Tuesday, March 15, 2016

The Boston Red Sox – Embracing Change


Day 1 of our #GWMLBgrapefruit trip was truly a treat. Being a Red Sox fan and being able to see the beautiful park packed with New Englanders feels like home. We were able to meet with some key folks in the Red Sox organization including Adam Grossman, Chief Marketing Officer, Katie Haas, Vice President, Florida Business Operations and others who brought a variety of perspectives, insight, and honesty.

During the presentations, I found myself thinking about change and how Major League teams are always embracing it, adjusting to it, adapting to it, or creating it. There are changes in ballparks (the Red Sox making the move to Jet Blue Park), changing of types of players (incorporating Japanese players onto the roster), changes in strategies (embracing social media, and fan engagement as marketing strategies) and more.
         
Listening to Katie, she shared information with us about the process of moving to Jet Blue Park and was incredibly insightful and honest with us about the challenges and the position the team was in. She spoke of the fact that the Red Sox had a lot of leveraging power with Lee County, and how the team could have easily landed in Sarasota if the county hadn’t given them what they wanted. She also spoke about the leadership transitions since she has been there and how much that changed the team for the better.

Adam Grossman was also very interesting, as he spoke at length about the way the team engages fans by using two big areas: content and experience. He shared how all of these things have changed so much with social media, but that their core objectives remain the same and simply their strategies to achieving those change. The Red Sox and all MLB teams need to constantly be innovative to continue to keep their fans engaged.


It was incredible to be able to hear so much of the behind the scenes work being done to continue to uphold the Red Sox brand and make improvements to continue to attract fans and players alike.

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