Full-Contact Advertising
Cellphone text messaging allows marketers to reach sports fans right in their seats
At tonight&s Raptors game, fans will be able to vote via cellphone for the "ultimate Raptors fan."
A lot of business proposals have landed on Stan Kasten&s desk since he stepped down as Ted Turner&s lieutenant responsible for the Atlanta Braves, Hawks and Thrashers in late 2003. He&s turned most of them down.
But one venture that caught his attention -- and his money -- is a business that merges sports, technology and marketing to capitalize on the proliferation of cellphones and other wireless devices as the "lifeline" of young people. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. has signed on to the use of interactive cellphone-enabled marketing at Toronto Maple Leaf and Raptors games at the Air Canada Centre, and a partnership of Mr. Kasten&s FanDrive Media and Toronto-based technology company Impact Mobile could bring the venture to a Jumbotron near you.
At tonight&s Raptors game, fans at the Air Canada Centre and those watching the game on Sportsnet will be invited to vote for the "ultimate Raptors fan" using instant messaging on their cellphones. The vote to eliminate three of the four finalists will be charted live on the giant screen beneath the scoreboard, and a message will bounce back to each person who votes with their cellphone, urging them to purchase a discounted ticket to a game on March 17 dubbed "Fanapalooza."
At the March game, the "ultimate" fan will shoot baskets to try to win $10,000 and prizes for other fans, including trips and TVs sponsored by Air Canada and Sony, said Shannon Hosford, director of marketing and promotion for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. "Eventually, advertisers such as Gatorade could become the sponsors of &call to action& breaks between periods, and their promotions will flash back to the cellphones of fans who take part in the entertainment", Ms. Hosford said.
"You&re talking about 18,000 or 20,000 people captive in their seats, and they&re looking for more fun to have," Mr. Kasten said. "It&s also a new revenue stream, and [for] a team or stadium operator, that&s even cooler."
The interactive marketing technology can also be used to send personal text messages onto the scoreboard or Jumbotron -- anything from advice to a player to a marriage proposal to someone sitting in the stadium. It was at the disposal of New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres fans at a game last month at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. "We got thousands of text message responses in a short period of time. We&re now able to reach [fans] right in their seats and engage them," Mr. Kasten said as he relaxed in the lobby of The W New York hotel on Lexington Avenue in midtown Manhattan the day after the game. Mr. Kasten hosted media buyers at the New York game so they, too, could see the way cellphones can be used for two-way text communication that urges users to "opt in" to further promotions and allows the advertiser to gather information about the potential customer. "It&s e-mail on steroids," said Gary Schwartz, president of Impact Mobile, adding the ability to quickly instant message with "short codes" has been embraced by 16- to 22-year-olds.
Mr. Schwartz says major league baseball, hockey and basketball are all targets of the stadium venture, and it could be used at other events in the venues from concerts to dog shows. The marketing tool is also being rolled out in minor league sports. Some events lend themselves more to the technology because of the younger fans they attract. The challenge for events with older demographics, such as major league baseball games, will be to let the fans know that if they have a cellphone, they have the technology and can learn how to use it, Mr. Schwartz said. At a recent NHL game demonstration, 10% of the crowd responded to a text messaging prompton the giant screen, Mr. Schwartz said, "and that&s with an older demographic, so imagine what I could do in college basketball."
The penetration of cellphones is high and growing. In Canada, 69% of households report having one or more cellphones, according to a 2005 survey by telecom consultancy Yankee Group. Usage increases 10% a year. In the United States, nearly 60% of households report having at least one cellphone, with the majority of those reporting two or more phones.
Marketing and gathering information about potential customers through instant messaging and short codes is "absolutely massive in Southeast Asia and Europe, where text messaging is much bigger," said Doug Checkeris, chief executive of The Media Company, an advertising and media-buying agency based in Toronto. Jeff Leiper, director of Canadian market strategies for Yankee Group, said Canada is "likely three years or so away" from the full integration of short codes and advertising. "I was in Singapore last year, and there wasn&t a piece of outdoor advertising that didn&t have a short code on it," Mr. Leiper said.
Twentysomethings in Canada are a valid target for such campaigns, Mr. Checkeris said, adding he worked with Mr. Schwartz on a hockey trivia loyalty campaign at Subway restaurants that relies on instant messaging with short codes. "The cellphone is with them all the time and they love texting," Mr. Checkeris said. Cellphones are becoming an increasingly important communication device for other demographics, too, as trends such as on-demand television shows for mobile devices grow, he said.
For advertisers, prompting a text response from potential customers is inexpensive, Mr. Schwartz said. And, contrary to much of broadcast, print or billboard advertising, advertisers can limit further cash outlay to only those who are interested enough to follow up on an ongoing flow of discounts and contests. "As a brand, I only continue to talk to the people who put up their hand," he said, adding that unwanted spam messages should be limited because of the involvement of a cellphone provider. "It&s a huge opportunity to develop a channel that is respected ... because it is a private network that can be controlled."
Once the line of communication is opened, marketers can learn much about who they are talking to from a continuing dialogue in real time: age, music preferences and snack choices are all possibilities, he said. At Subway, the marketers learned 90% of customers who responded to a short-code sticker on their sandwich -- which prompted them to instant message to play hockey trivia -- did so while eating the sandwich they had just purchased. "How measurable is that -- I know when they&re eating the sandwich," Mr. Schwartz said.
2006-02-06
