The foundation of grassroots PR is campaigns that are indigenous and distinctly connected to the jurisdictions where they happen. But the Tennessee Oilers has decided to court two different cities, Nashville and Memphis, to make a PR touchdown.
Memphis had lobbied the National Football League for more than three decades to get the team that's now only partially theirs (deals kept on falling through and the teams went to other cities). The Oilers are playing in Memphis but based, for now, in Nashville - where Oilers execs also have to warm up fans.
Communicating the Risks & Discussing the Plan
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Source: PR NEWS |
Bud Adams, the owner of the Oilers, has hired the Nashville PR firm McNeely Pigott & Fox to drum up support for the team, which moved from Houston this year. MP&F will rely on branding and promoting the same players and same name in two different communities. It's not unusual for a sports team to hire a PR firm but it is "highly unusual" to try to tackle these kinds of grassroots issues, says Mark McNeely, a partner with the firm.
But it's precisely that dichotomy that has gotten the Oilers into the PR pickle they're in: the team's lagged in attracting fans (only about 64,000 attended the team's first three games at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis), and Nashville and Memphis are cities known for being arch rivals.
And to muddy the waters even more, the team's only going to be playing in Memphis until a new stadium is completed in Nashville for the 1999 season. Meanwhile, the team's living and practicing in Nashville and playing in Memphis.
The decision to turn to MP&F, a general-practitioner PR boutique that had $2.6 million in net fee billings last year and now has 75 clients, came several weeks ago and only several meetings have been held thus far to hash out the grassroots campaigns that will be rolled out. "I can tell you that we want to re-establish the enthusiasm for this team," McNeely said. "I don't think we'll be taking the desperation Hail Mary path (looking for a quick fix).It will be a slow progress."
Neither Dave Pearson, a spokesperson for the Oilers, nor McNeely would say how long Adams plans to retain the firm.
Sources also told PR NEWS last week that the play-by-play they'll use to familiarize Nashville and Memphis residents with the Oilers hasn't been determined and that the possibility exists that the team's name may eventually be changed.
McNeely and his partner Dave Cooley said the firm, which has never taken on a case like this but has worked in sports-related PR, will rely on traditional PR tactics, many of them practices that are exhausted in the public-affairs arena:
- Showing citizens the team's friendly face: $40,000 per game is donated to charities in Memphis;
- Making the players a part of these communities by encouraging them to make appearances at local venues, such as schools; and
- Getting the team's principals to establish rapport with opinion leaders in the area. (MP&F, 615/259-4000; Oilers, 615/673-1500)