| “How did your organization market the 76ers?”
People have asked me that question hundreds of times, perhaps more. In retrospect, their curiosity is justified, because it was a formidable task.
After all, the 76ers were in the middle of a near decade-long dry spell when it came to making the playoffs. Compounding the challenge was our paid attendance. We ranked 29th in the league – dead last.
The funny thing is that we never realized how hard our job was supposed to be. With team owner Pat Croce setting the pace, we were simply too focused on being positive. But most importantly, we had an incredibly passionate staff. I firmly believe the passion of our staff was the competitive key that led to much of our success over almost 10 years.
I know what you’re thinking – what does passion have to do with marketing? The answer is simple: everything.
When I walked into the 76ers offices in April 1996, we began applying the principals of Marketing 101. We executed the same kinds of programs and plans that you may already be using in your own business. It was the passion of our staff that set us apart.
So how does passion translate into success?
When we took over the 76ers, one of our first tasks was something every good marketer should do. We talked to, but more importantly, we listened to our customers. If that sounds simple in theory, that’s because that it is. We went to our customers – our fans – and asked what they expected from their team. The answer was as obvious as it was predictable:
They wanted more wins.
That’s where the passion was especially important. We always believed that eventually our on-court product would be better and that the 76ers would once again be winners. But until that happened, possibly two or three years down the road, what could we do?
Our fans told us that they wanted to be entertained. They felt professional sports teams and the athletes on those teams took the fans for granted. They didn’t feel appreciated. Sure, there were “fan appreciation nights,” but did anyone really care? Our fans told us that they didn’t think so.
Armed with this incredibly valuable information, we set out to market the 76ers. Our plan for the first season was simple. Remember, we didn’t know that what we were doing was supposed to be nearly impossible. Our first goal was to change the attitude of our consumers – the fans of the Philadelphia 76ers.
At one of Pat Croce’s first meetings was with the team’s community relations department, he told us the team needed to be visible in the community and that we had a responsibility to give back. This was the first step in showing that we cared about and appreciated our fans and our community.
In what can only be described as parallel actions, we added a director of fan relations and began to focus on the in-arena entertainment, assigning equal importance to our community image and our in-house entertainment.
Our fan relations director was responsible for communicating with all fans on a daily basis, especially our best and most loyal fans. We were always looking for feedback: How are we doing? How can we be better? We were always listening to our fans.
The person who handled game operations – the in-arena show-- was the best in all of sports. Our games became a happening. We created a situation where you simply had to be at a 76ers game. Win or lose, they were just too much fun and too exciting to miss.
Listening to our customers and giving them what they wanted was the foundation for our success.
We staged some great promotions that helped define our brand over the years. We created advertising that was fun and memorable. We relied on research and focus group feedback to make sure our approach was fresh and exceeded the expectations of our fans. We marketed to specific groups of consumers knowing they’d come to our games and that other more desirable groups would follow.
And we never took our fans for granted. We were the first professional sports team to run a “thank you” ad campaign - print, radio and television - at the conclusion of the season. We were determined to make sure our fans knew how much we appreciated their support.
Did it work? Yes, incredibly well. In just five seasons, we went from last to first in paid attendance, a meteoric and unprecedented jump at the time. We didn’t market individual games or visiting players – we marketed our team. Our goal was to win over a fan for an entire season, not just one game. Ultimately, we wanted to create a fan for life.
We pushed all of the right buttons. We won advertising awards, public relations awards and even an Emmy or two. But every season, the most important piece of our marketing matrix was our front office staff. Their passion allowed us to provide levels of customer service and care that were above the norm at the time in professional sports. They were the keys to our success.
But it all started when we sat down and listened to our customers. That was the hardest part – being a good listener. The easy part was giving them what they asked for.
It’s a plan that can work in almost any business. -- Dave Coskey is the Vice President of Marketing for The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
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