The season is still 10 days away, but branding exercises set in place by our team of marketing staffers have long been in place. Whether in the form of an ad welcoming Charlie Davies to DC, a billboard in Adams Morgan, a promotional video truck circling the city, creative packaging for season ticket delivery, or grassroots activation in action, the talented cast of Kyle Sheldon, Boris Flores, Amanda Farina, Ben Mahler, Jamie Siegel and Andrew Minucci are at the root of the project.
With the 2010 MLS playoffs out of the picture, club officials immediately focused on long-term branding and strategic development goals centering on marketing efforts. Among the issues that took high priority were increasing club awareness and relevance locally, growing the young adult fan base, improving efforts towards the ‘soccer fan’ audience, an organized grassroots plan of attack and more advance preparation of promotional initiatives. By leveraging media and corporate partners, United set in motion a plan for a preseason push of unprecedented proportions to promote the club and the 2011 MLS season ahead. Results can be found around the city on busses, bus shelters, metro stations, billboards and other buildings. (View photo gallery)
Much of the branding collateral spread across the city is short-term, but elements coming this week to RFK Stadium will last the season. Interior stadium signage, exterior displays, pole banners and billboards are designed and in the production process. The stadium will be in full bloom as the season opens March 19.
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Olsen’s Army is alive. Popular with fans and casual observers alike, the off-season rallying cry served as a motivating call to drive interest and sales. This message will continue into the season before advertising moves to more event-driven messaging as games come and go. Advertising buys will continue to be prevalent across major media and digital properties throughout 2011. All advertising is supported by grassroots initiatives that attend and promote at events, tournaments and other public functions year-round. Promotional teams were in market more than 120 times last season, a number we plan to exceed in 2011.
Our advertising efforts are supplemented by creative promotional programming and no one works harder in this area than United. United games at RFK Stadium this season will feature College Nights, food and drink specials, youth soccer initiatives, adult soccer outings, and ethnic affinity events. Along the way, we’ll pay homage to the great history of our home, by celebrating RFK’s 50years of memories. Road games will give way to viewing parties at bar partners throughout the city. The club currently has nine such establishments signed on, with more to come.
Our efforts with Hispanic supporters will continue to be strong through the expansion of specialized marketing and promotional initiatives and assistance from several media and corporate partners. Andy Najar is at the center of these elements, for sure, but other members of the Black-and-Red will be prominent in leading special programs and targeted initiatives.
Combined, our comprehensive marketing efforts are up and running at full speed. Check back to dcunited.com tomorrow, as I’ll be writing about our efforts in the world of digital media and how work on our website and through our social media channels helps us spread content about the club and add a new layer to our marketing and promotional objectives.
As Kevin Payne, Dave Kasper, Ben Olsen and our technical staff have been working hard to put a top-quality product on the field for D.C. United this season and to continuing the rapid development of our youth Academy system, the rest of the front office has put in the long hours necessary to be sure all other elements of our business are tended to in advance of the 2011 MLS campaign ahead.
Opening Night on Saturday, March 19 can’t come soon enough for players, staff and supporters alike. Over the ten days leading up to the Columbus game, I’ll walk through the business flow of our offices, sharing insight and updates on strategic development of ideas for the core areas of our focus. Under the leadership of Executive Vice President Stephen Zack, day-to-day business activities work in concert to create a seamless flow of information, activation and promotion, leading to sales. A dedicated customer service staff and high-energy support crew follow-up to maximize these opportunities.
Doug Hicks is D.C. United’s Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications. Follow him on twitter at @DCUDoug.
