Results tagged ‘ the zeitgeist ’
The Spirit of the Times
One of my favorite things to say about Minor League Baseball promotions is that they “capture the zeitgeist.”
This may sound pretentious, and I always mispronounce “zeitgeist,” but it’s true. The word is German for “the spirit of the times”, and that’s what attention-grabbing theme nights are all about. Some zeitgeist-capturing examples from 2010 include promos dedicated to “Jersey Shore”, the World Cup, LeBron James, and “Twilight.”
I’m rambling on about this because the almighty Google has recently unveiled its “Zeitgeist 2010″ year-end search round-up. Searchable by country and category, it can serve as a handy tool for promo night brainstorming.
My suggestion? Thanks for asking! How about capitalizing on the year’s “Fastest Rising Dance Move” with Teach Me How To Dougie Night. Promote it with a video featuring the mascot learning the craze, show the players dancing on the videoboard, and stage between-inning on-field demonstrations. All fans named with first name of “Doug” or last name of “Douglas” get in free.
Please get in touch with your own Zeitgeist 2010-inspired Minor League promo ideas.
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Moving on to an actual good idea, I’d like to highlight the Durham Bulls’ latest fundraising initiative: For every new fan the team receives on Facebook between now and December 25th, the team will donate $1 to the Durham Literacy Center.
Bulls VP George Habel notes on his blog that “Yes we’re buying our friends…but it’s for a very good cause.” Day one of the promotion netted $150 for the cause, while expanding the team’s already formidable social networking presence.
So if you’re not a fan of the Bulls on Facebook, hustle over there immediately and get to likin’.
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And, finally, it is worth noting that the Omaha Royals Storm Chasers are moving to their new home of Werner Park on Friday. This will, once and for all, end the Rosenblatt Stadium era (although the facility will remain standing for the forseeable future).
The Storm Chasers note in a press release that “Moving vans will arrive at Rosenblatt at approximately 8:30 a.m. to complete a process started by the Storm Chasers staff over the past several months. Historical items such as photos, game programs and team records will be preserved and delivered to Werner Park.”
And as for Werner Park, it “will remain under construction even as the front office staff inhabits its new digs. Nearly 75 percent of the work has been completed, including the entire playing field and seating bowl, with final touches to the concession, restroom, press and suite areas to continue into the first part of 2011.”
And as for me, I’m going to make some final touches to this post and then hit “Publish.” It’s really that simple.
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Arcane and Able in Fresno
Minor League Baseball promotions are nothing if not timely, and one would be hard-pressed to find one timelier than what’s going down in Fresno tonight.
One 20-Inning Ballgame Deserves Another
It’s always impressive when teams engage in timely marketing, tying their promotions into current events.
An excellent example of this is the Fort Myers Miracle’s recent initiative, in which the team offered free tickets to European tourists stranded in southwest Florida due to volcanic ash. Miracle GM Steve Gliner reports 27 individuals took them up on the deal over the past two days.
An equally timely promotion was staged on Wednesday evening, in a South Atlantic League
contest between the Rome Braves and visiting Kannapolis Intimidators. The teams were so inspired by Saturday’s 20-inning game between the Mets and the Cardinals that they played a 20-inning contest of their own!
Despite his fatigue, Intimidators broadcaster Josh Ellis took the time to send in the following information on Wednesday morning. I provide additional observations in italics:
– The game only took 4:41, an amazing 14 minutes and three seconds per full inning. The Mets-Cardinals contest took 6:53 (over twenty minutes per inning).
– There were no mid-inning pitching changes.
– There were 31 strikeouts and only seven walks.
– Two players went 0-for-8. I’m looking at you, Daniel Wagner. And you, Matt Kramer.
– The Intimidators went 0-for-23 from the 13th to the 20th. And they won!
– The winning hit came on a 3-0 count. Congratulations, Kyle Colligan.
– The Intimidators bullpen has now allowed four earned runs over 55 innings this season, and have gone 21 straight innings without allowing a run.
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The teams will play a 1 p.m. game today. The Braves won, 3-1, in a speedy 2:18.
An audio montage of this marathon ballgame can be heard HERE. In closing, I would like to commend both teams for tapping into the 20-inning zeitgeist. And thanks to Ellis, who so ably utilized the communications tools that I make available at the end of every post. You know, these:
benjamin.hill@mlb.com
twitter.com/bensbiz
Minors Mustache Epidemic Spreads to Tulsa
Between an article, blog post, and an MiLB.com poll, the South Bend Silver Hawks‘ Josh Collmenter Mustache Awareness Night received a hefty amount of coverage from yours truly.
But the Silver Hawks’ promotion was merely representative of a larger trend, as mustache celebrations were all the rage in the Minor Leagues this season. And, like mustaches themselves, each of these promotions was unique in its own way.
On August 22nd, the Tulsa Drillers held their own Mustache Awareness Night, and it was a doozy. There was a lot of build-up prior to this extravaganza. The entire front office staff grew mustaches, and the club conducted a poll on its web site, asking fans to vote on the best celebrity mustache of all time.
And then the big day arrived. Drillers promotions assistant Michael Taranto (who also provided the following pictures) reports that “this night coincided with Margaritaville Weekend, so as you can imagine it was funny to see people’s faces as they came to the game and received a fake mustache along with a Hawaiian lei.”
Of course, any mustache promotion worth its salt gets the players involved. Here’s an exclusive dugout shot of some uberstylish Drillers:
Keep the photos coming! Send pictures from Minor League promotions to benjamin.hill@mlb.com.
BensBiz
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