June 15 2011 | Volume 10, Issue 2

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Dear Faithful Readers,

Spanish American Philosopher George Santayana is forever remembered in his 1905 book, The Life of Reason, for stating, "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." In our industry, selling tactics might change, however the objective of putting butts in seats has remained the ultimate driving force for everything we do. We get so caught up in the next best promotion, technology, and sponsorship category that we neglect valuable lessons learned from successful (and unsuccessful) programs we have run in the past. This is why for this week's issue I decided to look through our over 9 year Selling It history to pull out an "oldie but goodie" idea that is still very applicable today. Amy Martin has since moved on to develop her own measurable digital & social media strategies company at Digital Royalty, however her work on the Suns' Virtual Locker Room Tour back in our 2008 issue remains a great example of moving the needle in the digital space. Every so often this summer we will continue to look through our archives and provide other great ideas of the past that you can re-implement within your organization.

Enjoy the Feature,

Joe Shapero
[email protected]

P.S. Love the feature? Hate it? Wish we covered a great idea or program your organization is doing? Email me with any and all of your comments from this week's issue and we will include them anonymously on our NSF LinkedIn Discussion Board!

Enhancing Experience in a Digital Domain

5,000,000 page views in 5 months make Suns virtual tour a shining success.

CONTACT

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Amy Martin
Former Suns' Director of Digital Media & Research
Current Principal at Digital Royalty
Phone: (602) 332-5118
Email: [email protected]

ORGANIZATION

Phoenix Suns

PROGRAM TITLE

Phoenix Suns Virtual Locker Room Tour

OBJECTIVES

Retention is a key component of any marketing effort. The Phoenix Suns are not the first organization to realize the importance of enhancing brand identity and awareness through experiential online marketing strategies. However, they have done so in a new light. Prior to implementation of the Virtual Locker Room Tour, market research suggested the need to provide a "peek behind the curtains" for fans. The Suns organization wanted to continue to grow as progressive leaders within a non-intrusive realm, offering digitally savvy fans a new environment for consuming Suns content, while also offering an opportunity to reach potential fans.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Phoenix Suns are the first professional sports team to implement a virtual tour with this formula in digitally compositing video, still photography, and online interactivity. Other organizations have offered virtual tours of their locker rooms, though not as in depth, containing mostly still photographs. A preview of the Suns Virtual Locker Room Tour debuted this past January, along with a special promotion, which allowed fans to "unlock" the Suns locker room vault and be entered to win a road trip to catch the Suns in the 2008 Playoffs or a game-worn jersey. Once on the site, sunslockerroom.com, users click on selectively placed "hot spots" that lead them through an exciting virtual journey of the Suns' clubhouse. Some hot spots include the coaches' office, the players' lockers, closets containing Suns apparel, and a weight room. Each designated area contains other areas to explore, as fans can open drawers, read e-mails, and encounter the personalities of the Suns All-Star players. Furthermore, product placement of the Suns' sponsors can be found strategically placed throughout the digital realm in non-intrusive locations, as to not interrupt the natural flow of the virtual tour. "Identifying touch points of natural integration versus interruption were key in making the product placement effective," said Amy Martin, New Media Specialist for the Suns, "We were able to identify a delicate balance of maintaining the integrity of the fan experience while extending value to our marketing partners." New content is being added on a continuous basis, encouraging fans to check back to the site regularly.

A screenshot when first entering the microsite...this is no ordinary locker room tour.

MEDIA

A combination of media channels were used to drive unique traffic to SunslockerRoom.com:

• Suns.com, the teams home site, which averages over 6 millions page views per month
• "MySuns" Mobile Program, which has over 32,000 subscriptions
• PlanetOrange.net, a Suns social site containing audio, video, and blogs
• E-newsletters
• In-game promotions
• Limited purchased media (print ad)

PARTNERS

Sponsors of the Virtual Locker Room Tour (Gatorade, Dial, Right Guard, and Verizon Wireless to name a few) were able to have their products placed strategically throughout the site, offering great potential for "click-throughs" to their own websites. For example, a navigator of the site can click on a Verizon Wireless phone located in a player's locker and learn more about the product. "The Virtual Locker Room provides Verizon Wireless with an interactive tool to reach out to Suns fans to showcase some of our newest and hottest technology and devices like the Voyager by LG. It's also a way for Suns fans to explore wireless content related to the team and register to win great prizes," said Christine Whitney, Associate Director of Marketing for Verizon Wireless, "it's an innovate extension that takes our partnership with the Suns off the court and to an online audience."

RESULTS

The amazing success of the Suns Virtual Locker Room Tour is proof that having a digital platform of this nature has the ability to produce staggering benefits, especially when many users revisit the website. Analytics from the initial site launch on January 14th to May 15th include:

• Over 5 million page views generated
• Certain product placement touch points have generated over 46,000 click-throughs to product websites
• The Suns Ticket Exchange website received 3,100 leads
• ShopSuns.com, the teams online storefront for merchandise, received over 25,000 click-throughs from its placement in the virtual tour
• More than 15,000 fans were added to the Suns' e-marketing database
• More than 5,000 fans opted into a mobile program
• More than 28,000 "refer a friend" e-mails were performed

They're many elements within the virtual tour, including a peek at some of the Suns' players lockers and TV displays.

LOOKING AHEAD

To add to this already astonishing and in-depth digital experience, a new "celebrity green room" section is currently in production and will launch this summer. The new rooms will feature celebrities who have performed at the Suns' arena, US Airways Center, such as music artists, movie stars, WWE personalities, cartoon characters, etc. The content within the Suns Virtual Locker Room site and the interactivity will continue to be updated on a regular basis offering new online games, interactive experiences, promotions, and recent video footage of Suns players. Furthermore, in the near future, music from Epic Records artists will be played in the background as users navigate the website.

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