Where is the buzzz? The home opener is a couple of days away and the Revolution are not even a blip on the local media's radar screen. This is the least amount of attention the Revos have received in nine years! There's nothing on the radio that I've heard. Nothing on TV, except an occasional ad on FSNE, which televises the Revos games. Nothing on local TV news sports broadcasts. Have the Revolution sunk so low on the sports news chain that they are on par with the Boston Cannons, or whatever the lacrosse franchise is being called these days. The people here on BigSoccer care, but unless El Globo sends LittleFrank on a foreign junket with the team, there doesn't seem to be that much interest. Marketing? Public Relations? Advertising? All foreign concepts for this franchise. They are probably waiting until the end of the week, if at all, to invite the media to meet the team, instead of doing it earlier and getting a stream of publicity going. The Revos are going to be behind the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins playoffs, Celtics and some of the bigger college events for media attention. But they seem to fallen further on the pecking order and the organization is still not spending any money to market the team, and if they are, I'm not seeing it. So aside from BigSoccer, where is the buzzz?
On Tuesday, Adin Brown did a ten minute radio interview, which was basically a commercial for the home opener. On Friday, "Sports Pulse" on CN8 (10-11pm) is dedicating the show to previewing the Pats draft and the Revolution season. Not much, but it's something.
The way the Pats guys run the Revolution marketing department reminds me of the way the Bush guys run the EPA, without much enthusiasm, and with an indifference that borders on harm.
agreed. always makes me wonder why they are always so enthusiatic about telling one (when asked) how advanced their business plan is and how we, as fans, need to keep being enthusiatic about and buying into a product that they can't even show enthusiasm for. once again.....told it was essentially "my duty" to american soccer and mls to buy revs season tix even if they go unused to any degree. hmmmm, that makes year 3 (of 5) i've heard this. outside the "get your kicks! the new england revolutiooooon", this seems to be the 2nd most successful and long running campaign slogan.
"The home opener is a couple of days away and the Revolution are not even a blip on the local media's radar screen..." Today is Revolution media day down at Gillette Stadium, so my guess is we'll see some local TV coverage this evening. That being said, any Revolution buzz is likely to be drowned out by the overwhelming din of talk about the Bruin's playoff efforts, the coming Red Sox Yankees series at Fewnway, and the Boston Marathon on Monday. The overwhelming majority of the sports fan in the region care about this, and at present, not the Revolution. The news cycle is currently satured with high profile sports stories that, understandably (even if I don't like it), bump the Revolution to the back burner at the moment; that's the reality of the situation.
speaking of slogans....just ran the revs thru a little slogan generator (using popular slogans). of the 30 or so times i ran it thru, here's my "top fifteen" as i saw it..... 15. It's just for me and my Revolution 14. Does She or Doesn't She? Only Her Revolution Knows for Sure 13. Wow! I could've had a Revolution! 12. You'll Wonder Where the Yellow Went, When You Brush Your Teeth with the Revolution 11. Only The Revolution Has The Answer 10. What can The Revolution do for you? 09. You've always got time for The Revolution 08. Life Should Taste As Good As The Revolution. 07. Nothing sucks like a Revolution 06. It takes a tough man to make a tender Revolution 05. A smooth running Revolution is a relaxing experience 04. Snap! Crackle! Revolution! 03. Please don't squeeze the Revolution 02. If you've got the time, we've got the Revolution. 01. Where's the Revolution?
That is the reality of the situation when it comes to sports news coverage. The way to counter that, to get yourself on the radar screen, is to do some creative marketing and purchase some advertising. If the media isn't coming to you, go to the media. But once again the Revos keep the Kraftys booty burried in the sand and don't spend any money to market the team before the home opener in a heavy news cycle. There is no excuse for this except being cheap. So media day was today? Not much time before the opener. Couldn't it have been last week and perhaps develop some legs? Or was it a last minute thing hoping to capitalise on some last minute media attention? Unfortunately casual fans are not likely to buy tickets as a last minute decision, so once again, the Revos are a days late and dollars short.
I wil give you some reasons why I think, there is not much buzz. 1. Sox/Yanks. 2. Bruins/Habs playoffs 3. Celts/Pacers playoffs 4. Boston Marathon 5. Revs played one game had next week off, not much to talk about 6. NFL Draft coming up/ NFL Schedule released 7-101 Red Sox/Yanks 4 game series
"But once again the Revos keep the Kraftys booty burried in the sand and don't spend any money to market the team before the home opener in a heavy news cycle. There is no excuse for this except being cheap." Let me ask you this - do you think the problem (from a financial stanpoint) is more the Revs not using enough of the Krafts money, or using what they have effectively, or a matter of the Krafts not sticking their neck out far enough by advancing the club a serious amount of cash to heavily promote? Then again, is it a combination of both?
The Krafts didn't become this wealthy by being stupid. It makes no sense to spend money to try to nose your way in front of the Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Marathon. I don't know what the Krafts plan to do, but if they do spend any money they would be a lot smarter waiting a few weeks.
theoretically, the local teams could be in the nba and nhl playoffs until mid/late june….where coverage actually becomes more intense. the sox always dominate the summer market. so what changes? the marathon? by mid/late june 1/3 of the revs' home season will be gone. what'll the excuse be from the front office then, eh?
All of the above. The Red Sox and the Patriots are regularly sold out and have to turn away people seeking tickets. The Revolution obviously don't have that problem. What the organisation has not understood is that they need to spend money to make money. We could debate how much money they need to spend, but then it is a moot point when they don't spend any. And it would also depend on how creative the marketing campaign was in attracting casual ticket buyers, and given their history, we shouldn't hold our breath there, either. Soccer Smiles, anyone? We have seen attendance and interest fall as the team has gotten better. It is frustrating that they haven't done anything constructive to reverse that trend.
"The Red Sox and the Patriots are regularly sold out and have to turn away people seeking tickets. The Revolution obviously don't have that problem..." No, but then, the Revolution don't have over a century's worth of tradition, history, and a cultural identification that the Red Sox enjoy, nor do they have the cachet of being two-time Super Bowl Champions and the massive media machine that allows the Patriots to move forward even if idle. You've got a weak point there. "What the organisation has not understood is that they need to spend money to make money..." No argument there, but it's also a case of how you spend the money, as much as the amount that you put into it. If the Krafts want to help cultivate the same kind of tradition and following that the ranking Boston and New England pro sports teams enjoy, then they have to work harder to accomplish that. Right now you have a bunch of young kids who enjoy the "event," but don't likely feel the connection that Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, or Celtics fans have to their team. A young Boston Bruins fan can rattlle off the names of players from a time before they were born, but how many young Revolution fans can remember the three original Revolution goalkeepers, or who "The Haitian Sensation" was? "We could debate how much money they need to spend, but then it is a moot point when they don't spend any. And it would also depend on how creative the marketing campaign was in attracting casual ticket buyers, and given their history, we shouldn't hold our breath there, either. Soccer Smiles, anyone?" Have an excellent op-ed you should read then: http://www.mlsnet.com/content/04/wynalda0416.html Only took eight years to be written. "We have seen attendance and interest fall as the team has gotten better. It is frustrating that they haven't done anything constructive to reverse that trend..." It's exceptionally frustrating, especially when the team is finally playing well, in fact, probably has the best group of talent they've ever had. It's also frustrating when the front office has worked to try and do a better job of listening to fans and helping them help the club, but there are many, many fans the club, for lack of a better word, "lost" when the front office wasn't as responsive and when the team couldn't beat anybody. I'd love to think the Revs are working to create new fans and supporters, and trying to get them to feel the same attachment they might already feel for the Red Sox, Patriots, etc. Whether that takes time, money, or some combination of both remains to be seen. I've literally seen some kids grow up watching the Revs, and they're the ones who "get it," the ones who could really ensure the legacy of this team. As has been said before, often times the business decisions with respect to the Revs seem a case of 'Pennywise, pound foolish." I could care less if that's the case, I just want to see more "fannies in the seats," something that's been missing for some years now. The Magpie
BigFrank posed a legitimate question. No TV or radio buzz. Several good newspaper stories. Need all three. Does the Revolution have a marketing dept. Maybe they are watching the Red Sox. This wouldn't be happening if Sunil were still alive. Marketing campaign slogans, to add to the above: Stay in the game . . . She'll love you for it . . . Maybe she will want it more and more . . . Get Pepe and TnT to do these commercials.
It would be great to see the organisation make an attempt to market their soccer franchise. It has been one cutback after another off of the field. They should be able to be cost effective without hacking through the bone. We have a soccer management side that seems to get it, and an off-field side that is indifferent or incompetent and either won't spend any money to attempt to make money or isn't given any money to spend. It used to be the other way around. The SNE Brigade can be happy looking only at the results on the field, but if the results off the field don't improve and straighten themselves out then all we will have someday are fond memories of yet another soccer franchise that didn't make it. Doing and spending nothing to promote the team at the start of another season is an unfortunate step in that direction.