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“We were blown away. You’ve not only given us a reality check of
what’s happening vs. perception, but you’ve also given us some great
ideas on what really works.”
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MBA
Students Give Rays a "Reality Check" |
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When students
from Anand Kumar’s Brand Management class spent Saturday afternoons
at Tropicana Field, they were doing more than taking in the sights
and sounds of the ball park. They were learning about the close
link between brand image, brand perception and fan experience.
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Students presented their findings to nearly a dozen members of
the Devil Rays’ leadership team in July, including team
president Matt Silverman.
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In partnership
with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, graduate students spent the semester
doing field interviews, analyzing data, and making recommendations
about ways to reach the baseball team’s target audiences.
Focusing on demographic groups that aligned with the Ray’s business
plan, such as retirees, working professionals, and serious sports
fans, the students summarized their findings and made
recommendations to top Devil Rays management on better ways to reach
these particular fan segments.
According to
James Marks, a student whose group focused on successful business
professionals who use tickets as employee and customer incentives,
the project was a terrific hands-on project.
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“This type of
project is an excellent learning opportunity for us as students,
provided that the sponsoring company is as willing a participant as
the Devil Rays,” he said. “The team’s executives
provided us with access to the stadium and answered all of our
questions about the inner-workings of the team.”
Darcy Raymond, vice president of branding and fan experience, spent
four hours at USF giving students an overview of baseball operations
as well as teaching them about the Devil Rays brand, branding
strategy, and target markets.
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Rays senior vice president Darcy Raymond visited with students and
talked about the business of baseball as the market research project
launched. |
“Every member of
the Devil Rays staff was just as eager to help as Mr. Raymond,”
Marks said. “It was obvious that they were just as excited
about our project as we were.”
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Competing
against the noise of the stadium as the New York Yankees practiced
on the field before a recent game, students presented their findings
to Raymond, Kumar, and members of the Devil Rays management team,
including Matt Silverman, president of the team. summarizing both
quantitative and qualitative surveys, the students made marketing,
promotions, and community relations recommendations regarding how to
reach these fan segments.
“We found that although ‘Sammy Successful’ greatly enjoys the game
day experience, socializing with friends, and treating clients to a
sporting event, his real driver for attending games is much more
simple—a true love of baseball,” said Marks. |
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The students then made recommendations on
where to find this market and messages to use to reach them.
Perhaps an
indicator of the quality of the students’ work, nearly a dozen
members of the Rays management team listened to the presentations,
asked follow-up questions, and sought out details about some of the
new ideas the students presented.
“This was as
good as any presentation by a national consulting firm,” Raymond
said as the students concluded their presentations. “We were blown
away. You’ve not only given us a reality check of what’s happening
vs. perception, but you’ve also given us some great ideas on what
really works.”
Mark Fernandez,
Rays senior vice president of sales, agreed.
“Your work just
confirmed some of the activities we are doing are on track, such as
expanding our sales efforts to target small business owners,” he
said.
According to
Marks, the best part of the project was knowing the Devil Rays
managers found value in the project.
“The research we
conducted is likely to shape the way the Devil Rays market their
brand to each fan segment,” he said. “It is exciting for students
to have such an impact on an organization.” |
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