As a way to respond to those circumstances, Last says the sports world, including ticket and merchandise marketers,
have started tapping a more comprehensive strategy that often mixes behavioral
data and survey research to better understand key customer segments, identify inflection points and tailor direct marketing
efforts in more customized ways than they
ever have.
The 2C2R Formula
For Last, part of the equation for sports
is building a “viable community of loyal-
ists.”
“Sports marketers are rightfully putting
greater emphasis on customer loyalty and
fan experience,” he says.
To that end, Last has created the
acronym 2C2R — and though it sounds
like a complicated football
maneuver, it’s relatively simple and includes four elements:
1. Communication: “The best loyalty
marketing efforts take great care
in crafting the right type and frequency of marketing communication to best customers,” Last says.
“They realize one mass message
often doesn’t form the one-to-one
bond that demonstrates to customers that they’re valued and appreciated. Plus, the communication
acknowledges unique needs and offers a solution instead of just a sales
proposition.”
2. Community: Good fan communities
bring people of shared needs to-
gether in a meaningful and honest
exchange. Sports & Leisure Re-
search Group applied this concept
for a cruise line by offering forums
for passengers to meet in before
they set sail, for past guests to share
memories together and through
special events that fostered literal
community building within local
markets. Finding the right approach
can often be as simple as conduct-
ing needs assessment and concept
testing research.
A Slam Dunk!
Celtics take an interest in Pinterest.
The NBA’s Boston Celtics have taken a special interest in the social website Pinterest, an online pin board where users typically ‘pin up’ — or share — things they like with their friends. And for Peter Stringer, senior director of
interactive media for the Celtics, the idea of using it to the team’s advantage was, as they say, a
slam dunk.
“Pinterest, and all social media,
really, can generate big buzz,”
Stringer says. “Pinterest itself is
inherently viral; most of the pins
are re-pins from brands and other
users. We thought users would want
to share our content, sharing their
likes, wants and needs.”
Stringer adds he wanted to
have a presence on any major social
network where the Celtics’ brand
was being discussed with a goal “to
own, choreograph and monetize the
conversation.”
Last January, Stringer says
the Celtics were among first pro
teams to join Pinterest. And by April,
they were the first team to run a
Pinterest contest to drive traffic to
their merchandise site, Celtics.com/
shop.
Stringer and his staff called it “Pin it to Win it.” The Celtics invited Pinterest users to “pin” 10
of their favorite items from the store and create a board called the “Celtics Dream Closet.” Several
winners got items they pinned, and a grand prize winner took home a $500 gift card to the site.
Results included 116 entries and more than 560 pinned items from the Celtics store. In all,
2,742 followed the contest boards that led to 842 visits to the Celtics store. “Pinterest continues to
drive referral traffic and it’s emerging as an E-commerce player, driving more referral traffic than
You Tube, LinkedIn and other media,” Stringer says.
