Marketing College Hockey

[Puck Swami]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

The general demo's are still irrelevant. If you tell a local business owner that nationally the average age of a college hockey fan is X yrs old, why would he care?

He's going to ask for a typical ROI of current investors, the amount of alumni, the number of students, and the number of community members typically at a game, and how advertising there will help their company.

You are right that the demos don't make much sense when you are looking at one school at a time. But I think the article hinted at the possibilities of making media buys that could cover groups of schools, and not just one specific school in one specific area. Let's say you are media buyer who is looking to increase market penetration for an affluent/luxury brand, say Porsche. You might consider buying the Whole ECAC, or the whole Hockey East, or (as Porsche does here, buy time on Denver hockey telecasts, since Denver is an affluent school in an affluent city). When you are dealing with multiple team buys, the demographics become more relevant as an averaging tool to evaluate vs other comparable media opportunities, but it would never replace individual school demogrpahics.

 

[Sick Hockey Gear]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

We believe that advertising at the college level makes excellent sense. We are a hockey apparel company that is just starting and our advertising budget is very small. It is not an affordable option to advertise at an NHL rink at this stage of our business. College students are our target customers and placing an ad at a few D3 or D1 rinks could raise awareness of our product offerings.
www.sickhockeygear.com

 

[Wildpantswilly]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

You are right that the demos don't make much sense when you are looking at one school at a time. But I think the article hinted at the possibilities of making media buys that could cover groups of schools, and not just one specific school in one specific area. Let's say you are media buyer who is looking to increase market penetration for an affluent/luxury brand, say Porsche. You might consider buying the Whole ECAC, or the whole Hockey East, or (as Porsche does here, buy time on Denver hockey telecasts, since Denver is an affluent school in an affluent city). When you are dealing with multiple team buys, the demographics become more relevant as an averaging tool to evaluate vs other comparable media opportunities, but it would never replace individual school demogrpahics.

This is an excellent point!

What I was trying to say is using the information to make general assumptions as to what the makeup of the college hockey demographic is is pointless.

Using it the way you are saying is a very interesting way to market a product, and could be very useful from a business perspective. Studies show hockey fans to be more affluent than most other sports fans, and while advertising to "well-off' alumns at schools like Yale or other ECAC schools, while also marketing to the coveted 18-24 demo, building brand recognition. It would also be very cost effective considering the obscurity that surronds a lot of hockey programs in D-1.

 

[aallenpollreisz]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

Adult college hockey fans are 69 percent male and 31 percent female, according to Scarborough Research.

So, you're saying that, statistically, I'm not finding my dream girl at Munn Ice Arena nor at any other college hockey barn.

Excuse me while I find a nice corner of my apartment to go weep in.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

We believe that advertising at the college level makes excellent sense. We are a hockey apparel company that is just starting and our advertising budget is very small. It is not an affordable option to advertise at an NHL rink at this stage of our business. College students are our target customers and placing an ad at a few D3 or D1 rinks could raise awareness of our product offerings.
www.sickhockeygear.com

Are there any teams that wear your gear? I would think that that would raise the most awareness. Add maybe a small ad on either the team's website or printed program stating that the team wears your gear.

 

[CHFAN222]

Re: Marketing College Hockey

We believe that advertising at the college level makes excellent sense. We are a hockey apparel company that is just starting and our advertising budget is very small. It is not an affordable option to advertise at an NHL rink at this stage of our business. College students are our target customers and placing an ad at a few D3 or D1 rinks could raise awareness of our product offerings.
www.sickhockeygear.com

Consider doing something like sponsoring the Hockey East Tourney and doing events at a few of the schools in the conference during intermissions. I am sure they would be receptive.