Ducks Tap MindArrow for E-Mail

August 20, 2001

Looking to promote ticket sales, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are launching a rich-media e-mail campaign. The effort is scheduled to break on Aug. 27, and features Paul Kariya, left-wing forward of the California hockey team.

Created by MindArrow Systems, an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based e-mail marketing-technology and services firm, the online promo effort consists of a rich-media e-mail sent to current and prospective ticket holders.

"[MindArrow] is focusing on professional sports and other similar areas where there's a group of people with strong affinities for a company or product," said Scott Altman, the company's director of marketing.

MindArrow's roster of more than 100 clients also includes financial, pharmaceutical and automotive businesses such as Accenture, U.S. Bank, Johnson & Johnson, Toyota and the National Basketball Association.

Successful MindArrow campaigns for clients such as the NBA's Phoenix Suns and the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals were big draws for the Mighty Ducks, said Larry Cohen, the team's vp of sales and marketing.

"It's hard to cut through the advertising clutter—particularly in Los Angeles," said Cohen, referring to direct mail and TV spots. He said he was intrigued by MindArrow's ability to deliver a personal message to fans from Kariya, the team's star player.

The Mighty Ducks were able to use footage from last year's TV campaign that featured Kariya to create the rich-media e-mails. The original TV spot was created in-house by the Mighty Ducks.

"We're obviously not abandoning traditional mediums by doing this campaign," Cohen added.

The latest effort is one of five rich-media e-mail campaigns for the team from MindArrow, two of which broke in July.

The first campaign, promoting season-ticket renewals, was delivered to more than 1,000 2000-01 season-ticket holders. The overall clickthrough rate on the e-mail was 32 percent.

The Mighty Ducks spent about $300,000 on media from January to May of this year, per CMR. Costs for MindArrow's services range from $8,000-500,000, with the latter figure for larger enterprise projects. Financial terms for the deal with the Mighty Ducks were not disclosed.