I always say, listen to the consumer. Often times they have better marketing ideas than the manufacturer.
Zack is a 22-year-old man who works at my gym. He likes women’s basketball and can speak the language with me, i.e. players, teams, etc. Today we were talking about the Sparks’ upcoming games this week, and he said randomly, “they need to be better at putting (the league) out there. Getting players in people’s faces.”
I told him he was right, and asked what he would do to make WNBA players more visible and increase interest in the league. His suggestions:
– Put players on TV shows. For example, in the late 90’s, members of the 1996 gold medal-winning Olympic team were on “Martin,” and Lisa Leslie was on the show “Sister, Sister.”
– Get NBA players to promote the league. Besides going to games, they could do commercials and billboard ads. People would listen to what they say.
– Players need to get out into the community more and make themselves known. Do more public appearances.
– Players should do many of those appearances at schools, as kids are a target market. Zack said when he was in elementary school 12 years ago, Leslie and Delisha Milton-Jones visited his school. It made a big impression on him and was one of the reasons he got into the women’s game.
I would hire Zack if I were a WNBA executive.
I’m going to add one more thing to Zack’s list: media relations representatives for each team need to grant every request for an interview, and promptly.
Marketing is the key to success.