We have often talked about how minor league organizations often outpace the major league teams in terms of year round innovation and brand building. The minors, especially baseball, never have the big star to rely on for long and more than their major brtheren, have to rely on the core fan and the overall game experience to keep the bottom line steady, maintain marketshare and keep fans coming back when they don’t know what the on-field product will look like. One of the best groups at fan engagement has always been the Goldklang group, led by Mike Veeck and Marv Goldklang, and a legion of passionate and energetic fulltime staffers, interns and volunteers from St. Paul, Minnesota to the Hudson Valley, New York and many points in between. They have set the standard for fun, fan engagement and brand growth on the minor league level for years. Now in an effort to connect and grow their fans, and find new business and branding opportunities, the company has launched Be Your Own Fan TV, a bi-monthly look at key influencers not just in the markets the teams play, but in sports overall. The episodes are a combination of insiders look and in-depth interviews with many boldface names, or rising stars, in sports, and will give both a fan or a person interested in learning more about the business of sport some good insight into best practices and success. So what does this do for the Goldklang Grou.? Does it help sell tickets for the Charleston River Dog. Not directly, at least not in the conventional sense that most minor league teams do things. Then again, these guys usually set the standard and don’t follow the conventional.
What is does is position the company as a leader in the sports promotion business, and projects their brand beyond what their customers and partners normally think of them as…an organization that runs some minor league teams. It also gives some additional fodder for their business partners and even their fans to be proud to be associated with a company that is looking to innovate not just in their market, but on a larger scale as well. It is well thought out, well planned, professional looking, relatively inexpensive and can help grow the overall brand of a company that has been known for innovation in minor league baseball, but now may be looking to expand that minor success into a more major payoff. Good idea, very good content and worthwhile to take a look at.
