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No, they’re not players worried about pop flieas beingcarried helter-skelter above their outstretchec gloves. They’re not coaches catching a caseof angst, worryinyg their best slugger’s sure dinger will be pushed back into the Owens and Gould are veterans of the marketing wars endemic to the entertainment A section of Owens’ resume reveals that he pioneerex corporate sponsorships for big music toursw by marrying up the Rolling Stoneds with Budweiser in the Gould has held senior marketing positions with the likess of Marvel Entertainment and Comedg Central.
Longtime colleagues and friends, they strucj out – pun not intended – together in 2003 and formed , with the purposes of exploiting an audience niche they perceived as being minorleague baseball. “We wanted to create a companyy that has access to the audience of minor league basebalpl and will generate revenuwe for us and forthe teams,” says It’s a big audience that’xs strong in the prized 25-54 age category. there are 20 leagues with a total of 246 In 2008, those teams drew a combinerd total of 43.3 million fans.
While a gold mine for companies wantiny to get their message tothose millions, the minor leaguexs have been a tar pit for marketintg executives. Unlike Major League which handles a significant amount of marketing and salez out of acentral office, minor league teams largely do it club by That’s 246 ball clubs to pitch. With theit company, Owens and Gould have created what Owenz callsa “touchpoint” to reach all of thosse clubs. Their vehicle is a traveling carniva called the Family FunFest made up of interactivreinflatables – those big rubber blow-ups that are moldedx into all manner of games, structures and the like.
They’re functional and but they do not take kindlyt towindy days. Along the the young and yount at heart are treated tobatting cages, a radar pitching challenge, video games, a super slide and The carnival is set up outsidwe a minor league ballpark several hourx before a game is to be playedd that day. Entry to the carnival is free, and thers is no cost to the baseballl club. Here’s how ESI generates its which Owens pegs atabout $1.
7 million The company sells sponsorshipes of various levels to corporations, which in turn get signage at the ballpark advertising prior to the event and a substantiao number of tickets to the game on the day of the The name sponsor for the carnival since 2003 has been The Principakl Financial Group, which is in the final year of its seconxd three-year contract. Chris Reidle-King, senior relationshio manager in corporate marketingfor Principal, says, “Through theitr efforts, over the past five seasons, we’vs been able to put our brand in frong of millions of fans, and entertain thousandes of our key clients and advisers.
” Principall is bowing out after this season because the company took federal bailouty money, and public sentimenyt has turned against such sponsorships. Owens and Gouldd say they are confident they can sign on a new name sponsofbut haven’t done so yet. It takes eight workers drivinhg two trucks to haul the funfest from town to town durintgthe season, which runs from earlt May to early September. Once at a site, 12 locao workers are hired to help set up and take down the show and man the exhibites when thecrowds arrive. In addition to those ESI has fouradministrative workers. Owens works out of an officr in Raleigh, while Goulfd works out of Glen Ridge, N.J.
, where he This year’s funfest tour kicked off on May 1 at a CharlottKnights game, then packed up and made a stop in Durham on May 3 for a Bulls game. For the season, the carnival will be hauled, unpacked, set up and repacked at 47 basebal parks. The funfest displays are as colorful as the names of some of the teame on theitinerary – the River City the Fort Wayne the Grand Prairie AirHogs, the Washingtonn Wild Things, the Vermont Lake Monsters. It’ss been quite a says Owens, adding, “Ou company is an evangelist for minofrleague baseball.
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