“BRANDING FOR WINS”
The Importance of Effective Branding
in Today’s Marketplace.
Put Branding to Work for You!
“The Global Approach”
“Creating and fostering a collaborative connection
between your internal and external branding is the
key driver behind any thriving company’s success.”
– Bruce Baldwin
Put Branding to Work for You!
Two Key Components to Successful Branding
1. External Branding – reaching out to existing and
potential customers; building the demand outside
your company’s walls.
2. Internal Branding – using the in-house tools
available to help promote your company’s vision
and goals.
Consistent, Effective Branding Can …
• Deliver a clear message
– Good branding acts as a great communicator.
• Create business credibility
– Good, bad or otherwise, customers associate your brand with your
company.
• Create connections
– Brand can develop a strong tie between the company and clients who
are continuing to patronize the company’s products and services.
• Motivate a buyer
– Brand can be a good motivator for clients to consistently purchase the
products or services your company offers.
EXTERNAL BRANDING
External branding is vital to your company’s success because it is:
- How your company remains relevant in your marketplace.
- A gauge for the appetite the market has for your product or service
- The oil to your company’s marketing engine.
- The great communicator of things you offer and things to come.
- Your company’s stamp on the marketplace.
EXTERNAL BRANDING
There are easy, effective ways to brand your company externally:
• Leverage social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.) to keep
your company “top of mind” with your existing and potential customers
• Maximize product and logo placement through existing national retailers
• Participate in any local chambers of commerce, join a speakers’ bureau, etc.
• Attend industry-specific trade shows; see how the competition is doing it
It is key to always to stay ahead of the game by always finding new, creative,
inventive, unanticipated ways to get your brand into the market, locally and
nationally whenever applicable.
“Know Your Company’s Framework”
Who/What are the Pensacola Blue Wahoos?
• The double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds – tomorrow’s baseball stars
playing today in Pensacola!
• A family destination that provides “Affordable Family Fun!”
• An organization that lives by the creed, “Customer Service
is Our Best Seller!”
• Visited by guests are from a radius of 200 miles for 80%
of our business!
• Committed to doing a year’s worth of business in five months!
• Dedicated to using brand to remain relevant during
our offseason.
“Branding the Blue Wahoos”
Product
Good, bad or otherwise, a consumer becomes your walking billboard when
purchasing your product.
Quality & content are king!
Licensing
Strict licensing protocol, managed by Minor League
Baseball and followed by all teams, helps protect brand integrity,
ensure product quality and promote each team’s brand.
We’ve contracted with a third-party licensee to provide stores
throughout northwestern Florida with Blue Wahoos Water. Keeps us and our
brand top of mind during the offseason.
“Branding the Blue Wahoos”
“Don’t be afraid of national retail sales!”
Blue Wahoos merchandise is sold in national retailers such as Dicks
Sporting Goods, Academy Sports, Walgreens and Walmart.
*** CAN ONLY HELP YOU! ***
1.
Nationwide exposure means more
eyes see your product. Raises awareness!
2.
Gives instant acceptance; a major retailer
carrying Blue Wahoos merchandise signals
to the consumer that we are legit!
3.
$$ - We make money from licensing fees for every item sold.
“Building Our External Brand”
Strategic external branding efforts by the Blue Wahoos:
• Product Placement - “Wahoos Water” in convenience stores in
northwestern Florida
• Hospitals - Baby blankets to newborns in local hospitals; new fans!
• Mascot/Character appearances - most recognizable brand in your
market. “Mascot Night” yields characters from no less than 25 local
companies.
• Events – if possible, use your venue to host events where many will
attend; “Kraft Bier Fest” and “Big Green EggFest” are examples.
• Social Media - Singlehandedly the most effective way to share your
brand with the world!
“Leveraging Social Media”
Social Media
is the most
cost-effective,
efficient way
to monetize your brand.
“The most effective way to monetize your
brand is through Social Media.”
FACEBOOK - Promote specials/deals, upcoming events and exciting
team-related news. Sold out party deck in 18 hours with one
Facebook this past July 4th.
TWITTER - Communicate quickly; used for in-game updates to
broadcast quickly to fans who follow. Bubba Watson tweeted to his
1.2 million followers, “At the Blue Wahoos’ game!” Instant exposure.
“The most effective way to monetize your
brand is through Social Media.”
INSTAGRAM - Avenue to promote behind-the-scenes coverage and
help peak interest in pending events; Battleship eating contest spread
quickly because of Instagram.
PINTEREST -Allows fans to build their own collection of Blue Wahoosspecific pictures/memories, and share them with friends and or other
fans looking to whet their appetite for all-things-Wahoo.
“Harnessing the Power
of Social Media”
CRITICAL TO KNOW THE AUDIENCE YOU’RE BRANDING TO …
Facebook: Largest segments reported by PEW Research (Oct 2013):
• Females between 30-49 yrs = 35%
• Income earners making $75K+ annually = 42%
• Democrats = 35% (Independent = 32%, Republican = 27%)
• 30% of US adults get their news from Facebook.
Twitter: “Young, Mobile & Educated” – PEW Research (Nov 2013)
• Rely on Twitter as their news source
• Are connected to their phones around the clock
• Downside: Just 16% of United States adults use Twitter
Blue Wahoos use Facebook to promote information about club, Twitter
to promote in-game progress.
“Internal Branding”
“CUSTOMER
SERVICE
IS OUR
BEST
SELLER!”
“Organization of the Year”
The Blue Wahoos received a rating of 9.3 on a ten-point scale
from fans who were surveyed after each of our 70 homes games
in 2013.
Time and again, we hear from fans that no other minor league
ballpark has a staff so engaged, so entertaining, so concerned,
friendly and helpful as ours.
We believe that this exemplary rating was based on the
foundation teachings at the heart of our culture – “The Five
Pillars” and “The Nine Principles.”
“The Five Pillars”
Service:
Provide an environment in which guests receive service
exceeding expectations.
People:
Develop and support a culturally diverse, competent,
motivated and productive workforce.
Quality: Provide quality customer service that can be measured and
published. To enforce and invest in a pervasive culture of safety and
make zero errors.
Financial: Attain financial success to support advancing the mission
and vision. To be operationally efficient. Offer unquestionable value to
payers and consumers.
Growth: To be the entertainment venue of choice for the community
offering a broad depth and breadth of services.
“Nine Principles”
NINE PRINCIPLES®:
A sequenced step‐by‐step process and roadmap to attain desired results and help
leaders develop and achieve an excellence‐based culture. The Nine Principles® are
truths upon which the culture of excellence can be built:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Commit to Excellence
Measure the Important Things
Build a Culture around Service
Create and Develop Leaders
Focus on Employee Satisfaction
Build Individual Accountability
Align Behaviors with Goals and Values
Communicate at all Levels
Recognize and Reward Success
“Internal Branding”
Internal Branding: Game Day Matrix / Communications
• Utilize the Game Day Matrix to keep staff apprised of information distribution
• Covers social & traditional media, in-stadium messaging, email distributions, press
releases and more.
• Allows planned, effective messaging and the coordinated, simultaneous distribution of
critical information to staff and fans.
• Supports our ability to create a “united front” to the world, and helps maintain our
brand.
• Effective branding starts with teamwork!
“Internal Branding”
Internal Branding: Game Day Matrix / Communications
COLLABORATIVE WINS!
“When optimized, internal and external branding
are an unstoppable marketing engine for your
company , and will pay you back a hundred-fold.”
- Bruce Baldwin
UNITING INTERNAL & EXTERNAL
BRANDING FOR WINS!
We are continually evaluating the
connectivity between our internal
and external branding to ensure the
correct messaging is being sent to
both fans and staff alike, thereby
ensuring we’re adhering to the
standards of the Five Pillars.
Doing so helps us move forward as a
company and maintain ourselves as
leaders in excellence in our field.