Marketing the Thunder #2: Creating a buzz with guerrilla marketing
Editor’s note: following is the second in a series of posts that aim to provide strategic marketing advice to the Minnesota Thunder. You can read the first post of the series here.
When the Minnesota Thunder moved their operation from Blaine (a suburb some 20 miles from their current home) to James Griffin Stadium in St. Paul, it seemed like a brilliant idea in terms of accessibility. To wit, the stadium location is far more accessible to commuters than its predecessor and the team now has access to a significantly larger population that should have a higher propensity to support the team.
With these seemingly beneficial variables in place, why don’t the Thunder sell out The Jimmy every night? The answer is all-too-simple.
There is no buzz.
On the heels of their move to the city, the Thunder employed a great guerrilla marketing tactic. It was impossible to walk through the neighborhoods of Saint Paul without seeing lawn signs that read, “Soccer Spoken Here,” “Soccer In The City!,” or “Futbal Se Habla Aqui.” These signs had an enormous impact; according to sports-forum.com:
All told, over 1,000 signs were given out to anxious fans at the first two games. This was a great way to break down cultural barriers and invite all soccer fans to their new home at James Griffin Stadium in St. Paul! As a direct result of the program, several hundred people called the Thunder office claiming they had seen a lawn sign and were curious how to get one of their own. An increase in awareness of the team’s new home and free publicity were benefits that were directly realized by this initiative.
Since 2004, I have not seen the Thunder employ similar guerrilla marketing initiatives. The lawn signs were a great start, but it shouldn’t stop there. What about:
- Brokering deals with local gas stations to co-brand the gas pumps
- Giving fans pocket schedules to leave or post at their coffeeshop, barber, laundrymat, etc.
- Sending players/coaches/staff/volunteers to canvass the neighborhoods
- Printing ticket discounts on the back of grocery store receipts
- Taking part in parades and other localized events
The ideas are simple and endless.
If we’re honest, we’ll admit that the Thunder are small fish in a big pond. They cannot compete with the Twins, Timberwolves, Vikings, or the Wild in terms of a marketing resources. That said, one of the benefits of being a small fish is agility. The Thunder should be able to adapt quickly and take advantage of simple, cost-effective, guerrilla marketing tactics to create a buzz.
5 comments
josh – just wanted to say thanks for writing your thoughts and feelings on your blog about our beloved thunder – it all needs to be said (over and over again if necessary)
and
i also want to remind you and any other thunder fans reading this that the blue sky soccer post season awards banquet is this friday night – sept 15 at the sweetwater in st paul – see http://www.blueskysoccer.com for details
bruce
I found it interesting that sportsforum.com said this at the bottom of that article:
“Looking Ahead: After the success the Thunder had with the lawn signs this year, they will definitely be pursuing a similar promotional strategy next year but only on a larger scale.”
Ahhhh, did I miss something here. Did anyone see a similar follow up? That was three years ago. It is amazing that only 1000 of those signs were given up. I would guess that if the Thunder were lucky 1/2 of those signs actually went up in yards. Yet it seemed as if those signs were everywhere I went. It was a great campaign.
As I will write in my second article on “Marketing the Thunder”, the team needs to start using it’s resources available to them. Being that they don’t have much money to spend, those resources are going to have to be the passionate fans that love the team and or the game and to use the talents of those supporters to get the word out.
I am not trained in marketing though I so wish I knew more. But I do know your ideas are great and I find it interesting that the team doesn’t do a lot of personal appearances anymore like they used to. The players do spend a lot of time working at Thunder soccer camps and those camps have allowed the Thunder to make money. The Thunder do put a fair amount of money into advertising the soccer camps. You will see the camps advertised in a lot of places.
So could it perhaps be that the team owner, Siad (sp) has decided that the team is there to help the camps make money instead of the camps there to make the Thunder better known? If that is his take on the Thunder, perhaps we can understand that lack of marketing.
Bruce: The event on Friday sounds intriguing…
bq: Good stuff all around. I think the most salient point you make is in the last paragraph. There is easy money to be made by holding camps. An owner could also make money at the gate, but it takes more effort and (gasp!) a little investment.
Camps make money, but do they make/increase a fan base? If you want to create a fan base, then you need to concentrate on that fan base (aforementioned 24-40 year olds). Their idea must be, get the kids in the camps, and then the parents will bring them to games and then they’ll always come back every week for ever and ever Amen.
I just have a feeling that the Thunder want to be “family entertainment” and not the beer-swilling, screaming, insano-fan. While the Thunder enjoy entities such as the Dark Clouds filling the stands, they don’t seem to see The Dark Clouds as their target market. I think that is where the Thunder is currently going wrong.
[...] “So what?” you say. In short, this is a example of perfectly-executed guerrilla marketing. [...]
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