Learners or lookers: How to tell if sales reps will earn or burn!

kirk_wakefield 2013, Lead, Learn, Personal Development, Research, Sales Management, Sponsorships, Tickets November 1, 2013November 2, 2018adapting, consultative selling, improvement, learners, learning, lookers, proving goal, selling, slackers 0 Comment

by Kirk Wakefield – November 2013

How do you know the difference between a sales rep who’s going to make it and those who won’t?

Research tell us that one way is to look at whether they’re learners or lookers.

What do learners look like?

Learners are the sales reps who focus on mastering new situations, exploring tasks, acquiring new skills, and learning from experience, all with an ultimate goal of self-improvement.

How do you know if you have a learner? When learners face a challenge they will:

probe problems,
persist,
escalate effort,
seek feedback, and
seek solutions.

Obviously, you don’t have a learner if they avoid problems, give up, keep doing what they’ve been doing, don’t ask for help, and don’t solve problems.

What do lookers look like?

Some reps just want to look like they’re doing something instead of doing it. They are out to prove themselves to others instead of just improving.

Lookers focus on appearing competent to others and gaining favorable evaluations. They run away from challenges that might pose the risk of making mistakes. Instead their ultimate goal is positive self-presentation and impression management.

How do you know if you have a looker? When lookers face a challenge they will:

avoid challenging tasks,
withdraw from the task,
set low goals,
make negative ability attributions, and
demonstrate a helpless response.

In contrast, learners will embrace the challenge, set high goals, assume they have the ability to figure it out, and will even want to help others meet and beat the challenge.

What about your staff?

George Killebrew, Executive Vice President, Dallas Mavericks, breaks down the importance of learning and adapting:

“Our staff includes those with us just a short time as well as those who’ve been with us 14 years and even 22 years. They all realize that they must keep up with the ever changing world of sponsorship–from understanding digital, to mobile, to social media, to all the latest trends. If they fail to adapt, they become dinosaurs. This is a fairly young at heart business and you must have the stamina to keep up! Not just physically working 50 home games each year, but mentally with all the new inventory that comes our way and the changing trends in our industry. Those that fail to adapt, unfortunately have to go. It’s learn or leave!”

Look carefully at your sales team. Is everyone on board a true learner? What answers would you get if you showed them the five characteristics of learners and lookers and asked, “Which one are you?”

Take action

Do you have a bunch of learners or lookers? Can lookers learn to be learners? What can you do to challenge your group to keep learning?

Click the Twitter or LinkedIn buttons below to share with others and keep the conversation going. Tweet to us @kirkwakefield, @georgekillebrew, #learners!

Read the original research here: Chai, J., Zhao, G., & Babin, B. J. (2012). An Empirical Study on the Impact of Two Types of Goal Orientation and Salesperson Perceived Obsolescence on Adaptive Selling. Journal Of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 32(2), 261-274.

How would you describe your social media fans to sponsors?

kirk_wakefield 2013, Digital Strategy, Learn, Relate, Research, Social Media August 1, 2013November 2, 2018description, fans, monetize, percentage, quantified, research, social media, sponsor, study, who are 0 Comment

by Kirk Wakefield – August 2013

Brands highly prioritize social media engagement when partnering with sports properties. But who are these social media fans? Who are we reaching with the team’s social media?

Earlier this year we sampled registered users from a professional franchise (N = 469). The chart below displays the results of a cluster analysis grouping fans based on similar characteristics within the group, but significantly different between groups. These groups are not significantly different from each other in terms of ethnicity, household size or income.

Group 1: Passionately engaged

About a quarter (23%) of those studied frequently(66% of the team’s games) used social media (including texting, Facebook, Twitter) to send or receive information related to the team and games. This extremely passionate group (Passion Score = 95) is relatively young (M = 40) compared to other registered users of this team (M = 49). That the database skews older reflects typical season ticket holders, but may also indicate the need for teams to attract younger fans or at least get them to sign-up.

Looking at the chart, what else do you see? This group is more likely to follow on the team’s website, watch games on TV, and listen to games on the radio.

Since most of the sample are males (69.5%), the results show this group (64% male) is more likely to include females than the other three groups. They’re more likely to be single (61%) than the other groups. And, they’re relatively likely to have some form of season ticket plan (35%) and live within the metro area (e.g., within 20 miles).

Social Media Fan Groups

*Percentage of all games in a season

Characteristic	Passionately Engaged	Distant Lovers	Passionately Disengaged	Dispassionately Disengaged
Social Media Usage* Send/receive text messages about the game Post messages/comments on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Websites) about the game.	66%	36%	10%	11%
Passion for the team (100 max)	95	90	90	63
Games reported attended*	23%	8%	21%	11%
Team Website: Visit the team website before, during, or after the game.*	73%	68%	47%	22%
Radio: Listen to games on the radio or internet.*	54%	29%	25%	13%
TV: Watch games on screen (TV, Internet, DVR).*	65%	49%	51%	24%
News: Follow the results in the newspaper or internet.*	78%	89%	85%	23%
Distance from venue (miles)	20	113	19	25
Age	40	46	49	40
Males (Overall: 69.5% male)	64%	81%	72%	68%
Married (Overall: 52.5% married)	39%	66%	64%	47%
Fan base (% of fans surveyed)	23%	10%	32%	34%
Season plan member (partial or full)	35%	13%	45%	29%

Group 2: Distant Lovers

Although not a large segment (10%), this passionate (Passion Score = 90) fan group travels in from outside of town (average distance of 113 miles) a few times a season to attend a game or two. These somewhat older (M = 46) fans sometimes use social media (36%) to find or share information about the game, but they’re most likely to follow the team news through the newspaper or online (89%).

This group is less likely to tune in to TV (49%) or the radio (25%), which may be more a function of availability in their distant markets than interest. Consequently, the team’s website (68%) is a good way to reach this crowd, in addition to the relatively frequent social media use compared to the next two groups of fans.

Group 3: Passionately Disengaged

Although this group is as passionate as the second group (PS = 90) and attend about as many games as the first group, they rarely engage via social media (10% of games). This older group (M = 49) really don’t pay much attention to games on the radio (25%) even though they live in-market (~19 miles). Nor are they particularly avid viewers of TV broadcasts (51%). They do faithfully follow the team through the news, either print or online (85%).

This group is most likely to have some form of season ticket package (45%), particularly full-season.

Fans in this segment need to be energized as team partners to engage with the team. One suggestion is to partner with your local Apple store to offer fan workshops, perhaps specializing in the use of team apps. My 85 year old mother is on Facebook all the time, but would benefit from knowing what else to do with her iPad. The size and age of this segment suggest efforts like these could be worthwhile, because they also have higher discretionary income that would otherwise be spent on their grandchildren.

The Houston Astros target this older season ticket base by providing a headquarters for STHs, equipped with multiple iPads and other devices. And, as you can see from the cover photo, it’s sponsored.

Group 4: Dispassionately Disengaged

This relatively young (M = 40) are not particularly passionate fans (PS =63) and they show it by not following the team through virtually any media. They attend games (M = 9)a bit more than the out-of-towners in group two and live a little further out (M = 25 miles) than the two most frequently attending groups (1 and 3).

This group is the most likely to have mini-plans among the four groups, which suggests they get packages to occasionally go to the game–perhaps to entertain clients or go with friends–but they aren’t big fans.

One of the best ways to enhance fan passion is to provide direct contact between players and fans. Targeting this group with relevant events may be a way to move them into one of the other passionate groups, which in turn leads to more media usage and better fans for your partners.

3 basic questions you should ask premium seat buyers

kirk_wakefield 2013, Lead, Learn, Research, Sales Management, Sales Training, Sell, Tickets July 1, 2013November 2, 2018buying, leasing, NFL, premium sales, preparation, renting, research, selling efficiency, Success, suites, VIP 0 Comment

by Kirk Wakefield – July 2013

Preparation is the key to selling efficiency

Preparation is on anyone’s top 10 list of what makes successful salespeople. Successful preparation is based on asking the customer the right questions.

Knowing the right questions is one thing. But knowing the right answers can lead to more sales and more efficient selling (i.e., close ratios).

A little research

One of our NFL client partners wanted to help their sales staff get a head start in understanding individual suite rental customers in preparation for the upcoming season. In the two weeks after the season ended we collected responses from a sample of 20% of individual decision makers from the previous season’s rental customers. Among other things, we wanted to know the answers to three basic questions and the relationship between these answers and how likely customers would be to buy again and refer others.

Three basic questions

Corporate buyers are likely to be passionate fans, but that’s not the reason they are buying. They are buying because they believe potential clients are passionate league or team fans. So, sure, it helps if they love the team. But in an NFL city, odds are most everyone locally or regionally has at least some affinity for the team. This leads to the first basic question you need answered.

Where does your business come from?

The results show the vast majority use the suite to build relationships with local (71%) and regional (84%) customers. However, those indicating they also have extensive global (37%) and national (68%) markets are significantly more likely to recommend renting suites to others, representing your best promoters and referral sources.

If the premium buyer’s customers are primarily local and regional, promoting the team angle may be useful. But if their customers are more national or global, then we really need to ask what else influences the choice to rent a suite.

What influences which game you’d like to select?

Too many salespeople assume price is the main issue. Don’t start there.

From our sample, almost 1/3 aren’t really concerned about the price. More importantly, concern about the suite rental price had no bearing on whether or not they’d be likely to rent again next season. Statistically speaking, what did?

The most likely return suite rental customers were those who wanted to (1) know who the opposing team was, (2) review the entire schedule when it was released, and/or (3) who were planning a special occasion.

Why are those good answers for you? Because it means they’ve already decided in favor of buying, the question is which game? Greater concern for knowing (a) the kick-off time, (b) day of the game, or (c) the price had no influence one way or the other on likelihood of using a suite the next season.

The upshot is that if you focus efforts on prospects in a true-decision making mode (team, schedule, occasion), your close ratio should be higher.

Compared to other options, how would leasing a suite from us help you win business?

We aren’t the only game in town. Our clients can entertain in other sports & entertainment venues. The heart of this question is what is it about leasing from us that helps meet your objectives?

What we see from our study is it’s not what you think. Most don’t think leasing a suite guarantees closing a business deal.

The big insight is that a suite offers the best chance the invitation will be accepted and won’t fall through. What your clients really want is just to make sure they have a chance to close a deal.

What’s the worst fear when we throw a party? The people we wanted to come don’t show up. It’s been the same since high school; now we’re just playing for different stakes.

A second big insight is predicting who will be our best promoters and source of referrals. The ability to predict a client’s NPS (Net Promoter Score) is highest among those who strongly believe the suite provides the best return on objective (i.e., the chance to sell) and is the best choice for doing so in the market (viz., “differentiator in the customer entertainment universe”).

Conclusion: Act

Premium sales isn’t as simple as asking these three basic questions, but it sure helps. The key is in preparation. Teams like those who commissioned this research know that knowledge is power. Now let’s go get some.

Under Armour – The Underdog Story of Sports Merchandise

kirk_wakefield 2013, Lead, Learn, Research, Sell June 1, 2013November 2, 2018Adidas, athletics, brand management, branding, equipment, gear, merchandise, Nike, perception, Reebok, Under Armour 0 Comment

by Anne Rivers – June 2013

How to break into a mature market

The giants of athletic gear (Nike, Adidas and Reebok) traditionally dominated the sports merchandising brand space through partnerships with sports franchises and collegiate athletics. In mature, lucrative industries like this, the question for others is always the same: How do you break into a market that already has strong leaders?

In the brandscape of athletic apparel, Under Armour is considered one of the newest contenders. Kevin Plank, a former University of Maryland football player, founded the company in 1996 on the grounds of wanting to create a t-shirt that provided compression and kept perspiration off rather than absorb it. This highly differentiated product helped set Under Armour apart from its competitors, but was unable to break out of its relatively new and niche space in their desired market for several years.

Being Different

In the BAV, UnderAmour, along with 3,500 other brands are surveyed by over 17,000 respondents on 71 metrics including 48 emotional attributes in the U.S. every quarter. Through the data, we spot key trends to help the brand grow into and/or maintain their leadership position.

Energized differentiation (ED) is a key indicator of future brand performance and a driving force for the value of sports brands. In 2007, Under Armour performed well as a differentiated brand with high esteem (E), but lacked in relevance (R) and knowledge (K). Their products set them apart from other sports merchandise giants of the United States, but needed more consumers to relate to and know about the brand and what it stood for.

Grassroots Marketing

How did they start to capitalize on their high differentiation from the other brands? Under Armour desperately needed to increase the relevance and knowledge of their brand among the general population. Grassroots efforts to gradually grow Under Armour through influencers provided the brand with authentic, passionate advocates who generated enthusiasm for the brand.

Evolving strategy

The brand had to first appeal to smaller segments of the overall desired target audience. For example, Under Armour sponsored a few professional athletes like Ray Lewis, Tom Brady and Miles Austin, as well as college teams from Northwestern, South Florida, Texas Tech, and Boston College. By learning how to appeal to smaller segments of athletes, Under Armour gathered enough momentum to appeal to the mass market.

Understanding brand essence

Under Armour benefited from its dedicated approach to consistent, true-to-self branding efforts, becoming a leadership brand in the midst of a recession and continuing to catch up to the category leader. Today, Under Armour outperforms Nike on these key attributes of their brand essence that drive consumer choice:

unique
simple
innovative
independent

Continuing to exhibit values that resonate with Americans’ emotional needs since the recession help Under Armour maintain its leadership identity today.

Sports franchises

Using the BAV’s assessment of consumers’ perceptions of brands we can predict stock values of publicly traded companies. Using the BAV’s scores of energized differentiation for pro franchises, we can predict Forbes’ annual valuation of franchises. Sports teams, and individual players for that matter, can diagnose what elements of their brands are contributing to success and which hold opportunity for improvement. Just like Under Armour, there’s no quick fix. But, with appropriate diagnostics and strategy, teams can gain ground on the leaders in their markets.

Which comes first: Happiness or success?

kirk_wakefield 2013, Careers, Lead, Learn, Personal Development, Research, Sales Training, Sell, Sponsorships, Tickets June 1, 2013November 2, 2018change, evidence, good thinking, habits, happiness advantage, how to sell, research, smile 2 Comments

by Shawn Achor – June 2013

What is the connection between happiness and sales? Most salespeople tell me it’s an easy question: “When I’m selling then I’m happy.”

How could so many salespeople possibly be wrong?

Undeniably, we feel happier after a sale, but that common answer is actually holding down our happiness and lowering our sales.

Researchers at Harvard, Yale and UPenn have been studying this issue now for two decades. We found predicting who will be a good salesperson is relatively easy. We just look for optimism.

Optimists beat pessimists

When we ran the numbers, optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by 37% cross-industry. At MetLife, the top 10% of optimists were outselling the other 90% by another 90%! That’s huge, and here’s why.

Most professionals face daily setbacks, but the life of a salesman is, almost by definition, fraught with failure and rejection. In many businesses, only one in ten pitches leads to a sale, meaning that those salesmen experience rejection 90 percent of the time. (That was also my dating rejection rate in high school.) This can get pretty demoralizing after a while, which helps to explain why there is such high turnover, stress, and depression.

But here’s where it gets interesting: it turns out if you wait until a sale to be happy, you’re following a broken formula for happiness and success. We think:

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”curled” width=”375px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Wrong thinking

I will work hard, then I’ll be successful, then I’ll be happy. [/dropshadowbox]

But every time you were successful in the past, what happened? Your brain changed the goalpost of what success looks like. If you hit your sales target last year, what did you do this year? Raised it. Happiness after a success (like a sale) is very short-lived.

But flip around the formula and try to create happiness before the sale, and our success rates rise dramatically. (Want to know more about the effects? Watch this video on TED.com.)

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”curled” width=”450px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Right thinking

If I create happiness before the sale, then I’ll be more successful selling. [/dropshadowbox]

The Happiness Advantage

In The Happiness Advantage, I describe how positive brains have an unfair advantage over negative or neutral ones. Positive employees:

have higher levels of productivity,
produce higher sales,
perform better in leadership positions, and
receive higher performance ratings and higher pay.

So how do we create happiness before success?

Realize happiness only exists in the present, otherwise it will always be off in the future (never).
Train your brain to become happier.
Happiness is not only a choice, it is a work ethic:
1. Write down 3 new things you’re grateful for each day for 21 days. This rewires your brain for optimism.
2. Journal for 2 minutes each day about a positive experience. This is the fastest intervention for seeing the meaning embedded in your work.
3. Write a 2 minute positive email or handwritten note to someone. This deepens social support, the greatest predictor of long term happiness.

Evidence

One way to train your brain to become happier is to smile more.

At a group of hospitals in post-Katrina Louisiana, we trained 11,000 employees to just smile and make eye contact in the hospital hallways. Within 6 months, the number of unique patients rose and their likelihood to refer the hospital based on good care skyrocketed.

At KPMG, I found that just teaching this concept (happiness first; success second) and practicing a positive habit can create greater happiness and job effectiveness 4 months later, in the middle of the worst tax season in recent history.

Happiness is a choice, but also an incredible advantage. Do you want to see your true sales potential? See what you can do when your brain is set on positive!

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”650px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]I can’t help but think back to some of the best sales people I’ve worked with and their attitude – pretty positive. I also can’t help but think of the people I’ve let go in the past year, all very pessimistic. Another interesting angle to look at would be the affect an optimistic person has on a potential client. Essentially, people like to buy from people they like and people like positive and friendly people. ~ Chip Maxon, Sr. Vice President, Business Operations, Sacramento RiverCats[/dropshadowbox]

What makes a great ballpark?

kirk_wakefield 2013, Experiences, Learn, Research, Sell, Tickets May 31, 2013November 2, 2018ballparks, best stadiums, customer service, Dodgers, excellence, fans, MLB, Padres, Phillies 0 Comment

by Kirk Wakefield – May 2013

My favorite is AT&T Park. You don’t have to love baseball to love going there. And that really is the business issue: How do you build or maintain a park that attracts people who don’t really care about baseball? The Cubs aren’t spending $500 million in renovations because baseball fans don’t love Wrigley. They’re concerned about the long-term attractiveness of the park and providing all fans, baseball lovers or not, with a good experience.

What makes a good park?

In the past two weeks I visited Dodgers Stadium, Petco Park (Padres), and Citizens Bank Park (Phillies). On this three-park trip I focused more on the team stores in addition to the sportscape. Let’s take a quick look at the good, the bad, and the ugly. Let’s start with the good.

San Diego’s Petco Park is also one of my favorite parks. The location is perfect, adjacent to the Gaslight District for fine eating and close to major thoroughfares and public transportation for easy access. Walk two blocks and you’re good for a stroll along the bay. I’ve been here many times, so the pictures highlight a few things you might not notice if you’ve only been here once or twice.

Many team stores are designed as an after-thought. Not so at Petco Park. The Padres team store opens to an exterior retail street. The merchandise assortment, displays, lighting, and layout are as nice as any comparable upscale retail store. (Place cursor over pictures to pause & read comments.)

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”310px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ][slideshow_deploy id=’2351′][/dropshadowbox]

Philadelphia’s Citizen’s Bank Park is located in the same area as all of the Philly sports facilities. Public transportation is great (take the Phillies Express to the AT&T subway station), parking is fine, but if you plan to do anything else besides go to the game, forget about it. Outside of the Xfinity Live! establishment on the corner by the football and baseball stadiums, there’s nothing but concrete for miles.

Great parks have signature foods and restaurants–not only in the club level–that fans actually want to consume beyond standard hot dog & beer fare. Outside of maybe the Philly cheese steaks, this is not one of them. The food service on the club level is above average, but the general access food is typical. Overall, the layout and design of the park is easy to navigate and the size of the stadium makes for good sight lines and seats all around.

With respect to the team store, fans may be deceived by the relatively small storefront visible from the concourse. The store is very large and contains an extensive collections of kids and women’s clothing. As with the Padres, the Phillies offer some exclusive items you can only get at the park. Good call.

Dodger Stadium is iconic. Any baseball fan will love it.

Any non-fan? Not so sure. You may have heard it’s in a ravine. From a traffic standpoint, the vast majority of fans assume the only entrance is off the 110 via I-5 or the 101 (blue line on map). The reality is not that LA fans are fashionably late. They are all stuck in traffic about a mile from the stadium.

After sitting at a complete standstill for 15 minutes coming off the 101, I took off to explore an alternate route (the black line) away from the traffic jam. (“Yes, dear, it IS better to move no matter what than to stand still in traffic.”)

In short order I ended up parked–for free–on a nearby street where all the locals obviously go. Traffic was still piled up at the bottle-necked entrance as I walked past the $20 parking. All it would take would be a few traffic cops directing to the less traveled routes. Alternately, like the San Antonio Spurs and others have done, teams can place traffic directions on the website for newcomers. Better yet, email to new ticket buyers.

Now to the apparel and a few other things. Since I love Magic Johnson and the Dodgers I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

The smaller team store, drab concrete floors and facades, and cramped serving areas are problems with any park built back in the Stone Age of stadiums (1950-70s). Food service areas, passageways, restrooms, and virtually anything that should provide amenities were designed as discomforts. That said, the lower levels have better food service, but fans aren’t allowed to go below their seated level.

Franchises can make some changes. The Dodgers could generate millions in new revenue by moving the press box out of its prime space directly behind home plate. Other parks (e.g., White Sox, Astros, etc.) moved press boxes and immediately sold out all of the new premium seats.

Want more?

These are just snapshots of a few things baseball franchises (MiLB and MLB) should be monitoring. As part of Baylor’s Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3) program, we go into these issues and many more. If interested in an in-depth treatment of sportscape management, you may want to read more at www.teamsportsmarketing.com. As information, this text contains frequent attempts at humor.

Dynamic parking? Who will be first?

kirk_wakefield Research, Sell, Tickets March 30, 2013November 2, 2018AT&T Park, dynamic pricing, economics, Giants, increasing revenue, meters, parking, satisfaction, variable pricing 0 Comment

by Kirk Wakefield – March 2013

Who started dynamic pricing anyway?

Following deregulation in the early ’80s American Airlines initiated dynamic ticket pricing to deal with new low cost competitors. Extra points if anyone remembers People Express. People Express offered a simplified fare structure and was first to charge an extra fee for each checked bag. So, they had that going for them. Before they went out of business.

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Are airlines stalking me?

Don’t be so paranoid. Of course they are. Airlines have gotten so good at dynamic pricing they even use it each time you visit their websites.

Have you ever thought the price went up just because you showed interest in a flight? It’s quite possible it did. Helpful hint: Clear your browser history & cookies before going back to the site. It may not work but at least you’ll feel better for trying. [/dropshadowbox]

A short 30 years later the sports industry is coming around. Since the San Francisco Giants fully converted to dynamic pricing in 2009, many others have followed suit. Why? They understand the economics of a system that simultaneously increases total revenue and reduces average prices to the consumer.

Why not parking?

Like seemingly every other technological breakthrough, the bay area leads the way. SFPark is the first municipality to implement dynamic pricing for parking meters. Rates vary from 25¢ to $6.00 during normal hours with an original cap of $18 for special events. Just this month spots around AT&T Park on Giants’ game times moved to $5-7/hour dependent on proximity. As traffic and parking patterns change, prices adjust 25-50¢ each month around the city. Prices by location are easily viewed online. And, of course, there’s an app for that.

Teams could wait until the Giants or another bay area team does it, but with a little fan education and ingenuity, others could increase team revenue and fan satisfaction.

Some people, like me, would just as soon park further from the stadium to avoid exit traffic and maybe even get a little exercise. I have season tickets to every Baylor sport and parking passes I never use. Then again I live a block from campus. The point is teams issue parking passes and set parking prices without determining who values them and when.

If we’re willing to apply the fundamentals of economics to tickets, why not parking?

Transparency the key

Years ago we researched grocery shoppers finding the majority (55%) couldn’t even tell you the price of what they just put in the basket two seconds ago. Clearly not everyone is price sensitive. Last week I heard a presentation claiming “everyone is so cost-conscious.” Really? That must explain all of the Porsche, BMW, and Lexus cars parked on the streets. And that’s just the Baylor students.

The point is some people are price-conscious and some aren’t. Let’s let those who want to pay less walk more and those who want to walk less pay more.

San Francisco is successful because they transparently communicate about the process. Those who care enough to save a quarter will seek out the best prices, just like the same people who coupon-clip to their heart’s delight. Those who drive a Lexus LFA won’t think once about whatever price tacked on for parking.

So, who’ll be first?

We can think of plenty of reasons why we can’t or don’t want to do it. The question is: How could it work with the parking we control? For instance, some teams like the Yankees already have all parking online, so it wouldn’t be hard to go to variable pricing.

Innovators like the Giants took the first stab at tickets. Who will do it with parking?

How NOT to run a team Twitter account

kirk_wakefield Digital Strategy, Relate, Research, Social Media March 8, 2013November 2, 2018beautiful game, engagement, fans, haters, interactive, not selling, opinion, point-of-view, Premier League, twitter 0 Comment

by Matt Briggs – March 2013

Newcastle United fans have their say on club’s Twitter use

Newcastle United supporters – a passionate bunch.

Digital communications is now the front line of fan engagement for football clubs. The Premier League is a world wide brand and online means messages instantly disseminate around the globe.

Just look at the number of followers a typical Premier League side commands – many exceed average league attendance, with more supporters lurking elsewhere in the deep, dark bowels of the internet. Not surprisingly how clubs use social media to connect with stakeholders generates strong opinions from supporters.

Newcastle United began using Twitter a few years ago with currently around 200,000 followers, one of the largest numbers in the league. I asked supporters about the club’s use of the platform to find out whether they thought NUFC’s use of Twitter put them top of the table or that the club is in a basement battle.

What do fans (not) want?

Supporters were asked five simple questions – whether they followed the club, what they liked, what they disliked, what they wanted to see more of and what they wanted to see less of.

First off, of those fans who responded 25% didn’t officially ‘follow’ the official Twitter account. The main reason for this, mentioned by 61% of respondents, was the glut of marketing messages sent out by NUFC. It turns out that spammy and invasive tweeting will put off even the most ardent supporter.

This complaint was not simply restricted to those who have opted against following @NUFCOfficial. 84% of all respondents made reference to the use of the Twitter account as a vehicle for little more than adverts as one of their main dislikes of NUFC’s use of Twitter and it was a commented on frequently by those surveyed:

“Too many tweets about club shop offers”
“They just use it to sell stuff from the shop in the main. They never reply to genuine questions”
“The amount of tweets about selling items instead of news about the club”
“Getting spammed by offers of merchandise from the club shop. The club shop should get a separate account”

Oh dear. It’s pretty apparent that the club’s policy of using Twitter to drive traffic and increase sales isn’t well liked and probably isn’t working either.85% of fans said they wanted to see much less of it. But anyway, what about plus points?

To the surprise of no one, fans said they want to hear more about new signings.

When asked what they liked about the club’s Twitter almost 55% could muster an answer that wasn’t a variation on the word “nothing”. As you’d expect many of these responses focused on information that the club could publicise before anyone else, such as team line ups, signings and other breaking news:

“Team news on match day”
“Ticket announcements”
“Goal updates from matches are usually the quickest on Twitter”
“Picture galleries”

So it turns out there are a few redeeming features of the club’s Twitter use. However that cannot escape from the fact that the feeling among many supporters is that if engagement is the name of then game then the club’s presence is not fit for purpose. When pushed on what they’d like to see from the account an increase in interaction was at the top of the pile:

“More interaction with supporters. Better use of social media tools in general to connect with fans”
“Interaction with supporters. Greater innovation in terms of how it is used too. Twitter can be used for great things but Newcastle have not embraced it.”
“More interaction with fans”
“Fan engagement. A teeny tiny bit of opinion now and then and the odd exclusive signing pictures rather than having to pay for NUFC TV”

A nice, round 40% of respondents made some mention of increased engagement with supporters in some form or another. There was also a clear interest in more exclusive, behind the scenes content similar toManchester City’s Inside City video series. Granted, that’s not strictly a comment on Twitter but more proof social media must be coordinated cross platform.

I’ll leave the final word to one respondent who was pretty damning in his assessment of Newcastle’s use of the platform…

“They’ve totally missed the point of Twitter”

The Nets move to Brooklyn: Brand boon or bust?

kirk_wakefield Research, Sponsorships January 1, 2013November 2, 2018brand, Brooklyn, JayZ, Knicks, measurement, Nets, sponsor, sponsorship ROI 1 Comment

by Anne Rivers – January 2013

Whose brand is bigger? Knicks or Nets?

What happens to teams as they move cities? Do people miss the Seattle SuperSonics? The LA Rams? How about moving the Nets from New Jersey to Brooklyn?

Some New Jersey residents may miss the Nets, but the general public and basketball fans already believe the move was a good one.

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Three Takeaways

BAV Consulting tracks the value of over 3500 brands, including pro franchises, each quarter from over 17,000 nationally representative consumers.
Energized differentiation–being perceived as authentic, independent, dynamic, and unique–is what drives the value of sports franchises and brands.
Sponsors (Barclays) gain measurable brand value through a clear association with a dynamic franchise (Brooklyn Nets). [/dropshadowbox]

Each pro team and another 3,500 brands are tracked in the BrandAsset Valuator (BAV) database. Beginning in 1993, we now collect opinions from over 17,000 respondents every quarter to track brand values. What do we know about the Nets since they moved?

In the BAV, the Brooklyn Nets are more differentiated, more relevant and have more momentum than the New Jersey Nets. People believe the new team brand is more authentic, independent, dynamic and unique. They want to learn more about The Nets since moving to Brooklyn.

Why this new fervor? The borough would be the fourth largest city if it could secede from New York City. Brooklyn itself is a powerful brand. Residents say they are from Brooklyn, not New York. Brooklyn’s popularity is at a high. The city’s brand is admired and relevant to residents and those outside of New York.

Will the Brooklyn Nets brand benefit Brooklyn? The Nets have a head start with a new, revamped team black and white color logo consistent with Brooklyn cool. Simple and bold in nature, the logo reflects Brooklyn’s essence: raw, authentic and edgy. The team interweaves Brooklyn essence, imbibing all of the history and culture Brooklyn has to offer. Appropriately, JAY Z, the creator of the logo, was raised in Brooklyn and popularizes the borough through his music.

Barclays sponsors the Nets new home, gaining invaluable brand equity. Compared to the general public, the Barclays brand is more differentiated among basketball fans. They believe the brand is more relevant and highly regarded. Through the Barclays Center, Barclays is becoming more distinctive to basketball fans and proves it is up–to–date, visionary, friendly, obliging, down-to-earth, authentic, different and dynamic. All these are rare components for a financial services brand.

New Competition in Town

The Brooklyn Nets’s move into Knick’s territory should renew concerns for the Knicks. New York now has a formidable adversary on and off the court in terms of brand image. From our data, we know brand image helps drive ticket and merchandise sales as well as share of mind and heart. The Brooklyn Nets already surpass the Knicks in “Admired Difference,” a BAV® construct measuring a combination of fan appreciation for team differentiation, momentum and regard often likened to brand love.

Brooklyn is the hip and cool underdog with momentum and love among the fans and the public. The Knicks are viewed as prestigious, traditional and still the leader. Who will win this battle of the brands? Sure, winning always helps. But the consistent brand winner will weave its way into the community and harness the love of consumers and their common passions.

The Manager’s Take

by Eric Kussin, Vice President of Sales & Service, New Jersey Devils

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”200px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]

Eric Kussin

[/dropshadowbox]

I can see why the Nets move to Brooklyn is a brand equity boon to both the Nets and Barclays. Having grown up in the New York/New Jersey, I can see why the move to Brooklyn has been a positive one for the Nets.

1) The move to Brooklyn gave the Nets the opportunity to break the stigma of “a team sharing an outdated building out in East Rutherford” (which was difficult to get to by mass transit). East Rutherford had always been looked at as the inconvenient home of Giants Stadium (now Met Life Stadium), where an arena for an NBA and NHL team just happened to be in close proximity.

2) The Nets now have their own new home in a state-of-the-art facility, convenient by subway from anywhere in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as anywhere in Long Island from the LIRR and on to connecting subways. You get out of the subway and the arena is literally right in front of you.

3) A smart move was changing the colors and logo (maybe not such a popular move to the fans in New Jersey that they were leaving behind)…as a “launch” of their new relationship with their new home in a new borough and with new fans in the area. Black and white is a stark contrast from red and blue. Brooklyn has been starving for a major professional sports team to return for decades now, and the finally have one. For Brooklyn to take real ownership of this team as “their team” the organization owed it to them to introduce a new color scheme and a new logo that fit the new neighborhood and the team and ownership attitude.

4) Whether it translates to long term success on the court or not, in moving to a new arena, new colors, new logos, the team also needed to show they were putting a new and fresh product out on the floor. While they kept some of the pieces they were building around in New Jersey – like Deron Williams and Coach Johnson, they added some new pieces like Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace to the mix. Adding new players to the mix went along with all the “new” they were introducing. It tied the on-court theme with the off-court theme.

Special thanks to KennySun for the cover photo (http://normalmag.com/).

What drives fan passion?

kirk_wakefield Experiences, Research, Sell, Tickets January 1, 2013November 2, 2018baseball, Chicago, Cubs, culture, experiences, fans, passion, research, sponsorships, team, tickets 1 Comment

by Kirk Wakefield – January 2013

What makes a passionate fan?

A passionate fan devotes heart, mind, body, and soul to the team. The consequences of a passionate fan base are increased ticket, media, merchandise and sponsorship revenue to the team.

But what are the antecedents to fan passion? What causes fans to be passionate?

Researching passion across thousands of fans and all major sports, we can now explain the vast majority (~75%) of the WHY fans are passionate for a particular team and not a fan of another team. Teams become popular when it becomes part of CULTURE.

In Chicago, “Cubs fans are part of a special group; the best fans in baseball who get to call the best place to watch baseball their home, Wrigley Field,” explains Colin Faulkner, Vice President, Ticket Sales & Service with the Cubs. The experience fans get at Wrigley make it cool to be a Cubs fan and it provides a positive identity for fans. It’s become part of the Chicago culture.

[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”550px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Fan passion is based on the team’s CULTURE:

Cool: Is the team cool, original, and different from other teams?
Unique: Does the team occupy a distinct space in the sports marketplace based on their exclusive logo, brand name, and singular quality, design, colors or style?
Love: Do fans love the players on the team? Are fans emotionally attached to players?
Trust: Do fans trust the organization running the team to be dependable, competent, responsive, and to act with integrity?
Utility: For what fans get for what they give up in time, effort, and money, what is the value of a ticket to a game?
Relationships: What does the image of the team say about fans to others? Does following the team bring social approval?
Experiential: Does the game environment allow fans to enjoy the experience and entertainment? Does the game experience build evangelists for the team?[/dropshadowbox]

We can score and rank teams on how strong the CULTURE is for teams in their markets. This data offers marketing diagnostics for teams and quantifies value for brands evaluating sponsorships.

An example

We took a sample of 430 students at Baylor University to measure their passion for professional teams in Texas. Given our location 90 minutes away, students are biased toward DFW teams.¹

Implications

1. Fan perceptions of team performance doesn’t necessarily predict passion. Students accurately see the Texans as one of the best performing teams and the Astros the worst, but this doesn’t correspond with how passionate they are about these teams. In fact, once we statistically account for the other elements of CULTURE, performance doesn’t help explain fan passion at all.

2. The Cowboys have not performed particularly well on the field in the past 15 years. Why are they so popular? Because they effectively position themselves as a cool, unique franchise with an exciting game experience. They have become part of the CULTURE.

3. The Spurs are frequently recognized as one of the best run franchises. While these students have a bias toward the DFW teams, they recognize the trust fans have in the Spurs organization.

4. The utility–or perceived value–of ticket prices is closely related to fan passion and the experience at the game. The true value of tickets is never a matter of cost, but always a matter of passion and past experiences.

What can teams do to build a CULTURE of passionate fans? Next month we’ll discuss, among other things, how organizations can build passionate fans by upgrading the experience and developing coolness.

“At Penn State football, if you missed the awesome touchdown catch, no worries. Pull out your smartphone and watch as many times as you want from multiple angles,” explains Mike Birdsall, FanConnex. “Don’t want to wait in line for food? At Stanford you can order food from your seat and receive a text when it’s ready to pick up at a special express window.”

¹Survey was taken the week prior to the Rangers falling out of first place.