Case Study: Gwinnett Braves August 2012
Triple A Baseball Gwinnett Braves Corporate Season Ticket Campaign Overachieves! 417 Hot Leads Created From 5,600 Newly Identified Targets Case Study: Predictive Analytics Led Multi-Channel Marketing Campaign Background: The Gwinnett Braves, the Triple A franchise of the Atlanta Braves, has been experiencing a steady decline in corporate season ticket sales. The team moved to Atlanta in 2009 from Richmond, Virginia. Corporate Season Ticket sales peaked in that first season. There has been a decline in these ticket sales every year since the Braves inaugural year in Atlanta. Historically, The Braves marketing strategy for Corporate Season Tickets centered on outbound telesales. The team s Season Ticket Sales Force predominantly sold over the telephone. 30-50 outbound calls per day were being made to corporations. The targets for these calls were purchased from a list broker. The results achieved using these techniques were falling short of objectives. Campaign Objectives: The Braves enlisted the support of Tucker Castleberry and their partner, 3Leaf Insights. A comprehensive campaign strategy was developed. The Campaign Objectives were to: Identify market segments within the greater Atlanta population of businesses that represent those that would be most likely to purchase Gwinnett Braves Corporate Season Tickets Identify 2,000 specific corporations meeting the segmentation criteria and the names of decision makers Create a multi-channel campaign to generate qualified leads and demands for Corporate Season Tickets
Campaign Strategy: An Event Based Marketing Campaign was developed and implemented. The Event - Get prospects to a game. VIP Invitations to Games were sent to targeted corporations. Once a group participated in a game experience, they would understand the benefits and value of becoming a Corporate Season Ticket Holder. Campaign planning was broken into Pre-Event, During Event and Post-Event activities. Pre-Event - Studies have suggested that the success of a campaign is based upon: 40% Targets + 40% Offers + 20% Creative Predictive Modeling Guides List Acquisition & Identifies Targets- The Marketing Strategy and Analytics provider, 3Leaf Insights (3Li) created the targeting strategy. Historical data on Corporate Season Ticket sales was collected from the Braves. This data was augmented with dozens of attributes and then analyzed. Predictive statistical models were developed that pinpointed the attributes of corporations that were most likely to respond to an offer to become Corporate Season Ticket holders. This enabled a most likely to buy profile to be developed. Based upon the most likely to buy profile, selection criteria were provided to 3Li s list aggregator. 5,602 corporations were identified that fit the most likely to buy profile. The Offer and Creative- The Braves stadium, Coolray Field, has 7,777 fixed seats and 23 luxury boxes, some of which are vacant each night. An offer was created to fill seats and suites with prospective buyers of corporate season tickets. Invitations of two different types went to the 5,602 corporations, a game invitation or a suite invitation. In addition to the direct mailing of the invitations, multi-touch/ multi-channel strategies were deployed.
Campaign Touch 1 The Game Invitation went to 4,769 corporations inviting them to a game of their choice for up to four attendees with parking pass included. The Suite Invitation went to 833 corporations inviting them to a suite for the game of their choice with parking pass included. Included in this offer were water, soft drinks, popcorn and hotdogs within each suite. The invitations were sent in early August.
Campaign Touch 2 In order for each corporation to get their tickets, they were instructed to go to their personalized URL (purl). The purl required answers to eight brief questions that delivered more background on the prospect and on the Braves products of interest (season tickets, partial season ticket plans, suites, picnics, corporate sponsorships, etc.)
Campaign Touch 3 When the prospect hit SUBMIT on the purl, they received an instantaneous email reply thanking them for filling out the survey. They were told a Braves representative would be contacting them soon to confirm game attendance and arrange for ticket and parking logistics. Campaign Touch 4 In less than 24 hours a representative of the Braves contacted each person to confirm arrangements and answer any questions. At the Event - At the game, the goal was to deliver the royal treatments to maximize the chance of ticket sales. Campaign Touch 5 Upon arriving at the game and picking up tickets, each person was greeted by a member of the staff (season ticket sales team) and personally escorted to their seats or suite. Several times during the game, the Braves rep would check to ensure everything was fine and that a good time was being had at the ballpark. Braves executives (GM, VP s, etc.) were on hand each night to network with potential buyers. Post-Event Campaign Outreach - a series of activities after the game have been implemented or are underway to drive the closing of deals.
Campaign Touch 6 The day after the game, each person received a follow up email from the Braves thanking them for attending and seeking feedback. Campaign Touch 7 The Braves Season Ticket Sales Team is following up with responders throughout the off-season.
Campaign Results To Date: The results thus far have exceeded the expectations of Braves Executives. 7.56% response rate for the 833 suite invitations sent. A total of 63 corporations responded and attended a game. 7.42% response rate for the 4,769 seat invitations sent. A total of 354 corporations responded and attended a game. These 400+ hot prospects are being actively pursued by the Season Ticket Sales team and several have already closed. Sales pursuits will be on-going throughout the off-season. A quote from Ryan Moore, Ticket Sales Manager, The Gwinnett Braves: This is hands down the best lead generation campaign that I have ever been a part of. Through the analysis of our current plan holders we were able to identify thousands of local businesses that fit the exact profile we were looking for. We immediately saw tremendous responses from our mailer and closed sales within days. We continue to work these leads and are confident that we will continue to bring in new sales throughout our off-season. Next Steps-Corporate Campaign Phase 2 5,600 corporations have been identified as targets most likely to buy Corporate Season Tickets. About 5,200 of them have not yet replied. A follow up multi-channel campaign is being designed focused on these 5,200 accounts. Other Opportunities The work that has been done thus far with the Braves has uncovered two significant additional opportunities. An analogous methodology to the Corporate Campaign can be applied to households. The objective of the Household Campaign is to increase season ticket and ticket package sales by targeting households that are most likely to buy. A Fan Identification Campaign can be run focused on acquiring the identities of buyers who walk up to the gate. By definition, these people are fans and are interested in attending games. The goal of this campaign is to capture data on these fans to enable future marketing outreach.
Print Collateral Details The invitations were 9 x 6 1/4 folded to 4 1/2 x 6 1/4 printed on 100# gloss cover Creative and Outbound Piece The concept, creative and campaign was designed and developed by Tucker Castleberry and our partner, 3Leaf Insights. Data Analysis & Augmentation: Performed by 3Leaf Insights Client: Marketing: Service Provider: Print & Creative: The Gwinnett Braves www.gwinnettbraves.com The Gwinnett Braves are the AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. The team plays in the International League. Tucker Castleberry & 3Leaf Insights www.tuckercastleberry.com Tucker Castleberry Tom Fleenor, Creative Media Director Hardware: NexPress 2500 Software: Distribution: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign purl generation: Mindfire, Inc. 5,602 Invitations Date: August 2012