FanPost

Attendance and the marketing problem (with poll)

I brought some coworkers to today's game for a little decompression time, which was well worth it despite the A's poor performance. One coworker who had never been to an A's game before asked me if I had season tickets, to which I replied, "Look around. Why would I need to buy season tickets?" That's a sad, unfortunate reality. Even those of us who go enough times to merit a partial plan (20-40 games) don't feel the need to invest in one as long as we can always get good seats when walking up or even just a few days before a game.

That got me thinking about how the A's market the team and the games. I've downloaded the ads from this year and jogged my memory to remember ads from the past few years. What is it that the A's market when putting out their ads? In order of decreasing frequency:

  1. The franchise players (Chavez, Zito)
  2. Fireworks and other promotions (DP Wednesdays)
  3. Giveaways (mostly promoted during broadcasts)
  4. The younger players (print campaign, not TV)
  5. Legacy/history (Eck day, the season ticket push during the preseason)
Few if any ads in the past 3-4 years have promoted the following:
  1. The family experience at an A's game
  2. Diehard fans (the drummers ad from a few years ago is the notable exception)
  3. Atmosphere
  4. Value (other than the DP Wednesday promotions)
Even worse, take a look at an A's home broadcast versus a Giants home broadcast. Yes, some of you whine about the Kruk-Kuip "homerism." I've also heard people are annoyed with Krukow's "eliminate" habit with the telustrator. But think about that for a second. When the Giants were going poorly, it helped distract from their on-field performance. It also makes fans a little more active in the stands, since they know the cameras will be trained on them. In an intangible manner, it sells and enhances the ballpark experience there. The brilliant thing about it is that it requires no extra money or resources since it's all wrapped up in the existing broadcast.

So what can the A's do to get people to feel that way about the experience at the Coliseum? We all know what the atmosphere is like when the place is packed, but we also know how lacking it can be when it isn't (which often isn't the case, but it's hard to communicate that to others when there are so many empty seats in the highlight reel).

It can be said that the A's are mostly going after casual fans with the tried-and-true promotions. The build of team identity via the "A's Brand" ads and star marketing is secondary. Are the A's missing the boat here? Are they going the best route to grow those season ticket rolls? Here's a poll to ponder during the off day, and perhaps even through the offseason.