Argos trying to bring back football culture to missed generations - Toronto Star

[BATKINSON001]

https://www.thestar.com/sports/argos...medium=twitter

Argos trying to bring back football culture to missed generations

The Argos will roll out a marketing campaign this week aimed at awakening latent interest among younger adults. Last week the team unveiled redesigned jerseys and casual wear as part of the CFL's new partnership with adidas. (CFL)
By Morgan CampbellStaff Reporter
7:10 PM, Mon., May 16, 2016

Four weeks before the CFL regular season kicks off, the Toronto Argonauts’ brain trust has already drawn up its first blitz.

This one involves marketing.

In the lead-up to the Argos’ first season at BMO Field, the club plans to plaster the city with ads — on TV, radio, bus shelters and more — hoping to boost ticket sales to games at the team’s new home.

The ad campaign is part of a broader brand makeover aimed at making the team relevant again. Overtaking one of the city’s Big Three pro sports franchises might not be realistic, but Argos executives think a renewed marketing buzz could propel the club to a less-distant fourth place in local fans’ minds.

Outdoor ads are set appear this week in the neighbourhood surrounding BMO Field.


“It will show our players in a whole new way,” Argos president Michael Copeland said during a conference call Monday. “It will really re-ignite the conversation around Argos football.”

It’s nearly impossible for the club to have a smaller footprint than they had last season, when the Pan Am Games kept the Argos away from their home field until August. Later in the season, Blue Jays playoff games at the Rogers Centre forced the Argos to play “home” games in Hamilton and Ottawa.

The team’s absence from its home stadium had a drag on attendance. The Argos averaged 12,430 at home games last season, a figure that includes the sparse crowds at the out-of-market games the team hosted.

The Star commissioned a poll late last year that found only two per cent of sports fans in Toronto listed the Argos as their primary rooting interest, tying them with Toronto FC but placing them well behind the Jays, Raptors and Leafs.

Not a single respondent between 18 and 34 identified as an Argos fan, but the club is confident the re-brand and move to BMO will help re-engage younger fans who have avoided home games at the cavernous Rogers Centre.

Argos executive Sara Moore says the club conducted extensive market research before embarking on its marketing program. She says younger adults routinely reported being open to embracing the Argos if the club could deliver an engaging game-day experience.

Specifically, they wanted to tailgate.

“In this market there never really has been great football culture,” says Moore, the Argos’ senior vice-president of business operations. “There are a couple generations here that haven’t been immersed in what is the best game-day experience . . . That’s been missing and that is everything we’re creating and investing in.”

To craft a campaign that speaks to the cherished 18-to-34 demographic, the club enlisted Bensimon Byrne, the same Toronto-based ad agency that oversaw the CFL’s re-brand late last year.

That movement kicked off during Grey Cup week with “What We’re Made Of,” a commercial that stresses the league’s national appeal and local flavour. In Calgary, a man riding a white horse holds a Stampeders flag overhead, while in the next shot a beefy offensive lineman-type grips a rope and pulls a tractor across a flat stretch of Saskatchewan highway.

One shot features the Argos sprinting onto their home field, and another features longtime receiver Chad Owens flexing his muscles for the camera.

But Owens, one of the club’s most recognizable players, signed with Hamilton this winter, depriving the club of a familiar, marketable face.

Similarly, Moore acknowledges re-branding risks the equity a company has built among loyal fans but says the gamble is minimal here because previous Argos regimes haven’t invested in cultivating younger fans.

“The fans we have now didn’t become fans at 55,” Moore said. “We got them when they were young. The problem is the Argos haven’t gone back to that well and captured more of those 20-somethings.”

[timlb01]

I absolutely despise how they report last years average home attendance. With the 4k average at THF how the hell is that fair to keep rubbing that into our faces. I still think when you consider TFC in that poll tied us that really tells you something. TFC has had all kinds of marketing and hype. A good stadium and have had there chance with a Rocket Ismail type last year. Surely we will sell every single game out this year. A healthy Toronto will only help Hamilton's attendance and other revenue streams.

[Downtownfan]

That article is so typical of the Star's' reporting the last few years-- mostly a rehash of what has been bad in the past, with very little on what is actually happening now and in the future. Remember when the Argos had 36k at a preseason game a few years ago, and they sent a reporter to interview kids on why the NFL was better? Compare it to Penton's piece in the Sun, which actually provides readers some information about the marketing campaign.

Its funny, and sad, because unlike the other papers, the Star has what is a called the "Atkinson Principles" which include "a strong, united and independent Canada." If you read their sports pages, however, they are only interested in the US professional sports, really. Since Randy Starkman left, they don't do amateur sports, and they CLEARLY are not interested in the Argos or CFL. Do you think the Star will run a special section for the Argos home opener, as they did for TFC? I would love to be proven wrong.

[AngeloV]

Compare it to Penton's piece in the Sun, which actually provides readers some information about the marketing campaign.

Before we give the Toronto Sun to many kudos, I think it should be noted that Penton writes for the Winnipeg sun. The Toronto sun writers must have been too busy with Raptors and Bootista fight.

[jerrym]

That article is so typical of the Star's' reporting the last few years-- mostly a rehash of what has been bad in the past, with very little on what is actually happening now and in the future. Remember when the Argos had 36k at a preseason game a few years ago, and they sent a reporter to interview kids on why the NFL was better?

You're right, It's the same old, same old from the Star.

[Neely2005]

Toronto Sun article:

http://m.torontosun.com/2016/05/16/a...l-new-branding

[BATKINSON001]

Toronto Sun article:

http://m.torontosun.com/2016/05/16/a...l-new-branding

I posted this last night as it's own topic.

[BATKINSON001]

Well if two papers are reporting it then it's probably not BS.

We should finally see the new owners put their money where their mouths are.

Also not sure where to out this but according to my ticket rep, there will be no fan day this year due to training camp in guelph. Also any new jerseys ordered online are 2-3 weeks from shipping. I asked as there has been no communication from the CFL other than that they got my money.

[argofan81]

Well if two papers are reporting it then it's probably not BS.

We should finally see the new owners put their money where their mouths are.

Also not sure where to out this but according to my ticket rep, there will be no fan day this year due to training camp in guelph. Also any new jerseys ordered online are 2-3 weeks from shipping. I asked as there has been no communication from the CFL other than that they got my money.

If fans can make the trek out to Oshawa for fan day surely they can make the trek out to Guelph. Using the location of Guelph as an excuse seems like a cop-out to me.....so much for making the team more accessible to its fans (seeing as how Fan day is one of the only opportunities for the public to seek out autographs and meet the players).

[BATKINSON001]

If fans can make the trek out to Oshawa for fan day surely they can make the trek out to Guelph. Using the location of Guelph as an excuse seems like a cop-out to me.....so much for making the team more accessible to its fans (seeing as how Fan day is one of the only opportunities for the public to seek out autographs and meet the players).

Yeah since they stopped doing See you on the field, haven't heard one announced since 2012.

Also, my jersey arrived today. Thinking Rob may have been mistaken.

[ArgoZ]

The Fan590 were really ripping on the CFL this morning. They had a Twitter poll, which is worse to watch, MLS or CFL. What was frustrating was the lack of factual knowledge they had while making the claims. They talked about the CFL draft and how silly it is drafting Americans that aren't good enough for the NFL and also how Toronto drafted a dead guy a few years ago. Obviously, both false statements. I know it's Dean Blundell and his American wannabe producer Ryan Fabro, but it will always be a challenge to win over fans when the media constantly pokes fun of the league. Young and new fans can be impressionable, and negative media always hurts.

[BATKINSON001]

The Fan590 were really ripping on the CFL this morning. They had a Twitter poll, which is worse to watch, MLS or CFL. What was frustrating was the lack of factual knowledge they had while making the claims. They talked about the CFL draft and how silly it is drafting Americans that aren't good enough for the NFL and also how Toronto drafted a dead guy a few years ago. Obviously, both false statements. I know it's Dean Blundell and his American wannabe producer Ryan Fabro, but it will always be a challenge to win over fans when the media constantly pokes fun if the league. Young and new fans can be impressionable, and negative media always hurts.

.F--- fan590. We don't need them.

[Mightygoose]

The Fan590 were really ripping on the CFL this morning. They had a Twitter poll, which is worse to watch, MLS or CFL. What was frustrating was the lack of factual knowledge they had while making the claims. They talked about the CFL draft and how silly it is drafting Americans that aren't good enough for the NFL and also how Toronto drafted a dead guy a few years ago. Obviously, both false statements. I know it's Dean Blundell and his American wannabe producer Ryan Fabro, but it will always be a challenge to win over fans when the media constantly pokes fun if the league. Young and new fans can be impressionable, and negative media always hurts.

Sadly as long as Rogers have no stake in the CFL or Bell having exclusivity, this will always be the case. It's a by product of a media war than anything else.

Though, Blundell and the CFL News (Independent account) are having a good pissing match on twitter today....Blundell is getting schooled well and his narrow-mindedness exposed!

[ArgoZ]

^
I saw that, good on CFL news, along with Mulder and DoubleBlue. Now if only Ricky Foley would join in!

[Mulder]

^
I saw that, good on CFL news, along with Mulder and DoubleBlue. Now if only Ricky Foley would join in!

I do what I can to protect the Argos, and the league from those who wish to talk ill of it, fabricate stories, or pass their own opinion as fact. I think it really boils down to the lack of knowledge or pure ignorance of those 'haters'. When you prove them wrong they either resort to insults, shut up or block/ban you.

[Argoknot]

When you prove them wrong they either resort to insults, shut up or block/ban you.

That's not a nice thing to do.

[Argoknot]

Though, Blundell and the CFL News (Independent account) are having a good pissing match on twitter today....Blundell is getting schooled well and his narrow-mindedness exposed!

If you want to stop this kind of thing dead in its tracks you have to hit them where it hurts. Whoever this guy is and I haven't heard of him so he can't be too big, he is expendable in that business. The turnover for those guys is crazy, even Bob McCown has been on dicy ground at times.

The easy way to stop it is to not respond to him, but to start threatening a Rogers boycott. You don't have to do much just have everyone who responds threaten to take action. Trust me, you won't hear from Mr Blundell again. In the age of cord cutting, any eyeball and eardrums he gets over controversy is gravy, but involve a negative impression of Rogers and it's ta ta Deano and goodbye "unconscionable" Rogers behaviour

[Neely2005]

The Fan590 were really ripping on the CFL this morning. They had a Twitter poll, which is worse to watch, MLS or CFL. What was frustrating was the lack of factual knowledge they had while making the claims. They talked about the CFL draft and how silly it is drafting Americans that aren't good enough for the NFL and also how Toronto drafted a dead guy a few years ago. Obviously, both false statements. I know it's Dean Blundell and his American wannabe producer Ryan Fabro, but it will always be a challenge to win over fans when the media constantly pokes fun of the league. Young and new fans can be impressionable, and negative media always hurts.

There's an article on it now too:

http://3downnation.com/2016/05/17/16252/

[jerrym]

The Fan590 were really ripping on the CFL this morning. They had a Twitter poll, which is worse to watch, MLS or CFL. What was frustrating was the lack of factual knowledge they had while making the claims. They talked about the CFL draft and how silly it is drafting Americans that aren't good enough for the NFL and also how Toronto drafted a dead guy a few years ago. Obviously, both false statements. I know it's Dean Blundell and his American wannabe producer Ryan Fabro, but it will always be a challenge to win over fans when the media constantly pokes fun of the league. Young and new fans can be impressionable, and negative media always hurts.

What else do you expect from a Rogers media outlet but to dump on the Argos when they announce a major program to build their fan base. As for criticizing the CFL for having foreign players who aren't good enough to play in the top league, that's a like calling the pot calling the kettle black when the comparison is with the MLS.

[Argoknot]

The Fan590 were really ripping on the CFL this morning. They had a Twitter poll, which is worse to watch, MLS or CFL. What was frustrating was the lack of factual knowledge they had while making the claims and also how Toronto drafted a dead guy a few years ago. it will always be a challenge to win over fans when the media constantly pokes fun of the league. Young and new fans can be impressionable, and negative media always hurts.

That's why things like that can't be ignored and fans have to fight back. People who aren't informed often accept these sources as fact. And that old joke about Ottawa drafting a player who was tragically killed in a car accident is in extreme poor taste. Why not ask his family how funny they think it is.