Building A Promo Schedule

I’ve often wondered about the process for building the Phillies annual promotional schedule:  When do they start formulating ideas?  Do they use industry benchmarking? How are final decisions made?  Phillies Director of Merchandising, Scott Brandreth who has been running through the cycle since 1998 recently shared details of the schedule creation process – providing me with a new perspective on how hard it is to deliver diverse group of people: children, collectors, casual fans and sponsors.

Getting Started:

The first thing you need to understand is Brandreth and team view the promotional calendar as a “living/breathing” document that is not final until the final out has been recorded.  The first public version posted online in February was actually the 17th iteration.  And, by the time I sat down with Scott a little over three weeks later, they were up to version 21.  

While the conversation around potential promotions never actually begins or ends, it heats up in July and August when the team receives the upcoming season’s schedule.  With home dates officially set, focus is given to find matches for “the basics” like Opening Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or the Phanatic’s Birthday.  Followed by the firework nights, Alumni Weekend and annual sponsored promotions such as the W.B. Mason truck.

Filling in the Space:

After the core promotional dates are set, team members begin to pitch ideas for promotions, theme nights and retail merchandise.    At this point, most suggestions are made informally either through email, or at staffing meetings – and sometimes result in the team revisiting ideas from previous seasons that didn’t fit for whatever reason.  The way Brandreth described it, this phase of the process is a month-long brainstorming session: collect as many product ideas without considering expense, sponsor input or boundaries of any kind… There is plenty of time for that later.

In addition to internally sourced ideas, the Phillies also receive recommendations from external partners such as Lucas Films, BDA and Major League Baseball.  All three have impacted recent promotional calendars by putting forth ideas for the Star Wars baseball, player action figurines and last year’s ill-fated Ryan Howard bobble head – which was coordinated at the League-level for all teams to distribute a bobble head using preferred partner, Forever Collectibles. 

Making Decisions:

Once an overall blueprint has been established - complete with "wish list" items - the team evaluates the feasibility of each proposed promotion.  This is a time to research cost and manufacturing considerations - factors which ultimately decide whether or not an SGA can be produced.  These evaluations will typically last until early September, when a select few are elevated to a list of “Top 20” promotions. 

With the previous season winding down, the pressure for laying out the next year is on.  Armed with a list of their best promotions, Brandreth and team begin a round of meetings with sponsors to gain buy-in on the promotions, and in some cases, the SGA designs.  I was interested to learn that W.B. Mason actually designs the annual “toy truck” giveaway – simply turning over mock-ups to the Phillies for what they want to have handed out.  With some back and forth over the following weeks, the team finally has the OK to move forward with their initial public promotional calendar.  

The calendar continues to grow throughout the Spring and early Summer as theme nights are added...