Client: West Texas A&M
Industry: NCAA
Goal: Ticket Sales
Record Breaking Season: West Texas A&M University Sets New Attendance Record Using Voice Messaging
West Texas A&M University’s 2007 football season can be summed up in two words- record breaking. Not only did the team have a perfect 11-0 season, but the Bulls managed to break 20 school records this year, including the largest single game attendance in school history.
Over 23,000 fans jammed into Kimbrough Memorial Stadium during homecoming week to watch their team keep the treasured Wagon Wheel trophy in their tenure against rival team Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU).
West Texas A&M has lead NCAA Division II in fan attendance since 2005. Michael McBroom, Director of Athletics for the University, wished to keep this top spot for the 2007 season as well. Undertaking this mission to keep attendance numbers up, McBroom was looking for new and cost-effective ways to reach their fan base. He came across Vontoo voice messaging during a Google search and thought it might be just the solution to help ensure the Bulls keep their place as number one in attendance for the third consecutive year.
During the 2007 season, the Bulls’ Athletic Department initiated over 10 different calling campaigns to reach local alumni, season ticket holders and members of their local Kid’s Club. One such campaign put forward a challenge to the Bulls’ loyal fans. If 15,000 tickets were purchased before 5:00 p.m. on Thursday of Homecoming Week, then one fan would be randomly selected to win a large cash prize at Saturday night’s game against ENMU.
13,000 tickets were purchased prior to the deadline. This was a major victory for the ticket office, as they normally sell between 4,000 and 5,000 pre-game tickets. On game night, 23,276 fans filled the stadium and cheered their team on to victory. This broke the previous attendance record set in 2005 where 22,993 fans came out to that season’s ENMU game.
McBroom attributes the climb in pre-game ticket sales to the Vontoo voice message sent to over 13,000 people earlier that week, earning the University an excess of $50,000 in revenue.
“Vontoo was a perfect fit for our marketing plan,” said McBroom. “We have a limited marketing budget. Vontoo was by far the easiest and most lucrative way to hit our target audience as often as possible.”
“This is a marketing tool that I can maintain with my hectic schedule,” said McBroom. “We can write a script for a message, record it, and send it to 13,000 or more people in just 20 minutes. I can be anywhere and have the ability to reach fans with updates and reminders…it keeps us fresh in their minds.”
Impressed with the results from this past season’s voice messaging campaigns, McBroom plans to continue using Vontoo to reach the University’s basketball teams’ fan base, as well as the fans of their spring sports.
