For fans needing help ‘playing hooky’ on MLB Opening Day, the Milwaukee Brewers helped out with a series of player-penned, downloadable ‘Excuse Notes’.
The comprehensive set of handwritten excuse notes, written by several of the team’s star players, was designed to ensure Brewers supporters could get out of any prior obligation to watch the team take on the Colorado Rockies live at Miller Park on Opening Day of the 2016 baseball season (6 April).
The various notes – designed for fans to hand over to ‘Parents’, ‘Bosses’, ‘Teachers’, ‘Coaches’ and ‘Significant Others’ – include excuses ranging from ‘It is important to [her/his] mental health and productivity’, to ‘I specifically asked [her/him] to come to my game on Monday and, people-pleaser that [she/he] is, [she/he] did not want to let me down’.
This initiative was hubbed around brewers.com/excuses and promoted via both club and player social media channels and fans themselves can then share on Twitter or Facebook.
The notes were promoted via social media by both the club itself,
Morning yhall! There will be no relationship drama on opening day. #Yourwelcome http://t.co/t6INVGvHr1 #SeeUApril6
— Scooter Gennett (@Sgennett2) March 31, 2015
and via some of the personal Twitter feeds of some of the Brewer’s star players – such as pitcher Kyle Lohse,
No need to call in sick to work on Opening Day. I’ve got you covered. http://t.co/NGS4VHEmPh #SeeUApril6 pic.twitter.com/oYuDgp3Ju7
— Kyle Lohse (@KyleLohse26) March 30, 2015
As well as Lohse, other player authors who tweeted out notes included Will Smith, as well as pitchers Mike Fiers and Matt Garza and second baseman Scooter Gennett.
Gennett’s note aims to help fans get out of any obligation with a significant other on Opening Day, while Fiers’ note help supporters get out of chores, Smith’s note helps fans get out of class.
And if the note itself isn’t quite enough to convince, the Brewers also offered some of those lucky fans who shared their note the chance to win free Opening Days tickets.
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The Excuse Notes mechanic wasn’t the only strand of the Brewers’ build up to the new season.
The team has been employing several parallel marketing strands to drive interest and attendances for the 2015 season from Photo Day at Spring Training to its Instagraphs initiative (an effort on Twitter and Instagram in which the Brewers asked a number of players at Spring Training to fill out and sign cards with questions and they gave fans an opportunity to win the cards by retweeting the post, like this card from pitcher Michael Blazek).
Want to win this Instagraph from @MichaelBlazek34? RT by 11:59p CT for your chance! pic.twitter.com/zP1tGeTNJn
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 25, 2015
One aspect of this multi-strand campaign included a social media Opening Day Countdown – kicking-off in January, this initiative invited fans to submit their own Brewers-relevant image (including the number of days to go until Opening Day) using the hashtag #SeeUApril6 and the team then posted its favourite image each day (and gave the winning fan a prize to boot).
Other countdown hashtags included #OneDayCloser and #CactusCrew, as well as the league’s own generic #BaseballBegins and #This hashtags.
In addition to the teams existing 1 million Facebook fans, 263,000 Twitter followers and 118,000 followers on Instagram, the Brewers are also expanding its arsenal of engagement platforms for the new season.
In February, the team joined Snapchat which it plans to use for exclusive content, contests and games, as well as surprises.
‘We joined Snapchat just before spring training started. Some clubs joined last year, but I was a little leery. I wanted to sit back and see what other clubs do,’ explains Moyer.
‘But it became apparent…[Snapchat] is a fun platform and can really be creative and flexible. This includes giving fans an inside look into what it’s like to be at a game, like the sights and sounds or trying to make their mouths water by showcasing a hot dog or specialty food, as well as sharing behind the scenes glimpses of the team.’
The team also launched a ‘Brewers On Tap’ podcast with broadcaster Jeff Levering a few weeks before Opening Day.
The podcast will broadcast throughout the season.
The team will continue with its successful ‘Social Media Night’ series – which launched last September.
In which they asked fans to vote for their favourite player to follow on Twitter using designated hashtags and then the star selected as the Most Valuable Tweeter appeared at a pre-game tweet-up with fans and helped design a T-shirt with the #BrewersTeamSelfie.
Such as shame the Brewers opened with a 10-0 loss to the Rockies.
Links
Milwaukee Brewers Opening Day Excuse Notes
http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/mil/social/excuses/index.jsp
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