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Pitt Athletics marketing misses again

J

JD1976

Athletic Director
Jan 23, 2005
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Watching the Penguins game and the generic “Buy Pitt Basketball Tickets” banner has run next to the scorebug a few times, but there’s no updated copy promoting the Duke game tomorrow night. 🙄

From experience, I know that it would take no more than 5-10 minutes for a graphics person to update a graphic and email it to whoever is the contact at SportsNet Pittsburgh or the Penguins.

This has been going on for the last few years. The Penguins generally lead all NHL and NBA local broadcasts in viewership (I believe 100,000 or so households) so it’s a big miss.
 
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JD1976 said:
Watching the Penguins game and the generic “Buy Pitt Basketball Tickets” banner has run next to the scorebug a few times, but there’s no updated copy promoting the Duke game tomorrow night. 🙄

From experience, I know that it would take no more than 5-10 minutes for a graphics person to update a graphic and email it to whoever is the contact at SportsNet Pittsburgh or the Penguins.

This has been going on for the last few years. The Penguins generally lead all NHL and NBA local broadcasts in viewership (I believe 100,000 or so households) so it’s a big miss.
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Pitt's basketball marketing slogan is "We have a basketball team." Why mention that they have games vs brand name teams Duke and Syracuse coming up when surely the average Pens viewer knows the Pitt schedule like the back of their hand.
 
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Sooooo many empty seats for Duke Pitt at the moment.

Maybe half full at the moment on game day? Shouldn’t this be pushing a sell out? What’s the deal- pricing, game time, etc.? Marketing?


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GaryMcgheeForThree said:
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Sooooo many empty seats for Duke Pitt at the moment.

Maybe half full at the moment on game day? Shouldn’t this be pushing a sell out? What’s the deal- pricing, game time, etc.? Marketing?
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All 3

9PM weeknights are bad. This is an ESPN game so I'll give them a pass BUT the ACC should NEVER EVER EVER play 9PM games on ACCN. Do 6/8, 6:30/8:30 or move that Tue/Wed 9PM game over to Thu and/or Friday at 7 ad J said in another post. Also, they haven't marketed the games at all. For example, there is still a billboard in Oakland for Pitt football season tickets. Last year's season. And it actually does include the teams they play. But why not take that down and put up a basketball one? And why not market that you host UNC, Duke, and Syracuse. From a pure brand name standpoint, this may be our best schedule ever. Throw in ND and Louisville (average yinzer dont know they suck) and we play a lot of recognizable teams. But they decided they didnt want to market tickets by telling people what a great schedule it was or how cheap tickets were. Their strategy was: "We still play basketball. Buy tickets."
 
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Sean Miller Fan said:
All 3

9PM weeknights are bad. This is an ESPN game so I'll give them a pass BUT the ACC should NEVER EVER EVER play 9PM games on ACCN. Do 6/8, 6:30/8:30 or move that Tue/Wed 9PM game over to Thu and/or Friday at 7 ad J said in another post. Also, they haven't marketed the games at all. For example, there is still a billboard in Oakland for Pitt football season tickets. Last year's season. And it actually does include the teams they play. But why not take that down and put up a basketball one? And why not market that you host UNC, Duke, and Syracuse. From a pure brand name standpoint, this may be our best schedule ever. Throw in ND and Louisville (average yinzer dont know they suck) and we play a lot of recognizable teams. But they decided they didnt want to market tickets by telling people what a great schedule it was or how cheap tickets were. Their strategy was: "We still play basketball. Buy tickets."
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Still a football billboard up? Sounds like amateur hour in the marketing department. Pittsburgh is a pro sports town so Pitt needs to operate like professionals in the sales and marketing realm. They simply do not.
 
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TBH, I think $150+ for club and $80 for the lower ends is just way too expensive for the casual fan to decide to buy tickets. If they wanted to actually fill the arena, I would knock like $30-$40 off Pitt's prices.
 
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mike10003 said:
TBH, I think $150+ for club and $80 for the lower ends is just way too expensive for the casual fan to decide to buy tickets. If they wanted to actually fill the arena, I would knock like $30-$40 off Pitt's prices.
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For a bubble program, yes. Like I said, Yinzers dont want to be bothered about Pitt hoops unless we have a chance at the Final Four. This is why you need to maximize season ticket sales.
 
Tickets are to expensive. Not a lot of people are going to pay a minimum of $60 to sit in the upper sections and watch their team probably lose.
 
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Sean Miller Fan said:
Throw in ND and Louisville (average yinzer dont know they suck) and we play a lot of recognizable teams.
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If they don't care enough to know they suck, why would they care enough to buy tickets to see them play?

You don't need to advertise the Duke game, a casual fan knows Pitt and Duke are in the same conference. If they have any interest in seeing Duke, they will take 30 seconds to google Pitt's schedule to see when they play. If you advertise Duke, they say Tuesday night at 9, I'll pass. People aren't scrambling to find things to do on a Tuesday night in early January. But if they actually look at the schedule, they may find a few other games they may consider.
 
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JS School said:
If they don't care enough to know they suck, why would they care enough to buy tickets to see them play?

You don't need to advertise the Duke game, a casual fan knows Pitt and Duke are in the same conference. If they have any interest in seeing Duke, they will take 30 seconds to google Pitt's schedule to see when they play. If you advertise Duke, they say Tuesday night at 9, I'll pass. People aren't scrambling to find things to do on a Tuesday night in early January. But if they actually look at the schedule, they may find a few other games they may consider.
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The average Pitt fan doesn't assume they play Duke, UNC, and Syr at home every year.
 
PittPharm2002 said:
They simply aren’t even casual fans , then
Which means no matter how much they advertise - they are at best watching on TV
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This is partly true. The casual fanbase for Pitt football and basketball is small. But you need to try. If you made the decision to have commercials and promos during Pens games, you need to tell the people who you are playing unless you dont have any interesting games. Marty from Wexford who went to IUP but has a 12 year old and 10 year old boy is never looking up the Pitt schedule but if the ad comes across during the Pens, maybe he buys tickets. Maybe his boys become Pitt fans. Probably not. But try.
 
JS School said:
"Hey, I was at a Pens game and saw that Pitt was playing Duke in basketball Tuesday night. Let's buy season tickets!"
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Wasnt the ad on TV? Either way, yes. This is what you try. It is 10 million times better for the ad to say "Pitt vs Duke Tuesday at 9PM, get your tickets" than it is to say "We have a basketball team. Buy tickets."
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
Marty from Wexford who went to IUP but has a 12 year old and 10 year old boy is never looking up the Pitt schedule but if the ad comes across during the Pens, maybe he buys tickets.
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Marty can't be bothered looking at Pitt's schedule, but he's going to buy tickets to the Duke game as an impulse buy, like a candy bar or tabloid magazine while he's waiting in line at Giant Eagle?

Marty's an idiot.
 
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Sean Miller Fan said:
Wasnt the ad on TV? Either way, yes. This is what you try. It is 10 million times better for the ad to say "Pitt vs Duke Tuesday at 9PM, get your tickets" than it is to say "We have a basketball team. Buy tickets."
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10 million times better? The difference is minuscule. You're just looking for something to criticize.
 
PittPharm2002 said:
Just a couple more commercials away from sellouts , no doubt !
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You are missing the point. If that’s the kind of attention to detail that is paid to a high-profile ad spot during a Penguins game that draws 100,000 households, then what kind of attention to detail is there with on- campus grassroots marketing, digitial and social media marketing, season ticket holder communication, etc. ?
 
JD1976 said:
You are missing the point. If that’s the kind of attention to detail that is paid to a high-profile ad spot during a Penguins game that draws 100,000 households, then what kind of attention to detail is there with on- campus grassroots marketing, digitial and social media marketing, season ticket holder communication, etc. ?
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I agree with what you are saying, but I don't think he's missing the point. The most well done ad in the world isn't going to increase attendance much. The thing that is going to make a difference is success. You want to promote enthusiasm in Pitt basketball to sell season tickets, not the chance to see a high profile opponent once or twice a year.
 
JS School said:
I agree with what you are saying, but I don't think he's missing the point. The most well done ad in the world isn't going to increase attendance much. The thing that is going to make a difference is success. You want to promote enthusiasm in Pitt basketball to sell season tickets, not the chance to see a high profile opponent once or twice a year.
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Does an ad showing highlights of Pitt basketball but ALSO highlighting some big games NOT promote enthusiasm to sell tickets? Would people be less enthusiastic if during this commercial, it showed UNC, Duke, and Syr logos? Maybe you are onto something. We may have sold even less season tickets had they promoted "including games with Duke, UNC, and Syracuse." That would have killed all the enthusiasm.
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
Does an ad showing highlights of Pitt basketball but ALSO highlighting some big games NOT promote enthusiasm to sell tickets? Would people be less enthusiastic if during this commercial, it showed UNC, Duke, and Syr logos? Maybe you are onto something. We may have sold even less season tickets had they promoted "including games with Duke, UNC, and Syracuse." That would have killed all the enthusiasm.
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I agreed with JD1976 that the advertising was sloppy. But the difference it would have made in attendance is minimal. Again, you are just searching for something to criticize.
 
JD1976 said:
You are missing the point. If that’s the kind of attention to detail that is paid to a high-profile ad spot during a Penguins game that draws 100,000 households, then what kind of attention to detail is there with on- campus grassroots marketing, digitial and social media marketing, season ticket holder communication, etc. ?
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I’m not missing any point
You want them to build custom ads for every game based on the next game -
On the premise that it will sell more more tickets and increase attendance

I’m denying that because it’s detached from reality .

How many events have you bought tickets for because of a commercial ?

I get constant specific communication from Pitt .
Because I’m not a casual fan
 
PittPharm2002 said:
I’m not missing any point
You want them to build custom ads for every game based on the next game -
On the premise that it will sell more more tickets and increase attendance

I’m denying that because it’s detached from reality .

How many events have you bought tickets for because of a commercial ?

I get constant specific communication from Pitt .
Because I’m not a casual fan
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Yes I would expect them to build a custom graphic because that’s what all good sports marketing operations do. And yes I do think it will drive attendance when done in concert with a true marketing plan. Why do I believe that? Because I have personally been part of sports marketing teams and know what works.
 
JD1976 said:
Yes I would expect them to build a custom graphic because that’s what all good sports marketing operations do. And yes I do think it will drive attendance when done in concert with a true marketing plan. Why do I believe that? Because I have personally been part of sports marketing teams and know what works.
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Like I said -
Just a few commercials away from sellouts !

Can you give us an example and the impact your work has had ?
 
PittPharm2002 said:
Like I said -
Just a few commercials away from sellouts !

Can you give us an example and the impact your work has had ?
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They should ran a promo featuring Filipowski. We are single-handedly putting that dude in the ACC HOF. "Come see the great Kyle Filipowski Tuesday night at The Pete."
 
Sean Miller Fan said:
Wasnt the ad on TV? Either way, yes. This is what you try. It is 10 million times better for the ad to say "Pitt vs Duke Tuesday at 9PM, get your tickets" than it is to say "We have a basketball team. Buy tickets."
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When I think of what you are asking them to do, it reminds me of Howard Finkel saying that Junkyard Dog will be in action at the Johnstown War Memorial on February 7th. Pedro Morales will defend the intercontinental title against Iron Mike Sharpe. Good seats available
 
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