mattwellsey-blog

[mattwellsey-blog]

#Onward to Traverse City

It has been a little while since posting to Tumblr, but it is definitely time to get the #ForwardMotion blog restarted -- Traverse City style. 

This past Monday, I began working as a Project Manager with the branding agency Intersection.  Check out their website.

About Intersection: Intersection is a brand-experience team that exists to create authentic exchanges between brands and people.  Brands are symbols of experience.  They have a responsibility to deliver a brilliant product that answers consumer needs in an inspiring way.  Successful brands are more than a good logo or tagline.  They are an experience that delight and inspire consumers, wherever they find it.  

As Project Manager, I will be responsible for coordinating the execution of deliverables through our project management system (Podio, which is SUPER AWESOME.)  We have some exciting clients that are on the brink of doing some amazing things.  It's our job to get them there.

As a result of moving into the advertising world full-time and exiting the intercollegiate athletics advertising/marketing realm, the theme of this blog will change a little bit.  Look out for more posts on agency creative work and project management tidbits.

Fun stuff. As for the family, we are headed to Traverse City to move into the new apartment on Friday morning.  Start date in the Traverse City office is this upcoming Monday.  Excited to meet the rest of our staff and the interns (check out their Twitter: @internsection).

[mattwellsey-blog]

Here is a photo gallery of the Ball State Football Team conducting the "First Down Project" for the Muncie community.  All 85 student-athletes from the football team were working in 10 yards (get it, first down?) from 3-5pm on Sunday, April 21st in partnership with Muncie Delaware Clean and Beautiful.  

Many thanks to Steve Lindell from WLBC, Robin Gibson from The Star Press, Mary Beth Lambert from MDCB, Jackson Boyd from Football Operations, Luke Martin from Ball State Sports Link, and head coach Pete Lembo for helping me organize this event.  

Here are some additional links to further coverage: 

WLBC interview 4/22: https://soundcloud.com/wlbcwakeupcrew/wlbc-first-down-project

The Star Press Coverage: http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20130422/NEWS01/304220020/Ball-State-football

Personal Interview w/ Homeowner: https://soundcloud.com/matt-wells-13/interview-with-community

[mattwellsey-blog]

Reds Passport

Yesterday, I was able to take in a day game at Great American Ball Park and came across this gem of a marketing idea while perusing through the Reds' Official Team Store. 

The Reds 2013 Season Pass-Port is a small booklet with pages that allow the user to keep track of their trips to Great American Ball Park.  There is a pouch to store used ticket stubs, as well as a section of pages to collect player autographs.  The best part about this piece might have been the copy on the back cover of the Pass-Port, which was very targeted to those that will be purchasing for themselves, or their children.

"Can you recall the days of Crosley Field, The Big Red Machine, Hit 4192 (Pete Rose's record-breaking number), The Perfect Game or even the first game you attended? Can you imagine what it would have been like to have had a Reds Season Pass-Port during the years of the Big Red Machine?  To collect autographs of players such as Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion? To recall the memories of bringing your son or daughter or grandchildren to the ballpark?"

Great nostalgia play that hits the buying audience right in gut.  Well-written!

Naturally, since I am working in intercollegiate athletics, I got to thinking: How could this apply and be interesting to our fans? 

I imagine a partnership with your Downtown Development staff and coordinating an effort that mixes local landmarks with attending athletic events.  Visit 5 local landmarks (must be stamped by a staff member of that place), attend 3 home football games, 5 home basketball games, and 3 "Olympic" sport events (continue the stamping of the Pass-Port at the athletic events) to win a prize branded by both Downtown Development and your athletic department.

Seems like a great way to integrate community and athletics.  

[mattwellsey-blog]

Thank You, #SevenFromHeaven

Being involved with college athletics professionally for the last six years and preferring the college game for 20-plus years has allowed me the opportunity to witness so many great stories.  Maybe it was a great battle between two traditional programs with everything on the line.  Maybe it is something more current, such as with the playful, yet potent attitude of Florida Gulf Coast. Maybe it is something such as this that illustrates the human element of sport:

RT @hoopsoncbs: #ICYMI: The story behind @adreian_payne's inspirational friendship with a 7-yr old girl with cancer - ow.ly/jlVe9

March 23, 2013

And sometimes, great stories happens right at home.

Seven women have banded together under their incredible head coach and his staff to construct something special right here in Muncie.  It is impossible to even explain how difficult it is to play with only seven players (foul trouble, fatigue, matchups, etc).  It is even more impossible to explain how you win 12 league games, earn a #2 seed in your conference tournament, advance to the WNIT and knock off a Big Ten school ON THE ROAD, and then turn around and complete a second-half rally at home to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

However, the most enjoyable moment for me yesterday occurred prior to the game commencing. The crowd, which was loud and boisterous, greeted these girls with passion during their starting lineups.  Right before being announced, they all looked at each other and smiled the biggest smiles, seemingly acknowledging to themselves that they had done something special.  It was one of those "reaffirmation moments" for me as to why I love athletics and all of the raw emotions that it represents.  Whether I am selling, creating marketing campaigns, or directly interacting with student-athletes, those little moments of complete bliss are what make this industry so incredibly awesome.

Ball State Women's Basketball, you have indeed accomplished something special and thank you so much for you undying enthusiasm, work ethic, and perseverance.  It is truly inspirational.     

[mattwellsey-blog]

#MACtion Observations

After one day at the MAC Tournament and after my first trip ever to Cleveland, here are some observations: 1. Quicken Loans Arena, affectionately known as "The Q", is REALLY sharp inside and out. Nice people working the gates, efficient concessions, sharp signage and sponsor activation pieces throughout the concourse. Only downside: the videoboard seemed a bit outdated, but I could be spoiled by the one at Bankers Life. 2. I will be back for a game at Progressive Field this summer sometime. Loved a sign outside the stadium keeping folks updated on when the season starts. Easy accessibility to bars and restaurants makes this a nice weekend stop for some baseball. Maybe Reds-Indians this summer? 3. Eagerly anticipating my first trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this afternoon. Only $22 for a ticket? Nice! I'll create a photo gallery from this trip this weekend and share via the blog! Let's stay in #ForwardMotion!

[mattwellsey-blog]

#RoadLessons: Trip to Myrtle Beach

Whenever I go on the road, whether it be for fun or work, I try to pay attention to the unfamiliar surroundings and notice some new ideas/old mistakes.  This weekend, I took a trip to watch my younger brother play in his first collegiate baseball contests in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

#RoadLessons 1: Billboards are great in tourist destinations, but black print on a red background will never work no matter where you are.

Myrtle Beach is peppered with outdoor advertisements for good reason.  Those from out of town have no clue what the local scene offers.  What better way to inform tourists of the fun they could be having than huge signs on the roads they will be traveling? Many boards were very elaborate (extensions and lighting), echoing the attractions they were advertising.

One board, however, struck my attention because it is an issue we struggle with at Ball State.  Black letters on a red background are IMPOSSIBLE to read up close and even MORE IMPOSSIBLE to read from far away while in motion.  A billboard like that has lost all value and the client will see no return on investment for their advertisement. This means lost business in the end. Yikes.

#RoadLessons 2: Foul (or should I say, "Fowl") balls can be fun!

The games this weekend that I attended were hosted at the Ripken Experience and they have a plethora of sponsors that they work with.  One element that was really cool was rewarding fans with coupons to Chick-Fil-A for bringing a foul ball back to the press box.  "Fowl" ball coupons allow the sponsor to see their sponsorship in action (specifically marked coupon being returned to the store), plus it drives down cost in purchasing baseballs for Ripken.  One thing that I would add to the idea would be announcing over the PA when a "Fowl" ball was brought back to the box.  Just another reminder that fans can win while at the park!  Advertising and baseball go hand in hand, after all.  So much dead time.

Example PA:

Fans, another Chick-Fil-A "Fowl" Ball was brought back to the press box and Steve received $2 off his next entree. Stay alert and keep your wings outstretched; the next Chick-Fil-A "Fowl" Ball could be headed your way.

#RoadLessons 3: Involving clients in what they pay for makes a big difference.

On the way back last night while driving through terrible conditions, the family had the IU-Ohio State MBB game on the radio and I caught the tail end of IU's halftime on-air feature involving their gameday sponsor.  A pre-recorded interview with a local hotel partner gave the sales manager a chance to relay his passion about IU alumni and the Bloomington community.  There might not be a true way to measure this element and its effectiveness.  But at least good rapport was maintained with the client.  Sometimes being included in the creative process is enough to keep a client coming back!

[mattwellsey-blog]

Major League Baseball has found a pretty cool promotion to capitalize on the nation's infatuation with March Madness and Twitter.  Basically, players were matched up against each other via hashtag -- #JoeyVotto -- and the player that has their named tweeted the most moves on to the next round.

Thinking on the collegiate sports marketing side of things, how cool would this promotion be to launch right after your team makes the tournament?  You could match up legends against each other -- i.e. who is the face of UCLA Basketball: #JohnWooden or #BillWalton? Fan bases would surely jump at the chance to defend their opinion and it would get them connected with the team while waiting for that Thurs./Fri. matchup.  

You could have student-athletes and coaching staff members sending TwitPics or Vines from the road showing the fans their picks.  Seems like such a fun and easy thing to do, not to mention the fact that some sponsor would jump all over that exposure.  All you would need is a splash page to promote it, a microsite within the department website to coordinate it, and tons of people on board to spread the word.  

[mattwellsey-blog]

"Apartment" - Young The Giant

A little bit of a throwback with this song (if you can call 2010 throwback), but man.. what an opening number on their fabulous piece of work.  Killer vocals, plus a late 80s "The Smiths-like" driving groove in the chorus.  Like the girlfriend says, Young the Giant seems like a band you should listen to on the couch while drinking wine.  Seems like a plan to me.

[mattwellsey-blog]

@LAKings Social Media Sponsor Activation

GAME STORY: Kings shut down Flames in 3-1 win: ht.ly/hUkC6

— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 21, 2013

The Los Angeles Kings' Twitter feed is doing something pretty unique in the sports social media scene.  In their Twitter avatar, as you can see above, they have included the logo of McDonald's following the script: "presented by:"

This move shows the evolution that is sure to take place within social media sponorship as we move forward in time.  Sponsorship salespeople are always looking for new ways to showcase their partners to the marketplace and this is a very subtle, yet recognizable, way to include someone and get multitudes of exposure.

Take a look at this math:

The LA Kings sent out 47 tweets in the last 24 hours, which included several game day-themed tweets last night.

47 tweets * 192,259 followers = 9,036,173 opportunities to be seen*

*Obviously, not all of their followers saw every tweet and many of them were probably watching the game or keeping track of it in another manner.

But, think about this:

Kings win, Kings win. This one is final: Kings 3, Flames 1.

— LA Kings (@LAKings) February 21, 2013

The tweet directly above received 312 re-tweets. Those re-tweets were surely seen by those not following the LA Kings' Twitter account.  What does this translate to? Insane exposure for the client.  Now, this works for McDonald's because they have such a recognizable logo that looks great at any size.  This mode of sponsorship isn't best for all brands, as their logo simply wouldn't translate very well. 

Instead, this could be the direction we're headed:

.@xfinitysports @mattwellsey We are not far from avatar takeovers by sponsors for periods of time #sportsbiz #sponsorship #SPLE6400

— Jonathan Norman (@jonathan_norman) February 20, 2013

[mattwellsey-blog]

Ball State Softball Fan Guide

The Ball State Softball Fan Guide is finished!  Click here to see the entire six-page print piece that will become available to fans at various events starting Friday.  The Cardinals are looking to defend their regular season MAC Championship and feature a young lineup that includes reigning MAC Player of the Year Jennifer Gilbert.

First home game: March 19 vs. Butler // 4pm

[mattwellsey-blog]

Supporters of those that work hard despite being against the odds, come out and support the Ball State Women's Basketball team. 8-3 in MAC play and only seven players are healthy. Seven.

Check out this quick commercial and enjoy the reference to Major League. This team is truly the definition of #ForwardMotion. 

[mattwellsey-blog]

The linked article from Advertising Age outlines Under Armour's first global advertising campaign, centered around the line: "I Will."

From a frequent buyer's perspective (their brand fits me the best, personally), the company has done a wonderful job at creating product that connects with a wide variety of customers.  They began with ideas that catered to the athlete's performance while maintaining the look necessary to compete in the national/global marketplace.

Why was the look successful?  Simple answer: because it worked on several levels.  Their logo is fabulous.  Their product executed the premises under which it was sold. (ColdGear kept you warm, HotGear kept you cool) They endorsed athletes that were a little darker (Ray Lewis), trendy (Lindsey Vonn), and flashy (Devin Hester).  Their first campaign line "Protect This House" capitalized on the athletic notion of camaraderie and embraced team culture.  How did they sell a lot of product?  They did it by communicating to potential buyers that the Under Armour product cares as much about your team as it does about you personally.

Now that the brand has established itself within American culture, the world must now be notified.  By evolving to an individualistic line, they are communicating this: "We have you, now let's become a part of who you are every day." I will become Under Armour.

This first commercial is focused on innovation. Pretty cool stuff.

[mattwellsey-blog]

Community Service for Student-Athletes

Spring is just around the corner (mercifully) and the opportunity to be outside and making a difference is present.

We are very blessed to have corporate partners that share that same exact vision with our community.  One of our partners has approached us about creating a community service program that focuses around our student-athletes and their current branding effort within the Athletic Department.

At Ball State, we are very blessed to have a group of coaches that believe strongly in finding ways for their student-athletes to connect with the community.  Hopefully, this opportunity is one that we can grow and move forward with in the future!

We are looking for idea concepts to approach our coaches with and then, present to entities interested in participating.  An idea we have been kicking around is 1st Down and 10 Yards, where our football players go out and help local businesses and families with spring yard clean-up/preparations.

I would really appreciate your ideas!  Feel free to shoot me an email at matthew.wells4@gmail.com. I would love to connect with you and your thoughts! 

Have a great weekend!

[mattwellsey-blog]

Album Rapid React: "This Is How The Wind Shifts" - Silverstein

Post-hardcore is sometimes hard for me to evaluate.  It isn't my favorite genre and I only have two bands in the genre that I consistently listen to when they are on top of their game (Silverstein and Emery). Silverstein's last full length, Rescue, didn't qualify as a great effort with me.  So, when I heard they were trying the concept album route again, I felt compelled to give them another shot.

Concept albums always get higher marks in my books, but the concept for This Is How The Wind Shifts is pretty amazing.  There are 14 songs assembled in two, seven-track pairings.  Tracks 1-7 tell a story and Tracks 8-14 tell the same story under a different set of circumstances.

So, the layout is such:

1: Stand Amid The Roar; 8: In A Place Of Solace

2: On Brave Mountains We Conquer; 9: In Silent Seas We Drown

3: Massachusetts; 10: California

4: This Is How; 11: The Wind Shifts

5: A Better Place; 12: To Live And To Lose

6: Hide Your Secrets; 13: With Second Chances

7: Arrivals; 14: Departures (also a previous album title)

This creative layout was paired with their best music and vocals to date.  Shane Told's voice (the best in all of post-hardcore) seems to push a higher timbre that echoes a richer production style - very clean and concise with guitar sounds that are sharp and light.  As for the writing, I'm still partial to the lyrics of Shipwreck In The Sand, but that album resonated well with some personal experiences I was going through at the time. 

The band was able to mix in their emo-poppy elements from earlier albums with their deeper, darker trending albums of late.  Probably my favorite mix of this is found in "Massachusetts", as it has the sing-songiest melody of the entire album, but also has the most appropriately placed screamo-infused guitar breakdown.  I think with  their previous album, the band decided to scream for the sake of screaming.  I find that absolutely unnecessary.  Instead, with TIHTWS, they screamed in perfect places that added to the quality of the song at hand. 

Basically, Silverstein remembered that they have emo roots and aren't quite as tough as they wish they were.  I don't need them to be tough; I need them to relate.  I could feel the pain, sorrow, clarity, and vision that this work of art is supposed to relay to the listener.

And man, do they get that point across.  This is their best album ever... and it's not even close.

Album Rapid Rating: 4.5 out of 5 -- with the potential to reach a perfect 5.. and a top 10 rating in my album collection.

[mattwellsey-blog]

A quick photo gallery from today's National Signing Day Live, presented by Kia of Muncie. Debuting a live webstream for our audience couldn't have gone any better.  We were able to get several football coaches, student-athletes, and coaches from other sports in front of the camera.  Several of our sponsors, including Kia of Muncie, Tom Raper RV, and The Grove-Muncie, were well represented.  What a special day to share with the department.  We are making the strides necessary to become a big-time athletic department in respect to how we look, present ourselves, and play on the field.  Much thanks to Ball State Sports Link for their support in making it happen and to the Media Relations staff for pulling it off. 

Pretty proud day for Ball State Football and Ball State Athletics.

[mattwellsey-blog]

For the first time ever, Ball State Athletics will be hosting a live stream of Signing Day on ballstatesports.com (click the link above to be taken to the press release). 

With this comes an exciting new way to reach out to our fan base and connect several sponsors with the event in its debut. There will be live reads, mentions, commercial spots, and other unique advertising items that will only develop even further as we continue doing live events like this.

One area that we need to be sure we cover, as pointed out by Fieldhouse Media on Twitter, is the pressure that future student-athletes will receive from fans in anticipation of the events.  There are ways to find out what players are being recruited, as we all know.  Check out the article from FM's tweet to read more.

As we get closer to Signing Day, we'll unfortunately see a lot of the ugly side of social media: ow.ly/1RLX0p #NSD2013

— Fieldhouse Media (@fieldhousemedia) February 1, 2013

[mattwellsey-blog]

From Steve DeLay of @TheMigalaReport, this is a brilliant look at season ticket sales compared to single game ticket sales.

Here at Ball State, we are in the early stages of putting together our campaign for selling season football tickets and what is the best way to make that happen in our market.  The truth of the matter at Ball State is that our fans don't come to games to watch us play Kent State or Northern Illinois.  We are not IU vs. Purdue or Notre Dame vs. USC. Instead, we have to find a way to connect with our fan base on the experience of coming out to the Scheu.  Could that be the ability to come hang on the hill with the kids and enjoy family time?  Could that be immersing yourself in tailgate culture?  Expect a bit of a different tune from us this year in our marketing of the football program.  Coming off a 9-4 season and a trip to a bowl game, there is much to be excited about and much to be gained from beginning to develop tradition and quality fan experiences.

My favorite section of the linked article comes from the section below:

Here’s why I don’t like single game marketing.

It generally doesn’t work. The item has to have a perceived value close to the cost of the ticket to make someone decide to go to the game because of the gimmick. Nobody wakes up in the morning, reads the paper and says, “Wow, the Big City Kangaroos are giving away hats today. I’m gonna go spend $20 on a ticket so I can get one.” Those items are few and very far in between.

It does nothing for the sponsor. Let’s get real. This whole idea that ‘the sponsor paid for the item’ is garbage. Slapping a logo on a tee shirt and giving it away doesn’t do anything to help sell a sponsor’s product. The money you blew on the buying the tee shirts could have been spent on creating a traffic driving promotion for the sponsor and really making an impact for them. Then, they’ll renew. Besides, what fan really wants a giveaway item that is plastered with sponsor logos? They might wear that tee shirt to the gym but they aren’t gonna wear it out on Saturday night.

You reward the wrong fans. Typically, teams give away items to only a chunk of the fans coming to the games. The line forms before the gates open. These fans are usually the single game buyers who paid $10 or $20 for a ticket. Season ticket holders don’t usually get to the game right when the gates open. They know where their seats are. They know where to park. They have a routine. How do you respond when a season ticket holder comes in too late and asks for his poster? “Sorry pal, you may have spent $10,000 with us but we gave them all out to the people who spent $20”

This is what I am talking about.  Connecting the dots between sales, promotions, and attendance.  The true marketing mix.