Bored Ad's


During a conversation, over on the Sens Underground forums, the topic of those pesky board ad's was brought up... by myself if I'm not mistaken.

Eventually the conversation led to how to replace the board ad's, without losing the revenue they bring, while providing entertainment for the fans. As opposed to increasing clutter near the ice surface; I'm looking at you LCD screen board ads.

The single question I asked myself over and over was; "Who are the board ad's aimed at in the first place?" -My marketing teacher would be very proud that I looked for the target market right off the bat.

And the answer to my question...

...the arena population
...the television audience.

It's not clear cut who the ad's are targeted at more, both these groups are exposed to the ad's pretty consistently, so I decided to ponder how to replace the board ad revenues as if they were targeted at both groups on the same levels.

Below are my suggestions for alternatives that allow the elimination the board ad's. Creating less clutter on the ice surface during the action, while increasing the fan experience and still retaining the revenue the ad's provided.


The Arena Population


It's all about the gathering of the individual. You sit down, grab a brew, push to the edge of your seat and cheer your head off when the ice sheet players meet your fancy. People near you feed off your emotion and the excitement, or tension, grows exponentially. You want to be able to push that puck a little to the right, so it squeezes between the goalies glove and the post, lighting the red lamps in overtime. Increasing the ambient crowd noise would provided that little something extra for the fans.

Repositioning of the board ad's in the arena and turning them into sound deflecting, amplification, dampening devices works to up the involvement, increasing the fan experience during the event at the same time. Imagine feeling your heart pounding to the crowds chants of "Alfie, Alfie, Alfie!"

It's either this or have microphones in the stands, like some sports arena's I've recently heard about, to increase the crowd volume.


The Television Audience

The only ad's I can stand, during a television broadcast of a hockey game, are those semi- transparent ones that usually float onto the screen for 10 to 25 seconds apiece during some stoppages in play.

Why? I think it's because they are the only ad's that break-up the action and only slightly remind me that I'm watching a television show. Watching a game on television is all about finding ways to get involved in the action, commercials that take you out of the arena and into a clothing store or hardware store are detrimental to that goal.

Increasing the number of semi-transparent ad's would provide this. Allowing for greater involvement of the audience by; showing panorama's of the arena busting with fans, close-ups of fans enjoying themselves, player intimates, interviews with coaches and players alike, more features like "McGuire's Monster" and the Team1200 going through the players hockey equipment. All of these things, which involve the audience more intimately with the progam, can only increase viewership and boost advertising dollars. Even if the ad's are see-through.