Only about a week ago, Adobe and Major League Baseball announced their new and improved partnership that “reimagines” fan engagement. The partnered campaign features personalized promotions and notifications for individual fans, improved functions that highlight the best way to enter a ballpark and how to get access to VIP parking promotions or concessions discounts. One of the coolest parts of this Adobe/MLB campaign is the program that allows fans who live outside their favorite team’s locale to be able to receive alerts when their favorite club or player is in town, or get free trials for MLB.TV so they can watch games from the comfort of their couch or on the go.
One of MLB’s issues with fan engagement that limits revenue in comparison to other organizations such as NBA and NFL is the fact that many people enjoy the immersive experiences that professional football and basketball have to offer rather than Major League Baseball. Overall, less people are involved with MLB than other professional sports leagues, which calls for PR and media campaigns that will improve engagement. From the perspective of MLB’s PR department, the best way to do this is to launch new programs that allow fans to be more in tune with a team and a ballpark. By partnering with Adobe to accomplish this goal, it benefits both organizations because the new improvements are likely to increase engagement among MLB fans that have better options in terms of watching games and going to live events.
The personalized promotions are a good PR tactic because it personally targets individual fans and makes them feel more engaged with the league as well as their favorite teams. Nowadays, people want to feel connected to an organization, and when an organization creates personable messages such as the ones used through the Adobe and MLB programs, it makes people feel more involved with the organization and more willing to participate in events or watch games online/on TV. The special promotions aspect of the partnership is also helpful because it influences fans to get more involved due to the personable aspect and the idea of getting promotions for ballpark entertainment or access to MLB TV and in-app functions.
I think the Adobe x MLB partnership is a well thought out PR campaign, and the partnership will benefit both organizations by targeting MLB fans and throwing promotions, free trials, and personalized messages at them that influence them to be more engaged and involved with the organization or their favorite team.