BY NOW, e-mail subscription services are a marketing layup, but the trick is motivating customers to sign up. A promotion from the NBA’s New York Knicks not only gives an incentive to opt in to the NYK Mail program but serves as a screen saver, keeping the organization’s message at the top of the fan’s mind.
Starting at home games in January, the Knicks gave away 30,000 copies of a CD-ROM with the screen saver, player profiles, computer games and a link to the team’s Web site. The screen saver encouraged fans to sign up for e-mail program NYK Mail. All receiving the screen saver were required to supply an e-mail address, so the CDs would only go to fans who were online.
Why would a 19,700-seat arena that has a 19,000-name waiting list for Knicks season tickets invest in such a promotion? The demographic data collected (such as family composition, if they are on the waiting list, and media the fans use to follow the team) allows Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks play, to cross-promote other events. Fans with kids, for example, might receive e-mail offers to come to the circus, while those on the waiting list might get special “hang in there” messages.
While the organization did not track how many new subscribers signed up as a result of the CD-ROM, Knicks marketing manager Steve Capellini estimates the discs brought in between 18,000 and 20,000 new subscribers, based on spikes in online hits immediately following the promotion dates.
The screen saver changed daily during the season, alerting fans to upcoming games and television coverage. Date triggers on fans’ computers flashed special messages on holidays like Valentine’s Day and the Fourth of July.
Plans call for another CD-ROM next season, as well as new screen savers, messages and computer games.
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