Source: Access Atlanta
Leon Stafford - Staff
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
The Atlanta Braves have traded in their baseball gloves for microphones.
In a series of TV and radio ads promoting the upcoming baseball season, Javy Lopez, John Smoltz and 17 other players are belting out "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
The spots are designed to remind fans just how much fun and exciting America's favorite pastime can be. They are running on local and cable stations, including ESPN, MTV, VH1 and Atlanta's own TBS and Turner South.
And for those who think jocks shouldn't warble outside the locker-room showers, the Braves organization has enlisted the help of music entertainers, including Ludacris, Usher and Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell, all putting their own spin on the classic tune.
Race-car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., comedian D.L. Hughley and basketball legend Charles Barkley also have agreed to pitch for the Braves.
"It's very candid," said Joe Clemente, director of advertising and publicity for the Braves. "The players and the celebrities are having a lot of fun. It's really a casual, fun campaign."
The sports and entertainment stars are all big Braves fans and worked for free, Clemente said. He wouldn't reveal the cost of the overall campaign.
The campaign, which began last week, comes at a pivotal time for the Braves. Overall attendance has been down, and the team has lost key pitchers Tom Glavine and Kevin Millwood. In addition, AOL Time Warner --- owner of the Braves, the Atlanta Hawks and the Atlanta Thrashers --- has said it would consider selling the teams.
Add to that a sluggish economy, impending war and the cost of ticket prices and you have a recipe for what could be a tough year, said Ken Bernhardt, regents professor of marketing at Georgia State University. And while the Braves clearly had to do something to entice fans to come back, he's not sure how effective the ad campaign will be.
"When you have declining attendance three years in a row, you have to do some combination of improving the product, increasing the promotion and lowering the prices," said Bernhardt, who did not renew his season tickets this year. "Using only one marketing variable will never be as good a strategy."
Braves President Stan Kasten admitted that times are tough. He said ticket sales so far are slow and that the geopolitical atmosphere is not helping. But he said the team is a good product and that the relaxed and fun nature of the ads is very effective.
"Hopefully it will have the kind of appeal of the 'Got Milk?' campaign," Clemente said. "If there is a celebrity in town, we can approach them and hopefully convince them to sing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.' We want to keep this as fresh as possible."
Scott Marticke, managing director of Atlanta advertising agency the Titan Network, praised the Braves campaign for bridging the chasm that sometimes exists between big-time players and the fans.
"It's not a bad idea of creating a personality around some of the Braves players," he said. "The whole idea is that it is supposed to be fun."