2013 fan festaudit report

S

2013 Dodgers Fan Fest Audit Report

By Fangwei Chen & Jingyuan Zhu

--------A Whole New Blue

Agenda

I • Quantitative Analysis

II• Top Five On-site

Experiences

III• Creative Marketing

Elements

IVProblems and

Suggestions

I. Quantitative Analysis

Quantitative Analysis

LISTED ITEMS RATINGSFan Fest Webpage 3Onsite/online Ticket sales purchase 3/2Traffic Egress/ ingress performance 1Pre-event entertainment 3Parking Facilities Ingress/ Egress 1Ticket operations 3Exterior Facility Layout/Design/ Maintenance 4Interior Facility Layout/Design/ Maintenance 3Fan rituals 3


LISTED ITEMS RATINGSMLB mobile Apps downloads & technology engagement

4

Pre and During Fan Fest experience programs 3Weather accommodations 4Fan excitement levels generated 1PA broadcast system 3Facility Signage/Fan way-finding articulation 5Eco Fan friendly policies and mechanisms in place

2


LISTED ITEMS RATINGSService “errors” and “at bat” recovery mechanisms in place

4

Washrooms 4Personnel/team members 2Merchandise products and services 3Concessionaire products 2Fan seating flow/comfort/social engagement 4Onsite sponsor/team advertising &promotion activation

3

II. Top Five On-site Experiences

Top Five On-site Experiences

1. Autograph2. The Kids Zone3. The Beer Zone4. The Lottery Mechanism For Ticket sales of Special

Games5. On-stage Interviews

Autograph

Players are the important property of a team, especially the super stars.

The desire for autographs of their favorite players is their strongest motivation to attend the Fan Fest.

Autograph attracts fans so as to promote the ticket sales and strengthen their loyalty towards the team. The loyal fans are the most important targets for the season tickets.

Wristbands of different colors were distributed to fans to categorize them according to their favorite players. The classified lines and the set schedule produced a relatively efficient autograph process.

Autographs

A Long Line of fans

Matt Kemp

Ryu Hyun-Jin

Kids Zones

The most important potential fans are kids. In terms of ticket sales, they are categorized as the prospect. Setting up the kids zone aimed to establish their emotional attachment towards the team that might convert into loyalty in the future.

The kids zone provided a variety of recreational facilities, sports practice fields, creative games such as DJ spin art and balloon art, and an exhibition of the history of baseball. Some of them required the cooperation between parents and kids.

The kids zone was a platform for family gathering, sports participation experiences and team loyalty building. All of these facilitated the development of the team in the long term.

Kids Zone

Beer Zone

Beer is considered inseparable from sports. When watching games, fans habitually drink several bottles of beers with their friends. Therefore, sports lovers are an important segment of the beer industry’s target market.

The beer zone was a success because of the mutual benefits that it induced. Fan Fest participants had free beers to drink, while sponsors capitalized on this event to promote their new products. Several brands competed for customer attention. Budweiser even built a sightseeing stand for people to enjoy the scenery. Fans’ satisfaction of any one brand could lead to future purchase after the Fan Fest, which indicated sales increases and additional revenue.

In the beer zone, some sponsors set up photo booths for people to take snapshots with all sorts of hilarious props like. The snapshots served as a reminder and remembrance of the 2013 Dodgers Fan Fest.

Beer Zone

The Lottery Mechanism For the Ticket Sales of Special

Games The tickets for the opening game and the games

against New York Yankees and Red Sox are very popular. They were already sold out before the Fan Fest started.

Since demand far exceeded supply, the lottery mechanism was adopted. Luck was a more crucial element than money in such mechanism.

Each candidate lined up to obtain a wristband with a number on it. He or she could purchased those tickets unless his or her number was selected. Another option is season or mini-plan tickets, since they tickets incorporate the tickets of these popular games.

The Lottery Mechanism For Ticket Sales of Special

Games

On-stage Interviews

Not every fan acquired the signatures of their favorite players because of the capacity. The on-stage interview partially satisfied their desires to watch their idols and take their photos in a fairly close distance. It was also an important part of building up team understanding and loyalty.

III. Creative Marketing Elements

Stadium Tour

Surprisingly, the Fan Fest was held on an open ground surrounding the Dodgers Stadium, the exterior of which was under construction.

Dying to get closer to players? Eager to visit more areas of the Stadium? Desire for an interesting conversation with players?? Limited access to the stadium for a specific number of fans could

be offered as a surprise or an ultimate prize of the Fan Fest. The stadium tour intends to provide more funs to fans, enhance

the interaction between fans and players ,and fortify team loyalty.

Stadium Tour

The attraction of the stadium tour is that fans have the opportunity to:

1. Visit the locker rooms and the training areas of the stadium.2. Experience the facilities.3. Enjoy the tour with players as their guides. These players

will share with the fans some interesting stories among the teammates and even their own personal lives.

Every fan will receive a number when they enter the Fan Fest. Then, those with the chosen number will begin their amazing stadium tour in patches with their idols.

IV. Problems and Suggestions

Problems and SuggestionsLines

Problems: No clear instruction for the line caused confusion.

A large number of fans trying to enter the Fan Fest mistakenly stood in the line for autograph for over an hour before they found out.

Ticket sales lines were too far away from the restrooms.

No entertainment or promotion was planned or targeted to people in lines. This could have been a perfect marketing opportunity for sponsors to promote their products or for Dodgers to advertise their packages of season tickets.


Suggestions: Sponsors should utilize the perfect opportunity to

conduct promotions to people waiting in lines for admission or autograph. For example, setting up billboards with their brand or product information on them near the lines, distributing samples such as packs of biscuits or cups of beer to people waiting in lines. This could assist sponsors to build up brand awareness.


Clear instructions for different lines are highly needed. They can be large boards with arrows showing fans what each line is for. Also, staff need be be placed in the front of each line to guide fans through the process.

Establishing medical station ensures quick responses to emergencies.

Separate lines for the distribution of different wristbands can disperse the flow and maintain a clear entrance .

Problems and SuggestionsSite Operation

Problems: The entertainment and activities during Fan Fest

were mostly similar, most of which were lottery and free giveaway.

The operation team should locate autograph lines in the corner instead of the center to avoid congestion at the entrance and ease the inconvenience of walking around the site.


Problems: The operation did not calculate the event capacity

correctly. The Fan Fest was basically overcrowded in the afternoon. Therefore, it ran out of the seating space. Some fans even sat on the floor or on the verge of the vacant platform in ticket sales area. Seating was important to such an event, since it was open to people in different age groups and they spent an enormous sum of time standing in lines.

Suggestions: The operation team is supposed to discuss with all the people in

charge of different experience programs in terms of diversity. Appropriate negotiation before the event is highly necessary to maximize fan experiences.

The operation team should locate autograph lines in the corner instead of the center to avoid congestion at the entrance and ease the inconvenience of walking around the site.

The operation team needs to conduct accurate and thorough research on the number of participants to determine site capacity before such a popular event. Online RSVPs with the incentives of on-site special giveaways can help increase the accuracy of the research.


Problems and SuggestionsDODGER merchandise

sales

Problems: The Dodgers products in the on-site stores were

not diverse, some of which even ran out of inventory before afternoon.

20% discount did not attract a large number of fans to purchase Dodger products as expected, since most of them had already owned these products and wore them to the Fan Fest.

Problems and SuggestionsDODGER merchandise

salesSuggestions: Special Edition products that are exclusively sold in the

Fan Fest event can attract a large number of on-site Dodger fans. From the perspective of fans, such products serve as a remembrance of the event and a boost of team loyalty. To be more specific, special Edition merchandise can be t-shirts or caps or bats with the Dodger logo and the Fan Fest letters in a very unique and stylish way. Crossover products between Dodgers and other brands can also be an option.

2013 fan festaudit report

Entertainment & Humor