June 11, 2008 | Volume 7, Issue 1

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This is no ordinary locker room tour

CONTACT:
Amy Martin
New Media Specialist
amartin@suns.com

ORGANIZATION: Phoenix Suns

PROGRAM TITLE: Phoenix Suns Virtual Locker Room Tour

OBJECTIVES: Retention is a key component of any marketing effort. The Phoenix Suns are not the first organization to realize the importance of enhancing brand identity and awareness through experiential online marketing strategies. However, they have done so in a new light. Prior to implementation of the Virtual Locker Room Tour, market research suggested the need to provide a “peek behind the curtains” for fans. The Suns organization wanted to continue to grow as progressive leaders within a non-intrusive realm, offering digitally savvy fans a new environment for consuming Suns content, while also offering an opportunity to reach potential fans.

Take a peek at some of the things inside Suns players lockers

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The Phoenix Suns are the first professional sports team to implement a virtual tour with this formula in digitally compositing video, still photography, and online interactivity. Other organizations have offered virtual tours of their locker rooms, though not as in depth, containing mostly still photographs. A preview of the Suns Virtual Locker Room Tour debuted this past January, along with a special promotion, which allowed fans to “unlock” the Suns locker room vault and be entered to win a road trip to catch the Suns in the 2008 Playoffs or a game-worn jersey. Once on the site, sunslockerroom.com, users click on selectively placed “hot spots” that lead them through an exciting virtual journey of the Suns’ clubhouse. Some hot spots include the coaches’ office, the players’ lockers, closets containing Suns apparel, and a weight room. Each designated area contains other areas to explore, as fans can open drawers, read e-mails, and encounter the personalities of the Suns All-Star players. Furthermore, product placement of the Suns’ sponsors can be found strategically placed throughout the digital realm in non-intrusive locations, as to not interrupt the natural flow of the virtual tour. “Identifying touch points of natural integration versus interruption were key in making the product placement effective,” said Amy Martin, New Media Specialist for the Suns, “We were able to identify a delicate balance of maintaining the integrity of the fan experience while extending value to our marketing partners.” New content is being added on a continuous basis, encouraging fans to check back to the site regularly.

MEDIA: A combination of media channels were used to drive unique traffic to SunslockerRoom.com:

Suns.com, the teams home site, which averages over 6 millions page views per month
“MySuns” Mobile Program, which has over 32,000 subscriptions
PlanetOrange.net, a Suns social site containing audio, video, and blogs
E-newsletters
In-game promotions
Limited purchased media (print ad)

The Gorilla protects the locker room vault

PARTNERS: Sponsors of the Virtual Locker Room Tour (Gatorade, Dial,
Right Guard, and Verizon Wireless to name a few) were able to have their products placed strategically throughout the site, offering great potential for “click-throughs” to their own websites. For example, a navigator of the site can click on a Verizon Wireless phone located in a player’s locker and learn more about the product. "The Virtual Locker Room provides Verizon Wireless with an interactive tool to reach out to Suns fans to showcase some of our newest and hottest technology and devices like the Voyager by LG. It's also a way for Suns fans to explore wireless content related to the team and register to win great prizes," said Christine Whitney, Associate Director of Marketing for Verizon Wireless, "it's an innovate extension that takes our partnership with the Suns off the court and to an online audience."

RESULTS: The amazing success of the Suns Virtual Locker Room Tour is proof that having a digital platform of this nature has the ability to produce staggering benefits, especially when many users revisit the website. Analytics from the initial site launch on January 14th to May 15th include:

Over 5 million page views generated
Certain product placement touch points have generated over 46,000 click-throughs to product websites
The Suns Ticket Exchange website received 3,100 leads
ShopSuns.com, the teams online storefront for merchandise, received over 25,000 click-throughs from its placement in the virtual tour
More than 15,000 fans were added to the Suns’ e-marketing database
More than 5,000 fans opted into a mobile program
More than 28,000 “refer a friend” e-mails were performed

Different plasma televisions display different themes in the locker room. This one plays a "Planet Orange" video.

LOOKING AHEAD: To add to this already astonishing and in-depth digital experience, a new “celebrity green room” section is currently in production and will launch this summer. The new rooms will feature celebrities who have performed at the Suns’ arena, US Airways Center, such as music artists, movie stars, WWE personalities, cartoon characters, etc. The content within the Suns Virtual Locker Room site and the interactivity will continue to be updated on a regular basis offering new online games, interactive experiences, promotions, and recent video footage of Suns players. Furthermore, in the near future, music from Epic Records artists will be played in the background as users navigate the website.

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