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Miami Dolphins trying hard to recapture frustrated fan base

DKphin

DKphin

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Here is a list of all the ways the Dolphins have reached out to their fans this offseason:

* The team is listening to its most loyal customers. Toward the end of the 2011 season, the Dolphins reached out to its season ticket holders for feedback about the their image and marketing efforts. The fans were nearly unanimous: The Dolphins need to focus on the players on the field and the team’s tradition, not on glitz and glamour. So starting in 2012, the Orange Carpet is gone, and the party atmosphere will not be marketed anymore. Instead, the focus will be on the team on the field and the Dolphins’ rich history. The team will also have two 1 p.m. home games in September despite the brutal South Florida heat, which many fans believe is the team’s best home-field advantage.
* The Dolphins aren’t just listening, they’re reaching out. They held a conference call with season ticket holders to give them a Q&A with Philbin and Jeff Ireland. When a small group of fans protested in front of the team’s facility in March, owner Stephen Ross personally called two fans to hear their complaints and try to explain the team’s new course of action. And they invited fans into Sun Life Stadium on the final day of the NFL Draft for their first-ever “Fin Fest,” allowing fans to meet and get autographs from their favorite current and former players, including new first-round pick Ryan Tannehill.
* Philbin has also been active in the community. One of his first moves as new head coach was to address a large group of Dolphins alumni in the team’s indoor practice facility. “I was really impressed,” former running back Jim Kiick said at the time. “They want to win the right way.” Philbin also addressed a large group of Dolphins fans at AutoNation during his first week on the job. “He said, ‘We can go out and have success and win a Super Bowl, but unless (the fans) feel like you’re a part of it, it doesn’t mean as much,’” Dee said. “‘You’ve got to be along for the ride.’”
* The team is promoting the players more than ever before. Commercials and marketing efforts focus on specific players and the sacrifices they make to play football, not on a supposed party atmosphere or other peripheral aspects of the team. This new strategy is personified in the Dolphins’ decision to do HBO’s Hard Knocks, which will give fans unprecedented access to their team. “It fits perfectly for us, because first and foremost it’s about football,” new chief marketing officer Claudia Lezcano said. “It allows the fans to connect with the players and understand a little more who they are.”
* The Dolphins have completely reorganized their sales teams into a regionalized approach. Instead of having one massive sales team, the team has been split into four regions: Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Southwest Florida. The sales reps now focus only on marketing their given area, and are encouraged to live in their area and participate in community events, as well. The Dolphins also hope to improve their footprint in the Vero Beach and Orlando areas. “The one-size-fits-all approach just doesn’t work in this market anymore,” Dee said.
* The team has opened up to the media. They confirmed coaching candidates and free agent visits for the first time in years, if not decades. Philbin and Ireland personally visited the offices of the three South Florida newspapers for interviews, and Ireland has spoken with reporters several times this offseason (as opposed to three times per year under the previous regime). Both have been heard from and seen plenty on ESPN’s national TV and radio shows, as well as appearances on NFL Network, Sirius XM and Pro Football Talk.
* And the Dolphins have stopped hiding. The organization has embraced Twitter, with everyone from Dee to business-side staffers to players signing up for the popular service. The team has beefed up its own media offerings, with more and more player interviews appearing on the team’s website and on their own daily two-hour radio show, The Finsiders. And when a controversy pops up, the team has generally tried to address it right away instead of ignoring it, as they would in the past.
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Read more:http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/thed...-and-re-connect-with-south-florida-community/
 
I'm glad its heading in this direction, one of my good friends if from Greenbay Wisconsin and the team up there is like a family to her. They have had Season tickets for 40+years and every time I hear about their organization from her it makes me crazy jealous. They do a lot for and care deeply about their fans, and I am glad Miami is taking a step in the right direction at becoming better as an organization.

Ross is learning fast and quick what it is going to take to be a contender on and off the field, I applaud his willingness to change. Whether we forced his hand or it was an obligation :hclap:
 
To recapture the fan base the Dolphins must win on the field.
Everything else is merely lip service.
 
Definitely moving in the right direction. Obviously on field performance is the key but removing the side shows and Parcells mentality is the best thing Ross could have done.
 
Killerphins said:
To recapture the fan base the Dolphins must win on the field.
Everything else is merely lip service.
Click to expand...

Its good to do smart marketing. Its good to have a practical PR plan. But without the wins it is all for show. Win and the fans will be there.
 
Good to hear the team is listening to the fans and ditching the whole orange carpet affair. Nobody cares what celebrities are at the game they go to watch the football game.
 
Winning at home is key. If we go 8-0 at home the fans will keep coming back regardless of the final record. The best thing we can do is take advantage of our home field advantage: The heat. The fast paced offense we're looking to instill will be huge if we can run it effectively and whoever the QB is is smart enough to keep the defense from substituting. The lack of primetime games will help us this year at home too. If Philbin is any good at all we should go at least 6-2 at home this season.
 
Things definitely feel different this year. Of course, winning is the only measure for success. But perception is reality, and at least to me, the organization has changed the way I see them, and at the end of the day that's all that matters to me.

Good job Ross, Ireland, and Coach Philbin!
 
Killerphins said:
To recapture the fan base the Dolphins must win on the field.
Everything else is merely lip service.
Click to expand...

This is true because of fair weather fans ... the Bills and Browns fans that suffered through far more crappy seasons than us while enduring crappy weather and crappy stadiums are a testament to how a good fan base should act ... support your team no matter what. And those fans can win games too ... the dog pound has helped in close games.
 
im really likeing the direction the organization is heading in. i like that its gets the fans more invlolved, and giving us alot more info.
 
My god this is pathetic. Ross didn't know **** about football, so he made an ass out of himself with this "glitz". No one can argue that, because the organization itself is admitting it. (Maybe GoonBoss can come suck some crow down...) Now Ross is flipping it all around thinking that will get fans back. HE DOESN'T GET IT. HE NEVER WILL. WINNING!!! THAT IS WHAT THE FANS WANT. The fans put up with Parcells and the ultra-secret crap without worrying about it as long as what? WE WERE WINNING. Stop winning, and then people will look in all kinds of places for excuses...WIN AND WE COME BACK.
 
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Dr. Phin said:
My god this is pathetic. Ross didn't know **** about football, so he made an ass out of himself with this "glitz". No one can argue that, because the organization itself is admitting it. (Maybe GoonBoss can come suck some crown down...) Now Ross is flipping it all around thinking that will get fans back. HE DOESN'T GET IT. HE NEVER WILL. WINNING!!! THAT IS WHAT THE FANS WANT. The fans put up with Parcells and the ultra-secret crap without worrying about it as long as what? WE WERE WINNING. Stop winning, and then people will look in all kinds of places for excuses...WIN AND WE COME BACK.
Click to expand...
Was that really necessary?

NEWS FLASH: we all wanna win!
 
Dr. Phin said:
My god this is pathetic. Ross didn't know **** about football, so he made an ass out of himself with this "glitz". No one can argue that, because the organization itself is admitting it. (Maybe GoonBoss can come suck some crown down...) Now Ross is flipping it all around thinking that will get fans back. HE DOESN'T GET IT. HE NEVER WILL. WINNING!!! THAT IS WHAT THE FANS WANT. The fans put up with Parcells and the ultra-secret crap without worrying about it as long as what? WE WERE WINNING. Stop winning, and then people will look in all kinds of places for excuses...WIN AND WE COME BACK.
Click to expand...

How does the orange carpet keep the team from winning? Wouldn't you rather have this "clueless owner" preoccupied with trying to enhance the fans experience with off the field stuff rather than sticking his nose in the football decisions. Personally I like the idea of the orange carpet but maybe he should have waited until we had a few decent seasons, anyway I don't really see how it hurts. I know if I bring my wife to the game she's going to be 10 times more excited to see some celebs than the actual game.
 
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