Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Sports & Entertainment Marketing Blog Assignment # 4 (25 points)

spinners.jpgPromotions: Canonical, Comical, and Climatological

2011 promotional schedules are being released at a rapid clip these days, with highlights aplenty.

But few things in this world are as exciting as unprecedented onfield aerial acrobatics, making THIS Lowell Spinners promo an (exceedingly) early "Promo of the Year" frontrunner.

A "Human Home Run" is exactly what you would think it is. Say the Spinners:

The human cannonball, David Smith, Jr., will be shot from a cannon at home plate over the outfield wall following the conclusion of the Spinners game.

"When it comes to human cannonballs, David Smith is the best of the best," said Spinners Vice President Jon Goode. "This is an idea we discussed years ago and he saved it for the Lowell Spinners. Five years in the making, this is going to be a night you will not want to miss."

Read the rest of the article here: 

http://bensbiz.mlblogs.com/archives/2011/02/promotions_canonical_comical_a.html

In a 2 paragraph response (a minimum of 5 sentences for each paragraph), answer the following questions.  Promotion means to inform, persuade, or remind your target market about your products.  Minor league sports are known for their innovative and "out of the box" promotions.  In paragraph # 1, write about your general feelings of teams (minor league or professional) and the game-night promotions that they do.  Do you think they work as far as persuading and attracting customers to buy tickets?  Why or why not?  Be specific with your thoughts.

In paragraph # 2, imagine yourself as a promotional manager for a minor league baseball team.  Now that you know a little about what other teams are up to, come up with your own creative promotion.  Explain the promotion, provide the details, and what you hope to accomplish with it.  Be specific with your thoughts.

Please sign your name to the bottom of your blog entry.

22 comments:

  1. Paragraph #1
    yes, i think it is working on persuading people and fans to buy tickets and attend games.i think it is working because they are promoting something exciting and something that you can not have or see on a day to day basis. by having the human canon ball, people will be excited to watch a person fly through the air like a ball. this promotion will work because it is something exciting and something not many people get to experience.
    Paragraph #2
    if i was the promotional manager for a minor league baseball team my promotion would be to allow ten lucky fans that are attending the game to come down on to the field before the opening pitch and allow them to pitch a ball. i would make it so that 10 t-shirts would get thrown into the stands and whoever catches them comes down on to the field and pitches a ball before the game begins. that is what my promotion would be if i were a promotional manager for a minor league baseball team.

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  2. I think that teams with promotions on game night will be more successful at attracting more fans to their games. Some promotions include getting free t-shirts and free food. Who wouldn’t want free food? Some promotions also give fans more tickets. The human cannonball is going to be great. It will attract many people to the actual event and probably even thousands at home. I remember on homecoming night, we had the parachuter’s fly in from the sky. That was a great promotion and people came to watch that and the game.
    If I was a promotion manager, I would have a great promotion. I would bring a monster truck to my stadium/ arena and it would go flying off a ramp. It would have to jump 6 school buses lined up next to each other. There would also be a huge ring of fire right in front of the ramp to make everything look crazy. The monster truck would have my team’s logo on it. It would be crazy and the place would be sold out.
    melakneh kifle

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  3. I think that they really do think out of the box to attract fans. It’s pretty bizarre for a human to be shot out of a canon. That kind of stuff goes on the book of world records, but we never actually get to see it with our own eyes. Now that we actually get to see it on TV or go to the game, I want to watch the game just to see the human cannon ball. I think a lot more people will be attracted to this, and they’ll watch the game, then they’ll find out that they are actually interested in the game and they’re going to keep on watching it. They might even tune in again or go to the game.

    I think before the game, I’d have a prize booth with iPods, iPods, TV’s…etc. People would only have to pay 50 cents to spin the wheel and see what they win. I would make it really complicated to win a prize, since there’d be 3 rounds. If you get a bankrupt once, you lose and you have to try again. If you never get a bankrupt, then you go onto the next round. The next round consists of throwing balls in hoops. There’s 3 hoops, (200 points, 400 points, 600 points), If you get 200 points then you win something under $100, if you get to $400 points, then you win something under $600, if you get to 600 points then you win something under $2,500. People would think it would be really easy to win a prize and they’d get their friends to go and play too, but really it isn’t easy. My game would be like the lottery, you hope to win every time but then you lose but yet you still have that one ounce of hop that makes you keep trying and trying to win.

    Frankie Otete
    2nd Block Mr.Bodner

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  4. I never knew that minor league sports were so creative in their promotions. I figured it would be just like a classic bobblehead giveaway. I didn't suspect that a minor league team would want to shoot a human cannonball or even have the kind of money required to do so. Minor league team's willingness to think outside the box gives me good feelinfs about them. They obviously don't have the kind of money professional teams have, however, they are willing to spend tons of money and think outside the box. It makes me angry with professional teams. You would think they would be the team that is more willing to do something creative or expensive considering the amound of money they have. The promotion is probably a good idea on the minor league team's part because it will encourage people to buy tickets. I know that if I lived near the Spinners I would definitely be at the game to watch a human being fly over 300 feet.

    Promotional managers have a tough job, particularly the promotional managers of minor league teams. Most people don't even think to attend minor league games, so as a promotional manager you have to be creative. You are also working on a budget so you can't be too creative. If it was my job to promote a baseball team I would probably do something similar to what edison did before the homecoming game. I would have a team of parachuters come down and have one of them throw out the first pitch. Hopefully people who have never seen parachuters would go to the game.

    -Chris Cornett

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  5. I think that the teams do do a good job at attracting people to come to there games. Like the live human homerun, that sounds exciting and it kind of makes me want to go see it. The advertising company does its job by bringing in potential customers and exposing them to something fun. When a potentiala buyer sees this they might want to go out and buy a ticket. Who wouldn't?
    If I was a promotional manager for a minor league team i would promote a lot of things. Like I would offer any fan that could hit a homerun gets a free large pizza. Stuff like that would attract more baseball players or even people that just would like to try. I also might do anybody that can run around the four bases in a certain amount of time gets something. I would have contest that would attract more people.

    James G.

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  6. Paragraph #1,
    I think that the promotions that teams do are helpful to not only the team but everyone that is going to buy the product, promotions help to get the product out there, so that everyone can see them. They meaning the company are very specific when it comes to promotions, because they tell what the product does but for instance if it's a jersey or something, then the promotions are very good too use.

    Paragraph #2,
    If I was going to sell an item with a promotion, then the first thing that I would do is ask people to promote my product and help get me started. Promoting a prodout is a great way too show people what it can really do, like for instance, if it's a jersey or shoes then the company would say that the first 100 people to come to the store will get a free product. What I want to accomplish with this is getting my product known and also to give the people something good to use and or wear.

    Zach Leinenbach

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  7. Well, people want to promote their product all the time. It's important to have publicity and to make it popular. In this game, it is interesting to watch how people go to extremes to promote their supply and incentivate demand. Some minor leagues will take advantage of that. The type of promotion I think is working. Trying to inform and incentive people to do something is the goal. That's what they do, they motivate people and they like those risks, therefore people will definatly attend to those games just to see that.

    Seeing that people will pay to watch risky situations. I would promote a pet skydiving. I would let dogs/ cats land in the middle of the field before the game. This will honor animal abuse and will also bring fans to the stad. It will benefit both and publicity will be gained. Like the promotion of goal.

    Pamela Paredes

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  8. I think that proffesional teams these days do a good job with promotions. They might not be as far fetched ideas that the minor leagues might have, but they are still good. Many teams offer free merchandise for whoever makes a halfcourt shot or other things. But the ones from minor leagues are the best. This is because not many people will go to the games.
    Nezam Seraj
    If I were a manager I would do many different types of promotions so that people would come to the games. I would give away free merchandise to whoever can make a full court shot. Whoever would do that would get a autograpghed jersey from the start player and would also get to spend a day with that player. They would also get a free pair of team shorts and a team hat. That is what I would do if I was in charge of making promotions.

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  9. My feelings of teams is, they do a lot of practicing to get prepared for their games to makes sure that their ready to compete and that winning a game is important to them because it makes them feel confident and secure about their selves. Winning is more than just the thought, it’s a privilege. It’s hard to get on a professional team, because you have to do a lot of training, exercising and prove to the coaches and teams that your worth being put on the team. There are some people who wish to be part of a professional team but get put down because they’re “not good enough”. I think that everyone that has a dream to be able to be part of a professional team should be given a chance before they’re put down. Also I think that the promoters of teams are doing well on promoting for customers to buy tickets for the game because when they put commercials on television or advertisements on the radio, people get into what they’re watching or hearing and makes them interested to go watch the game.



    If I were a promotional manager I would make products with the teams name on it and give customers a free sample of information on the team. The information that would be given would be how long they’ve been winning their games, how many games they’ve won and how many awards they received. What I plan to accomplish with the promotions is, to get customers interested in going to watch the game, to go out and buy tickets, jerseys and other sports wear. I would try to make the customers become more interested in the team and in the sport by talking good things about the sport.

    --> Candida

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  10. I think that pro league teams promote way more than minor league teams. I always see commercials or ads about major league teams but never for minors. The human cannonball thing to me is pretty cool though and I think it will help them get more customers. To me pro teams put way more effort and money into promotion because they need more money and fans to make money. Pro teams persuade more than minor because they have more fans and sell way more products like jerseys.
    If I was the manager of minor league team I would let fans try to hit a home run during the 7th inning stretch and it would be pitched by a celebrity. They would have to pay to pick up the bat. It would probably be $5 per person and it would take of the whole 7th inning stretch. If they made a home run or even close I would give them an official MLB jersey of the MLB team my minor league team represented. They would also get a % off the next ticket they bought and a 5 free hot dogs.

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  11. In my opinion Baseball can be quite boring to watch at times but i still love to go to the games because of the experience. Hotdogs, crackerjacks, and soda is what i always love to eat there. What makes it so fun is the chants and songs you sing and there is always a fun thing to do at half time. What i love about going to the Nationals game is that sometimes there are fireworks after and they have cool resteraunts there.
    What i would do for entertainment would be to have the players have a homerun contest every seventh inning stretch and if a certain player won the a certain section of the stadium would get a free hotdog and each player would be associated with a section of the stadium. I think this would encourage people to come to the game and buy better seats to get the player they want for the contest. So money would be made by people wanting to sit closer to the field for a better view and to win the contest.

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  12. I’m not a baseball fan so I don’t know much about the minor league teams or the professional teams. I do believe the promotion they do will inform, persuade, or remind the target market about their products. If we take the first human homerun for example people will want to be there. They want to be there to witness history. Also when the media reports on it will be free advertisement for the team. It will also create market awareness.
    My idea would be to have player vs fan game. When the fans buy a ticket for the game they have a chance to enter contests. Then the fans will be picked at random to play a mini game with the players. I think if you give the players a chance to interact with the players it will attract more people. With this promotion they can also attract fans from other teams because we creating something other teams haven’t done.

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  13. No! that is not a good idea. like that is just dangerous. you dont put people in a cannon and shoot them out. what if someone was to die?? that would mean this team would go out of business and they would loose every penny they had due to people sueing them for accidents that happen in this socalled "human cannon ball"

    man if i was a promotional person for this team i would think of something smarter to do to bring in money! i would hold like raffles for people who want stuff free. and whoever wins they will something free from the team. thats money right there!

    tierreash

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  14. I think the minor league persuades alot about thier product. they advertise creativily and thier ideas are jaw breakiing good. They work very far to attract thier costumers and the customers are intrested and amazed so they do buy thier tickets. The minor league promotions attract young and old customers especially the fans. After I have seen some of thier promotions and even i was persuaded to check it out even though i am not intrested in minor league whatsoever.


    My promotion idea would be the circus to come in for halftime. Thier eould be clowns playing baseball and acrobatics swinging bats around. Also there would be lion there performing acts. It would be a basball circus madness and the fans would enjoy it. What i hope to accomplish with it is to imprees the fans and people who dont like minor league to get intrested in it.

    Sulman

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  15. I like minor league teams. The players really want to work hard and so do the managers. I say that because they havent reached the mlb yet, which is what every baseball player wants to do. I think the "human homeroom" is a great idea. It will attract a lot of attention and garuntee more tickets be sold. Customers will be excited for the variety of entertainment. Also having commercials about your team will remind the customer about the games, making the customer want to go watch one or go in a group to a game.
    As a promotion for a minor league baseball team that I am promoting, I would host a concert in the outfield/3rd base after the game. I would have a band like red hot chili peppers, a band that a lot of people like. I know that just the concert alone will attract a lot of customers. To promote it I would have a commercial going 2 weeks before the game. It would feature highlights of the team and clips of the RHCP. I would hope to accomplish selling out most of the seats if not all of them. Id also want to make profit of course. Thats how I would promote a minor league baseball team if I were promoting them.

    -Cole Barrett

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  16. I think the game night promotions that baseball teams and other sports do on game night help attract more people, while bringing in money. This helps get many products out there so that more people get attracted and they get persuaded to buy what they're trying to sell.

    If i was a promotional manager i would give one free ticket for one person to go meet the players after or before the game. They would have to but tickets and however's number gets called would win. This would get the fans hopeful and would persuade them to buy a ticket in the hopes of meeting the players.

    Nery Pacheco

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  17. The human cannonball is sure to attract a plentiful amount of people to this minor league baseball team. The thrill seekers and adventure seekers are mainly going to be attracted to this event. This event would most likely narrow in on one specific target market group, the adventurous type. What about the ones who don’t enjoy the thrill of witnessing a dramatic method of increasing the minor league baseball viewers by this ecstatic promotion.

    A creative promotion I would come up with is incorporating a charity event honoring breast cancer. We would paint the stadium pink, and allow donations to be made to the SUSAN G KOMAN for the cure. This would attract many people. Its sympathetic tendencies would attract a wide range of people, from females to males.

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  18. i think that they did a great job advertising this event.i think that a lot of people will attend this event.of course there are a lot of people that just dont like going anywhereand those people are not going to go.but the thing is that to get the people that do like going to the vents attention.these people did a great job doing this and i think that they are going to have a good event and profit.

    if i were the manager of this promotinon i would make a lot of posters to advetize this event.somethingalse that i would do is that i would give out things so the people can get excited to go to the event.i think that people like getting things for free.i wouldnt just let them get the item that easy thogh, i would do a contest and see who can win things like cash prizes or even tickets for the event.the key thing for promoting an event is to get the needs and wants of customers.

    javier solis

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  20. I believe most of the promotions done are creative and work. Minor league teams need these ideas more than professional teams since they lack attendance alot of the time. I do believe promotions bring in a crowd but it is never guarantied. I think it does work because people see it as a game and a special event at the same time which makes it twice as fun. Promotions are a must and it will pay off.

    If i had to come up with a promotion it would be that when ever a major celebrity or someone of importance does something funny or embarrassing to make a night specifically for them. A perfect example would be the Charlie Sheen night we talked about in class. There could posters, commercials and even some type of discount for participating. The tickets could be reduced or people could be given a prize. This is actually done alot but to do it often would help out the franchise even more. MATT H

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