Northern California Brands Take Leadership Positions That Mirror The Area’s Tech Innovators…

November 14, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

While most of the world views the Silicon Valley for its high tech innovation and nearby Sonoma for its wines, there is no doubt that a great deal of sports branding and innovation is continuing to flourish in the region as well. While it is true the Oakland A’s remain challenged for a new stadium (although GM Billy Beane’s Moneyball approach to the business of baseball was certainly innovative) and the Oakland Raiders remain a struggling piece for the NFL, the areas other franchises, both big and small, are certainly viewed as leaders in many areas.

Being The Big Tweet In A Small Pond: The Griz Break A Record…

July 22, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Earlier this year the Lakewood Blue Claws became one of the first teams to effectively use Twitter to move tickets and then unite their loyal Twitter followers with face to face meetings during a Twitter night. Now the Fresno Grizzlies, with a media partner (beehive..com), will not just do a little tweeting to build brand but also have “Fresno’s largest tweetup” at the end of the month for a July 30 game against Colorado Springs. The Grizzlies, who are one of baseball’s great innovators in fan activation and unique year-round events to keep fans engaged, will use the night to reward followers with instant twitter discounts, a special meeting area, twitter-only discounts and other text-related contests. Putting a “Fresno’s largest” bill to it and then bringing in a media partner is also a great move to expand their twitter base, build email lists and even engage more casual fans. There is one big irony in the whole announcement however, and it speaks perhaps more to the fact that minor league sports promotions, combined with social networking, has become more of a draw then the game itself…nowhere in the Griz announcement does it mention anything about baseball...not a player, not the opponent, not the Grizzlies standing in the Pacific Coast League…not a thing. Even with the omission, the Grizzlies tweetup event is great…great promotion, great way to show how to effectively use Twitter to drive brand awareness and ROI, great way to bring in a media partner and another great step up the innovation ladder for minor league ball promotion.

Majoring In The Minors: Fresno Puts Forth A Twitter Challenge For Its New Rival

April 27, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The value or effectiveness of twitter for teams, athletes and fans continues endlessly, even spurring a Maureen Dowd column about general use in the New York Times. However there is always room for innovation and proof that the simple technology, even without an ad compenent, can have some unique spin. Take the AAA Pacific Coast League Fresno Grizzlies, who last week set up a Twitter Challenge with the front office of the newest PCL member, the Reno Aces. While both teams acknowledge they are using the technology effectively to communicate information and promotions to fans, they are aware of Twitter burnout, turn off or overkill. So the two front offices agreed that the winner of this past weekend’s series….the first between the two franchises…would get all their tweets from the series re-sent to the twitter signup list of their opponents on April 30. What does it do? First of all it makes light of the seriousness of the Twitter “era,” showing that the technology is casual social networking and not always intentioned for the hard news sell. Secondly, it gives consumers an idea as to what other information is being communicated through the technology to a different fan base. Third, it created a news hook to drive some casual interest to the media and to fans who may not have known that the teams were even using Twitter as a tool. Fourth, it gives some ancillary added value to those already on the Twitter feed from a team, and can create some fun moments looking back at what was sent. In any event, it again shows the intuitiveness of teams in the minors and their ability to not just use a medium in the traditional manner it was intended for, but to find a way to take it to another level. Twitter wars amongst teams anyone?

The Best Positioned League For The Downturn? MLS.

December 24, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

As most of the larger and higher profile leagues, and even some of the minor ones, slashed staff and cut below the line excess, one league that held ground, and may be able to gain marketshare with promoion and brand building, was Major league Soccer.  Michael Lewis on the Big Apple Soccer blog had a good look at why and how MLS was able to keep the status quo for staff and could be poised to reap the benefits when the economy swings back.  Soccer remains the world’s most powerful game, and even with the excess spending that has gone on in the Premier League, the game is still adapting and growing in this country on the professional level.  MLS has done a great job of slowly building their model and not overspending.  With the New York Red Bulls making it to the MLS Cup this year, the team pushed MLS into some solid coverage with the casual fan, which will hopefully translate into more interest as Red Bull park opens next fall. MLS has also done a great job of being innovative and introducing sponsors into major sports with effective promotions and added value (VW’s sponsorship and game jersey deal with the DC United being a good example), and that too may benefit more as brands look more for ROI.  Now will some of the fringe spending go away?  Yes.  But of all the major sports, MLS and the NBA in the U.S. have the best grassroots base at this time, and MLS is already used to being lean and mean…a prospect the other big brands…MLB, MFL, NBA, NHL and NASCAR…have all learned pretty quickly.

Grizzlies Prove Minor Ideas Can Land Major Successes

September 26, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Last week we linked to Ben Hill’s milb.com blog looking at the best minor league promotions, and it was great to see the AAA Fresno Grizzlies landing the top spot for their mascot promotion pitting their mascot Parker against the Phillie Phanatic.  The promotion wasn’t the only one that Fresno came up with throughout the season and into the offseason to engage fans and create brand awareness.  The team is also creating and promoting a series of webisodes called “I Hate The Offseason,” involving Parker and members of the front office staff finding some very funny ways to get keep fans interested into the fall and winter.  While most teams step back and take a breath and distance themselves for a while to regroup the webisodes keep the Grizzlies brand fresh and their fans engaged, which will probably lead to more offseason opportunities (since the team won’t know its roster) and potentially more opportunities to engage sponsors.  Major opportunity to show how any brand, no matter how “minor,” can stay relevant and engaged year-round. 

Creativity Points: Shaq’s Horsin’ Around With Vitamin Water, Fresno Griz’s With Mylie Cyrus

April 29, 2008 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

PR MOVE OF THE DAY: We are always in awe of the ability of minor league teams to react and activate with some fun promotions, usually much quicker than their major league counterparts. Another example arose last night, as we got an email from the AAA Fresno Grizzlies, who announced that this Wednesday night will be Hannah Montana “Ride Your Kids Coattails” Night. In addition to the pop star makeovers and music, any parent who brings an award their child had won to the ballpark will get an additional discount on tickets, in honor of the job former pop star Billy Ray Cyrus has done riding the stardom of his daughter. It is perfect timing, not too edgy, and hopefully gives the Grizzlies some exposure and sales. Very well done.