The article, “FOX Sports Girls Heading Out on Fox Sports 1 Road Trip,” basically summarizes the many marketing and promotional efforts that FOX Sports employed to raise awareness for the launch of their new sports network. FOX Sports 1 is a 24-hours sports network that features various sporting events such as NASCAR, college football, college basketball, UFC, and soccer. It has over 5,000 hours of live events, news, and original programming offered annually and its launch was the largest in sports cable network history.
As a way of gaining exposure about the launch of their new network, FOX Sports 1 had Cleatus, the FOX Sports robot, as well as the FOX Sports girls travel on a cross country bus tour to raise awareness and create hype for the launch which occurred on August 17. The 45-foot FOX Sports 1 bus journeyed throughout the United States, starting in San Diego and eventually ending up at Boston for the Shogun v. Sonnen light heavyweight bout and the long awaited unveiling of their network. Throughout the tour Cleatus and the FOX Sports 1 girls attended several Major and Minor League Baseball games, NFL training camps, the Fort Campbell Army Base, viewing parties, and finally the UFC fight in Boston. Basically, what they did was take pictures with fans, talk about the release of the new network, and hand out FOX Sports 1 gear.
Overall, I thought that FOX Sports 1 was very effective in their marketing strategy. By traveling to different locations throughout the country, they were able to gain a lot exposure and create good brand impressions for potential customers. They also did a good job utilizing social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter (#RoadtoLaunch) to raise awareness about their new programming. Furthermore, they had commercials air during the MLB All-Star game which approximately 11 million viewers were watching at the time.
In my opinion, the one thing that I would have done differently is increase the variety of sporting events that Cleatus and the FOX Sports 1 girls visited. I found the vast majority of stops during the cross country bus tour were at baseball games. I think by doing this, FOX Sports 1 narrowed their target audience to mainly baseball fans, especially considering the airing of the commercials during the MLB All-Star game. I believe that a stronger approach would be to diversify the types of sporting events they attended, thus broadening their target market and hopefully gaining more viewership.
The article is relevant to this class because it is directly related to sport marketing and sales, the very title of the course. The Road to Launch marketing campaign reminded me of the Allstate Ultimate Road Trip Sweepstakes, which similarly had to do with driving cross country and spreading the word about their brand. Overall, the article dealt with the promotional side of sports marketing, making it relevant to the course, and the historical launch of a new sports network that should greatly impact the industry.
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The article we are discussing in today’s class, “FOX Sports Girls Heading Out on FOX Sports 1 Road Trip”, is about the cross-country promotional tour for the launch of FOX Sports 1. Fox has recently launched a new, 24-hour sports network, which aired on August 17th showing the Red Sox-Yankees game and UFC Fight Night.
On August 4th, FOX Sports 1 and the FOX Sports Girls, along with the FOX NFL Sunday robot, Cleatus, went on a cross-country trip, Road to Launch. This trip was created to raise awareness for the launch of the new network. The tour started in San Diego for the Padres game against the New York Yankees. Each day, FOX Sports went to baseball games in different cities to promote the new network. The FOX Sports girls talked about the new network, took pictures with fans, and distributed FOX Sports 1 gear to sports fans across the country. Fans were able to follow the tour bus and the FOX Sports Girls through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by implementing the hashtag, #Roadtolaunch. Also, FOX Sports 1 aired its major promotional video during the MLB All-Star game.
I believe that FOX Sports did a great job promoting the launch of the new network. The target market of this network are sports fans and FOX promoted the network directly to fans by going to different baseball games. By promoting a new sports network at a sporting event, this will most likely increase the number of viewers by spreading awareness. Fans at the different baseball games gained more knowledge of the new sports network and will most likely share that information to friends and family, thus increasing the number of viewers. Also, FOX Sports will probably gain brand loyalty from the fans at the baseball games due to the free FOX Sports 1 items that were distributed. Those who received the free gear might be more willing to tune into FOX Sports 1 because they feel affiliated with the network.
Also, FOX Sports 1 utilized social media to promote and spread the awareness of the new network. By using social media and employing the hashtag, #Roadtolaunch, fans feel like they are a part of the process. Sports fans can learn more about the network and the cross-country tour and join in on the action easier now through the use of social media. By implementing social media, people and sports fans become more involved and will most likely increase the number of viewers because they feel like they have a connection to the network. This article is relevant to this class as it is about the use of promotions to spread awareness of a sports network. FOX Sports implemented many aspects that we discuss in class such as promotions and social media. Using promotions such as free giveaway items can increase the number of fans and viewers of the network. By promoting to sports fans directly, FOX successfully marketed its new sports network.
On August 4th, FOX Sports 1 and the FOX Sports Girls, along with the FOX NFL Sunday robot, Cleatus, went on a cross-country trip, Road to Launch. This trip was created to raise awareness for the launch of the new network. The tour started in San Diego for the Padres game against the New York Yankees. Each day, FOX Sports went to baseball games in different cities to promote the new network. The FOX Sports girls talked about the new network, took pictures with fans, and distributed FOX Sports 1 gear to sports fans across the country. Fans were able to follow the tour bus and the FOX Sports Girls through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter by implementing the hashtag, #Roadtolaunch. Also, FOX Sports 1 aired its major promotional video during the MLB All-Star game.
I believe that FOX Sports did a great job promoting the launch of the new network. The target market of this network are sports fans and FOX promoted the network directly to fans by going to different baseball games. By promoting a new sports network at a sporting event, this will most likely increase the number of viewers by spreading awareness. Fans at the different baseball games gained more knowledge of the new sports network and will most likely share that information to friends and family, thus increasing the number of viewers. Also, FOX Sports will probably gain brand loyalty from the fans at the baseball games due to the free FOX Sports 1 items that were distributed. Those who received the free gear might be more willing to tune into FOX Sports 1 because they feel affiliated with the network.
Also, FOX Sports 1 utilized social media to promote and spread the awareness of the new network. By using social media and employing the hashtag, #Roadtolaunch, fans feel like they are a part of the process. Sports fans can learn more about the network and the cross-country tour and join in on the action easier now through the use of social media. By implementing social media, people and sports fans become more involved and will most likely increase the number of viewers because they feel like they have a connection to the network. This article is relevant to this class as it is about the use of promotions to spread awareness of a sports network. FOX Sports implemented many aspects that we discuss in class such as promotions and social media. Using promotions such as free giveaway items can increase the number of fans and viewers of the network. By promoting to sports fans directly, FOX successfully marketed its new sports network.
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