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The seat cushions used in the Presidential Cushion Giveaway. Click the image above to learn more about the Stockton Ports!
Dear Faithful Readers,
Getting fans engaged and voicing their opinions is essential to creating a buzz and remaining a relevant organization within your community. One way to create an inspired promotion is to look at what’s going on in pop culture or politics and “piggy back” off a current issue that already has fans talking. Continue reading to see how the Stockton Ports leveraged this year’s Presidential election to get fans excited and lining up four to five hours before the game.
Enjoy the feature,
Chantelle Neep
[email protected]
P.S. - Want even more revenue generating ideas? Follow @NatlSportsForum on Twitter to get more helpful insights on #sportsbiz, #sponsorship and more!
PROGRAM TITLE
The Presidential Seat Cushion Giveaway: Stockton Ports
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OBJECTIVES
Creating fun and exciting promotions for fans to enjoy is essential to enhancing the overall fan experience and increasing ticket sales. In smaller markets, minor league baseball teams are forced to use creativity in order to gain fan exposure and create a buzz around their team. However, creating a promotion that develops a "can't miss" atmosphere is easier said than done and forces minor league baseball teams to break boundaries through the creative process. Trying something completely different can sometimes be met with controversy, but the Stockton Ports walked this fine line in order to launch an out of the box promotion that would create a buzz amongst fans and get the community engaging with the team.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
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To generate the "buzz" they were seeking, the Stockton Ports created the Presidential Seat Cushion Giveaway, which emphasized the goofy nature of their staff while mixing baseball with relevant issues. Capitalizing on the fact that 2012 is an election year, the Ports mixed politics with baseball and allowed fans to voice their opinion and show support for their favorite presidential candidate. The Presidential Seat Cushion Giveaway promotion gave the first one thousand fans in attendance, at the June 15th game, a seat cushion featuring a picture of the two primary presidential candidates on opposite sides. On one side, there was Governor Mitt Romney with the Republican Party logo and on the other President Barack Obama with the Democratic Party logo. Once the fans were given these cushions, they were instructed to sit on the face of the candidate they were not supporting. To supplement the seat cushions, fans were able to send their votes in via twitter by using the hashtags #BunsonObama and #SitonMitt. News of the event spread quickly and pre-promotion advertising was extremely successful, resulting in fans arriving four to five hours early in order to be one of the first one thousand fans to receive a seat cushion.
As with all things politics, this promotion was met with controversy causing some fans to make the argument that baseball and politics should not be mixed.
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The Stockton Ports made it clear they had no political preference and remained a neutral party. "It was our goal to remain neutral on the issues and to make sure we did not shove politics down anyone's throat," states Jeremy Neisser the Director of Marketing for the Stockton Ports. Anticipating some differences in opinions, the Ports offered post-game fireworks as an alternative way to excite fans who did not wish to participate in the seat cushion election promotion.
Ports fans waited 4 to 5 hours to ensure they would be one of the first 1,000 fans through the gate at the
June 15th game and would receive a cushion from the Presidential Seat Cushion Giveaway
MEDIA
The Stockton Ports began advertising the Presidential Seat Cushion Giveaway promotion internally through their social media platforms. One month prior to the event, a press release was sent out to local newspaper, television and radio stations. Also, sample seat cushions were sent to select television stations as well as the presidential candidates themselves. During the game, fans were able to cast their votes via Twitter with the use of the hashtags. Furthermore, seven television stations covered the promotion on game day, creating a unique environment for all fans in attendance.
PARTNER
There were no partners used in conjunction with this promotion.
RESULTS
The Presidential Seat Cushion Giveaway was a huge success, allowing the Stockton Ports to see a spike between 15-20% for ticket sales on the date of the promotion, an increase of one thousand more fans than avearage. With more fans in attendance, merchandise sales saw an increase as well. The Ports also received a huge response on their social media sites with more than a thousand tweets using their hashtags. Nationally, the promotion gained recognition through numerous media outlets and was even recognized during a telecast of a Boston Red Sox game.
LOOKING AHEAD
For Minor League Baseball teams, creativity in promotions is essential to each organization's overall success. It forces teams to constantly think outside of the box and push the limits of creativity in order to ensure increased ticket sales. The Stockton Ports clearly demonstrate this ability and Jeremy Neisser believes the Ports will “continue to push the creative aspect of the business and keep on coming up with creative ideas that allow our fans to have the best experience we can provide.”
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