Hornets Rebrand Market Study Test Idea

[JGib23]

Ok guys- We have all beaten this subject to death and I'm not trying to reopen the discussion on who's right or wrong, who is a true fan and who is not. I have an idea that I think can work and wanted to get some comments on it. This is an idea that I think will increase revenue and no matter if you are Pro Bobcats or Pro Hornets, I think you can see that it makes sense from a financial perspective. This assumes that New Orleans will 100% rebrand.

The Bobcats have mentioned 2 concerns regarding a Rebrand:
1. The Cost to Rebrand
2. Will it actually help grow the fanbase (increase attendance, & merchandise sales)

I'm working under the assupmtion that even if New Orleans rebrands in time for next season- it will take 1 additional season to rebrand Charlotte into the Hornets ( I think it could be done at the same time that New Orleans is doing it but, I'm saying 2 years total for a fair estimate that isn't rushed).

My idea is that in the 2013-2014 Season the Charlotte Bobcats become the Charlotte Hornets for 10 games. This is would be exactly what we did this season by wearing the "Cougars" throwbacks for certain games but, marketed differently. What this does is gives them a chance to evaluate the "Hornets" impact without spending millions on the rebrand (if they're not convinced it would increase revenue).

The Bobcats would sell a "10 Game Charlotte Hornets Throwback Ticket Pack", I envision this pack to be a fair mix of games in order to give a fair estimate of any "bump" in attendance. This ticket pack should include both weeknight & weekend games and include big draws like the Heat or Lakers, Chicago, Boston, Knicks and also weak draws like the Jazz, TWolves, Hawks, Nets. I believe this is a big enough sample size to fairly evaluate the situation.

The Bobcats would sell "Charlotte Hornets" merchandise.
Including Hats, T-Shirts, Jersey's etc.
What I would suggest would be to sell both Throwback Hornets Jerseys of past Stars (Curry, Bouges, LJ & ZO) along with the throwback Hornets Uniform of current Bobcats players (Smack, Kemba, New Stars drafted).

My vision for the the games is a true "Hornets" experience that would feature Hugo as the Mascot running the sidelines, the Lady Cats will transform into Honeybees. The fans would have Hornets related chants like "Bee Fense". The fat guy doing backflips down the court, etc.
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What I think this does:
Allows a fair evaluation of the "Hornets" brand from an attendance & merchandise perspective.
Attract fans into the arena that so far haven't given the Bobcats a chance. Even if the team ultimately doesn't rebrand, this is a mechanism to attract incremental fans into the arena who may fall in love with the NBA again.
I think it would increase Merchandise Sales greatly... this allows Hornets name fans the chance to own Charlotte Hornets merchadise that doesn't currently exist, it allows Bobcats fans that done care what they are called but, like to own/collect jerseys of their favorite players in a alternate uniform (Bobcats, Cougars & Hornets Jerseys of their favorite player would be pretty cool)
Ends the debate- either the Pro Hornets guys pack the arena, buy tons of merchandise and prove the point they have been trying to make or it fails and the movement will die from lack of actual financial support vs. lipservice.
Potential Problems it creates:
I honestly can't see any downside to this. It succeeds or fails on it's on merits.
I think this would be a win/win for the team & fans. I don't see how this could piss any 100% "Bobcats" fans off because its very similar to what they did with the Cougars this season but, with a twist.

I'm going to write a letter to the team with this suggestion and appreciate any feedback on this idea that you guys have.

[McBeastie]

They can't wear any Charlotte Hornets uniform without purchasing the name & associated trademarks from Benson first, he'd still own them even if NO rebrands.

Also if they wanted to do this for the '13-'14 season, they'd need to have had a design submitted by now to the league; which I doubt has happened since New Orleans still owns all the rights.

For example, this season, the Pistons requested approval of an alternate uni design they won't actually wear until '13-'14 (http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2012/2/13/2795907/pistons-plan-alternate-uniforms-next-season). So the earliest we could do this market study would be the '14-15' season.

It's an interesting idea, though; Staying the Bobcats, with Hornets hardwood classics nights, but I think those who support the team regardless will continue supporting the team regardless, and those who prefer Hornets will still want a permanent switch. So I don't know if it makes sense to spend the money it would take to get the name & trademarks back unless they were making a more permanent change.

[superb1]

Ok guys- We have all beaten this subject to death and I'm not trying to reopen the discussion on who's right or wrong, who is a true fan and who is not. I have an idea that I think can work and wanted to get some comments on it. This is an idea that I think will increase revenue and no matter if you are Pro Bobcats or Pro Hornets, I think you can see that it makes sense from a financial perspective. This assumes that New Orleans will 100% rebrand.

The Bobcats have mentioned 2 concerns regarding a Rebrand:
1. The Cost to Rebrand
2. Will it actually help grow the fanbase (increase attendance, & merchandise sales)

I'm working under the assupmtion that even if New Orleans rebrands in time for next season- it will take 1 additional season to rebrand Charlotte into the Hornets ( I think it could be done at the same time that New Orleans is doing it but, I'm saying 2 years total for a fair estimate that isn't rushed).

My idea is that in the 2013-2014 Season the Charlotte Bobcats become the Charlotte Hornets for 10 games. This is would be exactly what we did this season by wearing the "Cougars" throwbacks for certain games but, marketed differently. What this does is gives them a chance to evaluate the "Hornets" impact without spending millions on the rebrand (if they're not convinced it would increase revenue).

The Bobcats would sell a "10 Game Charlotte Hornets Throwback Ticket Pack", I envision this pack to be a fair mix of games in order to give a fair estimate of any "bump" in attendance. This ticket pack should include both weeknight & weekend games and include big draws like the Heat or Lakers, Chicago, Boston, Knicks and also weak draws like the Jazz, TWolves, Hawks, Nets. I believe this is a big enough sample size to fairly evaluate the situation.

The Bobcats would sell "Charlotte Hornets" merchandise.
Including Hats, T-Shirts, Jersey's etc.
What I would suggest would be to sell both Throwback Hornets Jerseys of past Stars (Curry, Bouges, LJ & ZO) along with the throwback Hornets Uniform of current Bobcats players (Smack, Kemba, New Stars drafted).

My vision for the the games is a true "Hornets" experience that would feature Hugo as the Mascot running the sidelines, the Lady Cats will transform into Honeybees. The fans would have Hornets related chants like "Bee Fense". The fat guy doing backflips down the court, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~



What I think this does:
Allows a fair evaluation of the "Hornets" brand from an attendance & merchandise perspective.
Attract fans into the arena that so far haven't given the Bobcats a chance. Even if the team ultimately doesn't rebrand, this is a mechanism to attract incremental fans into the arena who may fall in love with the NBA again.
I think it would increase Merchandise Sales greatly... this allows Hornets name fans the chance to own Charlotte Hornets merchadise that doesn't currently exist, it allows Bobcats fans that done care what they are called but, like to own/collect jerseys of their favorite players in a alternate uniform (Bobcats, Cougars & Hornets Jerseys of their favorite player would be pretty cool)
Ends the debate- either the Pro Hornets guys pack the arena, buy tons of merchandise and prove the point they have been trying to make or it fails and the movement will die from lack of actual financial support vs. lipservice.
Potential Problems it creates:
I honestly can't see any downside to this. It succeeds or fails on it's on merits.
I think this would be a win/win for the team & fans. I don't see how this could piss any 100% "Bobcats" fans off because its very similar to what they did with the Cougars this season but, with a twist.

I'm going to write a letter to the team with this suggestion and appreciate any feedback on this idea that you guys have.

Sounds like a well thought proposal. I love it, if we can get over the huddles to do it.


They can't wear any Charlotte Hornets uniform without purchasing the name & associated trademarks from Benson first, he'd still own them even if NO rebrands.

Also if they wanted to do this for the '13-'14 season, they'd need to have had a design submitted by now to the league; which I doubt has happened since New Orleans still owns all the rights.

For example, this season, the Pistons requested approval of an alternate uni design they won't actually wear until '13-'14 (http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2012/2/13/2795907/pistons-plan-alternate-uniforms-next-season). So the earliest we could do this market study would be the '14-15' season.

It's an interesting idea, though; Staying the Bobcats, with Hornets hardwood classics nights, but I think those who support the team regardless will continue supporting the team regardless, and those who prefer Hornets will still want a permanent switch. So I don't know if it makes sense to spend the money it would take to get the name & trademarks back unless they were making a more permanent change.

legit concerns but I think it would be worth trying. maybe to gauge genuine interest before shell out money

[JGib23]

Good Points.

For futher clarification and the sake of arguement... I assume that in New Orleans rebranding that the Bobcats are working with the league on "something" and as Adam Silver has said "rebranding" to Hornets would be quicker than Normal since the league already owns the copyrights.

I agree those that support regardless will still support no matter what (I fall in that category) and there will be those who want a permanent switch ( I also fall in that category).

I don't think you would have to "buy" the copyrights from Tom Benson for the the purposes of a Market trial. (maybe the NBA will own them as part of the New Orleans rebrand compromise- different arguement but, I think the NBA would expect him to turn the right over to them if he no longer wants the name) The merchandise revenue is split evenly among all teams so Tom will get his money that way... Also, if the Name isn't used by Tom Benson and he thinks that he could sell it, it makes sense to allow Charlotte to use it for free for a trial basis hoping that they will actually want to buy it.... I think the only team that would buy it would be Charlotte so it would be silly for Tom to not want to help Charlotte get it... It only has value if Charlotte wants it.

I don't think the team spent Millions on the "Cougar" Throwback nights and can't see "Hornets" throwback nights being anymore cost prohibitive than the Cougars Throwbacks (assuming they aren't forced to purchase rights for the trial basis).

[McBeastie]

I can't claim to know what Benson's thinking, but I can't even begin to understand the mechanics involved in letting another business borrow an entire set of trademarks completely free of charge for one year. Is there any precedent for that in pro sports? Or the logistics in trying to discern the percentage of people that attend a game exclusively to see the Hornets unis vs those who would normally come to a game or marquee match-up regardless; and the percentage of people who attend normal Bobcats games as a result of watching the team play in the throwbacks? How would they know how much of either figure was affected by the team's on-court performance or economic climate? Our one winning season happened right around the time of the stock market crash & mortgage crisis, so which season's attendance numbers would be their baseline for measuring improvement? We really don't know the answer to any of these questions.

I think it's a given that there's a faction of the public interested in the Hornets, but it's just a lot of different variables at work which I think would make it hard to get any overwhelming or substantive findings. No harm done though in writing the team about it to see what they think. Let us know what you hear back!

[JGib23]

McB- obviously this is a complex problem and you can't see absolutes but, i think the idea would offer a better indication than any other type of marketing study the team plans to or could do. This plan involves people actually getting out their wallets and spending $ vs. sitting in a conference room at the arena participating in a "focus group" ( focus group is most likely the type of study the team used to determine 35% of fans wanted Carolina Blue in the jersey). I think there is a need for focus groups in addition to my idea as well.

About Benson- just my .02, I can't see Stern allowing him to drop the name and also keep it held hostage. If it can increase revenue for the league, Stern will make it so.... On the converse, Stern might love the name Hornets and make it difficult for New Orleans to change.... The whole premise of my idea assumes that all parties are willing to make reasonable business decisions that grow league wide revenue in which they all share equally. A rising tide lifts all boats.
Tom Benson makes the same money if the New Orleans Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Bobcats or Charlotte Hornets sell merchandise- Tom Benson wants Charlotte to sell the maximum amount of merchandise regardless of what the name is because that helps his bottom line.

On a single game basis it would be difficult to decipher which fan is at the game for which reason but, it would be very easy to determine how many "10 game Charlotte Hornets throwback ticket packs" are sold. I don't think anyone would buy 10 games worth of tickets (that purposefully include a few weeknight duds), when they could simply buy single game tickets to the 2 or 3 marque games that they want to see. The types of people that would buy the 10 game pack are the types of fans that have said they will come to the games if the team rebrands, this is their opportunity to prove themselves. On the flip side you could have current season ticket holders that prefer the Hornets name and their opinion would need to be captured in a focus group. I think this would be true "incremental" sales that without the promotion wouldn't happen.

From a merchandising perspective it's pretty easy to determine, you just look at the cash register and you an easily determine what the true "Demand" is for Charlotte Hornets gear... Even if they never rebrand fully, I think it would be smart business to offer the Charlotte Hornets Hardwood Classic merchandise. I for one would loooove to own a Purple Charlotte Hornets Jersey of my favorite player.

On a side note regarding contacting the team, I have been in email contact with one of the owners (not Felix Sabates who is publically Pro Hornet name change) since last month and have offered a few ideas & suggestions and have gotten great feedback & responses. This one is something I wanted to bounce off some of the other hardcore fans to shoot holes in before I presented it.