CLIENT San Francisco Giants
TITLE "Gamers"
Deliverables
TV, Radio, Print, Out-of-Home, Online, Social Media
Target
Casual to Hard-Core Fans
Challenge & Assignment
The 2008 season marked the 50th Anniversary of the Giants arrival in San Francisco; a historic and landmark year for the organization. However, the Giants suddenly found themselves faced with a unique challenge. What do we do with no super star, no home run race and very little player news? Tasked with developing an integrated marketing campaign that excited and energized people in the Bay Area to attend Giants games, Swirl set off to find an answer.
Strategy & Solution
Our first step was to conduct qualitative research with all levels of fans (from the hard core fan to the social fan) to explore why they attend games and what motivated them to keep coming back. The research revealed that though many people enjoy the "shared social experience" of Giants games, they did not feel a strong connection to the team. Fans viewed them as "faceless Giants."
Historically, the Giants were anything but faceless. With Willie Mays' do-or-die abandon, Willie McCovey’s courage and so many other spine-tingling legacies, our research showed that the team’s DNA was rooted in a "Gamer" attitude. Gamers, as defined by our research groups, are scrappy players that are always fired up, always ready to play, give 110%, work as a team, and find a way to get the job done.
Armed with our new ’Gamer’ insight, we crafted a strategy that focused on the strengths of the 2008 team — the young powerful arms and big hearts of the pitchers Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, the athleticism and finesse of Omar Vizquel, and the fearlessness of Aaron Rowand — as representatives of this "Gamer" attitude. Our message to fans was simple. On this, the 50th Anniversary of the Giants arrival in San Francisco, the Gamers are back. Don’t miss your chance to come out to the ballpark and witness the team go "All Out, All Season."
With a solid strategy in place, our next step was to create a fully integrated campaign that included television, radio, print, online, out-of-home, and social networking integration. With 81 home games a season, the Giants are challenged with filling the ballpark with 40,000+ fans for each game. This campaign not only had to excite fans for the upcoming 2008 season but also needed to motivate them to buy tickets. Every piece of communication had to strike the right balance between a brand and retail message, encouraging ticket purchases and general enthusiasm around the team.
Television
Swirl used television to deliver on both the brand and retail messages. The four brand TV spots used players juxtaposed with real-life people and situations to ask the question, "Are You a Gamer?" The spots brought the "Gamer" attitude to the real world — the office, a picnic, a grocery store and home to meet the parents. With humor and humanity, the brand spots launched before the season began and created awareness and excitement around the 2008 team.
Once the season was underway we focused on ticket sales. Our :30 spots posed and answered their own questions — "What Would a Gamer do?…He’d come to the game Sunday, July 6th for PG&E Solar Day! Don’t miss your chance to be one of the first 20,000 to receive a free CFL light bulb." Promotional :30’s and :15’s allowed us to dynamically rotate in current footage of great plays as the season progressed and players peaked. A total of 25 spots were created.
Radio
Radio gave us the frequency we needed to highlight special events happening in and around the ballpark. Starting with a "March to Opening Day" message and a :20/:10 format, we were able to create donuts that cut down on editing time and production cost but still yielded over 30 unique radio spots. The creative was consistent with the television; it held the audience’s attention with pounding music, a deep voice, and the question — "What Would a Gamer Do?"
OOH
The Giants dominated the San Francisco out-of-home space the first few months of baseball season. Street banners lined the Embarcadero with messages that featured players and their "Gamer" attitudes, and bus sides and tails reinforced the message as they moved across the city.
Placing a season-long buy with the SF Chronicle and leveraging the Giants trade media, we created standard templates for full, half and quarter page newspaper ads. This allowed for more than a dozen customized newspaper print ads composed of the perfect balance of game/series information, giveaways, and special events.
Online
The media buy was geo-targeted to the Bay Area and placed on highly relevant sites. Swirl built rich media banners that included a dynamic interactive calendar. By rolling over, viewers could see when the team was playing (home vs away) and scroll through the special promotions, prices and packages available.
Social Media
Swirl facilitated social networking around the Giants fan base and created a YouTube page that brought fans together online to share pictures, videos and thoughts about the team. When three Giants players were being considered for the All Star game we created videos that spread virally and encouraged fans to vote.
Results
The strategy worked. Fans recognized it’s not just about the score at the end of the game — it’s also ’how’ you played during the game. From the very start of the season (opening day attendance beat the mark set in 2007) fans arrived and have continued to arrive to the ballpark to witness the speed and hustle of a young team of ’Gamers’. Two thirds of the way into the season, the Giants are on par to hit their total attendance goals for 2008. Furthermore, this season’s "Gamer" vernacular has been widely adopted by announcers, fans, the media, and even the players themselves. The team has a new face, and it is not dominated by any single player but rather reflects the team’s respect for the game that drives them to compete on every pitch, every inning, and every game.
