Social Media Strategy for the Minnesota Wild

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 1 2012 CoMIS Case Competition Joseph Moses wrote this case under the supervision of Professors Ravi Bapna and Norman Chervany for the 2012 CoMIS Case Competition. Content is a hybrid of historical fact and fiction designed for instructional purposes only and is not intended to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of managerial situations by anyone named in the case. Copyright 2012, Carlson School of Management Social Media Strategy for the Minnesota Wild We see ourselves in a social media leadership position and we want to keep it that way. Now is the time to dig even deeper into the potential of social media to increase Wild ticket sales and engage fans and sponsors with our brand. John Maher, Vice President of Brand Marketing and Communications The trend started in the 2009-10 season. John Maher, Vice President of Brand Marketing and Communications for Minnesota Wild hockey, was in his office in the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul analyzing recent sales data. That s when he saw something he hadn t seen in his ten years with the franchise: season-ticket sales were falling. In the world of professional sports franchises, slumps in season-ticket sales mean more than empty seats; advertisers look at ticket sales because high numbers mean wide reach for their marketing messages, and when ticket sales especially season ticket sales start falling, sponsors take their ad dollars elsewhere. In the Twin Cities sports market, sponsors had plenty to choose from. Four major professional franchises call Minnesota home: Minnesota Timberwolves (National Basketball Association NBA), Minnesota Twins (Major League Baseball MLB), Minnesota Vikings (National Football League NFL), and Minnesota Wild (National Hockey League NHL). The University of Minnesota s Big Ten hockey, football, and basketball teams compete for fan and advertising dollars. John called in Director of Finance Mitch Helgerson and explained what he saw. We can t very well sit back and blame the economy, John said. No kidding, Mitch replied. We make some changes to our sales and marketing strategies now, or this has a major impact on finances in a hurry.

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 2 We need someone to look at the numbers with an eye to marketing. I mean someone who can do some real analysis, John said. Isn t that what you ve been doing? You ve developed all kinds of ideas in the last few years. Yeah, John said, but it s been a little of this and a little of that, and it s time we took a closer look at the whole thing strategically. Our social media strategy is one thing I want to look at very carefully. So what was John thinking? Mitch had been in finance for the last five years. What did John want him to do about marketing? John fixed Mitch with a look and gave him the answer: I want you to be our Director of Marketing Intelligence. John explained what that would mean. With Mitch s finance background, he knew operating budgets, revenue streams, and myriad details that supported the organization s financial projections. As Director of Marketing Intelligence, Mitch would be charged with thinking about the numbers as they relate to future marketing and sales strategies. So in addition to projecting where the Wild will be financially in the future, Mitch would be making the plans for how they would reach their goals. Mitch guessed that in addition to turning away from season tickets, fans were also turning away from traditional media to embrace new social-media platforms in ways John had not yet explored. The work John had done so far was in the right direction but hadn t truly harnessed the power of Facebook and Twitter to give them a detailed picture of their fans. As he looked north out of John s office window Mitch saw the media transformation taking place right before his eyes as an old billboard was coming down alongside 94 while a digital display in the distance flashed messages from a giant smart phone screen as drivers shot by on their evening commute. Mitch wasted no time getting to work. Ticket sales may have fallen because of the economy, or they could have dropped because of competition from the Twin Cities major sports teams or other entertainment choices but it didn t matter. He knew they would have to sell more tickets on a game-by-game basis to compensate for the loss of season ticket revenue. He had a feeling social media was an answer, but even if it was, what was he supposed to do with it? Wild online strategy to date The Minnesota Wild and Facebook and Twitter have all come into their own since 2000 when the Wild hockey franchise was established. Facebook has grown to 845 million active monthly users while the Wild has grown into a major Twin Cities attraction to over 638,000 who attend annually. John Maher, 51, had been using multi-media throughout the decade with tactics to engage fans, build loyalty, and generate enthusiasm. The Wild s online activities were designed to promote three primary outcomes: increase season ticket sales, promote ticket sales to casual fans, and increase advertising revenues.

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 3 In 2003 John introduced sponsored PONDcasts of audio game highlights and interviews, which worked as long as fans came to http://wild.nhl.com/index.html and put their cursor over the Multimedia tab to see what was posted out there. In 2005 John developed sponsored photo galleries and fan photo pages, and in 2007 he added sponsored videos. Under Multimedia, he added an online Wild TV channel where fans can watch a variety of video clips plus sponsored episodes of Becoming Wild, a behind-the-scenes look at current team members working with prospective recruits and building team spirit. One of the online channels on Wild TV is Press Pass, which delivers current news and interviews from inside Xcel Energy Center the Wild s home. The Off the Ice channel is all about Wild activities in the community, including the team s charity work and community support. Other channels feature team history, player bios, and plenty of highlights, plus draft picks, NHL highlights, state team news, and archives. In 2007-8 the Wild s Twitter campaign funneled PR communications through that 140-character medium. So far, Twitter feeds redirected fans to wild.nhl.com to sponsored promotions and links to team news. At the same time Facebook strategy was limited to alerts of team news and a lot of posts from fans. On Facebook, the Wild organization was successful in attracting an average of 8,619 Facebook users per month, so they had plenty of baseline data against which to measure growth in the 2012-13 season and beyond. The power and reach of social media was so great that the number of Facebook friends of people who have Liked Wild pages would be enormous, raising the question of how they can be reached with content from the thousands of Wild fans who enjoy every game. Mitch was wondering whether they should focus on Facebook or pay equal attention to Twitter and YouTube, too. Planning begins John and Mitch knew they were going to have to draw up a social-media strategy for the next season with some idea of content, where to put it, when to use it and, most importantly, what they were going to measure. Do videos draw more visitors and create more reach? Or is it texting? Photos? Which is more popular and engaging: content posted by the Wild or content posted by fans? Together, they spent several weeks devising a plan that would take the organization to a level of social media that was tied to business goals, used strategically, and was measurable. At one meeting, Mitch and John met back at John s office. They started with some positives. Compared with Major League Baseball, NHL teams had more freedom to create their own content strategy, which meant they would be able to think in creative ways about social media for the Wild. Where we re ahead of the curve, John began, is that we don t have to follow content guidelines dictated by the league. They would base strategy on a model that mattered more to them than what other NHL teams or even the league itself was doing online: namely, what local media organizations were doing to

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 4 attract viewers. The news model was suited to Wild strategy because news about the team would pull people back to the site. Local news was valuable because it was just that: local. Ticket buyers were local too, so a news format about the latest on the team made perfect sense. When John could show advertisers that they reach 10,000 more people with a sponsor s message, they can 1) attract or keep a sponsor and 2) charge for the added reach. More reach equals more income, but was social media engagement getting people to interact with each other online about their shared interests the gold standard? Even though the league doesn t dictate what we can and can t do, that doesn t tell us what we should do. Whatever we do has to support the Wild brand while promoting the sponsor s products. When it came to branding Wild hockey, Mitch knew from long experience that meant consistently creating an association in viewers minds between the Wild and fun and excitement. Then we re talking about building Facebook followers so they get our messages plus they will be exposed to sponsored messages and activities, Mitch added. Yeah, but that s only the why. We need to know the what and the how, John said. Then let s start with what engagement is, Mitch said. As far as I m concerned, John said, it s fans responding to what we put out there. If someone replies to a post or puts a picture on our Facebook fan page, they re engaged. If they have online dialogues with people or if they come back to see content daily or weekly or even monthly, that s good engagement. Mitch added, So we know we ve been successful when the numbers of people who see our content increases and they visit more frequently. More user-generated content means more engagement. With 159,000 Wild Facebook fans and 56,672 Twitter followers, they felt good knowing they weren t starting from scratch. Facebook Insights data showed numbers of unique people who Like Wild pages plus the number of friends those fans have. Those friends comprise the potential for additional reach of Wild pages. As Mitch looked over the latest Facebook data he saw something encouraging. The number of friends of people who Liked Wild pages the friends and family and co-workers and the friends of friends of friends of coworkers of family of friends and on and on was 15,000,000. The beauty of the Facebook Insights data is that it turns users choices into numbers. They provide demographic data including from which country people are visiting the Wild site, their gender, and ages. Additional insights enumerate number of return visits, who is talking about pages, how many video plays, photo views, and link clicks all for precise and timely analysis of online strategies (see exhibit).

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 5 Wild management knows how many people like specific pages, so they can tell which content is most popular. Mitch scheduled a conference call with John and Sam Crouchet, a consultant who presented at a recent seminar on new media. Crouchet had a way of asking blunt questions that Mitch thought would help them get to execution on a plan that could turn sales around in a hurry. We need to find out whether images or texts or videos draw more people to our Facebook page, Mitch began, and he wasn t surprised by Crouchet s response. Why would you want to do that? Why wouldn t I? That s what they post. The more interesting question, Crouchet asserted, is why they post not just what they post. Text, photos, and video are just products. We have to start somewhere, and we can measure how many people respond to photos or texts and videos. You want to do content analysis to get at users motives, Sam insisted. Do they post something to prove they re right? To give advice, to celebrate, boast, ask questions, ask for answers? When you understand motives for posting a picture, handicapping a game, complaining online or posting a celebration video, you re tapping in to the foundations for engagement. John interrupted. Strong online data about site visits solve a lot of financial problems for us because we can go to sponsors with real numbers that say traffic is growing. Even occasional visits from fans tell sponsors their messages are reaching new people all the time. As far as I m concerned, I don t care why people are online as long as they show up. Well, you should care why they re online because the content you provide has to tap into their interests and their needs.

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 6 John countered: We get Facebook Insights data about who s on our fan page and sixty percent of our single-game buyers are on Facebook every day. So that s where we need to be. Sure, Sam grunted, but what kind of a strategy is We need to be on Facebook? Look, you re right when you say you have to be on Facebook, and Twitter, and YouTube because I guarantee that if you re not, everyone else will be and then your accounting department will have nothing to count but the pucks. But I still say being on Facebook is not your solution. The answer is in what you learn about your fans. With our media reach extending way beyond ice nights, you can show sponsors that fans are paying attention to branded messages every day. John had to wrap up and go to another meeting. Just a couple more things before I go. One thing I know for sure is that unless we redirect fans the right way, they ll generally use our online channels as chat rooms and message boards. It s all about the game last night and, if we lost, what an idiot Yeo is. That s all fine but chat alone is not enough. And one more thing: whatever you come up with, don t count on any player time or coach time in the solution. This is an online strategy, not a facetime strategy, and additional appearances can t be part of the solution. Good to meet you, Sam. Mitch, I m leaving it to you to decide where to focus and what to measure. The Wild s online engagement John and Sam gave Mitch plenty to think about. Still, Mitch knew social media by itself is no panacea. It works by targeting fans and prospective fans for specific purposes. And whatever he recommended had to be operationally specific. Not, We re going to target people s interests, but we know X% of our Facebook fans like to post pictures of their kids first time on skates and here s how that translates into a marketing tactic. It s a game, a contest, or an advertiser s event something real. John s not going to settle for anything less than some concrete ideas that map to ticket sales or ad revenues. Mitch scanned facebook.com/minnesotawild and found fan pages full of fan interest, attitudes, opinions, and discussions about favorite players. It s where fans vent, express loyalty, argue, debate. That kind of engagement has value, but as John pointed out, it s limited. Mitch wanted to base engagement on something more than armchair coaching. He thought about three main questions related to fan impact: whose content drew the most responses, which content engaged fans more, and when was content most effective? Then he did a quick assessment of some of the ideas that were already working. Engaging Facebook fans with sponsored quizzes, contests, and messages One successful strategy John had used was the creation of activities designed to 1) give fans fun activities around the Wild brand and 2) engage fans around messages from corporate sponsors.

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 7 The Sun Country Kiss Cam was already in place. During the game live videos of couples in the stands appear on the video board overhead. Fans can go online and vote for their favorite kisses, and while they re out there, voters see banners for Sun Country Airlines. Other promotions attract responses from fans on the basis of their interests outside of hockey, such as a sponsored messages from Pheasants Forever and Gander Mountain. The social media playbook Traditional advertising relies on messages the Wild creates about itself. The connection of traditional advertising is between an ad from the Wild that sends a message out to the marketplace. Traditional public relations features positive messages from fans that Wild marketers can repeat to others. The PR connection is between existing fans and Wild marketing and back out to prospective fans. wanted to focus resources. But new-media marketing is about a direct connection among fans, their extended families, and friends and friends of friends and with fans connecting with each other directly to celebrate, boast, complain, and argue and that s where Mitch After Mitch had taken time to process the information from their last meeting, Mitch and John sat down in Mitch s home game room to lay out the basics of their strategy. Mitch was proud of the old-fashioned dart board he d hung right next to the old-fashioned chalkboard he d mounted and liked to use for brainstorming. He would use the chalkboard to diagram their discussion.

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 8 We focus on three areas, Mitch said. We need to know whose content is appealing, what kinds of content pull people in, and we need to know when tactics work best. I don t care what Sam says, this is where we start. He drew three circles on the board. They would develop a social media strategy based on the goal of tickets sales and sponsored promotions. Mitch divided tactics between user-generated content and Wild-generated content with a focus on texting, pictures, and video. That led to the question of when users engage online most often: pre-game, during-game, or post-game? John added: We need to account for off-season, post-season, and just regular daily Facebook traffic on non-game days, too. And let s move away from just signage and online banner ads. I want to connect sponsors and fans with content and contests, rather than ads. That means asking about what in a video or text or picture that draws people in, Mitch said. Right that s what Sam was talking about. Not just counting hits but understanding why people engage. The Facebook Insights data will tell us a lot and we can go to the actual Facebook pages and do content analysis. Facebook provides way more data than we can use in this phase, Mitch said. We need to be selective and maybe look at the most relevant 3-5 columns on the spreadsheet. There s one last issue I want to look into, Mitch said. He was thumbing through the team s win-loss history mapped to ticket sales. When we re riding high with a league lead or a winning

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 9 streak, that keeps tickets sales high at home. But hit a slump and what happens? Casual ticket sales dip. We need to know how social media can keep ticket sales up when wins are down. John beamed. Was I right or was I right to make you director of marketing intelligence? That s exactly what I m looking for: specific problems tied to specific social media solutions. And correlations between team performance and ticket sales is a great place to start. At the end of their meeting, John and Mitch agreed on next steps: We need a content strategy, we need to know when and where to deploy it, and we need to be able to measure its impact. Questions for students As you answer questions 1, 2, and 3, you should base you answers, in part, on the answers to questions 4, 5, and 6. 1. How should social media engage fans on the basis of their needs and interests? 2. Based on your analysis, where are the opportunities for ad-revenue growth? 3. What is missing from our current social media strategy specifically to increase ticket sales? 4. Do people engage more with text, photos, or videos? Do you know whether it s the form or the content that engages them? 5. Do people engage more with user-generated content or Wild-generated content? 6. Do people engage more pre-game, in-game, or post-game?

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 10 Exhibits Exhibit 1. Win/loss record as of March 22, 2012 WESTERN CONFERNCE NORTHWEST DIVISION OVERTIME GAMES PLAYED WON LOST SHOOTOUT POINTS LOSSES REGULATI ON + OVERTIME WINS GOALS FOR GOALS HOME AGAINST RECORD AWAY RECORD RECORD IN LAST 10 GAMES MINNESOTA 72 30 32 10 70 23 155 199 16-15-4 14-17-6 2-7-1 Exhibit 2. Game schedule OCTOBER 2011 SAT OCT 8, 2011 BLUE JACKETS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL CBJ (2) - MIN (4) MON OCT 10, 2011 WILD ISLANDERS 12:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - NYI (2) TUE OCT 11, 2011 WILD SENATORS 6:30 PM FINAL MIN (3) - OTT (4) SO THU OCT 13, 2011 OILERS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL EDM (1) - MIN (2) SO SAT OCT 15, 2011 RED WINGS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL DET (3) - MIN (2) OT TUE OCT 18, 2011 PENGUINS WILD 6:30 PM FINAL PIT (4) - MIN (2) THU OCT 20, 2011 WILD OILERS 8:30 PM FINAL MIN (2) - EDM (1) SO SAT OCT 22, 2011 WILD CANUCKS 3:00 PM FINAL MIN (2) - VAN (3) OT THU OCT 27, 2011 DUCKS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL ANA (3) - MIN (2) SAT OCT 29, 2011 RED WINGS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL DET (0) - MIN (1) NOVEMBER 2011 TUE NOV 1, 2011 WILD RED WINGS 6:30 PM FINAL MIN (2) - DET (1) OT THU NOV 3, 2011 CANUCKS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL VAN (1) - MIN (5) SAT NOV 5, 2011 BLUES WILD 7:00 PM FINAL STL (1) - MIN (2) TUE NOV 8, 2011 WILD FLAMES 8:30 PM FINAL MIN (3) - CGY (0) THU NOV 10, 2011 WILD SHARKS 9:30 PM FINAL MIN (1) - SJS (3) SAT NOV 12, 2011 WILD KINGS 9:30 PM FINAL MIN (2) - LAK (5) SUN NOV 13, 2011 WILD DUCKS 7:00 PM FINAL MIN (3) - ANA (2) TUE NOV 15, 2011 WILD BLUE JACKETS 6:00 PM FINAL MIN (4) - CBJ (2) THU NOV 17, 2011 AVALANCHE WILD 7:00 PM FINAL COL (0) - MIN (1) SAT NOV 19, 2011 BLUES WILD 7:00 PM FINAL STL (2) - MIN (3) SO WED NOV 23, 2011 PREDATORS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL NSH (2) - MIN (3) FRI NOV 25, 2011 OILERS WILD 3:00 PM FINAL EDM (5) - MIN (2) SUN NOV 27, 2011 FLAMES WILD 5:00 PM FINAL CGY (5) - MIN (2) MON NOV 28, 2011 LIGHTNING WILD 6:30 PM FINAL TBL (1) - MIN (3) WED NOV 30, 2011 WILD OILERS 8:30 PM FINAL MIN (3) - EDM (2) SO DECEMBER 2011 FRI DEC 2, 2011 DEVILS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL NJD (2) - MIN (4)

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 11 SUN DEC 4, 2011 WILD DUCKS 7:00 PM FINAL MIN (5) - ANA (3) TUE DEC 6, 2011 WILD SHARKS 9:30 PM FINAL MIN (2) - SJS (1) THU DEC 8, 2011 WILD KINGS 9:30 PM FINAL MIN (4) - LAK (2) SAT DEC 10, 2011 WILD COYOTES 7:00 PM FINAL MIN (4) - PHX (1) TUE DEC 13, 2011 WILD JETS 7:30 PM FINAL MIN (1) - WPG (2) WED DEC 14, 2011 BLACKHAWK S WILD 6:30 PM FINAL CHI (4) - MIN (3) SO SAT DEC 17, 2011 ISLANDERS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL NYI (2) - MIN (1) SO MON DEC 19, 2011 WILD CANUCKS 9:00 PM FINAL MIN (0) - VAN (4) TUE DEC 20, 2011 WILD FLAMES 8:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - CGY (2) THU DEC 22, 2011 WILD OILERS 8:30 PM FINAL MIN (1) - EDM (4) MON DEC 26, 2011 AVALANCHE WILD 5:00 PM FINAL COL (4) - MIN (2) WED DEC 28, 2011 WILD PREDATORS 7:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - NSH (2) SO THU DEC 29, 2011 OILERS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL EDM (3) - MIN (4) SAT DEC 31, 2011 COYOTES WILD 5:00 PM FINAL PHX (4) - MIN (2) JANUARY 2012 WED JAN 4, 2012 WILD CANUCKS 9:00 PM FINAL MIN (0) - VAN (3) SAT JAN 7, 2012 WILD FLAMES 9:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - CGY (3) TUE JAN 10, 2012 SHARKS WILD 6:30 PM FINAL SJS (4) - MIN (5) SO THU JAN 12, 2012 WILD BLACKHAWKS 7:30 PM FINAL MIN (2) - CHI (5) SAT JAN 14, 2012 WILD BLUES 7:00 PM FINAL MIN (2) - STL (3) SO TUE JAN 17, 2012 WILD FLYERS 6:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - PHI (5) THU JAN 19, 2012 WILD MAPLE LEAFS 6:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - TOR (4) SAT JAN 21, 2012 STARS WILD 8:00 PM FINAL DAL (2) - MIN (5) TUE JAN 24, 2012 WILD AVALANCHE 8:00 PM FINAL MIN (3) - COL (2) TUE JAN 31, 2012 PREDATORS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL NSH (5) - MIN (4) FEBRUARY 2012 THU FEB 2, 2012 WILD AVALANCHE 8:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - COL (0) SAT FEB 4, 2012 WILD STARS 7:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - DAL (2) SO TUE FEB 7, 2012 WILD BLUE JACKETS 6:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - CBJ (3) THU FEB 9, 2012 CANUCKS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL VAN (5) - MIN (2) SAT FEB 11, 2012 BLUE JACKETS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL CBJ (3) - MIN (1) TUE FEB 14, 2012 DUCKS WILD 6:30 PM FINAL ANA (2) - MIN (1) THU FEB 16, 2012 JETS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL WPG (4) - MIN (3) SO SAT FEB 18, 2012 WILD BLUES 1:00 PM FINAL MIN (0) - STL (4) SUN FEB 19, 2012 BRUINS WILD 2:30 PM FINAL BOS (0) - MIN (2) THU FEB 23, 2012 WILD PANTHERS 6:30 PM FINAL MIN (3) - FLA (2) SO FRI FEB 24, 2012 WILD STARS 7:30 PM FINAL MIN (1) - DAL (4) SUN FEB 26, 2012 SHARKS WILD 5:00 PM FINAL SJS (3) - MIN (4) TUE FEB 28, 2012 KINGS WILD 6:30 PM FINAL LAK (4) - MIN (0) MARCH 2012 THU MAR 1, 2012 WILD CANADIENS 6:00 PM FINAL MIN (4) - MTL (5) SO FRI MAR 2, 2012 WILD RED WINGS 6:30 PM FINAL MIN (0) - DET (6)

2012 CoMIS Case Competition 12 SUN MAR 4, 2012 AVALANCHE WILD 6:00 PM FINAL COL (2) - MIN (0) TUE MAR 6, 2012 WILD AVALANCHE 8:00 PM FINAL MIN (1) - COL (7) THU MAR 8, 2012 WILD COYOTES 8:00 PM FINAL MIN (3) - PHX (2) SO SUN MAR 11, 2012 FLAMES WILD 5:00 PM FINAL CGY (4) - MIN (3) TUE MAR 13, 2012 STARS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL DAL (1) - MIN (0) SAT MAR 17, 2012 HURRICANES WILD 1:00 PM FINAL CAR (5) - MIN (3) MON MAR 19, 2012 CANUCKS WILD 7:00 PM FINAL VAN (0) - MIN (2) THU MAR 22, 2012 FLAMES WILD 7:00 PM FS-N(HD) SAT MAR 24, 2012 WILD SABRES 6:00 PM FS-N(HD) SUN MAR 25, 2012 WILD CAPITALS 4:00 PM NBCSN(HD) TUE MAR 27, 2012 RANGERS WILD 7:00 PM FS-N(HD) THU MAR 29, 2012 PANTHERS WILD 7:00 PM FS-N(HD), FS-WI(HD) SAT MAR 31, 2012 KINGS WILD 7:00 PM FS-N(HD) APRIL 2012 SUN APR 1, 2012 WILD BLACKHAWKS 6:00 PM FS-N(HD), FS-WI(HD) TUE APR 3, 2012 WILD PREDATORS 7:00 PM FS-N(HD), FS-WI(HD) THU APR 5, 2012 BLACKHAWK S WILD 7:00 PM FS-N(HD), FS-WI(HD) SAT APR 7, 2012 COYOTES WILD 7:00 PM FS-N(HD) John Maher Vice President, Brand Marketing & Communications at Minnesota Sports & Entertainment Current Vice President, Brand Marketing & Communications at Minnesota Sports & Entertainment Past Senior Director, Marketing at Minnesota Wild Senior Director, Creative Services at Minnesota Wild Game Presentation Consultant at Minnesota Vikings Audio/Visual Coordinator at Minnesota North Stars Mitch Helgerson Director, Marketing Intelligence at Minnesota Wild Current Director, Marketing Intelligence at Minnesota Wild Past Director, Finance at Minnesota Wild Education University of Minnesota - Carlson School of Management, Present The University of North Dakota