a journey to find your next big revenue-generating idea!!€¦ · a journey to find your next big...

A journey to find your next big revenue-generating

idea!!

Presented byDan Migala

Publisher, The Migala ReportExec. Dir., Sponsor Direct Intelligence

Where do you live?

Whatville?

Howville?

Whyville?

Howville & Whyville residents

• Nashville Predators• Chicago White Sox• AEG Sports• Dallas Stars• New Orleans Saints• MasterCard Worldwide• New York Yankees• Omaha Royals• Sioux Falls Stampede• Kansas City Royals• Jacksonville Jaguars

“It’s a numbers game”Whatville motto

“People are not numbers.”Whyville & Howville

motto

Sommet Group & Nashville PredatorsStart of 2006 Season: Lower level, first-year team sponsor

End of 2006 Season: Largest cash paying sponsor

In addition to a journey to Whyville & Howville, the Predators took Sommet to:

- All-Star Game- Road Trip- Playoff Game

& They LISTENED!!

“The primary reason the Predators got their number because they never treated us like a number.That should be setting off alarms for team sponsorship executives all over the place because this is the way sponsorship business needs to be done if you want to develop deep relationships with your sponsors.”

-- Brian Whitfield, CEO, Sommet Group

“Isn't it funny? The truth just sounds different”

-Penny Lane, “Almost Famous”

Truth in Advertising

Slogans:– “The World’s Best Fans”– “Good guys wear black.”

Brand messages:– Baseballtown USA– “Win. Or Die Tryin’”

Truth in advertising

“To build a long-term strategy, you have to tell it straight to the fans and that’s what we are doing and will continue to do. If you keep reinventing the brand every year with catchy slogans then fans will see right through it and become immune to trusting you. It’s all a core of strengthening our vision by staying rooted in who we are and not just what a marketing campaign wishes us to be.”

-Brooks Boyer, Vice President of Marketing, Chicago White Sox

Truth in advertising

Tactics* Discussed team identity with players and coaches* Discussed team identity with fans• Discussed team identity with opponents

Result: Don’t have to re-invent the team’s theme every year and more incoming sponsorship sales.

“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the writer who reads!”

Dr. Seuss

AEG SportsLargest naming rights deal with The O2Beckham14 naming rights deals in 4 years

“Moments of truth”

- Tell a story- Quotes from existing sponsors- Make it about the prospect not the property

“To secure sponsorships you have to balance out the arts & sciences of the business. For us, we’ve been very successful initially focusing on ‘Moments of Truth’ that begin with emotional attachments that lead to the business analytics.”

Shawn Hunter, President, AEG Sports

“A diamond is a chunk of coal that is made good under pressure.”

-Henry Kissinger

Closer relationships

Dallas Stars collection campaign– Create new Stars fans– Increase ticket sales– Develop marketing database– Do it on the cheap


Dallas Stars collection campaign– E-mail chain letter sent from employees to at least

10 friends/family members– Letter gave fans free tickets at eight-games this

fall on first-come, first-served basis– Incentives for employees whose original e-mails

triggered the most responses receive prizes


Dallas Stars collection campaignResults

– 48,000 registrants– Not everyone will get free tickets but everyone will

get discounts– Community goodwill

Ticket cost is minimal compared to cost of creating marketing database


“I don’t know of any other team that’s done this viral e-mail campaign. It is obvious that we not only discovered something interesting here but a very effective sales tool.”

- Colin Faulkner, VP, Dallas Stars

“You can never have too many friends.”

Mickey Mouse


– New Orleans Saints• Use high school football players to collect gameday

attendee information• Offer sweepstakes for trip to the Pro Bowl


New Orleans Saints• Asked questions like:

– Preferred seat location– Ticket usage (business, personal, etc.)

• Generated 25,000 names (68,000 capacity) from first home game


– “Our sales people now have something to talk about when they call and their permission to call. The percentages that which we have increased our chances for a sale are immeasurable.”

• Mike Stanfield, Vice President Ticket Sales, New Orleans Saints

“There is only one way... to get anybody to do anything. And that is by showing the other person that they want to do it.”

- Dale Carnegie

Selling vs. Marketing

“Selling is when you sit down across the table from someone, look them in the eye and convince them to buy or are convinced to buy. Marketing is when you create an environment that so perfectly matches your prospect’s goals and objectives, that they sell themselves.”

– Bob Cramer, President, Genesco Sports

Selling vs. Marketing

MasterCard questions• Is there a common connect between fanbase and target

audience?• Is there a common connect between the property brand and

our brand?• Is the property valuable?• Can the property advance our business objectives?• Are they going to be a good business partner?• Are the sponsorship rights within our budget?• Will we have the opportunity to work with other sponsors?

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because you’ve been given a gift: a lesson!”

Dr. Seuss

Opportunities to market

Continental Airlines/Yankees– Official airline since 1999– Signage, program ad, promotions– Concerned about relevance to fans


Continental Airlines/Yankees• “Fans knew we were the official airline of

the team but they also knew all that meant was that we wrote a big check and that’s all. You have to find a way to get fans excited about a sponsorship and they will find value in it if they can interact with it.”

– Kevin Gallagher, Manager of Sponsorships, Continental Airlines


Continental Airlines/Yankees– Created deal with Yankees to use airline mile

points for tickets and experiences to Yankees games

– Future plans:• Tie-in with other Yankees sponsors to use airlines miles

through the team– Example: Use airline miles to get discounts on adidas

products

"What do I think about when I strike out? I think about hitting home runs.”

- Babe Ruth


Omaha Royals– Team had contacted Kelly Services for standard

sponsorship offerings with no success• Then, they thought like marketers and generated a

$10,000 package


Omaha Royals– Kelly Services Kid CEO

• Contest for area children to be hired as the “CEO” of the Royals by suggesting kid-friendly ideas and promotions

• More than 1,000 children submitted applications on the team’s Web site and a winner was selected


“We wanted a promotion that would not only increase our brand but demonstrate our capabilities. We had been contacted by teams before but it never made sense because we were just being sold to. This promotion made a 100% difference in our decision because it brings us an immediate return on investment.”

– Jessica McCormick, District Manager of Kelly Services

“Don’t give up! I believe in you all. A person’s a person no matter how small!”

Dr. Seuss


USHL Sioux Falls Stampede– Grocery store private labels

• No success securing sponsorships from area grocery store so they researched their business more and realized the stores were trying to sell their own brands.


USHL Sioux Falls Stampede– Created “Noisemaker Nights”

• Fans encouraged to purchase boxes of house brands of macaroni and bring them to the game.

• Shake the boxes during the first two periods• During third period, boxes set up for donations tied to

prizes and donated to shelters.• Averaged 1,500 boxes per game


USHL Sioux Falls Stampede– “We have ownership of our brands and

need to have quantifiable results before we can go to our checkbooks. We are a fickle group because we look first to promote the store and then the brand but this creative tie-in can show what is possible to get us involved.”

– Bruce Anderson, General Manager, Sunshine Foods

“I’ve learned it’s better to give the fans what they want rather than to give them what I think they need. No one knows them better than the fans themselves.”

– Bono

Customer-centric offerings

– Kansas City Royals• Kids Eat Free on Sundays

– Discontinued family discount ticket packs» Averaged 1,500 child tickets per Sunday

– Full priced child tickets with voucher for free food» Averaged 5,000 concessionaire vouchers redeemed


“It’s all about communicating a consistent message to fans. We have so many games and so many offers on what is available that is has been very effective to brand Sundays as kid days.”

» Kim Hillix, Director of Promotions, Kansas City Royals

“If it is truly good for the fan, it will be great for the team.”

- Bill Veeck


Customer-friendly campaignsJacksonville Jaguars• Listened to their customers and created customized

payment plan after losing 10,000 season ticket holders• Followed cable billing system that allows budget-

strapped fans to get season tickets for $20 per month• Signed 5,000 new accounts


“Consumers are already trained to buy washing machines on monthly payment plans and those are purchases that are comparative investments to season tickets on a price-level and family decision standpoint. It only makes sense that consumers would do the same when they made the decision to purchase season tickets.”

– Dan Connell, fmr. SVP Sales/Marketing, Jacksonville Jaguars

Map to Whyville & Howville

• Discover new ideas and sales channels.

• Be marketers!!

• Good. Better. Best.

• Focus on “how” and “why” and not WHAT!

• Stay true to yourself.

• Have faith and eliminate fear.

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple”

Dr. Seuss

a journey to find your next big revenue-generating idea!!€¦ · a journey to find your next big...

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