By Andy Ruge
Andy Ruge is Associate Athletic Director for Marketing and External Affairs at George Mason University. He can be reached at: aruge@gmu.edu.
Athletic Management, 18.4, June/July 2006, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1804/gppatriots.htm
For those of us who work in marketing at George Mason University, the month of March was a blast. That’s when our men’s basketball team became the Cinderella of the NCAA Division I tournament, making it all the way to the Final Four—and picking up a lot of new fans along the way.
During the team’s run through the tournament, sales of our licensed merchandise soared, and ticket sales for next season are on the rise. The team’s heroics on the court are making our marketing staff look like geniuses. But, of course, it wasn’t always this way. Most of the time, we’ve had to be as innovative as everyone else in coming up with marketing ideas.
One of the ways we’ve done is by putting a lot of effort into loyalty marketing, a strategy that attracts spectators through a unique fan appreciation and reward program. After all, a successful season means more than a winning team. It means attracting as many fans as possible to the games, actively involving them in the experience, and ensuring they have a memorable time.
How It Works
Loyalty marketing succeeds by understanding why fans go to games and how they spend money while they’re there, then using that information to design rewards that appeal to their interests. In the end, it encourages more fans to attend more games.
We began our loyalty marketing program with a simple survey of our fans’ habits and interests. Questions ranged from opinions about the George Mason game experience to what food and beverages people bought. As an incentive to answer the survey, we provided premiums like discounted tickets and free food.
Once we collected this information, we evaluated the results to identify who comes to the most games, what they purchase, and what incentives would pique their interest. For example, we found that coupons and discounts would not serve as an incentive, but free items would. From this information, we formulated rewards that appeal to fans’ specific buying habits, and called it our Patriot Rewards Program.
Loyalty marketing is simple in theory, but not so simple to put into practice. Collecting and analyzing the data is complicated, so we turned to a professional loyalty marketing company, Smart Button, to help us design, implement, and manage the program. We worked hand-in-hand with Smart Button to put the following specifics into place:
Start with sign-ups. One of the keys to effective loyalty marketing is making the initial sign-up very quick and easy. Therefore, in asking our fans to enroll in the program, we simply directed them to drop by the information booth, fill out a brief application, and receive their membership card on the spot.
Simple as a swipe. Each fan gets their own card, which they swipe at interactive kiosks scattered throughout the athletic facilities. They receive bonus points for attending each game, and instant prizes and promotions for answering our surveys, also located at the kiosks. Members also qualify for additional prizes when they swipe their card during certain targeted games.
Analyze & customize. At George Mason, our target audience is 18- to 24-year-old sports fans. Smart Button helps us analyze our fan data to develop prizes and rewards geared toward this specific group. For example, one survey asked what companies should sponsor rewards for George Mason. Many fans said “movie theaters” and “burger restaurants,” so we now offer free movie tickets and food coupons as incentives.
To secure some of the free items, we work with our corporate sponsors and advertisers. We have also had fans suggest companies to us.
Easy-to-use technology. We use SportTrak, Smart Button’s Web-based software, to automatically record attendance rates, track survey responses, and issue rewards. I log on after each game to view total attendance and fans’ answers to the night’s survey questions. Based on the responses, I decide what questions I want to ask at upcoming games, and what rewards to offer next.
I can also sort our data by category, such as gender, age, or level of spending. This gives me detailed insight into fans’ preferences. For example, it shows us which demographic is highest in no-shows at certain games and sometimes tells us why.
Spreading the word. To get our fans excited about using the program, we advertise on the school’s radio station and newspaper, broadcast special messages via email, and keep the Patriots Rewards information booth front-and-center at every basketball game.
More Loyalty
Our efforts in loyalty marketing were all just in time for our run to the Final Four this year. We are now planning on upgrading our rewards program based on more interest from sponsors. Increases in season ticket sales will also give us a larger fan base to work with.
Certainly this unprecedented success boosted our fan base. But we can’t rely on great tournaments every year. Our ongoing goal is to fill seats at the Patriot Center with satisfied Patriot Rewards members, regardless of how the team is doing.