Creative Approach Rough Draft for WV Power Branding Project

This is the creative brief, interview transcript, paper edit, and rough draft of a script for a branding class (IMC 634 Digital Storytelling) project for the West Virginia Power.

West Virginia Power Branding Project

Creative Brief WV Power

Focus:

Create a unique, social and community-based entertainment value that can’t be found anywhere else. Instill a sense of hometown pride and ownership that recalls the long, rich baseball history and celebrates the strong community.

Issues:

Declining attendance. With rising costs of entertainment outings and the availability of cheap at home entertainment options (video gaming, Netfix, Pay-per-View) customers are more particular when choosing where to spend entertainment discretionary income.

Time poor consumer and a perception of a baseball game being too long or boring. Game is long; today’s consumer is time-conscious. (Most recreational activities are 2 hours or less). Baseball games typically last 3 1/2 hours.

Audience:

Urban Charlestonians

• Live or work in close proximity to the stadium
• 18 to 34 single or married couples
• Enjoy an active downtown social life
• Entertainment seeking; likely not baseball fans
• Seeking fun, a sense of connection, community and belonging
• Sees downtown entertainment as hip
• Digital natives

Modern Moms

• 24 to 45 years old
• Social media and digitally savvy
• Owns a smartphone and manages her life with it
• Time scarcity is an issue; limited recreational time
• Children under 18 in the household
• Earns $37,000 or more annually
• Likely controls a majority of the household budget
• Makes decisions about the family’s and children’s entertainment
• Many women are breadwinner moms, either as a head of household or earning a comparable salary to their partner’s

Golden Age Fans

• Baby Boomers and Seniors, aged 50+
• Strong community ties; longtime residents
• Remembers the Charleston baseball legacy
• Remembers the baseball greats of the past and the strong tradition of baseball as an American icon
• Understands the game
• The length and pace of the game may not be a negative

Content Points:

Will focus on making the minor league experience appeal to more than just traditional fans.

Provide an inexpensive, fun, social atmosphere that is safe, family friendly and appropriate for all ages.

Provide a strong connection and hometown pride between the team and the community. Tie is the long tradition of Charleston being a baseball town.

Each game should provide both novelty and a sense of familiarity. Every game should provide a unique and memorable experience, while it harks back to the traditions of baseball.

Brand:

WV Power is about old fashioned family values and small town pride.

Creative Approach:

A 2-3 minute nonfiction branding video that highlights the passion of the fans, and the pride in their local baseball team. It should convey the family friendly aspects of the minor league baseball experience.

Interviews (Highlights indicate initial paper edit).

Fan 1.

How do minor league players moving up or being trade affect the minor league experience and loyalty to the team?

“Yea. If they’re any good they get moved up or traded. But while they’re here, they’re ours. The good guys. When they go, were happy and sad. I think that we have helped them along in a way. It’s a hard life. They don’t get paid much. But they love it, they are dreaming of making it big. Some of us, me and Rod, and some of the others adopt a player for the season. Rod has two, they don’t always move on every year. We kind of adopt a player, find out what he likes and put together road trip kits with their favorite treats and all. Help them find a place to live, get them settled. We try to have them for dinner once a week. Kind of a family atmosphere.”

Fan 2.

How does minor league baseball experience compare to attending a major league game?

“I try to get the family up to Pittsburgh at least once a season. But the cost, working it out with baseball games, dance, and our schedules, it’s hard. This I can give them this just about any time. It’s really the only time we get to spend together that we all enjoy without a bunch of other things going on.”

Describe your children’s experiences with baseball.

“J loves it, knows all the players, gets their autographs, has posters and stuff in his room. He loves the Pirates too, but its so much more accessible here, closer. I can get him a great seat here, right up close, he can meet and talk with the players. I get to be the hero too. I feel safe if he roams around a little bit if I can see him. Even K loves it too. And she even understands the game, about home runs and strikeouts. She loves Chuck and the Toastman, has all the signs memorized. Always wants a toast thrown at her. She’d take them home, but we tell her the birds need them to eat. I don’t have to worry about covering my kid’s eyes. No cheerleaders with everything on display, everyone keeps it pretty clean. It’s a family friendly place, not too expensive. It brings people together, it’s a community thing. There a group of people all cheering together, win or lose, not for a group of high paid players in it for the money, but for a group of hopeful young players, who are loving the game and playing for a chance, with a dream of something bigger, and still have a pure passion for the game.

Fan 3. Would you agree or disagree with the statement: There’s something truly magical about baseball.  Something that you can’t lay a finger on, but it has always been there.

“It’s the whole thing, the game, the park, the crowd, the rituals. It’s a slower pace, not an adrenaline rush all the time, but peaceful. It has its exciting moments too. Everyone standing up when the ball goes over the wall, everyone cheering together. There aren’t any strangers at a baseball game. You’ve got a thousand friends cheering these guys on. But overall it’s relaxing. The App is as pretty as any park around here.  The grass, sitting in the sun on a warm evening, watching the sun set. The organ, signing in the 7th, eating peanuts, catcalling the other team, it is nostalgic. Something that we miss in rushing around all the time. Yea, I would say it does have a kind of magic, mystique, aura. It links us to the past. It’s what our grandparents did, it’s a part of American history. Football is exciting, and I love that too, but baseball is in our hearts. I don’t know, I just can’t feel the same about a football player, ya know, a connection. Baseball players are more relatable I guess. More like someone you know or who you might have been if you had worked a little harder. Football is out of touch a little.”

Fan 4.

There seems to be quite a line for autographs? How about their prospects of getting moved up?

“My son couldn’t wait til the end so he could get autographs. He likes Adams, but knows them all. Some of the young ones, you can see they still can’t believe the kids are lined up. And this is just single A. A long road to make it to the Majors somewhere. Most of them will never make it. But the dream is there, still fresh and full of hope. The schedule is tough, being away from their family, the travel and on the road all the time. They’re still young and mostly single, but later on if they want a family, it gets harder. It’s not just baseball they have to learn. It’s dealing with the lifestyle, the crowds at away games, constant traveling, playing hurt and fatigued. Their whole life from April to September is baseball. You’ve got to love it enough to make it through one season after another. They all have the dream of making it, but few of them will.”

How do you feel about the players that move up?

“Only about 10% of them will play even 1 major league game. If they haven’t made it in 5 years they probably won’t and move on. But for the ones that get called up, there’s this pride in the fans. Like we helped to get them there. We helped them reach their dream. A kind of ownership in that success. They were here and now look at them on TV. I can look at the autograph from a young 20 year old wide eyed and scared, but determined kid. Grinning from east to ear cause a 9 year old wants him to sign his name on a wrinkly piece of paper. These guys, who are really one in their late teens and early 20’s, are heroes to the kids. Yeah they know they aren’t major leaguers, but they are still real baseball players to them. And that autograph they get today from one of them, might be the one of a big name later on. That is part of the reason, the chance they might make it.  But really these young players are really about loving the game. And you can see that, it hasn’t been pounded out of them yet. It’s not about money and fame, maybe in a future thought, but they really love playing.”

Paper Edit

Fan 3. There aren’t any strangers at a baseball game. You’ve got a thousand friends cheering these guys on.

Fan 3. Baseball is in our hearts.

Fan 3. . I would say it does have a kind of magic, mystique, aura. It links us to the past. It’s what our grandparents did, it’s a part of American history.

Fan 4. Their whole life from April to September is baseball. You’ve got to love it enough to make it.

Fan 4. They still can’t believe the kids are lined up.

Fan 4. A long road to make it to the Majors somewhere. Most of them will never make it. But the dream is there, still fresh and full of hope.

Fan 4. For the ones that get called up, there’s this pride in the fans. Like we helped to get them there. We helped them reach their dream.

Fan 2. If they’re any good they get moved up or traded. But while they’re here, they’re ours. The good guys. When they go, were happy and sad. I think that we have helped them along in a way.

Fan 3. Baseball players are more relatable. More like someone you know or who you might have been if you had worked a little harder.

Fan 1. Some of us adopt a player for the season. Find out what he likes and put together road trip kits with their favorite treats. Have them for dinner once a week. Kind of a family atmosphere.

Fan 4. These guys are heroes to the kids.

Fan 1. They love it, they are dreaming of making it big.

Fan 4. Grinning from east to ear cause a 9 year old wants him to sign his name on a wrinkly piece of paper.

Fan 2. It’s so much more accessible here, closer. I can get him a great seat here, right up close.

Fan 3. The grass, sitting in the sun on a warm evening, watching the sun set. The organ, signing in the 7th, eating peanuts, catcalling the other team, it is nostalgic. Something that we miss in rushing around all the time.

Fan 2. It brings people together, it’s a community thing.

Fan 2. Hopeful young players, who are loving the game and playing for a chance, with a dream of something bigger, and still have a pure passion for the game.

Rough Draft of Script

Video	Audio
Wide shot of crowd cheering together. CU of fan speaking to someone off screen.	Ambient baseball game, crowd sounds. Fan 3. There aren’t any strangers at a baseball game. You’ve got a thousand friends cheering these guys on.
CU of fan and his family in stands, pan to WS of people singing national anthem before the game. CU of fan with hand over their heart.	National anthem heard in the background. Fan 3. Baseball is in our hearts.
MS of wall of fame, yellow seats from Watt park under the scoreboard, cut to CU of legends’ pictures on the wall.	Ambient baseball crowd sounds. Classic organ tune heard. Fan 3. I would say it has a kind of magic, mystique, aura. It links us to the past. It’s what our grandparents did, it’s a part of American history.
Wide shot of players on field, cut to players at community function.	Fan 4.  Their whole life from April to September is baseball. You’ve got to love it to make it.
MS of fan 4, mom of boy in line for autograph. WS of kids waiting in line for and getting autographs from players.	Excited chatter of children in background. Fan 4. They still can’t believe the kids are lined up. A long road to make it to the Majors. Most of them never will. But the dream is there, still fresh and full of hope.
CU of fan 4. Crowd chanting cheers, MS shot of hand-drawn signs for home team players.	Chanting crowd in background. Fan 4. For the ones that get called up, there’s this pride in the fans. Like we helped to get them there. We helped them reach their dream.
CU of fan 2.	Ambient baseball crowd sounds. Fan 2.  If they’re any good they get moved up or traded. But while they’re here, they’re ours. The good guys. When they go, we’re happy and sad. I think that we have helped them along in a way.
MS of Fan 2, with wife and two children, a boy and a girl.	Fan 3. Baseball players are more relatable. More like someone you know or who you might have been if you had worked a little harder.
WS of Fan 1 in seat behind home plate.	Fan 1. Some of us adopt a player for the season.
CU of Fan 1 in stands. Cut to WS of dinner with players and host families at dinner function.	Fan 1. Find out what he likes and put together road trip kits with their favorite treats, have them for dinner once a week, a family atmosphere.
MS of players interacting with kids.	Fan 4. These young players are heroes to the kids.
MS of smiling player giving an autograph. WS of young fan turning to look up at parents, holding up autograph and smiling.	Ambient crowd sounds, children’s chatter. Fan 4. Grinning from ear to ear cause a 9 year-old wants him to sign his name on a wrinkly piece of paper.
WS of family seated close to the field. MS of boy smiling at Dad, glove on hand. Dad catching a piece of toast thrown by the Toastman, and hands it to excited daughter.	Ambient crowd sounds. Young daughter of Fan 2 yells. Hey, Toastman. Fan 2. I can get them a great seat here, right up close. I can give them this just about any time. I get to be the hero.
Families relaxing in stands, eating, conversing. Cut to player hitting home run. Then WS, all standing up with crowd cheering, hand slaps and back pats, chatter among fans.	Crowd cheering. Fan 3. It’s the whole thing, the game, the park, the crowd, the rituals. It’s relaxing, peaceful. But it has exciting moments. Everyone standing up when the ball goes over the wall, everyone cheering together. It brings people together, it’s a community thing.
CU of Fan 3. Cut to WS of fans and players on field. Singing.	In background, crowd singing “Take me out to the ballgame.” Fan 2. People all cheering together, win or lose, for a group of hopeful young players, who are loving the game and playing for a chance, with a dream of something bigger, and still have a pure passion for the game.
Power logo on screen.	VO. This is Power Baseball.