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malloryonsite-blog · 7 years

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Day 5 (6/9/17):

Day 5 we visited the Property Consulting Group offices. Their offices are pretty chill and laid back. They view it as, if the environment you work in is laid back, open, and not stressful, that it will be easier to produce better work. Company culture is a big thing to them. They want to work with people who they will get along with and will be able to get work done with.

One of their partners is the Chicago Cubs, so they showed us this video to give us an idea of what it is that they do for brands. In the video, Stephen Colbert goes around Wrigley Field trying to sell Vienna Beef hot dogs. This is a form of earned media. Earned media is publicity gained through promotional efforts other than paid media advertising, which refers to publicity gained through advertising, or owned media, which refers to branding. It gave Vienna Beef brand exposure. The Cubs and Stephen Colbert probably got a lot of exposure too because I’m sure this video was all over the Internet and shown on TV.

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malloryonsite-blog · 7 years

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Day 4 (6/8/17):

Day 4 was a busy day. We got to speak with some great people from UnCommon Thinking, TSMGI, Painless Networking, Chicago Fire, and UIC.

UnCommon Thinking is a digital studio located in Chicago that works with sports and entertainment brands. Co-founded in 2002 by Bob McKamey and John Ryan, their mission is to bring out the unique culture of each brand they work with – from design to content to functionality. Some of the services they have are Social Media Strategy, Website Content Strategy, Website Development, Social Media Design, Website Design, and Content Management Solutions.

Above are some of the graphics they have made for draft pick, Ben Simmons, and Villanova for March Madness. Check out more of the work they’ve done on their Instagram.

Chris Hartweg from Painless Networking came and spoke to us about some key points to be able to succeed in the industry. Painless Networking was created to help people painlessly meet solid people connected to sports and events.

You will always be selling.

Chris said to stop saying you can’t sell, you hate selling, and you are not good at selling, and to start thinking instead “How do I best position myself/my idea/my event?” and “What do I have to sell?” As soon as he mentioned that, I thought of myself immediately because I’ve always thought I could never go into sales, so he made me come into some realizations to start thinking and viewing things differently.

3 Keys to Success.

Organization

Find yours and stick with it

Communicate

Connect with others, don’t make them come to you

Encourage feedback, insist on participation

Stay positive while thinking negative

Don’t come with a problem, offer a solution

Data.

It is important to get data and information. You do this by looking at the consumer and figuring out who they are, by looking at things like gender, age, geography, shopping history, and income. You also have to look at the competitors and what they are doing. This way you can measure your goals and improve.

Activation options/tactics.

Some of the ways Chris talked about to market, create awareness, and revenue are:

Old School PR- TV/radio/print

New School PR- Social/Digital content

Advertising/direct marketing -ads/traditional mail/e-mail

Spokespeople

Awareness- mobile tours, concerts, ect.

Adjusting and reacting to situations.

It is important to know how to adjust to situations and be prepared for anything and know how to react. This is important for the fans, customer service, and the company. Chris brought in a booklet that they used for a marathon where it has different tabs of what to do in certain situations like lost and found, emergencies, and other important aspects.

They also have a podcast where they'll interview professionals from different companies:

What I got out of Chicago Fire was that it is very important for them that their employees are happy. When the employees are happy, the fans are happy. They collect employee and fan feedback and are always finding ways to improve.

Here are the top five points I got out of UIC:

Help tell the stories of student athletes.

UIC has a lot of competition around the city so they have to tell really good stories to get noticed and get people talking about the school. One example they gave is when the softball team was NCAA bound, but that story wasn’t good enough, so to make it even better they shared how one of the players on the team, Karissa Frazier, was driven to expand the bone-marrow donor pool. They got a story in the Chicago Tribune and other places. I attached the article about her below.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/columnists/ct-uic-bone-marrow-donor-haugh-spt-0518-20170517-column.html

Sell to student athletes.

Their main target fans to get to the games is student athletes. This is because they are not a traditional school where everyone is on campus where going to the games is a big, fun event. It is a commuter school, so student have to often times travel to get to the games. One way they will try to get students involved is with their rewards app where student can check-in, get points, and win prizes.

Make sure they have a voice/get message out.

Other ways they try to stay involved with fans and the public is being mobile friendly and other things like website renovations. Everyone can access information very quickly on the internet, on their mobile devices, and on social media, so it is important for them to keep up with these things.

Public.

UIC keeps the public engaged with things like live streams, billboards/radio, and events. The events, such as Flames Fest, cater to families and people in the area. They will get local businesses and people in the neighborhood involved.

Facility rentals.

One big thing that may not be a source of revenue for other schools, but is for UIC is their facilities. They rent them out, sometimes even to international soccer clubs that come practice there, and they will make good money. Teams that may be playing at Soldier Field, but need a place to practice, will come there, so I thought that was really cool.

UIC has beautiful facilities, and great views, as you an see from the picture of their baseball field above.

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malloryonsite-blog · 7 years

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The new Park at Wrigley where people can gather with friends, shop local produce, enjoy a classic movie, savor a beer, cheer on the Cubs and much more. Located at the Park at Wrigley, the new 8400 sq. ft. Cubs Store holds everything from baseball hats to memorabilia. There is the Jostens Jewelry Store where they have the Official Designer of the 2016 World Championship Ring. You can also visit the Cubs Championship Trophy in the Trophy Room. There is a Starbucks and supposedly they are adding a building next to it for a Tavern.

Wrigley is going to be more about entertainment. This is a great way to make Wrigley more open to families and children.

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malloryonsite-blog · 7 years

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Day 3 (6/7/17):

Day 3 was an exciting day for me because we went to Wrigley Field. I was born and raised into being a Cubs fan with a family of Cubs fans and a dad who is their BIGGEST fan ever, so I grew up going to Wrigley Field and the Cubs games. As soon as we got to Wrigley, I noticed all the changes immediately. It really looked transformed, but they still kept their unique features that make Wrigley Field what it is.

Through all the years of going to Wrigley, I’ve never been out on the field, so that was pretty cool.

The Wrigley Field experience for fans is like no other and can only be felt live and in person. They have such unique features that other places don’t have, like the manually operated scoreboard, the W flag flying, the green ivy, the famous red marquee, the bleachers, 7th inning stretch, post game sing along of “Go Cubs Go,” and 103 years of history. You get to be together with all of the fans for a shared unscripted and emotional experience that has always been there. I must say I’ve been to many baseball games going to a few different fields in my life, some including Wrigley Field, U.S. Cellular(now Guaranteed Rate), and Miller Park, and I might be biased, but there is nothing like being at Wrigley Field, especially when they get a win and “Go Cubs Go” plays.

One of the things Brad Nagel, Assistant Director of Service Excellence, mentioned to us, which I think adds to a great team and fan experience, is the way the staff really try to engage with their fans and make things as easy as possible and as good as possible for them. I really appreciated that being a fan myself.

We also spoke to Scott Garrett, Senior Associate Athletics Director & External Operations at Kansas State University. I think the awesome thing about K-State is the way they have a lot of involvement with other families and their own families. They have clubs, like the K-State Junior Wildcats Club, where kids 2-12 can experience activities and events, with other benefits. They try to get kids involved and give them a good time. Scott brings his own family out and his son has reported on their K-State HD TV station.

Check out their dance cam from their Men's Basketball vs. Iowa State game:

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malloryonsite-blog · 7 years

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Day 2 (6/6/17):

Although I am not a Chicago White Sox fan (Go Cubs!), we got to go to Guaranteed Rate Field and visit with some great people.

Here are some of the aspects they talked upon in their business:

Making things easier for the employees and the fans.

Beth Grabowski, the Director of Marketing and Analytics, talked about trying to get all of the data in one area. There are 81 games and a lot of ticket transactions so there is a lot of data. A lot of communication and consistency needs to take place by making sure the right hand and left hand are working together. They also want to make it work better for the fans, since there are so many ticket transactions, they want to make it easy for them, so that they don’t have a frustrating experience. Another way they make things easier for themselves and the fans is with the BallPark App. It makes it better for themselves because they can use it as a way to collect more data with fans checking in so they can better understand the fans. They will learn why these fans are coming and who they are coming with, so that this way they can customize messages and provide better promotions targeting these people. It is a way to reduce fan friction. The app makes things easier for the fans because all the information they need it right on the app. It lists the different types of beers they have, as well as, the food and where it is located.

Corporate Partnerships.

Corporate partnerships are an important aspect of the White Sox Organization because they bring in more sponsorship revenue and cash for them. Jeff Floerke, gave one example of what they do where there are races are held at the White Sox game, one of the Beefs will win (Cheesy, Juicy, or Hot & Sweet). People with the winning BEEF game card will be able to get a FREE 5" BUONA BEEF at any Buona Restaurant location by presenting the winning game card and a valid game ticket stub within 24 Hours after the game/race. This is fun for the fans, and Buona Beef gets promotion. They have a page on the Buona site where it says they proudly sponsor the White Sox.

Social Media/digital communications.

Brad Boron, Director of Digital Communications, said that they are on 9 different social media platforms, and these are based off of what fans use and where the fan want to see them on. Fans can be involved and tweet or email them and it’s a great way for them to learn more about the fans and their wants and needs. They even got on spotify because the fans wanted to know the players walk up songs, so they made a walk up song playlist. They’ve also done like a ‘secret santa,’ but on Reddit.

Group days/theme days/events

Jeff Bogacki, Head of Group Sales, mentioned some of the different nights they have like Star Wars night, where they will give 10,000-15,000 bobble heads out, or Christmas in July, where they will have certain foods or drinks. They also have Teachers night, Navy night, Polish Heritage night, Illini night, and many more. Those were just to name a few, but they do this to appeal to the different fans bases. The White Sox offer numerous events throughout the season that they target towards specific occupations, ethnicities, towns/municipalities, and more. This might even get more people in that wouldn’t normally come to the games. Jeff said that the group events become ballpark events.

Another thing I found interesting was how Chance The Rapper has really helped the White Sox. They mentioned how the hat he designed sold out in 15 minutes. He also had his concert/festival there(which I went to, even though I don’t like the White Sox, but I LOVED the whole concert) and it brought more people, especially younger people, who wouldn’t normally come to the games, or maybe even the area. Chance is getting really big now with many younger fans, so it’s a good connection for them to have.

Player branding.

One thing Sheena Quinn, Director of PR, talked about was helping brand the players. I think this is important because it makes the players and the team more likeable, in my opinion. It also makes them more marketable, and memorable. They can engage their fans, and make them want to be part of something bigger. One of the players, Jose Abreu, has Abreu’s Amigos, because he has a passion for supporting children with special needs. He has donated money to schools, as well as, gone in and helped out with the kids, and more.

Heather Obering from Northwestern Athletics came to speak to us and said that Northwestern was big on fan experience and engaging the fans. With their new $110-plus million arena, Northwestern will be able to provide their fans with the best experience possible. Below is an article about their new arena and some of the new features it will have.

http://www.nusports.com/news/2016/6/13/WRA_Renovation.aspx

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malloryonsite-blog · 7 years

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Day 1 (6/5/17):

For the first day of class in Sports Hospitality & Fan Relations at Roosevelt University, Conor Rappaport, former Roosevelt student and Administrative Assistant at Vivid Seats, came and spoke to us about the company.

Vivid Seats is a secondary marketplace where people can purchase the best possible tickets for the cheapest prices to the biggest events. They try to provide good quality and affordable services while still being safe and secure, which builds trust and loyalty with their customers.

In the article below, it talks about how a Chicago private-equity firm GTCR announced that it has agreed to make a “strategic investment” in Vivid Seats. The company was valued at $1.5 billion and the GTCR Managing Director David Donnini said that they have impressive growth.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20170516/BLOGS04/170519885/gtcr-buys-stake-in-ticket-reseller-vivid-seats

We also took a trip down to Soldier Field. I thought this was pretty cool because we got to go inside the Chicago Bears locker room, although I wish I got to see the Field, because I’ve never been to a Bears game or in Soldier Field before.

Tanesha Wade, Director of Events and Entertainment at Chicago Bears, and Dave McClamroch, Director of Corporate Partnerships at Chicago Bears, said that customer service is a very important aspect of their business and have even had Disney come in and train them and their employees to learn how to bring some aspects of Disney and their culture into their workplace.

I thought this was interesting, but also a great idea, because when I think of Disney, I think of families taking their kids and the main focus being the kids where everything is fun and happy, and when I think of Chicago Bears games, I think of tailgating and people yelling and drinking, sometimes happy while sometimes not, although still having a good time.

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