Marketing Suggestion

[FreakyDeke]

This may be stupid or brilliant, it's usually a fine line. I just sent this suggestion to the Gopher Athletics Marketing Department:

"I recently read an article in the paper about poor student ticket sales for TCF Bank Stadium. While I think the article was unfair, it is true that the student section is not full. My suggestion is to seek donors to "take the students to a game." For 10,000 students at roughly $15 per seat, it would cost $150,000 per game (or $1 million per season) for a company to pay for all of the students to get in free. Then at some point during the game, they could announce who sponsored the student section for that game and the students could respond "HATS OFF TO THEE!" It would be good advertising for the company and hopefully a solution to the student section problem."

Am I crazy? Don't many companies light cigars with a million bucks? Is the gratitude of the student section not worth the price? Wouldn't you go to a game for free?

Do you have a better idea?

 

[Unregistered User]

Gophers marketing department:

 

[BleedGopher]

This may be stupid or brilliant, it's usually a fine line. I just sent this suggestion to the Gopher Athletics Marketing Department:

"I recently read an article in the paper about poor student ticket sales for TCF Bank Stadium. While I think the article was unfair, it is true that the student section is not full. My suggestion is to seek donors to "take the students to a game." For 10,000 students at roughly $15 per seat, it would cost $150,000 per game (or $1 million per season) for a company to pay for all of the students to get in free. Then at some point during the game, they could announce who sponsored the student section for that game and the students could respond "HATS OFF TO THEE!" It would be good advertising for the company and hopefully a solution to the student section problem."

Am I crazy? Don't many companies light cigars with a million bucks? Is the gratitude of the student section not worth the price? Wouldn't you go to a game for free?

Do you have a better idea?

I don't think any idea is a bad idea - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't, and often times an idea leads to an even better idea. Yours has some potential, but one thing that is a big misconception is that "don't many companies light cigars with a million bucks?" Without getting way OT, the short answer is no, they don't. I work at a very large Fortune 500 company that produces a lot of cash and gives away a lot of it in the communities where we operate. Most of our giving is "strategic giving" that aligns with specific set criteria that meets community and business objectives. It's easy to look at our balance sheet and other companies in similar healthy financial situations and assume a million dollar ask or the like is a no-brainer (trust me, our CSR team gets these requests quite often) and people are often surprised to learn that we (and many companies) have full teams that are very strategic in their giving and have tight guidelines in how they give. I know this is way OT from the original post, but many people often assume that the big local companies have money sitting around waiting for someone to ask for it. Most companies of size, will say "no" 95 times out of 100 requests.

Part of the risk of offering free tickets is it devalues the ticket going forward. It may bring in some fans that get hooked, as equally as it sets an expectation that this product has a price point of free and that is the only way one will go. It's a tough balance.

On a side note, I hope that anyone who may let a ticket go unused this season will consider donating it to Tix for Tots as opposed to letting it go unused.

I'm clearly all over the place with this post...

Go Gophers!!

 

[husker70]

I am not sure what in comming freshmen and other students get as part of their orientation, but access to season tickets should be included, they could be offered tickets on an installment plan rather than a chunk up front. One of the true benfits of student tickets back in the day, was the choice to sell your tickets many times covering your intial outlay and funding a trip back home at Thanksgiving. I can remember tickets in the day for the Oklahoma vs. Nebraska game going for $90. I don't think the U allows students to re sell their tickets, yet they allow Stub Hub to broker tickets. Level that playing field, allow the students to market the team. Maybe a student ticket exchange. If you are student and didn't opt for season tickets are you just out? With 50,000 students we need to sell 20% to reach 10,000

 

[GopherVotary]

It's a thought, but considering how we're having enough trouble getting companies to buy up the suites, I doubt that it would get much of a reception.

Bleed is right on about Tix for Tots. I've given several games to them over the years. Gets kids to the games, and sticks it to the IRS. Win Win.

 

[Ole]

First of all the students won't come in hoards until the stadium becomes a party. Period. No tailgating/parties/freedom to drink, no students. That's college.
That said they'll sell 6,000 again this year.
BUT.
You guys are thinking too small IMO.

One of the biggest oversights the athletics dept has made are their marketing campaigns.
Quite frankly the "pro sports lite" identity of everything is completely small minded and easy. A bean counter like Maturi loves it though, because he only can think in very short term time frames.

What is one of the top soft spots in Minnesotans' hearts?
What is the only thing the U and the athletes at the U have over the pro sports teams?
We LOVE our own.
Minnesota pride. It's why the news stations always stretch for a Minnesota connection, it's why the pro sports teams around here always have to field questions on gopher athletes, or hometown kids. It can be quite ridiculous, but it's a powerful weakness for most Minnesotan sports fans.

It's also what we have over the Vikings, Wolves, Twins, etc.
Our athletes live here basically year round. Go to school here. Often end up living here after graduation. Our football players don't quit when it's cold outside, or complain about frozen turf. Our football players are Minnesotans whether by birth or by their college choice.

The fact that this angle hasn't been exploited for marketing is an obvious blunder.

I can picture a marketing campaign with either former gopher athletes or current in all the famous Minnesota locations or around landmarks. Doing Minnesotan things.
Or what about this?

-Guys fishing up north looking south to a maroon and gold light on the horizon(think bat signal), starting up the motor and running towards it when they hit land.
-A farmer in a southern Minnesota field seeing the same light and driving his maroon and gold block M tractor north towards it.
-A kid in St paul or Minneapolis at one of the landmarks dropping a video game controller and picking up a football and a Gopher hat on his way out the door.
-Add in a famous gopher or minnesotan dropping what they are doing to run towards the maroon and gold lights.
They all meet at TCF bank with Coach Kill and the team on the plaza and march into the stadium with the band and a huge crowd of maroon and gold fans.
The have a big voice say something about Minnesota's team. Our team, our players, our state. Etc.
Get your tickets to TCF bank call 1-800 etc. etc.

 

[station19]

The Gophers belong to Minnesota.

The Twins, Vikings, Wild and Timberwolves = Private business

 

[Ski U Master]

The Gophers belong to Minnesota.

The Twins, Vikings, Wild and Timberwolves = Private business

The hearts of the majority of Minnesotans are captured by the Vikings or Twins, not the Gophers.

 

[Ole]

The hearts of the majority of Minnesotans are captured by the Vikings or Twins, not the Gophers.

My long suggestion for marketing aside, the U needs to get some teeth in this respect.

It's fairly easy to draw a distinct line between the Vikings/Twins players and the Gophers players.

The majority of one group has no ties to the state, doesn't live here year round, and couldn't care less about the fans/state/city if they weren't paid too.

The other lives here, goes to class here, earns a degree from the state's major university, and plays for the pride of the state.

I'm no marketing genius, but the blah crap I've seen since the gophers chasing wolverines on the prairie campaign sucks.

Calling out the pro sports teams as pansy outsider mercenaries could work.
Better would be identifying the very real connection the Gopher athletes have with the state, but there is a serious lack of spine and vision from the U in regards to how it markets the sports programs to statewide ticket prospective buyers.

 

[Fuzzy Rumpton]

-Guys fishing up north looking south to a maroon and gold light on the horizon(think bat signal), starting up the motor and running towards it when they hit land.
-A farmer in a southern Minnesota field seeing the same light and driving his maroon and gold block M tractor north towards it.
-A kid in St paul or Minneapolis at one of the landmarks dropping a video game controller and picking up a football and a Gopher hat on his way out the door.
-Add in a famous gopher or minnesotan dropping what they are doing to run towards the maroon and gold lights.
They all meet at TCF bank with Coach Kill and the team on the plaza and march into the stadium with the band and a huge crowd of maroon and gold fans.
The have a big voice say something about Minnesota's team. Our team, our players, our state. Etc.
Get your tickets to TCF bank call 1-800 etc. etc.

That would be the greatest commercial ever!

 

[Maverick]

That would be the greatest commercial ever!

Gave me goosebumps!!

 

[Gopherdrummer]

I am not sure what in comming freshmen and other students get as part of their orientation, but access to season tickets should be included, they could be offered tickets on an installment plan rather than a chunk up front. One of the true benfits of student tickets back in the day, was the choice to sell your tickets many times covering your intial outlay and funding a trip back home at Thanksgiving. I can remember tickets in the day for the Oklahoma vs. Nebraska game going for $90. I don't think the U allows students to re sell their tickets, yet they allow Stub Hub to broker tickets. Level that playing field, allow the students to market the team. Maybe a student ticket exchange. If you are student and didn't opt for season tickets are you just out? With 50,000 students we need to sell 20% to reach 10,000

No. If you are a student and chose not to get season tickets, you can still by single game student tickets at any time for $15 from the Mariucci box office. This is true with basketball and hockey as well. In the dome it used to be up to 2 per ID, but I believe now it is limited to just 1.

 

[Ski U Master]

The majority of one group has no ties to the state, doesn't live here year round, and couldn't care less about the fans/state/city if they weren't paid too.

Many of the players on the FB team aren't from here, might live here year round (I'm sure some go home in the summer), and probably wouldn't care about the fans/state/city if they weren't paid in scholarships.

 

[station19]

My long suggestion for marketing aside, the U needs to get some teeth in this respect.

It's fairly easy to draw a distinct line between the Vikings/Twins players and the Gophers players.

The majority of one group has no ties to the state, doesn't live here year round, and couldn't care less about the fans/state/city if they weren't paid too.

The other lives here, goes to class here, earns a degree from the state's major university, and plays for the pride of the state.

I'm no marketing genius, but the blah crap I've seen since the gophers chasing wolverines on the prairie campaign sucks.

Calling out the pro sports teams as pansy outsider mercenaries could work.
Better would be identifying the very real connection the Gopher athletes have with the state, but there is a serious lack of spine and vision from the U in regards to how it markets the sports programs to statewide ticket prospective buyers.

You make some good points, but 'calling out the pro sports teams' is not cool and could very well backfire. Nor should there be a focus on Gopher players vs Viking/Twins players.

The focus needs to be on this is Minnesota's team. The Gophers are not moving nor ever threatening to. The Gopher history goes back 70+ years before the Twins and Vikings. And oh yeah, 6/7 National Championships.

I can't even recall a marketing promotion for the Gophers....they must not have been very effective.

'COME ON MINNESOTA, THIS IS YOUR TEAM.

 

[Unregistered User]

The majority of one group has no ties to the state, doesn't live here year round, and couldn't care less about the fans/state/city if they weren't paid too.

Are you talking about badger QB's?

 

[wels0081]

Here's my chicken vs. the egg question:

Does a party atmosphere on campus for game day create passion and loyalty to a school?

OR

Does passion and loyalty for a school create a party atmosphere on campus for game day?



I argue the latter, which is a much larger problem than just an athletic department challenge for my favorite land-grant university.

 

[diefirma]

Let HS football players have the unsold student tickets

I still remember as a high school football player going to my home state university football games for $1.00 with my coach. In today's dollars that's about $7.50. It worked to create fans then and it will work now. The experience we take for granted is awesome to most kids that age.

Let's assume there are about 4,000 unsold student tickets. Email every HS football coach in the state every week (to make sure they keep the offer in mind) offering $5.00 tickets to their players The coach has to come with his players but the coach gets in free. No limit on number of players at this price. First come, first served until the 4,000 are sold. This plan has several advantages

1. HS football players know the game well enough to cheer loudly at the right time. They would keep the student section energized.

2. Many of the players will become lifelong football fans. Coming to a game trains them to cheer for the Gophers. As they graduate from HS and get jobs some would become season ticket holders growing the core base and gradually making it younger.

3. A few of the players will become D1 athletes. If they have been coming to a couple of games per year and cheering for the Gophers since they were freshmen they are much more likely to become Gophers.

4. It would build good will among HS football coaches who would be more likely to tip off Gopher coaches about potential D1 players on their team or in their conference.

5. With concession revenue (these kids eat a LOT!), clothing sales, etc. there would not be much lost revenue from the discounted tickets

6. After seeing a few games they would appreciate how much more exciting big time college football is compared to pro football. Cheaper too.

This is not a short term plan but over the long run it could pay big dividends. In a 10 year period we will have exposed 40,000 young football fans to Gopher football and the game day experience. If we had started this 10 years ago do you think we would have unsold tickets today?

 

[Ole]

Many of the players on the FB team aren't from here, might live here year round (I'm sure some go home in the summer), and probably wouldn't care about the fans/state/city if they weren't paid in scholarships.

The moment they go to school here they have a connection to this state.
They train year round, they may go home for the holidays and whatnot, but they aren't heading to florida all summer to train alone, and the fact that they are given a great opportunity by the state/school should make them more appreciative than an NFL free agent/draft pick who lands here. The fans are their peers and classmates, and hometown supporters, along with a whole bunch of people who want them to succeed.

I will say that a marketing campaign should be positive, which would mean demeaning and contrasting the NFL players and our athletes wouldn't be a good idea.
But the fact is the U has ignored the most basic and powerful marketing angle in Minnesota, our connection to its' teams.

 

[Ole]

Here's my chicken vs. the egg question:

Does a party atmosphere on campus for game day create passion and loyalty to a school?

OR

Does passion and loyalty for a school create a party atmosphere on campus for game day?



I argue the latter, which is a much larger problem than just an athletic department challenge for my favorite land-grant university.

They are college kids. Think like one when posing this question.
Make it a party and they will come, be loud, and maybe not even care about the outcome.
Sucks for us hardcores, but 50% of the kids probably don't even care about the team right off the bat, they will eventually, but make it possible to throw a party and the kids will show up. Make a stale atmosphere and the kids will find someplace else to get tanked.

 

[station19]

I still remember as a high school football player going to my home state university football games for $1.00 with my coach. In today's dollars that's about $7.50. It worked to create fans then and it will work now. The experience we take for granted is awesome to most kids that age.

Let's assume there are about 4,000 unsold student tickets. Email every HS football coach in the state every week (to make sure they keep the offer in mind) offering $5.00 tickets to their players The coach has to come with his players but the coach gets in free. No limit on number of players at this price. First come, first served until the 4,000 are sold. This plan has several advantages

1. HS football players know the game well enough to cheer loudly at the right time. They would keep the student section energized.

2. Many of the players will become lifelong football fans. Coming to a game trains them to cheer for the Gophers. As they graduate from HS and get jobs some would become season ticket holders growing the core base and gradually making it younger.

3. A few of the players will become D1 athletes. If they have been coming to a couple of games per year and cheering for the Gophers since they were freshmen they are much more likely to become Gophers.

4. It would build good will among HS football coaches who would be more likely to tip off Gopher coaches about potential D1 players on their team or in their conference.

5. With concession revenue (these kids eat a LOT!), clothing sales, etc. there would not be much lost revenue from the discounted tickets

6. After seeing a few games they would appreciate how much more exciting big time college football is compared to pro football. Cheaper too.

This is not a short term plan but over the long run it could pay big dividends. In a 10 year period we will have exposed 40,000 young football fans to Gopher football and the game day experience. If we had started this 10 years ago do you think we would have unsold tickets today?

http://www.forums.gopherhole.com/boards/showthread.php?39331-Getting-New-Gopher-Fans-To-Games


station19
Senior Member
Join Date
Nov 2008
Posts
7,474

Originally Posted by CP Gopher
I've never understood why they don't promote a couple of "reduced admission for high school players and coaches" games early in the season. What a great way to hook some future fans!


Have the high schools enter a lottery where they can buy tiks for 5-$10 and how many they will buy. 5-10 days before the game take the unsold tiks and have a drawing. Fill the seats.

As the regular demand for tickets increases, the promotion goes away on its own.

 

[Lakeville Goldy]

This may be stupid or brilliant, it's usually a fine line. I just sent this suggestion to the Gopher Athletics Marketing Department:

"I recently read an article in the paper about poor student ticket sales for TCF Bank Stadium. While I think the article was unfair, it is true that the student section is not full. My suggestion is to seek donors to "take the students to a game." For 10,000 students at roughly $15 per seat, it would cost $150,000 per game (or $1 million per season) for a company to pay for all of the students to get in free. Then at some point during the game, they could announce who sponsored the student section for that game and the students could respond "HATS OFF TO THEE!" It would be good advertising for the company and hopefully a solution to the student section problem."

Am I crazy? Don't many companies light cigars with a million bucks? Is the gratitude of the student section not worth the price? Wouldn't you go to a game for free?

Do you have a better idea?

In addition to the above comments that companies really don't burn that kind of money too often, I would say this - I went to school during the Wacker era. At that time, I think it was $25 for a student season ticket and you got a second ticket free. And they still couldn't sell them. People would have extra tickets all the time, and no one wanted them. You literally couldn't give them away.

I think it would help more today then it did back then, but it's still no guarantee.

The other issue with free tickets is that there's no incentive to use them. Even if season tickets are $10, at least you will weigh losing the monetary value vs. doing something else. If the value is zero, unless you really like going to the games, why not go to whatever other event. You have no skin in the game.

Doesn't mean it's a bad suggestion. Heck, anything should be on the table right now. They need to figure out how to get the students in the game.

 

[ruppertflywheel]

The hearts of the majority of Minnesotans are captured by the Vikings or Twins, not the Gophers.

YEP....and it is amazing how cold and shallow hearted people can be....

"Dad, anybody ca be a Viking fan, it takes someone special to be a Gopher fan"....My son