Even as pitchers and catchers report in the States for Major League Baseball, our master marketers in the minors continue to be innovative and find ways to keep their local brands active, alive and relevant to the consumer, their partners and the media. Aside from the host of promotions announced taking off on the ARod and the Michael Phelps issues the past few weeks, there was the Fort Meyers Miracle, who immediately jumped on the story Julio Osegueda, the college student who questioned President Obama last week about benefits and then said he wanted to be a DJ or an announcer, and hired him to broadcast the Miracle's home opener. Ben Hill broke the story on MILB.com, which has since made it to NPR and a host of other news organizations, garnering the Miracle great exposure outside of the market. Throw in the Lancaster Barnstormers, who turned their field into an ice rink (reported by Brian Gainor) for their season subs, and thats a great set of activation and brand growth in the minors that any innovator should take note of.
Some other good reads…ESPN.com has a good read on Bull Rider J.B. Mauney's eight second record ride this past weekend…with Daytona now in the books, Media Post has a good piece on Craftsman's extended activation program with NASCAR this season…and on the “brand value” side for college hoops, the New York Daily News has a look at what, is any value Fordham University has had in playing in the Atlantic 10…
