Sometimes it is difficult to remember that the Bay Area has two major league baseball teams. The task of making sure we don’t forget about the team that did not win the World Series last year falls on veteran sports public relations professional Bob Rose, who has 30 years experience working for teams and leagues at the college and professional levels and is now Director of Public Relations for the Oakland A’s.
“We take pride in providing great value to our customers,” Rose said. “We think our promotions and pricing include everyone under the baseball tent.”
Indeed, the A’s go far beyond the traditional giveaways to make attending their games as affordable as possible. Guests on Tuesdays can park for free at the Coliseum, on Wednesdays thousands of tickets are priced at $2, and on Thursdays there are free hot dogs available for the first 10,000 fans.
“The value we provide should resonate more than ever before,” Rose said. “We are sensitive to people who might be struggling with the recession, with unemployment, with underemployment and with just deciding if they can afford to go to a game. We try and be one of the best live entertainment options by remaining affordable.”
Affordability is one thing, but people must also be entertained. A huge advantage held by the A’s is that baseball’s two primary glamour franchises, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox visit the Coliseum at least once each every season. The Giants also visit once a year, making it an easier trip for fans in Alive East Bay territory to see a team many of them followed from childhood.
As the clear second team in this market, Rose has challenges most of his colleagues across major league baseball do not face. The big local sports radio station, the largest Bay Area sports cable TV channel are both dedicated to the Giants, and the ballpark in San Francisco is newer and more picturesque. This forces Rose to get creative in disseminating his message.
“We work extra hard at servicing the media to make sure they have our messages and can provide them to our audience. We also work with our broadcast partners (the radio and TV stations that cover the A’s games) to use the three hours of air time to communicate our story to our fans. Social media is a big part of our strategy. We have thousands of friends on Facebook and we tweet to reach out.” Rose also mentioned that the A’s have a traditional ad campaign with TV, radio, print ads and billboards throughout the region.
Winning of course is the biggest factor in a team’s success, and the A’s have not done a great deal of that lately. The team has not been to the post season since 2006 and has struggled most years to win half its games. “Winning and star players drive free media coverage,” Rose said. “There is no doubt about that.”
Since winning has been a challenge, the A’s have relied on promotions, and being relentless with the media when there is a story. They promote the players who achieve outstanding individual success (like making the All Star team or the perfect game Dallas Braden pitched) or seize upon a fresh young star like new second baseman Jemile Weeks.
“We have to be more aggressive than the Giants because we do not get half their coverage,” Rose said. “We try to be the more organic baseball organization and try to sell the product that is on the field.”
For ALIVE East Bay fans the A’s provide a much lower cost alternative and in some ways a more attractive schedule. Oakland’s ballpark is a shorter ride and there is no bridge to cross to get to a game. We are fortunate to have two teams within easy driving distance and we should remember that both deserve our support, especially if we want to see all the teams from both the American and National League continue to visit the Bay Area.
Leave a Reply