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Bonham and Hinchey: Book offers insight on attracting fans

Published December 2, 2006 at midnight

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Much of the business of sports centers around one key issue: How to identify, approach, sell and satisfy existing and prospective fans. It's the Holy Grail of sports. If teams, leagues and TV networks do it well, they prosper; if they don't, they struggle. That's why there's always a lot of heartburn among the executives who run these entities and especially among those who staff their front offices.

A new book offers some literary antacid to those looking to improve their odds. It's The Elusive Fan - Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace (McGraw-Hill).

Oddly enough, the authors aren't directly involved in the business of sports. Irving Rein is a professor of communications studies, Philip Kotler is a professor of international marketing and Ben Shields is a doctoral student in communications studies.

However, they bring academic rigor and valuable insight to the occasionally chaotic world of sports marketing.

Their basic thesis is well known to sports practitioners: The explosion of sports and entertainment options, coupled with the creation of media options never dreamed of, has created a fragmented sports marketplace that fractures fans' allegiances and makes it harder to herd fans into meaningful concentrations. And that's what creates the excess stomach acid.

The authors propose a systematized response to the challenge.

• A study of fan connection points, or why people choose one sport over another. They list three: Essential Connectors (the roles of "star" and "place" in a fan's decision-making process); Communication Connectors (how people bond through social and emotional sports experiences); and Search Connectors (what needs fans hope to satisfy through their sports experiences). The authors urge sports marketers to choose the connectors that best differentiate them from their competition.

• Knowledge of fan entryways, or how they are accessed. The authors describe five: Participation (did you ever play the sport?); on-site experience (have you ever been to a game?); media exposure (newspaper, TV, radio, Internet, etc.); word of mouth (did somebody tell you about it?); and mentoring (someone taking a special interest in your athletic development).

• An understanding of the fan decision-making process: For example, who initiates the idea to attend or watch a game, who influences it and who actually pays for it.

There are frequently several people involved.

Related to this is an understanding of what factors are involved in the decision-making process. Things such as parking, affordability, concession price and quality, team record, etc., all play a role.

• An awareness of how committed a fan is. This ranges from the indifferent to the ensnared, with various gradations along the way, signified by an ever- deepening level of fan involvement.

After laying the analytical groundwork, the authors proceed with the solution side of their book: Connecting to fans through a powerful and responsive brand.

They highlight four qualities that are essential to the development and maintenance of successful sports brands: segmentation (focusing on a desired and defined target audience); involvement (knowing how deep the target audience's ties to the brand are); ethos (creating a connection with fans through credibility and trust); and transformation (changing the brand in ways that are compatible with fan expectations).

The authors acknowledge the traditional dilemma that most sports brands face - win or else - and they advise sports entities to avoid pinning their brands' reputations on competitive outcomes.

Instead, they urge teams to be prepared to reposition their brands and find new ways to connect with fans when the competitive pendulum inevitably swings adversely.

The Bonham line: The era when a team or league had an automatic lock on fans' allegiances is waning fast. It's being replaced by an era of unprecedented consumer choices and elusive fans. To capture their share of loyal fans, teams of tomorrow will start their pursuit with younger fans, stay closer to them through their maturation and make more opportunities available for them to interact and stay engaged with the product. If they don't, another team will.

Dean Bonham is CEO and Don Hinchey is VP of communications for The Bonham Group, a Denver- based sports and entertainment marketing firm. Send comments to .