Where is your mascot?

Hey sports teams - Where is your mascot? Recently I attended a fun run at my kids’ school. While waiting for the run to begin I was excited to discover that their elementary school had a mascot. How had I missed this before?...... and yes, I got my picture taken with him. Teams do you still have tickets to sell? Well, where is your mascot? Your beloved mascot opens doors for you. Most businesses aren’t welcomed to show up in public and hand out fliers but your mascot is usually welcomed with open arms, high fives and a phone for photos. Create a plan for your mascot and part of the plan should be that they are only in your ballpark when there’s a game. Look around your community, what is going on? What are families doing?,

Here are some sure things to get on your schedule:

Playgrounds / Tot Lots: When my kids were younger they attended a daily “Tot Lot”. This is organized by the local borough/township. During the summer, scheduled guests such as police officers, firemen and library staff visit.

Public Swimming Pools: Once the pools are open they are packed with families. Pools also schedule special events (late night swims, picnics, swim meets, etc)

Camps: Camps also feature special guests and many of them take field trips. What a nice way to remind them about you. Are you a baseball team having a soccer night or vise versa? A sports camp is a great way to promote this. Not having “sports nights” at the ballpark? These camps could be a great kicking off point in your planning and promoting.

Libraries: Again, it’s the police and firefighters that are a draw but your mascot will be too. Find some great books about baseball to take along. Your staff can read while your mascot acts out the story. Hit the library circuit.

Festivals, Fairs, Outdoor concerts and movies, Community Walks/ Races, even Gated Neighborhoods have events for families........ The list goes on.

First things first, call ahead. You want to get approval and select a mutually agreed upon time and date. What will your mascot do when they are there? Send along a handler who can not only help the mascot but speak, hand out schedules and/or specific promotional materials. Wear logo shirts or perhaps you order up a few that say Game Tonight to wear on game days.

One last thought. Who are some of your corporate partners? Can you offer a mutually beneficial appearance? Do you work with a grocery store, car wash, restaurants? As a parent, I frequent the grocery store, the car wash (to clean out the snack crumbs) and Home Depot….and these places know it. They provide stickers, lollipops and occasional activities for kids. Perhaps you can tie into what they are already doing or become that cool activity that they promote.

Get out in the community. It will get people talking about you just like I am talking about my kids’ school and their mascot. And this goes for other businesses with mascots, not just sports teams.