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Targeted Web ads help AEG move Staples Center club seats

By Don Muret - www.SportsBusinessJournal.com - Published October 19, 2009

Taking niche marketing to a greater level of sophistication has helped AEG find new buyers for Los Angeles Lakers club seats at Staples Center, the only big league arena it both owns and operates.

AEG is primarily responsible for marketing 2,500 Premier Seats, the building's club-seat product. To refine its approach during the recession, AEG signed a two-month contract last spring with Specific Media, one of the nation's largest independent online advertising networks.

A 10-year-old firm, Specific Media specializes in "geo targeting," using computer technology to track Internet users based on the content they consume on the Web. It shares data with other networks and does deals with 75 percent of Fortune 500 firms, said Chris Vanderhook, Specific Media's co-founder and chief operating officer.

Geo targeting is nothing new for sports teams, but now they are taking the extra step to identify avid basketball fans and retarget individuals who have visited their Web sites but not bought tickets, principals involved in the deals said.

Combining those two behavior patterns to reach a demographic subset is a growing trend, Vanderhook said. Specific Media is also working with the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks to use those online tools to sell season tickets.

In Los Angeles, Specific Media teamed with AEG to target high-income sports enthusiasts ages 25 to 54 earning at least $125,000. The network placed ads pitching Premier Seats on 80 Web sites, including hometown newspapers read by consumers who had relocated to the country's second-largest market.

The April-May campaign during the Lakers' title run proved effective. AEG sold about 100 Premier Seats priced at $17,000 a season over a three-year term tied to Specific Media's campaign. They were all new buyers, said Jason Gonella, AEG's vice president of premium seating.

"During that one run, AEG spent less than $100,000 and generated over $1.5 million in revenue," Vanderhook said. "That's huge, especially for a high-ticket item."

In New York, Specific Media signed a deal with Knicks' media buyer Cross Media for two geo targeting campaigns that started in August and continue through the end of October. Together, those buys target men and women with household incomes of $75,000 that live within 75 miles of New York City, aimed primarily at those consuming sports content on newspaper sites and blogs such as RealGM and HoopsHype.

Hunter Lochmann, the Knicks' vice president of marketing, said the team is using Specific Media to introduce new ticket offers for group and individual-game tickets as opening night approaches.

AEG launched a new campaign with Specific Media that runs through October, adding suites to the mix for all four Staples Center sports tenants.

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