Promotions for Edmonton Oct. 15

[Tuscan]

In my opinion, Commonwealth Stadium is going to be the most difficult of all venues to fill for the home qualifiers. I'm thinking that we should start planning out a means of promotion in order to get the attention of the nation towards what could be a pivotal game in our qualification campaign. I have my doubts that the media is going to do even a half decent job of promoting this match nationally, and seeing as how we are all spread around the nation, we have the ability to get the word out just that little bit extra, which could make a difference in attendance.

I'm a student in the Edwards School of Business here at the U of S, so I have the ability to get advice towards the design and distribution of a promotional flyer and possibly other means of promoting the match. I also know someone who is adept with Photoshop and other electronic means of design, and hopefully he will be willing to take some time to help create a flyer.

Being a Wednesday evening match date, this one is going to be a tough sell to those outside of Alberta. Also, with it happening in mid-October, concerns towards the temperature and weather will add to the difficulty in convincing people to go. We have our work cut out for us, but let's see what we can do about it.

[Scottie]

I'm already shamelessly plugging this game to everyone I know, but something material to distribute would be of great help to me. Maybe something along the lines of those flyers the TFC guys are handing out for the jamaica game?

[CanadianTraveller]

There is absolutely no reason to believe that more than 1000 people would come to a Round 3 game in Edmonton from points east of Saskatoon, on a Wednesday, in October. It'd be fantastic if people did, but if a person needs to receive a flyer (or a web ad, or any mass-marketing ad) to be aware of the game, there is close to zero likelihood of them coming. Those 1000 people either already know about the October 15 game, or will know shortly.

If you want to put your thinking hat on, you have to address the two main issues any national traveller would face:

1. The time it takes to come to a game (and the related time away from work)

2. The cost of travelling to a game, increasing as each additional person chooses to come.

Flight load factors from YYZ-YYC/YEG were over 90% this spring. Capacity cuts are coming (although I'd be surprised if they cut more than one flight between those two city pairs). So you're looking at over $500 for a flight, quickly escalating to full fare $1000 and more. That number right there excludes pretty much anyone who won't already know about the game after Canada plays Jamaica and Honduras in seven weeks time.

There are approximately 280 economy-class seats leaving Edmonton after the game Wednesday night. Everybody else flying from points across Canada is going to be flying Thursday. To get to Edmonton for game time, you have to miss at least an afternoon of work Wednesday, and as flights fill up (see above) people will be flying Tuesday. So that's two days of missed work, plus some accommodation costs. If they can afford the $750 flight, they might not be willing or able to miss two days of work mid-week.

The solution to these problems is a chartered flight. For Voyageurs who are eager to come, group fares may be a way to reduce the cost, but that won't work for a mass-market campaign. If you want a promotion, put together a travel package that gets people in either late Tuesday night (w/ a day at West Edmonton Mall Wednesday) or Wednesday early afternoon, bus transportation to and from the airport, a place to eat before the game, and a flight out Wednesday overnight. And it's probably not worth chartering an Airbus 320/Boeing 737. The airlines will tell you that it is MORE expensive to charter one of those planes than it is to simply buy every seat on the plane. (Whether that's true or not...I don't know. It's just what they tell me.) A charter company (Transat, Sunwing, etc.) may offer a better deal. Realistically, you're only going to make it attractive if you charter a wide-body A310/A330/A340. And I don't know anyone who is prepared to front $150,000+ to charter the plane, then find 330 soccer fans who will come to Edmonton for the day with a break-even point at 300 people. Best bet - a quick flight from Vancouver to Edmonton...hardly needing a national marketing effort.

In summary...a national campaign is a wasted effort, at least this year. As games gain importance, as the team gains visibility, as Edmonton proves itself a great host for a game, if Edmonton gets a Saturday game...then a national campaign makes sense.

Now if you want to start working on your marketing campaign for Fort McMurray, for Grande Prairie, for Red Deer, and especially for Calgary, then by all means. Some grassroots effort to get a couple thousand people from Vancouver might work very well...would work even better if the game was on a Saturday. It sounds like there's at least one person coming from Saskatoon. :-) Certainly you could work on your marketing plans locally in Saskatoon, test them out on the locals, see if you can convince people to come out. A six hour charter bus full of fans should be a realistic target for your efforts. If you know some folks in Regina, see if you can draw them to come out. (Perhaps by driving up to Saskatoon and join up with a group there?) And when your local campaign works, you'll have something to re-use for next year's run.

Here's a suggestion though. If you can put together a great grassroots effort locally, there's no reason you can't cut a press release and make the national media aware. They love human interest stories like this. You'll get more marketing value out of a single radio interview on The Fan radio network, than you would from a $10K media buy.

The good news is that the 2009 WCQ schedule will come out pretty early, stretching throughout the year. There should be a lot of opportunity to draw interest (and attendance) to games in 2009. I wish we could guarantee that Canada will get there - many speculate that we'll have an easier time qualifying in 2009 than getting out of our group this summer. Too bad opportunity doesn't align with need.

Hope that this hasn't dampened your interest...maybe re-directed towards an achievable objection with a significant benefit.

If you want to try something else to bring a few more fans out...you're at the U of S. Head over to the Athletic Department office tomorrow, and talk to them about the 2009 U of S soccer team schedule. Ask them - beg them - to work with Canada West to have a men's and women's weekend set in Edmonton against the U of A on October 17 and 18. I'm sure that the teams would be willing to miss an extra day of classes (and foot an extra $1000 or more of hotel bill) to watch a WCQ match against Mexico. It's pretty late for Canada West scheduling, but it's worth a quick walk over to find out what's possible.

[CanadianTraveller]

quote:Originally posted by Scottie

I'm already shamelessly plugging this game to everyone I know, but something material to distribute would be of great help to me. Maybe something along the lines of those flyers the TFC guys are handing out for the jamaica game?

I'm sure the guys who wrote their flyers would be happy to send you the source. Just ask over in that thread. I'd send mine...but mine didn't make the cut. (And rightfully so!)

[strobe_z]

I'm working on something right now... I'll have something to display in a day or two. It should be easily adapted to the Toronto/Montreal games as well...

[CanadasBest]

To charter a 48 Passenger bus from Vancouver Round Trip to Edmonton would be roughly $6467.40. A 20 passenger Executive bus (Think Rock Star Bus) would be $8043.00.

I asked for a quote leaving on the 14th, returning on the 16th. Includes taxes and Coquihala fees etc.

I've always wanted to try Virgin Charter to see how much it costs' to charter aircraft. Maybe i'll try that next just for kicks.

[CanadianTraveller]

quote:Originally posted by gwallace76

To charter a 48 Passenger bus from Vancouver Round Trip to Edmonton would be roughly $6467.40. A 20 passenger Executive bus (Think Rock Star Bus) would be $8043.00.

I asked for a quote leaving on the 14th, returning on the 16th. Includes taxes and Coquihala fees etc.

$6500 includes drivers and accommodation? If so...that's a pretty good deal. Wonder if they'd be willing to do a 5 AM departure on the 15th for a 12.5 hour trip? Would be very tight - with 2 15-minute breaks and 45 minutes for a (very rushed) lunch, he'd have to average 107kph on the open highway. Dubious w/ Jasper in the mix. 4 AM is much safer...and much less palatable. Maybe an evening departure on the 14th, stop-over in Kamloops?

So at $135/pp for the bus (and another $50-$175 x 2 nights accommodation), you could easily rent a car and drive, or rent a van and drive. Means one or two folks have to share driving time, and the liquor consumption is severely curtailed. But it gives you more control over schedule and costs. Or for $400 (more or less) just fly in, stay over, and fly out. Bus suddenly becomes less attractive. But $6500 ain't bad for that type of trip.

Personally...I'd find 19 friends to rent the Executive bus, leave Van at 10:00 PM Tuesday, get in around 1:00 PM Wednesday, check out the Mall to kill time, go to the pre-game, go to the game, re-board the bus right after the game, and be home for 9:00 AM the next morning. At $400 w/ a nice comfy chair to sleep in and a fully-stocked kitchen in back, I'm loving it. Next best price is $550 w/ taxis from the airport, a room in Edmonton Wednesday night, etc. Bus takes you right to the gate of the Stadium.

[CanadasBest]

Yes it was a rough quote since I didn't give them an intinerary. It includes drivers and a swap, but not accomodation.

I don't think i'm going to follow through with the quote though. I doubt that we could get 20 people, let alone 40 to go to Edmonton mid-week. But getting the figures at leasts gives us an idea.

[Bertuzzi44]

quote:Originally posted by gwallace76

To charter a 48 Passenger bus from Vancouver Round Trip to Edmonton would be roughly $6467.40. A 20 passenger Executive bus (Think Rock Star Bus) would be $8043.00.

I asked for a quote leaving on the 14th, returning on the 16th. Includes taxes and Coquihala fees etc.

I've always wanted to try Virgin Charter to see how much it costs' to charter aircraft. Maybe i'll try that next just for kicks.

Not bad at all... I fully intend on going to the game, so $134 for a round trip from Vancouver to Edmonton is pretty good. And CanadianTraveller, I highly doubt that includes accomodation!

Great post by the way CT, and I agree with most of your points. Big promo required in Calgary. Perhaps SASK and MAN V's will turn up too, although I highly doubt you could get "a couple thousand people from Vancouver". Maybe a couple hundred. MAYBE! And hopefully the Hardcores from Montreal and TO, etc...

[CanadianTraveller]

Took a look at the Canadian classic mode of transportation...the train. $425 round trip, plus your hotel in Edmonton on the Wednesday night. ($320 for those under 25) And, for those who have never taken a train in Western Canada, the trip length is 23 hours.

VANCOUVER - EDMONTON, on Tuesday Oct 14, 2008

Departs: 17:30 on Oct 14 Arrives: 17:30 on Oct 15 Train: 2

Class: Comfort

EDMONTON - VANCOUVER, on Thursday Oct 16, 2008

Departs: 08:55 on Oct 16 Arrives: 07:50 on Oct 17 Train: 1

Class: Comfort

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by CanadianTraveller

Flight load factors from YYZ-YYC/YEG were over 90% this spring. Capacity cuts are coming (although I'd be surprised if they cut more than one flight between those two city pairs). So you're looking at over $500 for a flight, quickly escalating to full fare $1000 and more. That number right there excludes pretty much anyone who won't already know about the game after Canada plays Jamaica and Honduras in seven weeks time.

Yeah, its over 1000$ after all charges. I have been checking it out on and off for about a week. Unreal!! To put into perspective, I can go to San pedro sula for around 700-800$. If I go out of Buffalo, I can there for just less than 600$.

For a small group here, things like time off or vacations would not a problem. Its just two to three days afterall. People have gone to greater distances and make more sacrifices for less important games. But 1000$!!!! I tip my hat to anyone who makes the trek.

Maybe this is all part of the Canadian strategy. Whereas our opponents will force to play in the most difficult conditions of high altitude, smog and sweltering mid day heat & humidity, we will counter by bankrupting their federations by making them incurr exorbitant travel and accommodation costs. [:0]

[CanadianTraveller]

quote:Originally posted by Bertuzzi44

Not bad at all... I fully intend on going to the game, so $134 for a round trip from Vancouver to Edmonton is pretty good. And CanadianTraveller, I highly doubt that includes accomodation!

Sorry, that's accommodation for the bus drivers...not for the paying customers. :-) Even if you drove a red-eye, they'd require a hotel room during the day in Edmonton.

[CanadianTraveller]

quote:Originally posted by gwallace76

I don't think i'm going to follow through with the quote though. I doubt that we could get 20 people, let alone 40 to go to Edmonton mid-week. But getting the figures at leasts gives us an idea.

Are you telling me that you couldn't wander the stands of Swangaard and find 19 other people...18 now that Bertuzzi is going! ...to come to Edmonton?

Obviously you wouldn't want to book without 50% deposits in-hand. But with buses...you can book it late. Like October 8 late.

I'm looking forward to your Virgin Charter quote....

[CanadianTraveller]

quote:Originally posted by Bertuzzi44

...although I highly doubt you could get "a couple thousand people from Vancouver". Maybe a couple hundred. MAYBE! And hopefully the Hardcores from Montreal and TO, etc...

You don't want to know how many people came from Vancouver in May - on a Tuesday - to watch the Whitecaps play some loser MLS team in a friendly. That they just watched last fall play in Vancouver (and play quite poorly at that). Of course, Bob actually marketed the game in Vancouver, and there was some has-been attraction to market apparently. If someone hammered the Lower Mainland market, I have no doubt that you could get 1200 Mexican supporters and 800 other soccer fans to come up to Edmonton.

That's actually one of the challenges of putting together an attractive travel package for mid-week. You can't sell a "vacation" weekend package and up-scale it; you've got to sell low-cost for a preliminary game like Oct. 15. The minute you figure out how to do that, every Mexican supporter from Portland to Chilliwack is buying up the seats instead of driving themselves.

Better to focus on the 5-6 hour markets that'll never get anything like this event in their city, who are used to travelling to get to a concert or event. Grande Prairie, Ft. Mac, Saskatoon...maybe Prince George (although the demographics don't align), see who's home in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. And definitely, absolutely, make this a "Calgary event".

But at the end of the day, the only thing that can make Edmonton successful on October 15 is having every rec player in Northern Alberta bring a parent or friend out to the game and freeze in the dark. That's it folks. It's not rocket-science, and the laws of time/space travel make it all-but-impossible to have any other chance of success. And you can pretty it up, you can try to sell how important the game is, or make it sound like the best soccer that will ever be played on the planet. None of that matters - it's kids coming to watch a "big game" in the cold, in the dark. Not an enviable task....

[CanadianTraveller]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

Yeah, its over 1000$ after all charges. I have been checking it out on and off for about a week. Unreal!! To put into perspective, I can go to San pedro sula for around 700-800$. If I go out of Buffalo, I can there for just less than 600$.

Well, no one would be foolish enough to buy a plane ticket right now to Edmonton. Wait until the August sales commence. But even then things are going to be difficult.

quote:

For a small group here, things like time off or vacations would not a problem. Its just two to three days afterall.

Hopefully those same people here realize that for people who don't have a problem with the $2000 flight for a couple of seats, they quite value their two days vacation and wouldn't want it wasted on a 90-minute match. Many of the folks who have the financial desire to attend don't even take all of their annual vacation, let alone bailing on work for what would essentially be an entire week. (Thanksgiving Monday, distracted Tuesday, gone Wednesday and Thursday, 750 e-mail messages and six deadlines on Friday. Not their idea of a vacation....) A 7-day Caribbean cruise in February for the same price sounds much nicer.....

[fishman]

The most effective way to fill Commonwealth is to mobilize the soccer moms and dads - sad, but true. Even if every die-hard Vger attended, it would pale in comparison to the number of recreational soccer families in the Edmonton area. Easiest bit of evidence is the turnout for the U19 tournament that is often cited as proof of Edmonton's support of NT soccer.

I hope - nay, pray - that the CSA is working closely with the ASA and its 18 member districts, especially the EMSA, EIYSA, EDSA and CMSA to ensure that (a) every registered player in Alberta is well aware of this event and its importance, ( families have easy access to ticket packages and © no matches or practices are scheduled for this night. Add in (d) CFL Eskimos season ticket holders somehow being tapped up with an offer of reduced-price tickets, well...

With more than 150,000 registered players in Alberta, do the math: if 10% of those individuals attended, you have 15,000 people in the stands. Of course, some of those 15,000 would bring others not otherwise attending, boosting it to perhaps as many as 22,500. If 10% of the Eskies season-pass holders took advantage, that's another 3,500 in the seats.

If a buzz can be created, you could expect a number of casual sporting fans to take the event in. I think that IF (and that's a big if) the people responsible for event promotions in the CSA got after this event and promoted the heck out of it, we could get 32 - 35,000 people in the seats.

[Daniel]

Don't open the upper deck in Edmonton.

[CanadianTraveller]

Fishman, we've witnessed promotion for World Cup Qualifying games, U-19 games, and even the Whitecaps-Galaxy in Edmonton in the past. Some of it has worked, a lot of it hasn't.

If you want a buzz created, you should be volunteering to create that buzz. Wish it weren't the case, but experience tells us otherwise. And, as you correctly pointed out, the target audience is the 150,000 registered players. If you have some ideas on how to achieve your objectives, pass them onto the ASA. Could be just an e-mail, better is by phone. If you are asking a VERY small group of people to take on some work, ask them if they're looking for volunteers to help with that effort. If they complain about money, find out how much they need and see if it can raised from charitable donations from here.

Between Dan Barnes and Terry Jones, you have two pretty prominent supporters of the game. Dan used his Front Page column in the Sports section of the Edmonton Journal on July 1 to re-announce (for the third time!) that Edmonton is hosting the October 15 game...despite a 3:00 PM non-Press-Release from the CSA used to announce the dates. Considering that the announcement didn't even make the newspaper in Montreal or Toronto, you can see that we have some media interest here, and some willingness to promote the game. How can we, as Voyageurs, take advantage of that media interest?

I'll make a note on the Eskimos promotion. The Whitecaps partnered with the Eskimos on their exhibition here in May. My understanding (from the outside) is that the partnership yielded limited results. Acceptable results given the timing (off-season) and cost (rather low), but nothing spectacular. Recognize three things as it relates to October's game:

1. The reason that a large segment of people came to game in May had nothing to do with soccer, everything to do with an event. As such, there was significant value in targeting the non-soccer sports fan.

2. The average age of an Eskimo season ticket holder is just over 50 (at least it was). That demographic is less-inclined to be familiar with soccer, less-inclined to weather the elements to watch "another team" let alone another sport. It's still a valid target market, but is unlikely to be a priority target based upon recent events.

3. If the Eskimos want to be selfish (and that's not unrealistic) they would prefer for an event like this to fail. It tears up "their" field, distracts casual fans from coming to Eskimos games, can disrupt their 2009 schedule, and so on. With very little upside beyond getting a few new people into Commonwealth who might want to return for other events. Certainly they have other things to concentrate on between May and November.

I'll mention one market that is likely to be ignored - again. This is a college&university town - lots of schools, lots of students. There's not much going on on a Wednesday night, except some Campus Rec stuff and maybe studying. (Mid-terms would be the following week, I think.) Can you think of partnerships with UofA/MacEwen/NAIT that would generate traffic? Can you at least put the idea into the ear of the CSA/ASA?

(As for the "access to ticket packages", there's a reason the CSA hasn't announced a date for tickets to go on sale to the Edmonton game. There are logistical challenges in contacting youth teams since they will be out-of-season in just two weeks, though. A mail-out is an expensive way to reach this audience.)

[piltdownman]

quote:Originally posted by gwallace76

To charter a 48 Passenger bus from Vancouver Round Trip to Edmonton would be roughly $6467.40. A 20 passenger Executive bus (Think Rock Star Bus) would be $8043.00.

I asked for a quote leaving on the 14th, returning on the 16th. Includes taxes and Coquihala fees etc.

I've always wanted to try Virgin Charter to see how much it costs' to charter aircraft. Maybe i'll try that next just for kicks.

I was going to fly west jet, but a crazy bus or train would be fun.

[Blue and White Army]

Agreed, a crazy bus or train trip would be a laugh, but I doubt that I would get a wink of sleep.

WestJet from Vancouver is currently $230 + $250 + taxes, fees & surcharges. Must be around $600 or so.

I wonder how good the potential August seat sales will be...

[CanadianTraveller]

Heck of a question, Phillip. What I'm seeing on the U.S. side is that you can expect some very attractive prices, but only on the lowest fare class(es). They'll keep prices high(er) on the bulk of their inventory and hope people have to buy as capacity decreases. If you buy early...you can get a good deal. Canada is a different market, and is not implementing significant domestic cuts (especially in Western Canada), so I don't know. There will be some savings - right now prices are just ridiculous - but how much is difficult to say.

If today's incredible summer sale from Westjet is any indication, though, you can expect some incredible one-day deals. With surcharges, yes it still seems expensive. But $350 r/t instead of $650 r/t is a good deal at this time, regardless of how it's advertised.

If you're looking for a number, I'll say that Westjet will offer Tuesday/Wednesday travel from YVR-YEG for $99 at some point in August, perhaps as early as next week. With surcharges that's around $180, probably $200 or $230 for the Thursday flight. Worth waiting for IMHO. But my dart board is no better than your ouija board, so take this with a bag of salt.

Don't forget Abbotsford, and it wouldn't hurt to check Seattle prices just in case. Right now Seattle is $391 (and I wouldn't expect it to ever drop below $300), but the 2+ hour run (OK, I drive way too fast) may make this less practical. Bellingham @ $511 is typical for pricing purposes, combining the worst of all worlds (high price, customs twice EACH way, and the lengthy border wait unless you have NEXUS).

[FootieFool]

quote:Originally posted by gwallace76

I doubt that we could get 20 people, let alone 40 to go to Edmonton mid-week. But getting the figures at leasts gives us an idea.

Oh, but how much fun would that bus trip be

[FootieFool]

Just wondering. In other countries how involved is the national association with organizing packages for fans? I think in England the FA has a fan club that gets priority ticket allocations and package deals. Is this another area the CSA is failing?

As much as I love grassroots organizing, it's such an ad hoc way and labour intensive way of doing things. It would sure be nice if there was some organization that took the lead to provide a reliable, easy and cost effective way for fans to see the MNT in action.

[superbrad]

I have to say - I love seeing a supported game in Edmonton. Edmonton should be getting a Saturday game in the summer - where good weather and an important game would equal great fan support. Oct. 15 on a Wednesday night is not a good choice for Edmonton. The support will be small - 12 - 18K is my prediction. Unfortunatley this looks very very small in the 53,000 seat stadium. I'll be there with a party of 8 however I was at the last Canada October game there - and the support was medicore.

We did start some good chants about the Mexicans wearing of gloves though. (That was fun).

[Scottie]

quote:Originally posted by superbrad

I have to say - I love seeing a supported game in Edmonton. Edmonton should be getting a Saturday game in the summer - where good weather and an important game would equal great fan support. Oct. 15 on a Wednesday night is not a good choice for Edmonton. The support will be small - 12 - 18K is my prediction. Unfortunatley this looks very very small in the 62,000 seat stadium. I'll be there with a party of 8 however I was at the last Canada October game there - and the support was medicore.

We did start some good chants about the Mexicans wearing of gloves though. (That was fun).

FYP

I'm aiming to bring a party of 20, hopefully more btw.