Slide 1: DECEMBER 2008
ISSUE 5
Are you Connecting with Fans in the 2.0 Space?
Ten (10) of the Best Social Networking Sites Offered by Teams • • • • • • • • • •
Indianapolis Colts, MyColts.net Portland Trailblazers, I am a Trailblazers Fan Phoenix Suns, Planet Orange Denver Broncos, Broncos Country Cleveland Cavaliers, CavFanatic.com Minnesota Vikings, WeAreVikingsFans.com Atlanta Falcons, FalconsLIFE Detroit Pistons, Posting Up Utah Jazz, Jazzbots Phoenix Mercury, CafeMerc
Partnership Activation 2.0
Welcome to the December issue of Partnership 2.0, a newsletter that provides sports business professionals with industry insights, creative activation tactics, and new ways to generate incremental revenue for their organizations. In early December I had the privilege of attending the Princeton Sports Symposium, an incredible networking event led by Chris Chaney of the Chaney Sports Group. I encourage all Partnership Activation readers to consider attending the conference in ‘09, as it was an extremely beneficial opportunity to network and listen to sports industry leaders in an open setting. Hats off to Chris, Jonathan Lea, and the other key players at Princeton for putting on such a great event. I hope you enjoy some of the unique content in this issue of Partnership Activation 2.0. If you can, please take a moment to pass along the newsletter to colleagues and friends in the industry. If you ever need assistance with creative ideation and/or identifying new ways to generate incremental revenue for your business, please reach out to me at bgainor@partnershipactivation.com. Thank you for your continued interest and support! Best Wishes, Brian
this issue
Branded Tickets P.1 Designer Apparel P.2 Activating Your Airspace P.3 Driving URL Awareness P.4 Live Advertising P.5
INDUSTRY WATCH BRANDED TICKETS
Say Goodbye to Ticket Backs and Hello to Frontal Ticket Branding Is your organization looking for new, creative ways to position corporate partners in front of your avid fan base? Has your organization considered co-branding the front of your issued tickets? Over the past decade, the value of ticket back inventory has grown increasingly stale as fans have become accustomed to receiving coupon discounts and straight “black-and-white” corporate messaging on the back of their tickets. This situation leads to the question, “What can properties do to reverse this trend?” The answer is simple. Get creative with your branding tactics and involve corporate partners that “make sense”. The Los Angeles Lakers and other sports organizations have begun selling frontal ticket inventory to card companies (i.e. Topps), financial investment companies looking to put their brand in the hands of consumers, and elite partners looking to ingrain their brand in the overall event experience (e.g. presenting sponsors of specific themed nights). Organizations that issue season ticket hard cards (cards that grant admission for all regular season games) can even consider tying in a corporate partner as the presenting frontal ticket sponsor for an entire season (e.g. financial, credit card, insurance, etc.)
Both Chelsea F.C. and the Estadio Azteca issue frontal branded tickets to fans attending their events
“Build partnerships, not sponsorships.” Brian Corcoran, Fenway Sports Group
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Slide 2: DECEMBER 2008
ISSUE 5
SPONSORSHIP WATCH DESIGNER APPAREL
Has Your Organization Considered Partnering with a Designer Brand? The Miami Heat recently partnered with Perry Ellis to outfit their players and the Heat Street Band for their 2008-09 Player Introduction Video sequence and starting line-up presentation. The unique partnership provided a means for Perry Ellis to seamlessly integrate its formal wear product line in the pre-game presentation, a moment when the eyes of all fans in attendance are drawn to the video board. Perry Ellis outfitted all of the Heat players with custom-made, European style cut suits and featured the attire in a Matrix Trilogy themed video. Perry Ellis’ partnership with the Miami Heat organization serves as a benchmark for sports organizations looking to seamlessly showcase their corporate partners’ products and services (and in turn create new, unconventional revenue streams). With product placement becoming so prevalent in the media/entertainment marketplace, why not capitalize on this by finding subtle, yet influential ways to incorporate the products/services of corporate partners in pre-game introductions and video board entertainment? Categories to consider for product placement integration include: Designer brands/athletic apparel, mobile (new models/services), auto (car models/features), electronics (new laptops, televisions), confectionary products (gum, candies, etc.), and food/drink (pizza, beverages).
CREATIVE ACTIVATION IDEAS
The Montreal Canadiens and Molson Export created mini branded vehicles that are used for fan entertainment
This Month’s Activation Tip—Provide Fans with an Opportunity to Participate
Does your property provide scaled entertainment that engages and entertains fans?
Brands and properties looking to take their fan engagement to the next level should offer unique experiences that go beyond the game/event itself. With the price of admission, consumers are now expecting to be engaged on multiple levels (visual, participatory, etc.). With this being said, organizations can collaborate with brands to offer scaled in-venue entertainment for fans. • Examples Include: Table tennis (WTA), air hockey (NHL/CHL/ECHL), foosball tables (MLS/EPL), basketball pop-a-shot (WNBA, NBA, NBDL), throwing targets (NFL), swing simulators (PGA/LPGA), speed pitch (MLB, MiLB), 40-yard dash (multiple sports), etc. Offering areas of participatory engagement in-venue presents a way for sponsors to collect data (asking consumers to provide information to play), drive awareness (i.e. Carlsberg below), trial products (electronics, apparel, products (e.g. durability of ping pong paddles, grip of basketballs)). Consider new ways that you can bring the excitement to life for your event attendees!
Motorola distributed unique inflatable headsets as giveaways at a Bears game in 2008 to commemorate the company’s 25th anniversary of the equipment
Tylenol featured headache remedy stations for fans around Bristol Motor Speedway
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Slide 3: DECEMBER 2008
ISSUE 5
Are You Taking Advantage of Your Airspace?
Have Some Free Time Over The Holiday Break?
Ten (10) Great Reads
Take some time to brainstorm new ways you can “elevate” your corporate partners’ activation… Sponsors can effectively use blimps/inflatables as a means to drive and support couponing/product trial, brand/team affiliation awareness, distribution of premiums, promotion of new product lines/services, promotions/external venue activation, and drive fan excitement in-venue. Check out some creative ways that teams have leveraged their air space:
1. Dugout Wisdom, Dan Migala 2. A Race Like No Other, Liz Robbins 3. Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell 4. Tribes, Seth Godin 5. Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas L. Friedman 6. The Wisdom of Crowds, James Surowiecki
Chicago Bulls Dallas Mavericks Detroit Pistons Nashville Predators Arizona Diamondbacks Anaheim Ducks
7. The 4-Hour Work-Week, Timothy Ferriss 8. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life, Alice Schroeder 9. Microtrends, Mark J. Penn 10. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
Milwaukee Bucks Portland Trailblazers Colorado Avalanche
Looking for more? Check out the Links section of PartnershipActivation.com
Vancouver Canucks
San Jose Sharks
Phoenix Coyotes
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Slide 4: DECEMBER 2008
ISSUE 5
Looking for new ways to drive awareness for your team’s URL?
The Atlanta Thrashers are leveraging a unique piece of on-ice inventory to drive traffic and fan interest for their team website, AtlantaThrashers.com. Realizing that a majority of fan attention is drawn to the team’s ice girls (The Blue Crew) when they are cleaning up the ice, the Thrashers organization branded both the ice scrapers and the ice buckets that the girls use with the team’s URL address. • The team can tie this branding piece back to the web by offering a “match and win” online memorization game where users have to turn over and match pictures of the Blue Crew ice girls holding scrapers (featuring the team’s URL or corporate partners logos) for the chance to win free prizes online (wallpapers, downloads, posters, etc.).
CREATIVITY IN THE SPORTS MARKETPLACE
Do You Have Nike Vision?
Adidas took its guerrilla marketing on the road for the ‘06 World Cup
This 3D Billboard Promoted the ‘06 F1 Turkish Grand Prix
The Nashville Predators Distributed Yard Signs to Fans to Drive Affinity
The Capitals turned Alex Ovechkin into a real-life super hero
Consumers loved Chevy’s relevant messaging at the ‘05 MLB All-Star Game
A Bear Drove This Zamboni at the O2 World Berlin
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Slide 5: DECEMBER 2008
ISSUE 5
Will we soon see “live advertising” in the sports marketplace?
Imagine yourself sitting in the lower bowl of Dolphins Stadium, anticipating the start of Super Bowl XLIV… While scanning the crowd of fans in attendance just prior to kickoff, you notice a piece of signage that speaks directly to you and the few others seated in your row… Yes, You. The thought of “live advertising” is just around the corner (if not already here) in the sports marketplace. For high profile events, companies will soon be able to hire one person (seated in a press box with binoculars and a laptop) who identifies and targets certain fans in the crowd with specific messaging that includes a customized, direct call to action. For example, Pepsi could leverage its in-venue marketing rights by featuring a digital, interactive sign that directly speaks to specific fans in attendance (e.g. “Thank you to OUR fans in Section 28, Row 22 drinking Pepsi” or “Do yourself a favor and go grab a Pepsi BEFORE the 4th quarter”). Before you know it, companies will soon have the ability to utilize in-venue signage to directly communicate with fans, becoming an attraction in itself. After all, “live advertising” is already here. Jameson Whiskey recently rolled out a live advertising campaign in New York City that utilized projected outdoor billboards to speak directly to passerby consumers. “Behind-the-scenes” workers moved projected billboards along walls in search of Jameson’s target audience. Once a target consumer was identified, the group projected a Jameson ad onto a wall that communicated with the consumer via real-time messaging as they walked by (MediaPost, Jameson Whisky Texts Targets on N.Y. Streets).
Looking to Advertise to Thousands of Sports Business Professionals?
INSERT YOUR BANNER AD HERE
Very Affordable Opportunities For More Information Please Contact Brian Gainor at bgainor@partnershipactivation.com
For More Information, Please Contact: Brian Gainor Partnership Activation, Inc. 3649 Warp St. Charlotte, NC 28205 P: 305.302.7861 E: bgainor@PartnershipActivation.com Partnership Activation, Inc. provides sports business professionals with creative ideation insights, unique activation tactics, and innovative ways to drive incremental revenue for their business. Founded in February 2008, PartnershipActivation.com has rapidly become one of the industry’s most valuable resources for sports business professionals to obtain unique partnership ideas and industry updates.
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