2. The Detroit Pistons are one of the premiere franchises in all of sports. The Pistons have won three
championships, in 1989, 1990 and 2004, each of those teams with a distinct identity that captivated
the fan base in Detroit and around the world. Fans even packed the Palace of Auburn Hills for a
record 259 straight sellouts from January 19, 2004 through February 4, 2009, and led the NBA in
attendance for five out of the six years from 2003-2009. In recent years however, a combination of
Michigan’s (and America’s) economic downturn, a lack of team identity, and a relatively poor
product on the floor has led to many quiet nights at the Palace...
3. Campaign Goals:
• Establish a team identity, which will...
• Help the Metro Detroit and Michigan fan
base connect with the team, leading to...
• Increased ticket sales.
4. The Theme
With Ben Wallace, arguably the most recognizable
and beloved player on the team, retiring after this
season, Tayshaun Prince will be the only holdover
left from the 2004 championship team...
That being said, it’s time to focus marketing efforts
on the youth of this team, especially Brandon Knight
and Greg Monroe, the two main building blocks for
the team’s future success. The identity will focus on
a youth infusion within the team, a movement if you
will. It will be a campaign that reflects the current
state of Detroit and Metro Detroit: rebuilding, hard-
working, passionate about the city, and making a
movement back to glory. We will call it The Motor
City Movement, certain fan sections will be
nicknamed the Motor City Maniacs, and other fan
sections will have nicknames involving mostly
younger players. Establishing an identity will engage
the fans and drive up ticket sales.
5. Campaign Components: Online
• Ads will focus on the team identity and younger players.
• Ads will have a destination of either the official Detroit Pistons’
website or the Pistons’ ticket center.
• A focus will also be put on video profiles of players in order to help
fans connect with them and relate to them, another critical part of
selling more tickets.
• Ads placed in search results and on websites for young professionals
of Detroit and Metro Detroit (our target audience), as well as
popular area websites and news outlets, such as Freep.com (Detroit
Free Press) and ClickOnDetroit.com (WDIV).
• Keywords: Detroit Pistons, NBA tickets, Greg Monroe, Brandon
Knight, work hard play hard, Motor City Movement, Motor City
Maniacs, The Youth Revolution, Detroit Basketball, and blue collar.
6. Campaign Components: Social Media
• Current social media presence with Twitter,
Facebook, blogging and RSS feed.
• Maintain this presence, as it is solid and interactive
(e.g., “Fans of the Week” Feature).
• Implement “Motor City Movement” theme into social
media.
• Start a Tumblr blog in addition to the current editorial
blog in order to give fans more visuals and connect
with younger fans.
7. Campaign Components: Mobile
• A free official Detroit Pistons app, separate from
the current one from MLive.com, in which we
provide exclusive content and livestream
interviews.
• Optimize all Pistons-affiliated websites for mobile
platforms.
• Get involved with location-based services,
associating incentives for fans with check-ins at the
Palace.
• Offer a free subscription text service that includes
exclusive offers.
8. Integrating the Various Aspects...
• Online ads will feature social media buttons that
lead to the various accounts.
• The Detroit Pistons App will have a Twitter stream
of all relevant Detroit Pistons accounts.
• In addition to the official website, the video
profiles will be on a YouTube channel, promoting
another form of social media.
• All aspects of the campaign will feature at least one
keyword and follow the “Motor City Movement”
theme.
9. Budget and Timeline
• Total Budget: $400,000
• Different peaks for season tickets and individual
tickets/connecting the fans with the players.
• Season tickets: Early April through mid-June, as well
as heading into preseason (late September-October).
• Individual tickets/connecting the fans with players:
Full season (November-April, plus playoffs).
• $125K dedicated to Online; $100K dedicated to
Mobile; $75K dedicated to Social Media; $100K
dedicated to all other needs.
10. Measuring Success
• Success will be measured on Google Analytics and Adwords.
• Special attention will be paid to audience/customer retention and
engagement — clicks that lead to action, such as a ticket purchase, or
to customers staying on the site and clicking on different parts of it.
• We will also be able to measure certain aspects by downloads,
subscriptions, or views, such as the app, text service, and video views.
• Direct feedback soliciting can also be done, as well as monitoring of
comments on message boards and our social media.
• The final measure will, of course, be in ticket sales after implementing
our campaign.
