http://www.metrostars.com/fanzone/mpf.htm Could they have come up with a more lame, half ass, unimaginative idea? Even the shirts they made look worse than the stuff they sell on Canal St. Jesus effing christ cant these guys do ANYTHING right? Seriously now... I mean atleast they DID SOMETHING, but.....
Because they are really 2 different types of people/things. Metro is focused on being a Chucky Cheese substitute where as ESC is more worried about the actual football and support. I dont think the ESC would wanna work with anything they do knowing that everything that comes out of there is half assed.
B/C the ESC will always support the team and the players --- they need to grow the sport beyond the hard core audience and from what I have seen over the last 2 years (full AEG influence) the focus is on children (really market of the future) and hispanics. Our demographic, (making assumptions here) young adult males 20-35, will not increase dramtically over the next 5 years - think about it - I have 5x as many friends who don't watch MLS then do and to convert those non-soccer or Eurosnobs into fans on a grand level will never happen --- they need a generation to grow up with the league. That and it is tough to get smart marketing people when you won't pay anywhere near the average.....
More Pathetic Fiascos Embarassing. Does Nick look at this stuff before it's posted. In my field, I'd be fired for putting up Mickey Mouse stuff like this. Also, I'm ticked that they stole my moniker "MetroFever"
If you want kids to become fans the last thing you should do is turn your establishment into a circus. Yes its important to have some minor elements(ie mascot) but to base your whole campaing and marketing strategy towards is insane. Look at it this way when you were 10 did you still want to hangout at the McD's playland and be seen there? NO. The samething goes for Metro.Kid wanna be like their older bro, or older kids. Do things older kids are doing not where your parent want to take you for a picnic. If you make that place a "kids" place that is all it will ever be. If you take the thing a bit more seriously and broaden your market a bit and loose some of that Disneyland marketing strategy, then maybe more kids will stick around. And guess what "HARDCORE" supporters stop being hardcore someday and have families. IF you have grown up fans they will take their kids to see metro and enjoy it too. There is no need for a kid to ask his dad to take him to a game, its already a set thing.
I dont understand how this is possible. Does the MFO actually beleive they are making a reasonable attempt to market the team and create interest among soccer fans in the area... How can MLS and AEG accept this especially with a new stadium in the talks slated for early 2006. Changes have to be made in the MFO immediatly!!
I guess they couldn't afford more than three letters on a shirt. Who the Hell is gonna know what MPF stands for anyway. Metros Play Football!!!
Metrocorazon - its not that I don't agree with you - they should cater more to the adults fans that exist now, especially in a city like NYC where 80K show up to see to foreign teams play - I am just trying to pass on what knowledge I have from my careerand give some insight to what I think they are thinking...They have made a choice, they assume that we will always support and show up, that the key to their long term success is going to be turning on the generations below us. The marketing term is called "differential marketing" putting your limited dollars against the market that will garner the most return -- I am not sure it is the right strategy but it is the one they chose. Personally, I think that there is a way to reach both groups effectively but it does take money --- The one thing that always got to me --- there are dozens of supporter clubs for foreign clubs in NYC and I have never seen anthing done to entice this group, but I feel much better about this league then I did 5 years ago
The MFO will never work closely with the ESC for the reasons stated above. Also the ESC has done better tees then the MFO. They have ZERO creativity. I always get a good chuckle whenever the MFO needs to put a fan pic up on their website, which section do they pull the pic from?
Typical moronic stuff from Metro Front Office. To put it in perspective, Metro are about to play for a major trophy *for the first time* in their pathetic history. This match just happens to be hosted by Metro. Do you think that they would be busting their humps to get people out to the Cup Final? Nah, but how about an artificial campaign about the, ahem, excitement of Metro in the MLS playoffs. Nice one. I heard that Ad Age is sending a team to do a feature on the trendsetting marketing ideas that keep coming out of the Metro. Soon you will be able to look for the McDonald's Ambulance and the Budweiser Taxi at a mall near you.
two points - 1 - The only people who will see the dumb MPF campaign on the site are already informed otherwise they wouldn't have come to the site. 2 - Metrocorazon is right on in his analysis. There was a great article about the fall of WUSA in the NY Times and it pointed out that the league was marketed to appeal to kiddies and tweens who in the short term of WUSA outgrew their fantasy worship of Mia Hamm. You do not want to be showcasing biddy soccer games on the field at half time. Please, MFO/MLS has to learn from the horrid mockery of the sport that WUSA turned into. What can we fans, MFO, & Metro players do about it? Give 'em a cup final that will go down in history.
this is not the only reason or the main reason WUSA Failed. The key reason was that the league was backed by Corporations who blew through $100 Million (how!) in the first few years. Then when things get tough and bottom lines (and stock holders) need to be met, the WUSA was one of the first things to go. They didn't have a St. Phil or Father Lamar to save them.