Postseason baseball brings an air of unbridled enthusiasm to the game. Crowd attendance grows, sports bars fill with excited fans and the hunt for October evokes a passion for the game that reverberates through the nation. This postseason is not unlike any other, plentiful with extra inning games, rookies making career defining plays, and pitching duels that go long into the night. This particular postseason however, may end with a Cinderella-esque storyline as the Kansas City Royals leave their small club mark against mighty big leaguers like the Los Angeles Angels. The Royals rise to fame this season has called forth the age old question as to whether small market teams can truly thrive against big league clubs where high dollars for top talent and lavish facilities know no limits. While for many a truly level playing field among the David and Goliaths may never exist in baseball operations, the sports marketing world with the digital landscape at its fingertips, finds itself with unprecedented opportunities for teams to reach more people, elicit more passion for their brands, and unite fans everywhere.
A desire to learn more about how small market teams are tackling the digital space and what unique challenges they face brought me to Milwaukee as the season wound to a close. I sat down with Caitlin Moyer, the Brewers' Director of New Media to talk about the roller coaster of a season that had the team, reeling in everything from steroid controversy and a lovable stray dog to a lead of the division for most of the season and a hard fall from grace finishing the team outside the playoffs. I left Miller Park's packed crowd with a sense for three areas small market teams like the Brewers excel at, when marketing across the digital divide.
1.
Flexibility and Efficient Timing - When the Brewers began their season many expected Ryan Braun, the team's fan favorite player, and his positive test for steroids to be a negative black cloud of controversy tainting much of the season. That was until a loveable stray dog showed up at the Brewers spring training home and Moyer and her team got to work showcasing the cuteness that ensued. What started out as a sweet online story about a dog that the team took under their adoptive wing grew into a staple for the Brewers' ball club with social sharing, engagement, and all around positivity among fans young and old generating requests for more pictures, more updates, and a store filled with Hank the dog merchandise. Moyer made it clear the dog's emotional tale was not any sort of well devised plan to pull attention away from Braun, but rather the team's superior management style that allowed Moyer to jump on any content that might be of interest to the fans and run with it. Hank the dog soon filled the daily newsfeeds of Brewers fans generating inclusion in sausage runs, his very own bobble head night, and next season a brand new mascot that will represent the lovable mutt. Will we continue to see more content about Hank next year? "If the fans dictate it, absolutely," Moyer responded.
2.
Managing Expectations & Human Emotion - "Winning solves everything." It's a common expression used in sports marketing when describing the challenges of selling tickets and filling more seats. Yet for small market clubs who often don't find themselves on the winning side of a season, a roller coaster ride that sees them leading their division only to fall from grace before the postseason can create far more difficulties for the digital marketer. Moyer expressed this season as having being especially challenging as the Brewers' digital space became a stomping ground of human emotion with fans exhibiting exceptionally strong opinions on their expectation of the team and their unfiltered disappointment. So how do small clubs handle the rise and defeat? By preparing for the tidal wave. Digital mavens like Moyer prepare for the worst while planning for the best, taking on a psychological role that lets fans blow off steam online by putting out less content and tailoring what content there is to human interest and community pieces over team cheer-leading, bringing a welcome distraction from the game itself while still positioning the brand in the best light. "I have to be careful what I post at those times, that content can become a magnet for negative responses regardless of what I'm posting. It's hard, but there are other great things we're doing with the community and kids worth telling," Moyer explained as we watched kids from the community have the chance to line up beside players in the field pre-game, riddled with excitement.
3.
Content is King - Step right up and see how fast you can throw a pitch. Try your luck and see how fast you can run the bases. Take a slide down Bernie's dugout slide. Feeling adventurous? Try the climbing wall, get to the top, ring the bell, and take a look at the view overlooking the outfield. Stroll around Miller Park and the host of activities that lay ahead is likely to make anyone's inner child squeal with delight. As a frequent traveler who has enjoyed a game in 19 of the 30 parks, I expressed my favorable impression at the wealth of activities available to Moyer and asked if the park's active (and largely baseball related) in-park entertainment was indicative of a larger brand appeal that crossed into the digital space. Moyer explained that the club understands the importance of the fan experience and the types of content that result in more digital captures, more social sharing, and more family trips to the park. Each season brings with it more and different sponsorship opportunities, but the ball club positions the sport of baseball front and center, as well as activities that fans will be excited to take part in and share visual proof of to friends and family. This approach to in-game entertainment and sponsorships results not only in fans who are more connected to the brand and a complete day at the ballpark, but also in turn keeps the tickets selling. As we parted ways Moyer exclaimed, "be sure and catch the sausage race it's an old tradition, and take a look around: climb a wall, throw a pitch, there's always something fun to do here, there's truly nothing else like it."
And in true digital marketing spirit I did just that.....and then shared the photos with all of my friends.
