How the Phoenix Suns Pro Basketball Team Goes to Market
By John Riley
Last night I was treated to a professional marketing and promotional experience worthy of special note. As it unfolded, you could not escape the fact it had been well planned and executed faultlessly. The venue was the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix where the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team plays their home games. The occasion was a special evening event to sell their unsold season tickets.
Billed as “Taste of the NBA”, I estimate 250 people were invited to sample food offerings of leading chefs from cities in the National Basketball Association, meet and talk with the Suns management and coach and inspect the unsold seats for the upcoming season. No one seemed to mind coming out in the 110 degree temperature and many arrived early.
Free parking was arranged in the adjoining building making entrance into the U. S. Airways Center lobby easy and comfortable. Entering the lobby, you quickly noticed the large screen mounted on high on the interior wall featuring highlights of the previous season’s games. Tables were arranged for guests to pick up their name tag and register for an undetermined prize while under the helpful guidance of several Sun’s sales coordinators.
As we were escorted into the bowels of the building, we encountered a staging area where a photographer was taking pictures of each party with two team hostesses and the team’s gorilla mascot. Following our photograph, we moved to the playing floor where food and beverage stands were positioned and chefs were serving guests. Each stand presented three or four entrees plus a dessert.
Surveying the scene above the floor, you could see 18,000 empty seats with an untold number of available choices posted with a location ID and season price. Guests mingled among the seats considering their possible selections while the white shirted sales coordinators stood by to answer questions.
One team owner helped serve food at one stand while another owner helped guests find unsold seats to suit their needs. Meanwhile, large screens throughout the room replayed engaging snippets of past Sun’s games.
Stationed strategically at one end of the floor, four team principals gathered to present an informal program. First came the coach with a few remarks on his players and the outlook for the coming year. Next came the introduction of the new general manager. He was followed by the principal owner who outlined a number of incentives for guests who made seat purchases before leaving ( for example: the first four couples to buy would receive a free trip with the team to one of their scheduled games while another couple could qualify to use one of the owner’s boxes for one of the scheduled games)
One of the new additions to the team was the final speaker. Door prizes were then awarded and if the recipient made a free throw in one try, an additional prize was given.
From that point on, guests continued to enjoy the food, talk with team management or survey the seat locations. No one seemed anxious to leave.
My experience with similar types of events over the years always alerts me to expect an aggressive sales effort. That didn’t happen here. Neither my guest nor I felt any pressure from the sales coordinators or anyone else. The Sun’s let their product sell itself and if you liked the product, the staff was there to make it easy for you to buy.
Bottom line: it was a first class marketing effort and it was successful
