As the MLB season moves into its Play-Offs phase, the New York Mets aim to capture the hearts and secure the support of the city’s baseball fans through a Play-Offs brand campaign called simply ‘These Mets’.
The (less glamourous and less globally famous) New York City franchise, nicknamed ‘The Amazins’, leveraged its first postseason appearance in six years with city-based brand campaign led by a subway takeover that sought to drum up awareness of October baseball, boost support for the team and ticket sales.
Running through October, the campaign was developed with creative agency FCB New York, full-service agency Giant Spoon handled the media, while the Mets’ in-house creative and content team also contributed to the initiative.
The team’s New York takeover sought to paint the city in the side’s familiar ‘orange and blue’ colour through an OOH advertising campaign focused on key New York City subway locations, stations and trains starting today.
The campaign concept was a response to a Mets brief to create a Play-Off rallying cry and the agency team settled upon the key campaign phrase ‘These Mets’ which lives throughout all creative assets, executions and signage.
The ‘These Mets’ campaign included the team logo, the franchise’s famous apple logo and star player images featuring on the Number 7 train line (which runs from the city centre to the Mets’ home Citi Field stadium in Flushing) subway cars, while the Times Square/Grand Central Station shuttle train also runs with interior and exterior subway car signage. The interiors on the subway cars also included QR codes that lead fans to the latest information, highlights and announcements around the postseason.
The initiative also includes digital ads running on the interior of trains, while Hudson Yards Station and Grand Central Station themselves also feature Mets advertising.
There is online media supporting content (including a ‘These Mets’ video), plus New Yorkers can meet team mascots Mr and Mrs Met around the city, based on hints shown on social media, through October.
The 7 trains have a new look. #TheseMets have taken over the @MTA stations and trains! #LGM pic.twitter.com/4GYHvvl7Wi
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 4, 2022
We’re talking about THESE METS.
https://t.co/WhR7y27xPg pic.twitter.com/0nLufs4Huv
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 6, 2022
“We want to get back to what the city knows and loves, which is Mets baseball,” explained New York Mets Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer Andy Goldberg. “New York’s a baseball town. We have a fun and exciting team. It’s about reaching Mets fans and baseball fans, but it’s also about reaching New York.”
Goldberg added that the idea for the campaign aims to represent what is ‘quintessentially New York’ and the subway was chosen as the primary platform as a significant segment of fans use it to travel to Mets games.
“Nothing says New York City in the fall quite like October baseball,” added New York City Transit President Richard Davey. “With the Mets back in the playoffs and sell-out crowds expected at Citi Field, mass transit is the home run option to root for the Mets as they chase a World Series.”
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The Mets, who clinched a playoff spot in September to ensure the team’s first playoff appearance since 2016, are seeking to re-establish its brand under the new ownership group under billionaire Steve Cohen bought the team in 2020.
The Mets have been seeking to steadily improve on and off the field since the takeover: on the field of play the team currently have the highest payroll in the MLB, while the at-stadium fan experience is being boosted through initiatives such as DJ nights every Friday night home game, a smoke machine entrance for players at the start of home games, the viral video of artist Timmy Trumpet performing the song ‘Narco’ for Mets closer Edwin Diaz’ walkout.
The team has also championed its history by celebrating some of the achievements and star players from its 60-year history.
“Those have been enhancements to the experience for building the brand: making it more accessible to the non-hardcore baseball fans, so someone can just enjoy their experience there, which is really important,” Goldberg added.
The Mets have often been overshadowed by the more famous and more glamourous New York Yankees and will again have to compete with the city rivals who have also reached this season’s Play-Offs.
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