Tuesday
Apr052011
ASU/Diamondbacks PR Stunt
Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 2:06PM On 4/5, I spoke to a group of marketing students at Arizona State University. I gave a presentation on PR stutns with a special focus on baseball as my co-presenter was Karina Bohn, Senior Director of Marketing at the Arizona Diamondbacks.
At the end of the presentation, I asked students to come up with a PR stunt (as an excercise only) for a mid-season PR stunt/promotion to drive ticket sales.
If you are a student responding to the exercise:
1) Please post your idea in the comment section below
2) Please leave your group number/designation after your response
3) Please submit by 4/9/11
4) Karina and I will judge responses and award prizes
Reader Comments (7)
Our idea is a "Drenched with the D-Backs" day that is primarily a post-game waterpark social event. The main attraction would be a record-setting water balloon fight that is followed by additional water-based events such as dunk tanks (how cool would it be to dunk Chris Young?), slip-n-slides, obstacle courses, relays around the bases, sprinkler races, etc.
This type of event would primarily be marketed to children, families with children, and even school districts. Admission to the festivities could be based on the purchase of a special ticket, won during in-game contests, given to children’s clubs like the Boys and Girls Club or schools, and/or even granted on a donation basis with proceeds going to a charitable cause (additional good-press is never a bad thing).
"Drenched with the D-Backs" is a great alternative to expensive water parks and trips to the beach. It could potentially draw tons of local media attention including news channels and radio stations. It is something that would be marketed well on Facebook and Twitter which could serve as recruiting stations for the record-breaking balloon fight. Our group thought it would be imperative to the success of the stunt that the players or some of them are involved in the activities. Having them reach out through social media would be stellar! There could be Facebook polls about breaking the record, dunking certain players, tweets about the event and players inviting their fans to come out and join in the fun.
Obviously there are liability issues to consider when kids start throwing things at each other and sliding around. We assumed there would be some type of release waiver that is required and has to be signed by parents/guardians. Also, we were concerned about the water usage and potential damage to the grass. Execution would require a lot of control and volunteer hours as far as filling up water balloons, setting up slides, running hoses to keep things wet, crowd control/lines, etc.
All in all, the event could bring children and families out to the park that would not have otherwise come to a game. The record-breaking attempt would leave a lasting memory with tons of people who would associate those good memories with D-Backs and Chase Field. Finally, the interactions with players and experience of being on the field are ones that may keep some of the participants interested in D-Backs and entice them to return.
Our teams idea is basically to try to beat the Guiness world record for the most people doing the hokey pokey at the baseball game.
Because of the large volume of requests that the Guinness book receives this would have to be planned far in advance. The current record is under 8000 easy to beat.
The origin of the song possibly relates to a ice cream truck driver makes sense for the heat so they could give out cones or something like that for a prize, inexpensive and kid related.
Also if they record is achieved they could use this opportunity to have the audience attendees take a code off their ticket and log onto a site to enter their address to be mailed a official award certificate for the achievement. This would allow the marketing department to have mailing addresses for actual people who went to a current game, in the summer, and also like to participate is silly events. They can use this to re market.
They could market it on facebook and with twitter. They could make a meme that has the players doing the hokey pokey and not explain why they are doing it, they could have a link at the end of the video that links to the fan page that talks up the big event. (what is a meme... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme)
Local media is so low quality, I am sure they would love to cover it.
the real current record hokey pokey
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search/Details/Largest-hokey-cokey-dance/60805.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_Cokey
macerena
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/Search/Details/Largest-Macarena-dance/53742.htm
Group K, L (leader Ushna Khan)
Good ideas guys. Keep em coming.
Thanks
Brent
The idea that "Team G" came up with was a competition amongst fans to become the Diamondbacks special announcer or mini-series host during games in the summer. People of all ages could have the opportunity to win this contest. In order to participate and get more people to the stadium, you would have to go to a game and audition in a designated area for the part. In this area, participants will post/create videos of them self in which all videos are then put on a Diamondback channel on YouTube or on the Diamondback site for all fans to see.
Fans would vote on their favorite person to become this host/announcer. So many spots are given throughout the summer and the only way to win is come to more games. Not only will the announcer get to present in front of thousands of fans, but also win other small prices such as free food or autographed merchandise from players.
This opportunity gives the fans a chance to become more involved with their favorite baseball team and have a once in a lifetime experience. It also allows fan participation in fun events that can occur at Diamondback games.
If the announcer/host doesn’t draw to much interest, singing the 7th inning stretch song could also be another option that includes the same requirements for the announcer contest.
Group G (Leader Denise Godinez)
Our team came up with a "Scavenger Hunt" throughout Central Phoenix as a Publicity Stunt for the Arizona Diamondbacks. The scavenger hunt would involve about 30-40 stuffed toys of Baxter the Bobcat, the official mascot of the Diamondbacks. Baxter would have codes imprinted on the bottom that would be directly associated with two pairs of tickets for various exclusive/non-exclusive sections in the baseball field.
The constraints of Central Phoenix would just be a few blocks around Chase field - at popular restaurants and hot spots. We would use the power of the media and social media (Facebook & Twitter) to get the information to Diamondbacks fans and Arizona citizens. We also thought the stunt would be more successful if we conduct the scavenger hunt either before or after an important game of the season with tickets for another important/crucial game in the next few weeks.
Pulling this stunt would encourage baseball fans to come to Diamondbacks baseball games because of the free tickets and the excitement of the hunt.
Group C had the idea of posting a celebrity video on YouTube to get fans involved and interested in a water day at the ballpark. The video would be a commercial/teaser of this water day with famous celebrities and retired D-Backs players (like Gonzo) or any other Arizona athletes that would pull interest. The celebrities in the commercial would be shown playing with Super Soaker water guns and racing through the bases on slip n’ slides. If this video is shared more than 50,000 times on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter, the D-Backs will host this exact water day with the cast members of the video. The reason it must be shared rather than liked or viewed is that viewing a video is done by a single person; sharing the video requires telling multiple people about the video and spreading the word.
The D-Backs would host the free water day after one of their mid-summer games at Chase Field with all of the celebrities and retired players featured in the video. The D-Backs could partner up with multiple water parks to sponsor the event and promote their parks as well.There would be giant water slides all over the field that fans can slide on. At a certain time, there would also be a huge water fight with water balloons and Super Soakers. The main attraction would be the Races Through the Bases Relay Race which would consist of 4 water slides – one connecting each base. When one relay slider slides all the way from home base to 1st base, the 2nd relay slider slides from 1st to 2nd base, and so on. There will be prizes such as free combo meals, D-Backs tickets, or tickets to Arizona water parks.
Team C, Leader: Andy Camponovo
Our group's idea is called "Cool off with Baxter." Baxter, the Diamondbacks mascot, will be sent around the Valley to a handful of the cool spots. Some big name places such as Wet 'n' Wild, Big Surf and Sunsplash in addition to local splash pads and public pools. The public will receive hints through social media like Facebook and Twitter as to the location of Baxter that day.
This will take place at the beginning of summer everyday for 2 weeks for only a few hours a day. This will help build awareness for the summer games. It will be directed towards kids and family. The kids will have fun playing a sort of "Where in the Valley is Baxter?" and it will help the local businesses attract customers. When they find Baxter he can hand out tiny plush dolls to the kids and discount tickets for half off cool drinks when they go to a game during the summer. Even if families can't make it to any of the events it will still build a reputation that the Diamondbacks are a family oriented organization.
Group NOP, Luke Puckett