As part of my continuing effort to help the Mets I thought I would
recap what plays well with the customers and what doesn't.
Doesn't work:
Getting into battles with heroes. See Gooden writing his name on the
wall as an example.
Brooklyn Dodgers anything. Sorry Fred but the rest of us don't
care. Drop it.
Spin. We know the seats are obstructed. Don't try to convince us we
are wrong. We knew you didn't honor the team history, don't act like
it was part of the master-plan to wait until August to hang a few
things on the wall.
Works:
Having the 86ers around. See how excited everyone is about Backman?
See how we love Keith and Ronnie as opposed to Fran Healy? (talent
has a lot to do with it but I'd rather have Keith than some random
analyst.)
Honoring the history. Nice things were said about the organization
just once all season and that was for the 1969 celebration.
Tell the customers you are listening. Following up on spin, let us
know that you are paying attention. Put that Seaver statue in front
of the Rotunda and say it was because fans asked for it.
One word of caution, you guys tend to come across as reactionary so
keep your ear to the ground at all times. Don't wait for Lupica and
Francesca to bully you into things (like the Seaver statue). Read the
tea leaves on your own. If you can't then (seriously) hire a few fan
consultants. Guys that take the subway not a car service. Guys
that sit upstairs. The Wall Street crowd will buy tickets if you
win. They always do. Right now they are Yankee fans, on 1987 they
loved the Mets. The regular guys are always there for you unless you
chase them, and in year 2 of a place that doesn't feel like home I'm
warning you that you're close to losing them to apathy. We have
little connection to the team right now because the memories are in
the parking lot. I can get a burger and shake at Wendy's. It's not
enough.
I hope his was helpful and I hope you'll invite me to your uniform and
Citi Field changes press gathering. I would like nothing more than
for you to run off 10 championships will dressed nicely.
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