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Whole new ballgame
The Bobcats will soon unveil a new effort to remake the struggling franchise’s image in Charlotte

No, the Charlotte Bobcats aren’t playing hard to get. But when the team launches its totally revamped marketing campaign next month, it will no longer be making a hard sell on tickets.

Instead, the franchise, which has spent three years and millions of dollars pushing ticket packages, will focus on building an entirely new image.

“We understand what the (Carolina) Panthers have been able to achieve, what NASCAR has been able to achieve and what the Hornets achieved in terms of making a real connection to the city,” says Greg Economou, Bobcats chief marketing officer. “It’s fair to say we haven’t done that yet. That’s partly because we’re so young and partly because we need to do a better job defining ourselves.”

The new campaign cuts across all aspects of the franchise and its 180 employees.

Emphasizing improvement, teamwork and passion will top the team’s operating and marketing agenda for the next three to five years, with all elements playing off one another.

Next month, the campaign will begin with billboards, media buys on radio and TV and a new Web site.

Even the Bobcats’ home court will sport a cleaner look this season, harking back to the simpler designs popular with high school and college teams.

The campaign kicks off in September with the introduction of the new advertising campaign centered on the theme, “Elevate.” The campaign, created by the team and local ad agency Boone/Oakley, emphasizes a commitment to improving the Bobcats’ on-court performance while also stressing a growing connection with fans and the community.

In addition, the Bobcats plan to emphasize blue as a primary color for the franchise, using the previously dominant orange only as an accent. The blue jersey introduced last year will be worn by the team for 20 games this season, up from 12 in 2006-07. By 2008-09, blue will be the main color used in team apparel, marketing and elsewhere. The transition begins next month with the introduction of the revamped team Web site.

All the changes are aimed at establishing the Bobcats as a franchise with deep Carolinas roots while paying homage to the region’s affection for no-frills tradition similar to what can be found in college basketball.

Team executives point to several franchises and sporting events — including the city’s first NBA team, the Hornets — in the area as models for what the Bobcats need to achieve.

A YouTube-style feature on the Web site will allow fans to make video vignettes as testimonials of what they like about the Bobcats and how fan enthusiasm can make a difference in the team’s on-court performance.

Banners inside and outside the arena will use the same images and messages, a tactic aimed at ensuring the Bobcats have a unified voice.

The effort marks the first full campaign by the Bobcats since the hiring of Boone/Oakley last year. Earlier plans called for a new brand and ad promotion to be launched last February at the season’s midpoint. Those plans were scrapped when team executives decided a fresh start coinciding with a full season would make a larger impact.

“At the end of the day, having a campaign or a new color won’t make someone buy tickets or decide to get behind the team,” says Steve Hall, principal at Signature Sports Group Inc. “But from a business perspective, all of these little things add up. Blue is a very hot color from a licensing and fashion standpoint right now, and fans always like to see fresh, new things.”

Bobcats executives say the need to win more games and sell more tickets is obvious. For that reason, the franchise wants to focus its marketing message on forging stronger bonds between the Bobcats and the city.

Economou cites the city’s NFL franchise as the model. The Panthers launched in 1995 and, after opening an uptown stadium a year later, have sold out all but two home games at 73,000-seat Bank of America Stadium.

“There is a Panthers Nation — there is a group of people who bond together through that brand,” Economou says. “That’s what we want to build. To do that, you have to get the right message and beat the drum over a number of years. You can’t sacrifice tomorrow for today.”

Hall and other experts point to the Bobcats’ heavily weighted schedule as a major motivator for the organization to get off to a strong start on the court — and off. With 15 of the team’s final 24 games on the road, the Bobcats must generate ticket sales and fan interest early.

Those pressures come on top of attendance woes faced by the Bobcats during each of the team’s first two seasons at the $265 million publicly funded uptown arena.

Last season, the Bobcats sold 7,300 to 7,500 season-ticket equivalents, a combination of full- and partial-season plans. Most experts consider a season-ticket base of 10,000 necessary to run a consistently profitable NBA franchise. Charlotte Bobcats Arena has a capacity of 19,026.

The team has ranked in the bottom third of NBA attendance the past two seasons at the new arena.

In response, the Bobcats cut ticket prices an average of 22% the past two years. Even with a 17.6% increase in paid attendance last season, ticket revenue grew just 2%, a clear sign the team had to offer steep discounts to attract more fans.

The Bobcats begin play Nov. 2.

Economou points to a series of major changes during the off-season as cause for optimism. New additions include head coach Sam Vincent, general manager Rod Higgins and sharpshooter Jason Richardson, acquired in a trade from the Golden State Warriors. The Bobcats also resigned two key players to multiyear contracts, Gerald Wallace and Matt Carroll.

The team has increased its win total each year, from 18 in 2004-05 to 26 the following year and 33 in 2006-07.
Net gains

STEPS TEAM IS TAKING TO BOOST BRAND:

* A revamped Web site (www.bobcats.com) will include more video features
* Marketing campaign will focus on team, not ticket sales
* Shift in color scheme to put the accent on blue will tie the team more directly to its N.C. roots.
Charlotte Business Journal - August 31, 2007
by Erik Spanberg
Senior staff writer