2019 All Things Lions Marketing & Promotions

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Hambone
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Thought maybe a new thread was in order.

I was just communicating with my account rep about my luck winning my STs in the early bird draws. I asked him how they were doing with renewals and new accounts. As typically they focus initially on renewals it might be a bit early to expect big movement on new accounts.

Some comments he offered:

1) Before Christmas break they had exceeded their goal by 5%,
2) 2 months ahead in renewals from this time last year.
3) Thinks the early bird incentives draws and pricing is making a difference.
4) Thinks the new direction of the team's coaching staff and players is making a difference. I might caution on that though as the coaching staff wasn't known until well after the early bird draws were done. It's probably after Christmas that the impact there started being felt. Until free agency happens it's hard to have an opinion on player direction. Too many core fan favourites with futures in doubt but the more casual ST holder probably assumes guys like Lulay, Arceneaux, Burnham, Lokombo, Olafioye etc will be here which likely actually helps.
5) Says new sales are going well.
6) Thinks the schedule with 2 visits from Riders and Calgary. Note sure about Calgary given one of their visits is an exhibition game.
7) Direct quote: The most challenging issue not only for our club but for others as well is targeting the young professional demographic to become fans & turning them into season ticket holders.



Overall though it's all very encouraging. On the young professional demographic the Beach Party thing could be a positive. Fun way to get younger folks into the building which is always the first step in the process.
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TheLionKing
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It's basically the same line I got last year ....... and I didn't renewed til the eve of the first pre season game.
Ballistic Bob
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The beach zone works well with baby boomers too. I quite enjoyed the section the 3 times I went BB
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Hambone
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Ballistic Bob wrote:
Tue Jan 15, 2019 7:08 pm
The beach zone works well with baby boomers too. I quite enjoyed the section the 3 times I went BB
Already made yourself a legend the kids worship in there Bob? :wink:
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Spud387
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Hambone wrote:
Mon Jan 14, 2019 3:40 pm
...
7) Direct quote: The most challenging issue not only for our club but for others as well is targeting the young professional demographic to become fans & turning them into season ticket holders.

...
This is a two fold problem.
A. Limited interest with this age group (which has been thoroughly discussed here)
B. The fact that the younger demographics, have very little to no expendable income with the high cost of living in the lower mainland (compared to what their parents experienced).

Unfortunately problem B cannot be reasonably solved by the club.
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Hambone
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Spud387 wrote:
Fri Jan 25, 2019 3:15 pm
Hambone wrote:
Mon Jan 14, 2019 3:40 pm
...
7) Direct quote: The most challenging issue not only for our club but for others as well is targeting the young professional demographic to become fans & turning them into season ticket holders.

...

This is a two fold problem.
A. Limited interest with this age group (which has been thoroughly discussed here)
B. The fact that the younger demographics, have very little to no expendable income with the high cost of living in the lower mainland (compared to what their parents experienced).

Unfortunately problem B cannot be reasonably solved by the club.
Agreed. I've long been of the opinion that the biggest challenges facing the Lions are things out of their control. They've done a great job in the ticket side of things giving more options, packages, price groups, kids options, payment plans etc. However that and all the marketing in the world doesn't put more disposable income into the jeans of that coveted younger millennial generation.
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Honour Dewalt
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Huge jersey sale on now. Does this mean they are going to be new this coming year? I thought they said it would he the year after. Or is it just that these have the Adidas logo on them?
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Toppy Vann
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Honour Dewalt wrote:
Tue Jan 29, 2019 6:00 pm
Huge jersey sale on now. Does this mean they are going to be new this coming year? I thought they said it would he the year after. Or is it just that these have the Adidas logo on them?
That makes sense - your logo comment.

OR it could be Ed Hervey's bringing wholesale free agents or new finds down south.
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B.C.FAN
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It should be no surprise that the Lions' 2019 marketing campaign revolves around MIke Reilly. But Ed Willes offers some interesting details about how the team hopes to use the Reilly signing to re-energize a stagnant fan base.
In the first week of Reilly’s signing, the Leos reported their largest sales since 2012, when they were coming off a Grey Cup, and their highest renewal rate on season tickets since that year.

New sales are up more than 200 per cent from last year and while team president Rick LeLacheur shied away from hard predictions, he did offer: “There’s no question we’ll be up.”

That was the hope when Reilly signed. According to LeLacheur, the club had four marketing plans in place for whoever was acquired out of free agency. The first involved Reilly. The second involved Trevor Harris, who signed with Edmonton. The third involved a trade for James Franklin. And the fourth, yikes, revolved around a revamped defence.

We’ll never know how the other three would have played out. But, in Reilly, the Lions got a willing salesman in addition to a franchise quarterback.

The day of the signing, Reilly recorded a message that was sent out to some 11,000 prospective fans and he instantly became the poster boy for an aggressive campaign conducted through, as always, social media platforms.
Ed Willes: Reilly's first mission with Lions is to restore roar, make people care

The Lions may have trouble squeezing the rest of his roster under the salary cap but it appears they are well on the way to getting a positive return on their $2.9-million investment.
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Hambone
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The little reference to 11000 prospective fans getting the message I think is a sign of how marketing today is different from what we traditionally think of. As a season ticket holder I'm getting frequent emails from the Lions. I suspect those 11000 are from a database of casual buyers through Ticketmaster. I find now if I buy tickets through Ticketmaster for games elsewhere I wind up getting on the email list for that team until I get off my duff and unsubscribe. Heck last September I bought a pair of Whitecap tickets for my nephew for his birthday and after the season was over had a Caps ticket rep call me to see if I was interested in seasons for them. Working in Castlegar this time last year I bought a ticket for Spokane Chiefs game vs PG Cougars and started getting emails. In recent years I've also wound up on the marketing email lists of the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Argos, Montreal Alouettes, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bat Lightning and Detroit Tigers simply because I bought 1 ticket for 1 game. Point is there are a lot of marketing efforts that go on unnoticed. I hope the Lions have also been taking advantage of single game sales thru Ticketmaster to reach out.
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Belize City Lion
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I've been impressed with the social media plan the Lions obviously had ready for Reilly, Carter, and Lulay's retirement. Matt Baker and his team have done a tremendous job of getting content out. It's been great as a fan to have print stories and video clips and podcasts and live streams of press conferences available while the Lions have everyone's attention. This has been one of the most exciting off seasons in recent memory, not just for the Lions but the CFL. Great to see the Lions have an obvious strategy to capitalize on that.
Ballistic Bob
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I bought a pair of season tix Felt good to support the Lions again.BB
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Hambone
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Ballistic Bob wrote:
Fri Mar 01, 2019 7:46 pm
I bought a pair of season tix Felt good to support the Lions again.BB
Note to visitor's side fun police.......Bob is back in da house! :wink:
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David
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Listening to Episode 6 of Cartmell and Baker's "First & Now" podcast, they were talking up New Era uniforms. Without revealing much, they both seem really excited about the uniform "tweaks" (not a complete re-do). "If you're a fan of the club, you'll be a fan of this" - Cartmell.

Of note, the team will only wear one helmet (likely black if I had to guess). I will be very happy if we go with our current (traditional) logo and nix the chess piece logo on the helmets.

On the marketing side, they have promised a 2019 campaign that is "different and fun." They made a point of noting that they are a downtown team. The perception is that they are a Valley team. While they value those season ticket holders who make the trek, the majority of season ticket holders (including yours truly) reside in Vancouver - as do 3 of my season ticket holder buddies. It sounds as though the campaign will be geared toward attracting people that live within a 5km radius of BC Place who aren't (yet) fans as well as a younger demo.

All well and good, but I hate to throw away tradition in a desperate attempt to appeal to a demo that may or may not jump on board (hence, softly playing "Roar You Lions Roar" when 3/4s of the stadium has emptied onto the concourse spilled out onto Expo Blvd).


DH :cool:
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TheLionKing
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David wrote:
Sun Mar 31, 2019 10:34 pm
Listening to Episode 6 of Cartmell and Baker's "First & Now" podcast, they were talking up New Era uniforms. Without revealing much, they both seem really excited about the uniform "tweaks" (not a complete re-do).
I would be happy if they just have one shade of orange. :wink:
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