Twittering From The Blue Field…Boise State Gets Aggressive With Social Media Marketing…

May 13, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The have had proposals on air, the signature blue field, amazing comebacks and challenges to the BCS…now Boise State is looking to use aggressive social media tactics to grow its brands and expose its athletes to the widest grassroots audience possible in an attempt to market outside its nice audience. The Broncos plans for the summer were discussed in detail in this weekend’s Idaho Statesman, and though not unique as one off’s. they show a solid unified plan for a midmajor school looking to invest in its brand and get exposure where traditional media is limited. While a number of major schools have used twitter and Facebook and YouTube to push ticketing campaigns, most midmajors thus far have not made the investment across all the low cost mediums to tell their stories positively. Therefore the Broncos outreach is a smart one, and if they develop athletes who can compete for national awards like the Heisman, the grassroots base that they are building will give them a leg up. It is more than “cool” or niche for a school like Boise State. It is the right way to begin integrating with limited media coverage to sell product, tell the story of the school, and get recognition. Could it lead to added sponsor dollars? Maybe, but tough without all the marketing dollars and eyeballs that traditional media brings. However it is a low cost, calculated approach to go right to the core audience and show the right demo you understand how to get to them on all platforms. Good lesson to be learned and hopefully carried out over an extended period. Points for the Broncos.

Firing Up The Hot Stove…Blue Claws Feed The Family…

February 25, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

The All You Can Eat sections and free food giveaways tied to baseball have become very effective and pretty widespread. The Dodgers and White Sox were among the first to offer up the food in select sections, and many others followed. Like the buffet that’s All You Can Eat, the incremental value placed on the average consumer is a miniscule spend compared to the good will and perceived added value of the section. Therefore, more tickets sold, balances lost concessions. Still, in the minors, where concessions are the lifeblood of the business, every hot dog counts. So last year when the Lakewood (NJ) Blue Claws began giving kids eat free vouchers for Monday night games, the risk taken was balanced off in the amount of distressed inventory of seats that may not have moved on a Monday night. It was also a good giveback to those who came on a Monday, and the response, the subsequent sponsorship by Pathmark, made it a win for everyone. Now fast forward through the economic crisis and the worries of those incremental disposable dollars now going to food as opposed to game tickets. So the Blue Claws again take a risk, and have offered up free food for kids at every game this coming season. The response from fans and the media alike has been outstanding, and again puts the minor league brand in the offseason front and center. Any loss to the bottom line won’t be felt for months at those concession stands, and the good will for that voucher is already showing up in community support and ticket sales. Now could Major League franchises follow suit with a give back on a nightly basis? Hard to say, because the sheer volume of lost revenue could be very large becuase of the larger attendance at games, and many teams already package vouchers into promotional plans. But to do it for EVERY Game got the Blue Claws some great cred and a nice pop in a cold Jersey winter. Well calculated, well planned well placed.