When the New Jersey Nets wanted to boost sales of their season ticket packages, one thing was obvious: They were going to have to start eating more pancakes….
But even more obvious to the NBA team was that the best way to encourage new season-ticket sales was to join their community and appeal to existing season-ticket holders.
So the team created the Influencer Program. The main focus of the program was to reach out to the team’s existing evangelists and empower them to market for the team to help them sell season tickets.
The team identified certain key (read: Big Money) season ticket holders, and convinced them to let the team hold cocktail parties at their houses, where the owners would invite potential buyers to attend. In exchange, the Nets agree to pay for all the food and drinks, as well as bring members of the team and management to the party. The Nets wine and dine the potential customers, then give them their sales pitch.
The parties empower the ticket holders to become marketing partners with the Nets, while creating a true ‘event’ out of the process of selling season tickets. It becomes a sort of status symbol to be offered the chance to attend these exclusive parties (no more than 50 people are invited). And given the affluent nature of the guests, the price-level of the packages sold is higher.
Another aspect of the Influencer Program is the team’s “Pancakes and Hoops” breakfasts, where members of the team and coaching staff attend select diners in the New Jersey area and meet with groups of 10 potential buyers about purchasing season ticket packages.
The Influencer Program is a winner on 2 main fronts:
1 – The team’s players and coaches make a point to go out and interact with members of their community.
2 – The team’s players and coaches make a point to embrace and empower their existing evangelists to become their marketing partners.
Join your community and reward your evangelists for activities they are already engaging in. Great marketing isn’t that hard, sometimes all it takes is eating a few pancakes.
Mack,
I don’t want to sound like one-note Charlie, but I have come to believe that brand evangelists must be part of every marketing plan and campaign. In addition to other word of mouth tools (i.e., blogs, happy customers, web sites, referrers, etc.), I believe evangelists are a key asset for achieving marketing and sales success.
“I don’t want to sound like one-note Charlie, but I have come to believe that brand evangelists must be part of every marketing plan and campaign.”
Lewis I cannot think of an instance where you would be wrong. But again, it’s the whole control-issue for many companies. Many companies cannot deal with the thought that they are NOT the only source for their marketing messages, and that (gasp!) their customers actually talk to each other!
The community is a more credible source than the company. When a friend suggests a product, it’s coming from a trusted source. When a company suggests a product, it’s advertising. Which is more credible?
I really think community-empowerment is going to become more and more prevalent in the near future, and programs such as the Nets’ Influencer Program, and Fiskars Fiskateers movement are WAY ahead of the curve.
Mack penned an excellent article on community empowerment on the MarketingProfs web site this week, in which he highlights how five companies that have embraced their community of customers as their marketing partners. Profiled are Fiskars, (whiskey distiller) Maker’s Mark, Threadless, Mozilla, and New Line Cinema. He also offers some places to start for companies looking to launch similar programs. I’ll end the sales pitch now (!) and just let you check it out:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/6/collier2.asp?adref=zhap582
(One thing: Mack’s piece is Premium content, however, which requires a Premium membership to read in full.)
Hi Mack,
Thank you for a terrific, thought-provoking post. What I like about this most is that the marketing is being done from the bottom up (the grassroots consumers) rather than the top down (the usual marketing department activities in the corporate office). Not only is this an excellent idea, but you can see how it can be very effective.
Thanks Ted, yes I’m a big believer in grassroots programs such as this, and in reaching out to existing evangelists to make them marketing partners for your message. It isn’t flashy, and the results are often times difficult to accurately quantify, but it works almost everytime.
Just reward your community for activities they are already engaging in to promote your brand.
I remember the Great Friendster Migration like it was yesterday. A bunch of us had signed up for this nifty new service, only to find that it could be painfully slow, and dificult to use. Suddenly I was getting floods of messages on my profile from friends about this new thing called MySpace that worked better.
I can’t even remember my Friendster password at this point.
When do so many companies forget that their customers have ears & lips, and know how to use them?
We are all testifiers.
I remember the Great Friendster Migration like it was yesterday. A bunch of us had signed up for this nifty new service, only to find that it could be painfully slow, and dificult to use. Suddenly I was getting floods of messages on my profile from friends about this new thing called MySpace that worked better.
I remember the Great Friendster Migration like it was yesterday. A bunch of us had signed up for this nifty new service, only to find that it could be painfully slow, and dificult to use. Suddenly I was getting floods of messages on my profile from friends about this new thing called MySpace that worked better.
By the way… I have heard of folks trying to get their hands on copies of the Green Apron Book.
They are intended to be a partner-only tool… and have been printed in a limited number.
If you want to learn more, check out the book “The Starbucks Experience” by Joseph Machello. He talks all about the books… and more.
realy nice article, thanks for very interesting informations