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I'm not sure giving something away is considered a sale, but Old Hat got into the spirit of Black Friday/Cyber Monday by offering up FREE ideas with FREE shipping!  After a great response to our quick social media advertising blitz on Friday, we are delivering some of our best ideas to some of our favorite people on Cyber Monday.  We are truly thankful for everyone who participated.  After 13 years of working at Northwestern, I know how nerve racking it can be to try something new so we hope our Black Friday experiment shows you that it's cool to go outside your comfort zone.  We hope these ideas will provide you with the tools you need to try something new on your campuses. And if it doesn't work, learn from it and keep on trying!

Some of my favorite quotes through the years:
You always pass failure on your way to success. -- Mickey Rooney
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. -- Bill Cosby
There is no failure. Only feedback. -- Robert Allen
 
Question #1
Submitted by my NACMA Board gal, Amber Lilyestrom at New Hampshire:
Season ticket holders do not attend games during regular season. Seats are sold but they aren't filled at many games throughout season. How do we change that culture and get them to attend more games? Need to incentivize them...any ideas???

And seconded by another NACMA Board fave, Matt Beckman at Boise State:
I would like to hear your response to Amber's question! However, we do not want to set a precedence that they will always get incentives to come to the games.

Ideas
Zac - From the succes we saw working with Texas A&M on a mobile app/mobile site, I suggest this idea because it allows you to check in and win a prize, get discounts at concessions, etc.  The app idea(s) also have the benefit of data collection so you can direct market to those people after the game and motivate them to attend future events and reward your most loyal fans.  OU also has/had a program where the more games you attended, the more priority seating points you were eligible for. 

Tracie - I'm a big fan of peer pressure when it is used for good ... and sometimes when it's not!  If you can create a social club within each section, the fans are 1) more likely to attend the games and 2) more likely to hold people accountable if they don't show up. For instance, what if an entire section was rewarded for having the highest percentage of fans in attendance each night?  Maybe all of the t-shirts are thrown during the timeouts go to the top attendance section that game.  Or everyone in that section gets a postgame locker room tour or free food.  If they can earn rewards as a team, they would be more inclined to give their tickets to other fans in that section if they can't attend or pass them along to their friends to make sure they aren't the reason the whole section doesn't earn free stuff at the game they miss.  Once these fans get to know each other, they are more likely to attend the game on their own even if their friend bails on them, and they will have more fun because it is now about the experience rather than the outcome.  How many times have you gone to an event just because you knew your friends would make it fun?  You can use Facebook to create groups for each section with their own captain to take the workload off of the Atheltic Department and on to the fans.  The Oklahoma City Thunder did something similar to connect fans across Oklahoma, but you could easily use this same idea to connect your fans who sit next to each other 16 games a year and probably never talk to each other at the games.  Check it out!
If you can track this attendance, you could also reward fans who attend every game.  As a perfect attendance award recipient in grade school and high school, it woud be cool to dedicate a Wall of Fame in your arena to add the fans' names who earn perfect attendance each season.  And it wouldn't be an idea from me if I didn't say the word "Resarch".  If you ask your fans why they aren't coming, you have a better chance of fixing whatever it is that keeps them away.  Also, you can find out what kind of incentives would work.  If you're going to spend the money on rewards' items, you want to make sure it's something that will truly motivate them to come.

Tricia -  Because there are a lot of home games, one thing I have seen being done to make sure the seats are filled is creating a donation program that makes it easy for fans to pass their tickets along to a community organization, including those in the armed services. That way if season ticket holders can’t make it to a game, they can feel good about donating the ticket rather than trying to sell it or or have it going unused.  That doesn't answer the question 100%, but it could fill the seats with new people rather than spending money on incentives to get the season ticket holders to attend every game.

Aaron - The ol’ stick-and-carrot routine works for the breed of season ticket holder who appreciates recognition and loves to flaunt status. Special pregame or halftime receptions and ‘frequent-attendee’ prizes/points appeal to them, but as Matt points out, you run the risk of developing a dependence on rewards for a certain behavior. Doing so on a regular basis becomes second nature to the season ticket holder, and after awhile they may forget that at one time, they came to the games to simply support the team.
Like Tricia said,  allow season ticket holders to put their unused tickets up for grabs for general fans who are looking for a good bargain to an upcoming game or donate them to a community group.  You can also examine your gameday experience. Do your fans, season ticket holders in particular, get a first-class fan experience when they come to your venue? Do they encounter friendly staff, clean facilities, quick lines, a good balance and diversity in engagement/entertainment/music/public address announcements/band/cheer/mascot/pageantry/halftime entertainment? If it becomes a task for season ticket holders to come to games. Great costumer service and smiling faces may be enough to bring them back and maybe even encourage their friends to come back as well. (People want to feel important, and that costs nothing!)


Question #2
Submitted by Kara Kovert at Eastern Kentucky:
Our football team has made the Div. I FCS Playoffs for the first time in 4 yrs. How can we capitalize on this for Season Ticket sales?

Ideas
Zac - This may seem like too simple of an idea but a highlight video on a microsite that encourages ticket sales is a simple and cost effective solution.  It’s proven.  Show the fans what they missed out on this year and tell ‘em they don’t want to miss next year. Again, I haven’t said anything groundbreaking, here but this seems to work.

Tracie - Definitely agree with Zac that you can use video to recreate the emotion of the season.  You can use your social media outlets to push out the video, but the microsite provides you essentially with your own TV "channel" to advertise to your fans.  You could also use your YouTube channel to create an effective avenue for reliving the dream season.  The most important thing is to strike while the iron is hot, which it sounds like you are ready to do. Don't let the excitement of the season pass you by.  Get the message out now.  Be ready to accept season ticket renewals while they are in the moment.  Leverage all of the cool memorabilia to reward fans for renewing (e.g. give away game-worn items, coach's hat he wears for the playoffs, frame pieces of the end zone grass, enter to win a chance to be the coin toss captain for next season). You could also create a Scavenger Hunt in Richmond where you leave different items that were vital to the teams success. Give out clues everyday for fans to win season tickets next year.  Create some PR with unique ideas in your community.

Tell the story of the season through your fans' eyes.  Use social media to include the fans in the celebration rather than just telling them how awesome you are.  It's how awesome you all are.  Have fans submit photos that you can use in the marketing campaign.  Get your student-athletes and coaches out in the community at big events in the coming months rather than waiting for the usual summer caravan schedule.  Reach out to the mayor to see what he can do ... if you win, declare that day Colonel Football Day in Richmond.  Name a street after the season ticket holder who has had tickets for the longest time.  Do something big for the community. Make it as remarkable as your team's accomplishments.  Telling your story and that of your fans is something genuine that will spread naturally to hopefully result in ticket sales to new fans who want to be part of what is happening in Richmond.

The trend now is to hire outside ticket sellers or find a way to house an outbound ticket sales team in house, but what could be just as effective is having your student-athletes dividing your season ticket holders and calling them personally to thank them for attending the games.  They can also write thank you notes to multi-game buyers.  We did this at Northwestern and the fans loved it.



Tricia -  Put the playoffs accomplishment everywhere ... on the website, during PA announcements at other sporting events, engage fans to share their favorite moments about the season, Tweet some of the best moments every week throughout the season ticket campaign, etc. Bombard the fans with this great achievement, focusing on the notable players who are returning next season so they know there is more to come next year.

Aaron - Make season ticket sales information available immediately at these postseason games. If you are hosting, keep the ticket office open after games so fans can immediately sign up for tickets for the following the season. The excitement associated with postseason play brings with it many emotions, and if you can get fans to make an impulse buy while they’re high on the team right now, use it to your advantage.  If you are not hosting, inform fans that they can redeem they’re ticket stub from attending an away game for a special ticket promotion or priority purchasing for next year’s season tickets.

Jake - Your fans are amped that your team finally made it to the playoffs. To capitalize on this, give season ticket holders priority to buy tickets for playoff games. Make sure your campaign emphasizing how important the fans were to the success. Make it a thank you campaign for being part of the team that made the playoffs.  
 
Question #3
Submitted by Brandon Ruttney at Nicholls State
What marketing strategies (cost effective) work best when having losing seasons?

Ideas
Zac - You gotta market based on the experience of the game, not the outcome.  Obviously.  And all that depends on what they do at the games to make them fun for the fans.  Marketing it as a cheap way to entertain your kids would be a great way to market to me. Lots of times moms and dads are just looking for SOMETHING to do with their kids on saturdays and sundays.  And they don’t want to spend much money on it.  If I could take my boys to an OU game for $15 (total) and know they’ll be entertained for 2 hours, I’m hooked.

Tricia -  I would piggy off Zac on this one. Make it about the experience. Make it an event that no one would want to miss. The idea is to have the fans, of all ages, leaving saying “That wasn’t a very good game, but man, I had a great time!” This could be as simple as playing great music and having fun audience participating promotions or events. Market to groups like girl scouts, youth groups, boy scouts, etc. early in the season-make sure the kids have a great time while at the event, so they bug their parents to take them back to a game later in the season.

Tracie - Coming off a career working for a college basketball team that has never gone to the NCAA Tournament, we definitely marketed the atmosphere like Zac and Tricia mentioned, but we also marketed the student-athletes. They are amazing guys so we reminded people that they are supporting what is about to happen at Northwestern.  That even if we lose, we lose with integrity.  People are proud to be Wildcat fans because of the all-around quality of student-athletes.  With that being said, if you have a great gameday atmosphere, be sure to tell people about.  If you are brining in Quick Change at halftime, make sure people know that.  If you have some fun traditions or play area for kids, spread the word about it.

And again, research. Find out why your fans are coming to the games.  Contact fans who used to come, but are no longer attending.  We make assumptions about why fans stop coming, but unless you ask, you could be implementing a plan that isn't catered to getting them back.  For example, if fans tell you that they didn't like the team the last few years ... that the guys seemed selfish ... then get the new guys into the community.  Use social media and your website to tell the cool stories about the guys on the team who are there now. 

A lot of times the fans tell you things that you can't change, like week night game times are too late or the opponents aren't fun to watch, but you can still respond to this feedback.  Fans just want to be heard by someone who cares.  Ole Miss did a promotion where they asked fans for feedback so they could change 100 things in 100 days. Talk about customer service! Customer service IS marketing. Knowing what your fans want allows you to create a gameday atmosphere that makes them forget what happens on the court.  make this a social event like we suggested to Amber in Question #1.  You can't please everyone, but if you show them that you are trying to, that goes just as far with your fans.  A lot of people use the slogan along the lines of "Your Town, Your Team".  Unless you back this up with some actions, those are just words.

Jake - Promote the atmosphere and the events surrounding the games. The Atlanta Hawks and the LA Angels are two teams that I have seen have concerts performed after certain games. Mention the halftime acts, and reach out to fans of the plate balancers or jump ropers or whatever. Also, promo videos with big plays, like touchdowns, dunks, home runs, etc, any point where the crowd is cheering, are good at increasing interest.

Aaron -Make your gameday atmosphere as family friendly as possible. Offer attractions and promotions that allow families to experience college gameday affordably while offering a collection of activities to keep the wandering minds of little ones busy and content. Play areas, clowns/magicians/mascots, face painting, coloring/poster stations (These can all be done at minimal cost) are all ways to engage some of your youngest fans and keep them eager to return. In doing so, their parents are more likely to value the investment they are making in going to your games.  Try something like ‘Kid’s 12 and under get in for free," but bring on a sponsor so you don't devalue your product.  Make it look like the savings is being passed on to the fans coutesy of a corporate partner, which is good for them as well.  Or include something that gives fans the opportunity to earn a free ticket, like donating a book to the reading program or bring a canned food item to the food bank or bringing your report card with all As and Bs.
 
Question #4
Submitted by Kolja Fidel Koracak
I'm trying to get me a bigger profile client, something like minor league baseball team that is in dire need of rebranding, and all pro sports designers tell me I'm ready for that gig, but somehow I can't get it, no matter how hard I try. Is it because I'm not in the US?

Zac's Advice

It’s not about what you know or how good you are.  In this business it’s about WHO you know.  You have to find a way to get one person at one organization to give you a shot.  We didn’t get Michigan as a client because of how good we were.  We got them because we knew someone there.  Who you know gets you in the door.  What you know keeps you there.  Your work is very good.  Keep plugging away at it.  And yes, I would say that the fact you’re not in the US definitely is a strike against you.  I think you can overcome that but it’s going to take getting a few projects under your belt.  People will go overseas for design work but they have to be given a reason to do so.  Your work is good.  But is it better than the guys in the US?  If not, why use you?  You have to offer something more than just great design.  Figure out what that is.  Then offer it.