female players, who are close to six feet), she is the youngest American tennis player to play in the quarterfinals since Serena Williams. The crowd goes wild for her now, and she’s the new darling of women’s tennis. Everyone can’t wait to see how her story will unfold.

This year, the crowd is also rooting for Kim Clijsters, who is returning to the circuit after a hiatus when she dealt with the death of her father, and also gave birth to her daughter. The 2009 U.S. Open is her first Grand Slam Tournament after her break. The commentators noted that she could become the 3rd mother in tennis history to win a Grand Slam title. What a remarkable accomplishment that would be!

Being that I am always thinking with my communications/marketing hat on, it occurred to me that these two players are building a great brand – themselves! Sure, you have to be a decent player, but the personalities and stories that go along with the players are what the fans love. When people connect with the players emotionally, either because they are young with a promising future, like Melanie, or because they are working towards a unique goal, like Kim, that’s when the buzz builds. It pretty much works the same way with marketing products and communicating about them. At the end of the day, the emotional connection is key. I am pretty sure these players will get to enjoy sizeable endorsements as a result of their successful “brand” marketing!

As a communications professional, I am usually fairly adept at making myself understood. Words are my friends, and I’ve been using them effectively for years. So, I was a bit taken aback on a recent trip to Turkey, when my ability to converse was compromised because I didn’t speak Turkish. The best I could do was hope that the taxi drivers, hotel staff and waiters I came into contact with spoke a little English, or that they would know what I meant with the few Turkish words in my vocabulary that I strung together.

To think how carefully I choose my words for the e-mails I write or the memos I send, and how I go over key message documents multiple times before landing on the perfect flow… and here I was just looking for a few main words either in English or Turkish to ask if there was a place to get lunch at Topkapi Palace! Once you find yourself in a foreign country struggling to convey something as simple as where you want to go, or what you want to eat, it makes you realize that what we communicate to each other on a daily basis in our own countries is quite complex compared to that!

My various exchanges with the people in Turkey were a good reminder to me about the basic principles of communication. Whether you are trying to tell a cab driver in Istanbul that you want to be dropped off at the rear end of the Grand Bazaar, or you’re coaching a client on how to do an interview on CNBC, there are a few basic guidelines that hold true for both situations:
• The shorter and more concise your messages are, the better
• Repeat your main points until you’re sure they resonate
• Don’t be afraid to gesture to drive the point home!