2016 All Things Lions Marketing & Promotions

[B.C.FAN]

Owners usually do not "pound the pavement" drumming up support for the team. They hire people who's job is to run the team including marketing. Dennis Skulsky and George Chayka are local people. Look where the Lions are attendance wise. The attendance has been plummeting year after year under Skulsky's leadership.

Agreed. Dennis Skulsky is a local president who has great ties to the business community and was recruited by Ackles to be a founding member and leader of the Waterboys. He has also been linked to one or more of the prospective local ownership groups that have approached Braley. George Chayka is from the Fraser Valley, played football at SFU and has worked for the Lions for a decade in charge of marketing and business operations. Jamie Pitblado, who served last season as the Lions' director of fan engagement, is another Waterboy and former local media marketing VP. You can't get a more experienced local management group than the Lions have had.

The Lions' marketing plan, as expressed by local team management, has been to win games and win back the fans. The Lions have been winning games and playing exciting football. That hasn't paid off, at least not yet. We're in an era of ubiquitous home HD screens, bridge tolls, traffic congestion and high housing prices that leave families with limited disposable income. It's time for a new marketing plan. Local ownership has nothing to do with it.

[CardiacKid]

Well, we'll agree to disagree. I just strongly feel that the problems bedevilling the Lions at the moment (beyond its still-born marketing plan) fall at the feet of absentee ownership with no discernible, concrete plans that extend beyond a handful of months nor incorporating any fresh ideas that represent the present day Vancouver.

[David]

It would appear that The Province's Ed Willes agrees with you CardiacKid. From today's Monday Musings column:

— Speaking of fans, here’s a thought concerning the B.C. Lions’ struggles at the gate. David Braley has been a standup owner for this franchise for two decades but the team has been for sale for a couple of years now and the connection between the fan base and the organization has almost disappeared.

A strong local owner would help there. Wally Buono has done a remarkable job in resurrecting the Lions this season but he can’t be the head coach, the GM and the director of marketing. The Lions need a new face to sell this market, someone who captures the imagination of the fans.

I think cries of "David Braley has been a great owner, BUT...." are only going to get louder until things turn around at the gate. But thanks to weak marketing/poor scheduling everybody now knows it's now "Deadsville" inside BC Place and will stay away, so I don't see this happening anytime soon (unless my renewal idea above or some other initiative is adopted).




DH

[David]

The other thing I see is the Lions keep taking stabs at "one-off" ideas which, taken separately, are good initiatives but need to be consistently executed in order to see tangible results.

Take for instance the FREE tickets for kids 12 and under when accompanied by an adult for the home opener against Calgary. Dennis Skulsky waxed nostalgic on local radio about the Knothole Gang in Edmonton when he was a kid, and then they NEVER FOLLOWED-UP! No "Back To School Night," nothing (and if any game cried out for a special promo it was the last home game against the lowly Als).

Then there was a Gemstone Gridiron Deck that they tried for a year or two. When they moved to the Lower Bowl (only) there should have been an upper endzone section for these young people to move to and hang out there, but it all just disappeared.

Biggie Bobblehead Night? Great. But it's as though word leaked out the week of the game. Promote the next one (Solly Bobblehead) now. Washington Husky Marching Band? Awesome! But keep hammering away at this message early for the October 1 home game. Get that commitment (or at least plant the seed) and create that buzz instead of leaving all the messaging 'til the last minute.


DH

[CardiacKid]

I stumbled on a very useful section of the BC Lions webpage quite by accident this weekend. It is called the Game Day Events Calendar; I had no idea it existed so that could be entirely on me or maybe the Leos need to publicize it more.

It is under the "Game Day" section (quelle surprise!) and actually has a somewhat rudimentary but fairly complete looking listing of all the games for the year. It includes information about half-time performers, pre-game giveaways, who is singing the anthem, special events and tailgate party. I found out that a couple of teachers from my work will be singing the anthem at the October 22nd game; I had no idea.

If all the typical game day events have been set at the start of the year as this page seems to indicate, then why not publicize them to a far greater degree, earlier in the year?

[SammyGreene]

It would appear that The Province's Ed Willes agrees with you CardiacKid. From today's Monday Musings column:

— Speaking of fans, here’s a thought concerning the B.C. Lions’ struggles at the gate. David Braley has been a standup owner for this franchise for two decades but the team has been for sale for a couple of years now and the connection between the fan base and the organization has almost disappeared.

A strong local owner would help there. Wally Buono has done a remarkable job in resurrecting the Lions this season but he can’t be the head coach, the GM and the director of marketing. The Lions need a new face to sell this market, someone who captures the imagination of the fans.

I think cries of "David Braley has been a great owner, BUT...." are only going to get louder until things turn around at the gate. But thanks to weak marketing/poor scheduling everybody now knows it's now "Deadsville" inside BC Place and will stay away, so I don't see this happening anytime soon (unless my renewal idea above or some other initiative is adopted).




DH

At the very worst, shouldn't there be a new club president in 2017 if Braley stays on as owner? Didn't Skulsky step down back on April 1 only to continue his duties when Braley fell ill? That's what Rick Dhaliwal or whomever media member talks to Braley next should be asking.

A pretty significant position given the very low turnstile count.
The current upper management will definitely have their finger prints on the 2017 season ticket pricing which should be released very soon.

[Alputt]

I was talking about EA or TELUS as potential local owners however on second thought I'm not sure how owning a break even or modestly profitable sports franchise would really fit in to their business plans... The original thought was content and the expertise of a marketing savvy enterprise would be very much welcomed. But neither has the TV empire of Bell (or Rogers) so it might actually not be worthwhile from their standpoint at all.

I really wonder who is on Braley's "short list"?

And someone had mentioned that Skulsky is local and has lots of contacts, which I am sure is true, but unless he has been totally hamstringed by his owner I would suggest he has also done a mediocre job especially the last couple of years. Sports is a performance business...

[chwk_lionsfan]

If you ask 2 of the 3 on 1040's afternoon show. Braley isn't the problem. The only one that seems to see the problem for what it is, is the Moj. Something needs to change, how in the hell do you get 18,000 to a game where the team has the potential to go 8-3. The market is ripe for the plucking yet nothing is happening. The fans that are at the game are great, the atmosphere for 18,000-19,000 fans is actually pretty good.

[Alputt]

I credit the 15,000 or so diehard Lions fans that turn up for every game and create a decent atmosphere in a half full building. The question is, how do you attract the next 15,000 casuals and convert them to get attendance back up to at least a more respectable 30,000 in a stadium built for 50,000?

The concern with Braley is he seems to be not too involved in building the franchise as long as it breaks even, and unfortunately he is in the twilight of his career as a businessman and perhaps someone hungrier and with a longer term outlook is needed to spark a fire from the top down.

Respect to Braley for stepping up for the CFL, but times have moved along and we are looking for leadership, not just a "silent partner".

Ownership doesn't necessarily have to be local, although I think that would be a huge positive, but it has to be committed and involved, and be seen to be.

[Alputt]

Whoever would have thought 10 years ago we would be looking to Ottawa as a "model franchise". Jeff Hunt's honeymoon won't last forever, but kudos to him for getting it done. Even with that silly team name.

[almo89]

I credit the 15,000 or so diehard Lions fans that turn up for every game and create a decent atmosphere in a half full building. The question is, how do you attract the next 15,000 casuals and convert them to get attendance back up to at least a more respectable 30,000 in a stadium built for 50,000?

The concern with Braley is he seems to be not too involved in building the franchise as long as it breaks even, and unfortunately he is in the twilight of his career as a businessman and perhaps someone hungrier and with a longer term outlook is needed to spark a fire from the top down.

Respect to Braley for stepping up for the CFL, but times have moved along and we are looking for leadership, not just a "silent partner".

Ownership doesn't necessarily have to be local, although I think that would be a huge positive, but it has to be committed and involved, and be seen to be.

I've always said that they need to reduce the prices of the endzones. If you look around during game days, the sidelines are always full and those are the expensive seats. The endzones are always empty these days and one of the reasons is people don't want to pay 43 dollars to sit in a crappy spot when they can watch it on HD for free. They should bring back the 5 dollars kids deal. Make the endzones 20 bucks a seat. 15 for College and University students. All they would need is to provide their student card. Then of course really get the word out their aggressively that endzones are affordable and really fun. I remember when I use to sit in the endzones and had a lot of fun when it was pretty full in the Ackles days. Lots of young people making tons of noise. Sure the team might take a bit of a hit with the lower ticket prices, but is it really worse than what it is now? It's pretty much empty now. Such a sad sight when the camera sets up for the converts.

[CardiacKid]

A brief interview with Skulsky from the Daily Hive posted yesterday.

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-lions ... dance-2016

Nothing terribly in depth but I couldn't help myself imagining Skulsky sounding like he was a beaten man; dejectedly answering these questions.

[David]

Coming off a 2015 campaign in which attendance trended alarmingly downward (21,290 per game from 28,011 in 2014) with the lowest season ticket base in the Wally Buono era, who at the Lions office thought a back-loaded schedule with just 2 home games in an 8 week stretch (July 7 - Sept 9) was a good idea? If they didn't request it, they certainly ratified it.

Then who sits idly by with slow moving to non-existent ticket sales for the Als game going into a Bye Week, knowing full well this would be the media/sports fan TALKING POINT for the next 2 weeks, overshadowing the success of the ball club?? No papering plans or full-scale "Back-To-School" come on out Marketing blitz. Nothing. Hey, I know all about how spin works, but good grief, listen to this excerpt of Dennis Skulsky's interview on the Sports Market with Tom Mayenknecht.

TM: Are you already seeing some traction based on this 2 for 2 sweep of Ontario in terms of ticket sales for next Friday night's home game?
DS: Yea, it's been starting over the last couple of days....and then all of our campaigns kick in, driving to Friday Night...

I'm not saying this market is not without its challenges, but much of the club's off-field wounds are self-inflicted. Either the front office is woefully tone deaf or hamstrung by an owner that believes wins will take care of everything.


DH

[TheLionKing]

I frankly don't trust anything Skulsky says. Didn't he publicly said that ticket sales were moving for the Montreal game ? You could have fooled me.

[almo89]

Ether the front office is woefully tone deaf or hamstrung by an owner that believes wins will take care of everything.

I believe it's the latter. My cousin worked with the Lions for a couple seasons. He says the club is incredibly cheap. I have a friend that use to work in the Lions ticket sales team and he's no longer there. Nobody wants to stay with a company if they don't think they will move up.