Dan Gargan and a Box of Crayons: The Marketing and PR Thread

I'm no fan of Herbalife, but I can't really blame them. Ackman made a $1 billion bet that he could get the company shut down by the US government. T

 

HA. My bad for falling for 2 year old news.

Still a shady company that leaves so so many of its customers/distributors worse off then before they get started.

 

Ackman recently conceded defeat on the whole Herbalife deal, losing billions in the process, so the book is probably his last chance to make money out of the whole fiasco. He bet on the company going under, then marshaled all of his resources into making that happen, going to as far as hiring fake protestors in some cases. He wasn't exactly scrupulous (however hard that is to believe for a hedge fund manager).

 

That’s the way I feel about the Galaxy after watching their last three games.

 

"hmu" - why doesn't this surprise me? at all.

 

I hope they haven’t lost their video team and this is just someone to take the administrative tasks away from the creatives so they can focus on producing video.

 

As someone that hates un-ironic cutesy abbreviations, I hear you, I really do, but, to whit: it's freaking twitter. Are you sure this is the hill you want to plant your flag on? Not to defend these guys, but they could implement peace in the middle east and some of you would criticize the color of the font that announced it.

 

Will we get a throwback version?

2018 Retro. Available 5.27. #OhWhenTheWiz pic.twitter.com/kJwK8mEFW2

— SportingStyle (@SportingStyle) May 10, 2018

 

Zlatan is on many, many signs at Visa today - we just announced our global campaign. Kinda fun! People know I love soccer so I've had the ability to talk about the Galaxy a lot of late.

 

Me too. Unfortunately (for them) people have been asking me about LAFC a lot thinking since it’s soccer I must like it.

 

Season ticket renewals went out this week. My tickets (upper deck) did not really increase at all.

Wonder about others.

I’ll happily renew.

 

I have a whole spiel I launch into that starts like "In the beginning there was the Galaxy..." then covers Guevara and Chivas and emphasis on home-grown, alienation of Mexican-American soccer fans, sans brief Bradely embarrassment on the field and in the stands, MLS struggle to remove the blight, there eventual success with LAFC ownership ponying up $100million plus, and how the new LAFC, essentially Chivas 2.0, has been doing a great marketing job of connecting with all of those fans who had never seen a professional soccer match in person and were busy supporting EPL or La liga, or whatever, and mostly badmouthing MLS, but now realized that rooting for your hometown team is actually pretty damn fun, and with LAFC they were getting a convenient way to join the party but without admitting they missed out supporting the Galaxy and watching the likes of Cienfuegos, Cobi, Donovan, Keane, Beckham, and many more, and that because they were too afraid, too busy, too clueless to support a team that didn't play in a world elite league, they missed the LA Galaxy for 20+ years and 5 titles, and a lot of great soccer, but that was ok. The more the merrier and today in 2018 there was still plenty of great soccer to see, like for example when the Galaxy came from behind and Zlatan hit an amazing volley, and the Galaxy went on to win the first meeting.

But that's just the short version. I'm not sure what barroldinho means about going on too long in a monologue while your audience loses focus. I mean I do stop for a pulse and make sure they are still breathing. And then when I give them an oral 10 question quiz to make sure they've properly digested the material and identify any parts of the story they need clarification on ....

 

I have to give serious thought to whether I want to renew. On the one hand, there is something special about being a continuous STH since 1996. On the other hand, I really haven't been motivated to actually go to some of the games this year and I can't help thinking there are other things that might be more fun to do with that money. I can pretty much follow the team on TV and go thru the secondary market if I really want to go to a specific game. Even the mark-up (if any) doesn't compare to the tickets I have eaten this year. Tough decision.

 

One of the selling points in the email I received was the ability to resell tickets on the secondary market to make a profit, which has actually gotten easier with Flash Seats. My cousin, who used to go with me didn't renew his ticket for this year so, I paid for it. When Zlatan was announced I quickly jumped on a 5-game plan for another pair of tickets and also bought a single season seat where there is only one lone seat to an aisle that I noticed is always empty. I've already sold all but one of the extra pair and for games that no one goes with me, I sell the original 2 as well. I sell the single seat cheap if I don't use that one. So far, I'm a couple hundred from breaking even across all my tickets. By the end of the season I'll have at least broke even and likely a little profit, all while attending every match.

STH since '96 is special. Don't break the streak!

 

My seats are so cheap ($16.50 each) that I almost always make money reselling them if I don’t go. I recognize that is not the case in better (more expensive) seats in the stadium.

 

I've struggled and complained a few times about gameday and customer experience, and how LAG doesn't seem to fully comprehend how that impacts the brand and why everything impacting the brand should be held to the same high standard.

Having said that, I want to share a positive experience this week in speaking with Tom Braun, VP of Business Operations.

Several weeks ago a change was made at the endlines to accomodate the pyro boxes and the advertising boards were moved closer to the field inside the 18 yard box. For us in the front of 102, it blocks any low ball across the face of goal - when sitting or standing.

I emailed my rep who was little help, but sent it up the food chain. After a follow-up note to Ali, I received a call and email from Tom. We missed eachother the first time and he made a point of calling me back. He took the time to explain what had occurred over the past several games and why it is currently the way it is. He also committed to trying something different this week which he says will return the ad boards to their original position. His approach and our dialog was very much appreciated and its the first time in a long time that I actually felt listened to from the FO. I understand they're trying to enhance game-day experience, and happy they're willing to look at other options.

 

I've always wondered this but what's the big deal with pyrotechnics/fireworks?

 

Impressive and awesome. This is the way fans should be handled.

 

Since were pointing out the good, I would just like to mention that my ticket rep Alex is a stand up dude and super accomadating, so shout out to you Alex.