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I for one am thrilled with this. Finally we are at least facing the right direction. Now let's hope we can get the cart to move forward!!



Miami Dolphins' new marketing strategy emphasizes football, tradition rather than glitz, glamourByBen Volin
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/dolphins/miami-dolphins-new-marketing-strategy-emphasizes-football-tradition-2388065.html?cxtype=rss_dolphins
 
Updated: 8:28 p.m. Saturday, June 2, 2012
 
Posted: 6:18 p.m. Saturday, June 2, 2012
 
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MIAMI GARDENS — The pursuit of Peyton Manning in March was a franchise-defining moment for the Miami Dolphins. Just not one they expected.

"That, probably more than any one event, was a pivot point," CEO Mike Dee said last week.

Already, the Dolphins were undergoing significant organizational changes. With ticket sales becoming a critical problem last season, the Dolphins reached out to their most loyal fans toward the end of 2011 and received near-unanimous feedback - the team needed a new marketing strategy, one that would sell football and tradition rather than the glitz and glamour Stephen Ross emphasized when he assumed control of the team in 2009.

But the Dolphins' unsuccessful pursuit of Manning made it clear to Ross and Dee: The Dolphins needed to deliver that message more forcefully.

Once again, the Dolphins were the subject of local and national ridicule, and not just because Manning picked another team. Even though he has a condo in Miami Beach, the team had to fly to Indianapolis to see him, and that was arranged only after Dolphins legend Dan Marino intervened with Manning.

Critics laughed at the Dolphins for believing they had a chance at one of the game's top quarterbacks. To cynical fans, the episode was more proof of the steep decline of a franchise that was once one of the pillars of the NFL.

When the furor died down, Ross and Dee finally said, "enough is enough."

"We recognized that the world has changed, and we weren't in control of our message," Dee said. "And we saw the velocity in which the digital age, and in particular social media, can shape public opinion."

The result, Dee said, has been a "sea change over the last 60 days."

OPENING UP TO PUBLIC

Going back to the 1970s and '80s, the Dolphins had relied on their history of success to attract fans. And when football boss Bill Parcells arrived in late 2007, he limited the team's access to the public and the media to an unprecedented degree, figuring that fewer distractions would result in more victories.

But that closed-door philosophy didn't result in wins, and now is history. In recent months, the Dolphins have embraced social media, tried to become more transparent to the public and actively sought to reconnect with a community turned off by the club's lack of success.

For example, more and more members of the organization have joined Twitter - from Dee to sales staffers to players such as Richie Incognito and Jimmy Wilson.

General Manager Jeff Ireland, limited by Parcells to three media appearances a year, now is heard from regularly, whether he is addressing the local media or appearing on ESPN's Mike and Mike or the popular web-based TV show of ProFootballTalk.com.

And on the final day of the NFL Draft in April, the club held its first "Fin Fest" at Sun Life Stadium, giving fans a chance to meet former and current players, including new quarterback Ryan Tannehill. As one business-side employee put it: "It's like the chains have been removed."

Said Dee: "We can't allow people who may not have the facts to shape public opinion. Jeff was ready for that next step, as well. He was tired of being beat up a little bit."

The Dolphins also reached out to their season-ticket holders, whose numbers are believed to have tumbled into the 30,000s, almost half of the 61,000 the team announced it had before the 2006 season.

Those customers, as well as more casual fans, were united in their feedback: The Dolphins needed to focus more on promoting their rich history and the players on the field, rather than a supposed South Beach party atmosphere, the "Orange Carpet" for the glitterati, and celebrity partners such as Marc Anthony, Fergie or Serena and Venus Williams.

NEW EXECUTIVE, NEW 'BRAND IDENTITY'

In January, the Dolphins hired a new marketing executive - one who also happens to be a season-ticket holder and lifelong Dolphins fan.

"Sitting in the seats every Sunday, I saw that there wasn't focus,"said newly hired chief marketing executive Claudia Lezcano, a former Burger King marketing executive. "There were many good intentions, many creative ideas, but they weren't focused, and they were falling short with our core fans."

After finishing the research, the Dolphins, who until 2010 were the NFL's winningest team since the AFL-NFL merger, developed a "brand identity" to help set a new direction.

HALLELUJAH!

While I don't think that "glitterati" had anything to do with football's lack of success, it is irritating as hell to see Fergie tell us "Fins Up" on the scoreboard after an interception, and to see people in Club Liv smiling and partying when the team is getting bounced by 30 at home.

That said, I love this quote from Mike Dee:
"We can't allow people who may not have the facts to shape public opinion."
This is my biggest problem with PFT, message boards, twitter, etc - people who don't know jack, a loud vocal minority, seem to have the most clout on the web.  And its bullcrap.  This is a huge part of why I'm excited about Hard Knocks - transparency.  People can see WHY Jeff Ireland makes a decision.  How Joe Philbin reviews tape.  Rather than sitting in their easy chair on Monday morning saying "that was dumb, I would have...."

I hope we see a marked difference this season, and I hope Stephen Ross realizes what he's turned the team into.  This could be the beginning of getting back to football.

The Orange Carpet is gone which is the best news I have heard in a long time.

The Miami Dolphins are going to focus on football history rather than superficial glitz and media glamour!

And now YOU can witness it first hand on the highly-acclaimed Hard Knocks reality series, airing Tuesdays at 8 PM Eastern, only on HBO!

Give me a f*cking break with this doubletalking BS.

They need to make a marketing change, but only because we're so bad.  If we were winning, orange carpet would be fine.  Conversely, if we suck, nobody is going to care about our storied history.  They're going to stay home.

You must have missed the line in the article that said "the players on the field" which is where Hard Knocks comes into play.

Here is the thing....yes the Dolphins have changed their focus of marketing the football instead of the glitz.  But they are still focusing on marketing not on football. 

A small step in the right direction, but still very wide of the mark if the goal is actually a Lombardi.

Right now Joe Philbin is on a media tour, if his goal is to appear in more news stories than his division rival Rex Ryan during the off-season he is doing very well. 

But the Dolphins still haven't taken the step teams like NE, Greenbay, Pittsburg and NYG have of, "we are gonna focus on football"  "Write about of is you want, ignore us if you want, but we are gonna focus on winning football games not our marketing plan."

^^^ I really haven't been paying much attention, but is this a fair criticism? The organization have people whose job it is to focus on marketing, they all do. Is Philbin really on a media tour or are articles just ebing written? Some of that has nothing to do with the organization.

The Dolphins did that for years when they were winning the AFC East year after year. It's EASY to do this when you are winning. When you aren't winning you have to do things a bit differently and no they aren't losing because they are focusing on marketing, they are focusing on marketing because they are losing. Winning takes care of everything else, but winning is not an easy formula to find. It requires a combination of the right coaching, the right players, the right gameplan and even a little bit of luck in finding all that at the right time when maybe your division rivals aren't at the top of their game.

More of the Dolphins cheerleaders....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIfbghHdG1s&feature=youtu.be (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIfbghHdG1s&feature=youtu.be)

They should have held up the season Tickets signs,it would have been a better tie in...but then again,who'd actually notice...

Pappy's right.  Winning teams market themselves.  Losing teams need marketing to get convince people to give them money.

I'm all for marketing, but marketing only goes so far.  If you suck bad enough, people will actually resent you trying to market your product.  Like I said, do you know how much people love celebrity glitz when their team in winning?  This whole city would love Lil Wayne hanging out in Club Liv with J Lo and LeBron.  But, as is -- it just further pisses them off.  At some point, marketing becomes a negative, just reminding you how much of a farce your franchise is.

Watching that video after the Lauren Tannehill thread just reinforces my original thoughts about her.

^^ watching that video makes me want to reduce my grade of Lauren Tannehill.

That video would make me want to reduce the grade of pretty much any other woman on the planet... ;)

Mercy buckets, I digs me some cheerleaders in bikinis!!

I think most people overrated her anyway.

I gave her a 6...

No it has all to do with Philbin. Under Saban and Parcells they ruled with an iron fist. They prevented the GM's and assistant coaches from doing interviews and they did few if any themselves. The "marketing people" can just ask, but its up to the head coach and such to actually agree and want to do media and stuff.  Philbin is bending over backwards talking to everyone and anyone from ESPN, to NFL Network, to Florio, to agreeing to do HBO Hard Knocks

I'd be willing to bet that is was an organizational decision to make nice with the media all the way around. When you have everyone beating you up including the media, pretty much everything you do will be second guessed. We now have a personable coach and they seem to be using that to bridge the gaps that we have created.

I've been begging for us to make strategy with our tradition rather than glitz for years.  I told you.  It doesn't matter how many celebrity minority owners you get.  None of that means a damn thing if you can't put a winner on the field.

Like its been said before, win and this marketing crap takes care of itself.

IMO the Dolphins need to replace Mike Dee. Ever since he has taken over, the team has been on a downward slope. Almost NOTHING good has happened.

He approved the "Tim Tebow Worship Day" among his other blunders. Like right after he came on board going public with his "rebuild a privately owned stadium with tax dollars" and no promise of paying the public back in any shape or form. Calling for corporate welfare at the heart of a huge recession. Of course that went over like a lead balloon with both the public and the politicos in Miami-Dade and Broward.

The guy came from the marketing dept of the Boston Red Sox. Really ? Like they need a marketing dept ? GTFOH with this loser......start with that for a marketing change.

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Absolutely, and who wants to give their money to a loser? NOBODY! IMO, the 1-7 record at home in 2010 set the ticket sales back years. I think the only reason ticket sales have not plummeted even further is because the season ticket holders with great seats don't want to lose them.