January 11, 2022 • 25 mins
Host Cassie Calvert is joined by Ravens Fan Development & Marketing Manager Katie Bollinger and COO of Wear by EA Lauren Fenner to talk about marketing to female NFL fans.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
I've been working in the NFL for around five years,
but an NFL fan my whole life. If you're like me,
you may have noticed a dramatic shift in the league
in the last five or so years. Even when I
was in college, I can remember being frustrated by the
lack of my team's apparel that appealed to me. It
was men's ezes, only you're the dreaded pink sequini women's
cut jerseys. Is it really women's cut if all women's
(00:29):
hate it, I'm just saying. When I listened to watch
NFL analysis or looked at team staffs on the sidelines,
I didn't see very many people who looked like me.
I heard my then favorite player mock a female reporter
for talking about routes. Honestly, the NFL didn't feel that
inclusive to a female fan like myself. But now I've
noticed a big shift in that landscape. I'm fascinated by
(00:53):
how the NFL has pivoted how it markets to the
female fan. So that's what I'm exploring today from two
different angles. Every NFL fan knows Aaron Andrews, and in
nineteen she transformed the sports fan apparel industry for Women,
launching her new line where by e A. For the
first time there was trendy, fashion forward team apparel for
(01:14):
women that felt relevant today. I'm joined by Where Chief
Operating Officer, Lauren Finner, who runs the brand and shares
how you market a groundbreaking product on a national scale.
We'll also talk to Katie Ballinger, fan development and Marketing
manager for the Baltimore Ravens, whose role includes overseeing the
Purple Women's Group and influencer marketing, who explains how the
(01:35):
Baltimore Ravens market to their female fans and work to
grow the team's fan base. Let's dive in. So I
really wanted to have both of you on the podcast
because I think it's fascinating and important just how marketing
and sports has really changed, even just in a few
years that I've been in the industry. There's just a
really targeted effort now to market more directly to women
how they want to be marketed to that we just
(01:57):
haven't really seen before, you know, like commercial is about
sports not only feature male fans. Apparel which will obviously
talk about isn't just paying consequence and YouTube both through
this hands on. So Katie, you at the team level
with the Ravens and Lauren you at the national level
with there by e A. So for fans, can you
just explain what your roles actually are Lauren, I'll start
with you. Yeah. Um, I work super close with Aaron.
(02:21):
I'm basically her right hand and I'm just kind of
an extension for her to oversee everything within the brand,
which basically means everything. So I have a hand in
all things, whether that's social media, product design, production, buyer meetings,
working with fanatics and other retailers on marketing plans. It's
(02:46):
different every single day, So it's a little bit of everything, okay,
and and marketing. UM. Purple is probably my favorite part
of my job, and it's the club communication, the budgeting,
the re happening, the ideology of what's coming up the
next season, UM, paying attention to different trends nationally as
(03:07):
well as in the Baltimore area, and just delivering the
best experience to our female targeted fans. So you mentioned Purple,
could you just kind of elaborate on what exactly Purple is? Sure? Uh? So,
Purple is an official female fan club that actually started
back in two thousand six. Um, so it's been around
for a while and was the first in the NFL,
(03:27):
which is kind of a fun fact. Um. Purple developed
as this one on one football chalk talk type of
experiment that grew h three times in one year and
then has evolved into what we traditionally know as a
Purple Evening right now. Um. But basically, there was a
marketing department just looking at a segment of fans that
(03:49):
was completely under under underdeveloped, um and realizing this is
a really great opportunity. There's a need for an education
of football for life dial content, um, and just for
something that we can all get together and celebrate on
Sundays or Thursday nights or whatever night it might be
of the week. UM in the community we've built, which
(04:11):
has been really successful here at three events. Yeah, totally.
I think there's just like misconception that they're just isn't
that many female sports fans? And I think that's so
cool for me to see the Purple group because we
have this dedicated group of women that's so fanatic about
the team, like so fanatic, and so I guess like,
how as a team do we kind of focus on
(04:32):
this group of women. So this group for the most
part is so football intelligent, and they are football savvy.
They love tailgating, they have a great time events. Um.
They one of their favorite things is the sense of
community and knowing that they're going to event and they're
going to leave with probably like twenty new best friends,
which is really fun to see and to see it
(04:53):
grow and develop. Um. But luckily Purple also too is
focusing on high school female athletes. Um. It can be
lifestyle content. It can be your empty nest or your
single mom, or your middle schooler whose daughter daddy date
is going to a Ravens game. So it's a little
bit of everything. And that's what's been really fun and
(05:14):
in my past ten seasons to develop Purple, um that
it's not just siloed into what we think the female
fan looks like. And then that diversity and that platform
has grown so much. But um, Lauren, for I know
where by Ernie Andrews launched in twenty nineteen, I believe,
and it was just so groundbreaking in the NFL space
because traditionally, like team apparel had been one thing and
(05:37):
it was for women. You saw it was pink, and
it was sequinly and it was glittery. And now whereby
e a has. It's it's just more relevant, you know, apparel,
it's more what people are actually wearing, and it's more versatile.
I would say, so, how did the idea come about originally?
So obviously Aaron's has a deep love of sports. It's
you know, ever since she was little. You know, she
(05:59):
learned all about it from her dad. And so I
think as a female fan growing up, you realize there's
only so much available, and like you mentioned, it's all pink,
it's all bedazzled, it's pretty much the same thing. There
isn't a lot of new stuff coming out. So I
think she always kind of knew that there was a
bit of a white space for something else. And then
it really came to fruition when she was doing um
(06:22):
A super Bowl in San Francisco a few years back,
where she was actually, you know, needing to wear NFL
gear for an event, and the options that were given
to her, we're fine, but it's just not exactly her style,
and she's like, there's a white space here, like, I
can't be the only woman that doesn't necessarily just want
to wear a pink jersey or something with bedazzles, which
(06:44):
there are fans like that that want to be loud
and proud, and that's totally fine, but like with all
women's fashion, there's a lot of different styles and people
want different things. So that was kind of where it
all started, along with the fact that she's married to
um and retired NHL player who want to ups with
the l A Kings, And when they were on their
Cup runs, she would be like, I want to go
and I want to represent the Kings, but I don't
(07:05):
want to wear a giant, oversized jersey because like we
go out afterwards and we go to a nice dinner,
and I don't want to look like a crazy super fan.
So she's like, I wish there was something that could
just be subtle and fashionable to show my team spirit,
you know, without being over the top. So that's kind
of where it all started for her, and ever since then,
she just she knew that there was this white space
(07:28):
that needed to be filled. And you know, I was
kind of shaking my heads everything you were saying, Katie,
because the woman fan is so underserved in the marketplace,
and she knew it would be a great idea, but
there was so many doors closed in her face for
so many years, and it took so long to come
to be what it is now that it's kind of
crazy that, you know, it's still so hard to break
(07:49):
into it. How do you when you are kind of
breaking into this industry or something like this hasn't existed before,
Like what is that process? Light? Like, how do you
build Branda wearing of like a brand that's brand new? Yeah?
So we um were partnered up with fanatics who have
been great and so like on a national level, they're
(08:09):
amazing partners. So once she actually got her foot in
the door, you know, she begged Michael Rubin to give
her a chance. Um She's tracking down into Super Bowl
Super Bowl party and was like, I just need a
ten minute meeting. I have this great idea and he's
like yeah, yeah, yeah, Like every celebrity wants their own line,
Like are you actually gonna be dedicated and want to
actually put in the work, And she's like yes. So
he gave us a shot, and you know, building brand
(08:32):
awareness for us on our own level is just very organic.
You know, we really rely on Erin's socials and Errand's
you know being out there on the field. I'm actually
like packing her stuff to hand out to fans in
the stands, you know, and she's doing behind the scenes.
She was at the Saints game last night. She's in
the team store, like showing people where you can buy stuff.
(08:53):
So on our level, it's super organic, but on the
fanatics level, they're great partners. You know. It's all the
email mark getting paid social media. We do a commercial
and a giant photo shoot with them. So it's just
trying to tell a brand story that's a little different
than what's out there. You know. We try to be
a little more stylized and a little more fashion forward
than what other brands are actually putting out for Team Apparel,
(09:17):
So I think it's all about trying to make it
your own style with what we have to offer. Yeah,
so it works really well that she's kind of the
perfect natural spokeswoman for the brand. And if we were
talking before we got on here, Katie and I are
both throwing it. It's been great for us, like selfishly,
because like I wear stuff on air and now, and
every single time it's like, oh, like where did you
(09:38):
get that? Or even sweaters that's so cute and I'm like, yea,
the same same thing every time. It's always wear by
e A. So it has been very helpful for us
for sure. So you mentioned kind of establishing yourself with
fanatics and everything. So I feel like this is kind
of it's sort of a niche industry, like not that
many people are aware of kind of how the apparel
industry works. So, um, what are some things that you
think people might not realize about running of brands like
(10:00):
this imperil in general or team apparel, because I feel
like there are two different animals. Sure, we'll team apparel, Yeah,
the team apparel. I don't think people realize how, you know,
specifically with the NFL and with any other leagues. You know,
there are a lot of rules and there's a lot
of things that you have to do to stay within
(10:21):
those guidelines. You can't just go crazy and change logos
and do, you know, whatever you want just because you
think it looks cute. You know, there's lots of rules
you have to follow and you have to maintain you know,
every single team's logos and their aesthetic to how it
needs to be. So that's one challenging thing when you're
trying to be a bit more fashion forward. Um, right now,
(10:43):
this whole supply chain issue is an absolute nightmare. Which
I'm sure everyone is well aware with because it's all
over the news. It's just, you know, getting product into
stores has been very challenging this season, um, with all
the backup and overseas, and yeah, those are probably the
biggest concerns right now with us, the supply chain issues. Yeah,
(11:05):
it's wild. I feel like that's every industry right now.
Is there a team, um that you guys have found
that it's like the most fun to create for, like
just because they have fun logos or colors. I feel
like the Cowboys stuff is always really cool because they
have like a cool brand. Um, But is there anyone
that like sticks out to you? Um, I mean they're
(11:25):
they're all great. I mean, listen, I'm from Pittsburgh, so
I haven't I didn't want to tell you guys, I
have a natural, you know, love of the Steeler, but
we won't talk about it this year because you guys
are crushing it and we're just you know, wating into
the dark. You know, the Cowboys are great, Um. The
(11:49):
Packers obviously have a massive fan base and they're very passionate,
so they're super fun. The rams um can be really
fun to work with because I feel just being a
based and it's kind of the whole celebrity Hollywood vibe.
They want to do a lot of really fun things.
We did a specialty project with them around their recent
(12:09):
uniform launch where we did this really cool sweatsuit that
had all kinds of hits on it, and it wasn't
just like their logos or their secondary logo, Like there
was like palm trees and really cool stitching, and you know,
they really want to kind of push the boundaries when
it comes to design on some pieces. So they're they're
great to work with as well. How did you kind
of go about expanding to the other leagues. Yeah, well,
(12:33):
obviously with Aaron, you know, being on the A team
for Fox and doing two games a week, it just
kind of seemed the most natural to start with the
NFL because it's where she has the biggest presence. And
then honestly, we launched in twenty nineteen, like you mentioned,
kind of mid season and it just took off and
you know, we were selling on immediately and other leagues
(12:54):
kind of came knocking. The NBA was very interested and
they um came along next, and and also n c
A so which was kind of Aaron's second love because
she spent so much time on college game day. She
went to a huge SEC school, so she just feels
like college football is a bit of religions, so that
was really important to get into college. UM and this
(13:19):
year we launched NHL, which also, as I mentioned, you know,
because of her ties, because her husband was really really
important to us, and we have been trying to get
them since day one, but sometimes it takes a little
bit longer with legs than others. So we still have
one elusive um MLB to chase after. So hopefully we'll
get the big four under wraps soon. That's really cool. Um.
(13:43):
I think something that I've noticed just from observing is
that both Ravens Wise and like where but e A
is that both kind of marketing have really embraced like
influencer strategy. So what kind of what does that look
like an execution? I guess, and what does that entail? Yeah,
I mean, I think with a lot of clothes thing brands,
it's easy to just send out, you know, find influencers
(14:04):
that have a huge following and send it to them
and just hope that you know, they post so you
get the exposure. But It's a little trickier with team
apparel because not every single person is a sports fan,
and you know that's something that's very personal and special
to people, like their alliances with sports, So you can't
just kind of send it to anyone because you want
it to be organic to note that they really love
(14:26):
that team, because that comes across and a lot of
the photos. So kind of what us it all started with. Honestly,
like I said, we're just this tiny little brand doing
it on our own, including Erin. So she would literally
go and have interviews every single week with players, and
so she's sitting down with Tom Brady, would pack up
a bag, give us the gazelle. You know, she's going
(14:47):
sitting down with Patrick Mahomes, give us to Brittany. So
that's kind of where it started. And we know that
a lot of fans look to wags wives and girlfriends
of players for style because they're always doing a lot
of really great customization. So that's our first thought with
you know, gifting out to wives and girlfriends. And then
also Aaron obviously being a sideline reporter, she knows that
(15:12):
everyone every team has a sideline reporter, most of them
are female or team reporter or social media manager like
yourself for department. So then we kind of just took
that route of you know, we're going to focus on
these women because you know, it's almost like micro influencers
there because you all have your own small, you know,
or large following, so and it's the people that are
(15:33):
going to be buying for that team. You know, everyone
that follows you is a Ravens fans, so you're seeing
you wear that, like, where do I get that? So
that's kind of our thought process and influencing and gifting out. Yeah,
that makes sense, Katie. What about for a brand like
the Ravens, where like the obviously people know that the
Baltimore Ravens exist, So what does that like strategy? How
does that kind of differ I guess yeah, Well, first
(15:55):
I just wanted to say that when we had our
virtual Purple Evening last year, you guys were amazing. Not
only did you completely outfit us, you gave us prising
for bingo. Aaron also sent a video that we shared
that performed really well for us. So again, smart and savvy,
not only fashionable but business woman. I love it so much.
But you guys were great too, and you came to
(16:15):
us with that opportunity, Like, that's our big thing is
we are we love working with the team's individually and
anything that anyone brings to us, we want to figure
out how to work. Because you know your fan base
better than anyone else. So if you're saying that this
is going to help us out with exposure, than yes,
we will help you as much as we can. And
you know we want to get the fantom board. Yeah,
(16:37):
perfect opportunity, perfect partnership. Um, and then cast me back
to your question. So the Ravens are new kind of
in this influencer marketing strategy as you know. Um, we've
been kind of tapping in and flout of trial and
error the first couple of seasons, and this is finally
the first one I think when especially with covid um,
we didn't have many touch points last season. This is
the first one we've really kind of taken off. And
(16:58):
Baltimore is not l A, it's not New York, it's
not Miami. So we do not always have the flashiest names,
don't quite the database a lot of amazing personalities, people
from all different trends, whether it's fashion or fitness, or
movies or reality TV. So it's been really fun to
(17:18):
work on that. And again, like you said, Lauren, people
get so excited with free gear um, and our biggest
thing is just to associate them with the brand, to
be a touch point. Let them know that, hey, if
you're in Baltimore or if you're another city where the
Ravens are coming, let us know. We want to connect
you um and then yeah, just share your experiences hashtag
(17:39):
Ravens flock um. But just kind of building that connection
and that branch to them and then the masses that
they have on their social media. Those followers don't always
follow at Ravens, so they're not seeing daily what Castie
and her team are producing in the content that we're
putting out there. So it's just a really big opportunity
(18:00):
for the most part that doesn't cost a lot and
it's a great way to engage where everybody's winning. It's
so fun too to see like them post the stuff
that we've said, Like I just get so excited, Like
it's just like you see like Rudy Gay or like
Crement and say, I'm like, oh my gosh, like they're
posting I see you post cast Like, yeah, I don't
(18:23):
think I'm quite on that level, but so much, UM, Katie.
I know you guys have done cool things too with
like bringing influencers to the stadium and having cool experiences.
Can you elaborate a little on that? And I feel
like that's a really cool, unique opportunity that we've done. Yes,
so a little limited with COVID, but in a normal year,
UM tickets parking kind of like your red carpet treatment.
(18:46):
You get to have me escort you around being what
is joy UM, But you'll get down to the fields,
I get to see the team warm up, and that
in itself is just such an amazing opportunity. Like the
first time you kind of step on the field at Mt.
Bank Stadium, it really does kind of take your breath away,
and then to see it filled with all the people
and the energy. So that's just a really cool experience
(19:07):
and something that a lot of people have never done before. UM.
And then on game day hospitality, UM little touch points
here and there. We always put together little bags of
swag and goodies, apparel, things like that, so that once
you leave the game, you have those touchpoints. But we'll
do the same thing for events everything V I P Style,
UM and we really don't make too many asks. We
(19:28):
just want people to come to have fun post obviously,
but let it be organic, have fun with it and
show your followers that you're having fun. And that relationship
of not asking so much and just providing touch points
to the team that everybody is enjoying has been really
successful for us. Yeah, totally. I feel like even though
we might not have as many like celebrity fans, the
(19:49):
ones that we do have are very dedicated, whereas I
feel like other teams have more like casual fans like
Josh Charles, the Goldwin, Michael Phelps. They're all like all
in all the time on every thing, and so it's
kind of like there's pros and cons of both ways,
you know, but I feel like it's we have those
really really core yeah, and it's super appreciative. Like last
year when we were doing the cardboard cutouts, we created
(20:12):
cutouts for those celebrity fans and our local influencers and
they totally freaked out over that. I think Josh Charles
still his Twitter like profile picture is still like him
as a cardboard cut out, So like, how fun harboard
cutouts are exciting? I jokingly said that to Aaron one time,
I was like, we need a cardboard cut out of
you in every single team store that carries where and
(20:32):
she just kind of like laughed at me. But I
was like, people would take pictures with it, and then
that's again it's exposure. They're like, here's me an area,
and then like there's where about you a right where
look at us coming up with ideas right now. Guys,
when I see that in our team start on now
that it's because of those podcast I love that. Yeah.
I remember Coach Hardball like talked in a press conference
(20:54):
about seeing Josh Charles Is cut out in the stadium.
He like a lot. It was so cool. So I
love that. Again, it's just more exposure there. Um, Katie,
I do want to go back to you mentioned it briefly. Um,
we're talking at the beginning, but one of the things
that you guys have taken on is really marketing football
to young girls, and like our youth football initiatives, expanding
(21:15):
that to female UM athletes. So could you explain a
little bit about what's kind of the process was behind
all that. Sure, I think again, with the Purple Club
being around for so long, you're always looking at ways
to expand your footprint UM, to convert more casual fans
to average fans, and that was something after so many
(21:35):
seasons we were just really like, Okay, we're missing something
here and we have an amazing youth football group UM
Adam and that absolutely kill it. Our RISE program and
focusing on for the most part, males kind of ages
six to four team playing the sport, and we're like, okay,
just how we talked about this is a unique opportunity
(21:58):
and untapped market. It's the same exacting. So luckily we've
been able to get the support. UM the past couple
of seasons, we established Purple Rising, which is like a
different tier that combines your female platform with your youth
football and youth sports UM. So for the past couple
of seasons, we've been piggybacking off of our high school
showdowns and have been using those matchups, picking the same
(22:20):
schools and it's your Friday night lights, but we're looking
at Tuesday and it's a soccer match five thirty girls
varsity and we're bringing Ravens players. They're the girls are
getting swag, we're raffling game tickets off at halftime, and
really just promoting how important it is to celebrate the
female student athletes in your school. So just this past
(22:42):
season we were able to go to five different high
schools ten schools total, UM and about five d athletes
we got to interact with, which was really cool UM.
And the biggest news probably at this fall it was
we announced our partnership with under mur and working with
the mp S s A, UM, mp S S double A.
It's there's a lot to say, it's a mouthful, UM,
(23:04):
but the program write a grant program for the next
five years to bring UM flag football as a varsity
sport for female athletes UM. So that was a huge
win for us, something that we've been talking about internally
because we all know what a great team sport football is,
how fun it is to play, but it also builds
(23:25):
your fandom and it's connecting you to the Ravens brand
to physically playing the sport UM and then we all
know the benefits that that team sports UM bring to
the individual. But how cool is that we have the
backing support from under Armour and the school systems that
were able to grow this program because in Maryland, growing
(23:45):
up in Maryland as a student athlete, I did not
have those opportunities. We might have played in gym in
middle school, I believe, but and flag was so much fun.
Oh my gosh. I still even as an adult, I
love playing UM. But it's it's going to generate a
lot more fans, a lot more athletes, give them opportunities
that they've never had before. So we're really looking forward
(24:05):
to the next five years and beyond. Yeah, I wish
that existed. When we were younger, we had powder puff.
That's like the closest I read about. We did powder
puff for you know, junior and senior year, and that
was it for flag football. Yeah, and it's so fun.
We have like they have this, Lauren, I don't know
if you've heard of this. We have Bolos Citey in Baltimore,
just like an adult sports league and they have co
(24:26):
ed flag football and it's so fun. Like, who knows
if I could have played this growing up, I could
be in the league, right. You would be on the team,
not doing so the team what could have been many ladies,
I really appreciate your time. It's just so fun getting
to learn about everything that you guys do. And I
think our fans all think this is really interesting. I
(24:48):
just think it's fascinating kind of what the behind the
scenes of all these things really are. So I appreciate
the time. Yeah, thank you so much for having us.
Thanks so much for tuning into this week's episode of
The Purple Chair Podcast. New episodes drop every other Tuesday,
and boy do we have some exciting episodes left this season.
I can't wait for you to hear them. Don't forget
to leave us a rating. If you're enjoying the podcast,
(25:09):
subscribe and tell all your people I'll talk to you soon.
I've been working in the NFL for around five years,
but an NFL fan my whole life. If you're like me,
you may have noticed a dramatic shift in the league
in the last five or so years. Even when I
was in college, I can remember being frustrated by the
lack of my team's apparel that appealed to me. It
was men's ezes, only you're the dreaded pink sequini women's
cut jerseys. Is it really women's cut if all women's
(00:29):
hate it, I'm just saying. When I listened to watch
NFL analysis or looked at team staffs on the sidelines,
I didn't see very many people who looked like me.
I heard my then favorite player mock a female reporter
for talking about routes. Honestly, the NFL didn't feel that
inclusive to a female fan like myself. But now I've
noticed a big shift in that landscape. I'm fascinated by
(00:53):
how the NFL has pivoted how it markets to the
female fan. So that's what I'm exploring today from two
different angles. Every NFL fan knows Aaron Andrews, and in
nineteen she transformed the sports fan apparel industry for Women,
launching her new line where by e A. For the
first time there was trendy, fashion forward team apparel for
(01:14):
women that felt relevant today. I'm joined by Where Chief
Operating Officer, Lauren Finner, who runs the brand and shares
how you market a groundbreaking product on a national scale.
We'll also talk to Katie Ballinger, fan development and Marketing
manager for the Baltimore Ravens, whose role includes overseeing the
Purple Women's Group and influencer marketing, who explains how the
(01:35):
Baltimore Ravens market to their female fans and work to
grow the team's fan base. Let's dive in. So I
really wanted to have both of you on the podcast
because I think it's fascinating and important just how marketing
and sports has really changed, even just in a few
years that I've been in the industry. There's just a
really targeted effort now to market more directly to women
how they want to be marketed to that we just
(01:57):
haven't really seen before, you know, like commercial is about
sports not only feature male fans. Apparel which will obviously
talk about isn't just paying consequence and YouTube both through
this hands on. So Katie, you at the team level
with the Ravens and Lauren you at the national level
with there by e A. So for fans, can you
just explain what your roles actually are Lauren, I'll start
with you. Yeah. Um, I work super close with Aaron.
(02:21):
I'm basically her right hand and I'm just kind of
an extension for her to oversee everything within the brand,
which basically means everything. So I have a hand in
all things, whether that's social media, product design, production, buyer meetings,
working with fanatics and other retailers on marketing plans. It's
(02:46):
different every single day, So it's a little bit of everything, okay,
and and marketing. UM. Purple is probably my favorite part
of my job, and it's the club communication, the budgeting,
the re happening, the ideology of what's coming up the
next season, UM, paying attention to different trends nationally as
(03:07):
well as in the Baltimore area, and just delivering the
best experience to our female targeted fans. So you mentioned Purple,
could you just kind of elaborate on what exactly Purple is? Sure? Uh? So,
Purple is an official female fan club that actually started
back in two thousand six. Um, so it's been around
for a while and was the first in the NFL,
(03:27):
which is kind of a fun fact. Um. Purple developed
as this one on one football chalk talk type of
experiment that grew h three times in one year and
then has evolved into what we traditionally know as a
Purple Evening right now. Um. But basically, there was a
marketing department just looking at a segment of fans that
(03:49):
was completely under under underdeveloped, um and realizing this is
a really great opportunity. There's a need for an education
of football for life dial content, um, and just for
something that we can all get together and celebrate on
Sundays or Thursday nights or whatever night it might be
of the week. UM in the community we've built, which
(04:11):
has been really successful here at three events. Yeah, totally.
I think there's just like misconception that they're just isn't
that many female sports fans? And I think that's so
cool for me to see the Purple group because we
have this dedicated group of women that's so fanatic about
the team, like so fanatic, and so I guess like,
how as a team do we kind of focus on
(04:32):
this group of women. So this group for the most
part is so football intelligent, and they are football savvy.
They love tailgating, they have a great time events. Um.
They one of their favorite things is the sense of
community and knowing that they're going to event and they're
going to leave with probably like twenty new best friends,
which is really fun to see and to see it
(04:53):
grow and develop. Um. But luckily Purple also too is
focusing on high school female athletes. Um. It can be
lifestyle content. It can be your empty nest or your
single mom, or your middle schooler whose daughter daddy date
is going to a Ravens game. So it's a little
bit of everything. And that's what's been really fun and
(05:14):
in my past ten seasons to develop Purple, um that
it's not just siloed into what we think the female
fan looks like. And then that diversity and that platform
has grown so much. But um, Lauren, for I know
where by Ernie Andrews launched in twenty nineteen, I believe,
and it was just so groundbreaking in the NFL space
because traditionally, like team apparel had been one thing and
(05:37):
it was for women. You saw it was pink, and
it was sequinly and it was glittery. And now whereby
e a has. It's it's just more relevant, you know, apparel,
it's more what people are actually wearing, and it's more versatile.
I would say, so, how did the idea come about originally?
So obviously Aaron's has a deep love of sports. It's
you know, ever since she was little. You know, she
(05:59):
learned all about it from her dad. And so I
think as a female fan growing up, you realize there's
only so much available, and like you mentioned, it's all pink,
it's all bedazzled, it's pretty much the same thing. There
isn't a lot of new stuff coming out. So I
think she always kind of knew that there was a
bit of a white space for something else. And then
it really came to fruition when she was doing um
(06:22):
A super Bowl in San Francisco a few years back,
where she was actually, you know, needing to wear NFL
gear for an event, and the options that were given
to her, we're fine, but it's just not exactly her style,
and she's like, there's a white space here, like, I
can't be the only woman that doesn't necessarily just want
to wear a pink jersey or something with bedazzles, which
(06:44):
there are fans like that that want to be loud
and proud, and that's totally fine, but like with all
women's fashion, there's a lot of different styles and people
want different things. So that was kind of where it
all started, along with the fact that she's married to
um and retired NHL player who want to ups with
the l A Kings, And when they were on their
Cup runs, she would be like, I want to go
and I want to represent the Kings, but I don't
(07:05):
want to wear a giant, oversized jersey because like we
go out afterwards and we go to a nice dinner,
and I don't want to look like a crazy super fan.
So she's like, I wish there was something that could
just be subtle and fashionable to show my team spirit,
you know, without being over the top. So that's kind
of where it all started for her, and ever since then,
she just she knew that there was this white space
(07:28):
that needed to be filled. And you know, I was
kind of shaking my heads everything you were saying, Katie,
because the woman fan is so underserved in the marketplace,
and she knew it would be a great idea, but
there was so many doors closed in her face for
so many years, and it took so long to come
to be what it is now that it's kind of
crazy that, you know, it's still so hard to break
(07:49):
into it. How do you when you are kind of
breaking into this industry or something like this hasn't existed before,
Like what is that process? Light? Like, how do you
build Branda wearing of like a brand that's brand new? Yeah?
So we um were partnered up with fanatics who have
been great and so like on a national level, they're
(08:09):
amazing partners. So once she actually got her foot in
the door, you know, she begged Michael Rubin to give
her a chance. Um She's tracking down into Super Bowl
Super Bowl party and was like, I just need a
ten minute meeting. I have this great idea and he's
like yeah, yeah, yeah, Like every celebrity wants their own line,
Like are you actually gonna be dedicated and want to
actually put in the work, And she's like yes. So
he gave us a shot, and you know, building brand
(08:32):
awareness for us on our own level is just very organic.
You know, we really rely on Erin's socials and Errand's
you know being out there on the field. I'm actually
like packing her stuff to hand out to fans in
the stands, you know, and she's doing behind the scenes.
She was at the Saints game last night. She's in
the team store, like showing people where you can buy stuff.
(08:53):
So on our level, it's super organic, but on the
fanatics level, they're great partners. You know. It's all the
email mark getting paid social media. We do a commercial
and a giant photo shoot with them. So it's just
trying to tell a brand story that's a little different
than what's out there. You know. We try to be
a little more stylized and a little more fashion forward
than what other brands are actually putting out for Team Apparel,
(09:17):
So I think it's all about trying to make it
your own style with what we have to offer. Yeah,
so it works really well that she's kind of the
perfect natural spokeswoman for the brand. And if we were
talking before we got on here, Katie and I are
both throwing it. It's been great for us, like selfishly,
because like I wear stuff on air and now, and
every single time it's like, oh, like where did you
(09:38):
get that? Or even sweaters that's so cute and I'm like, yea,
the same same thing every time. It's always wear by
e A. So it has been very helpful for us
for sure. So you mentioned kind of establishing yourself with
fanatics and everything. So I feel like this is kind
of it's sort of a niche industry, like not that
many people are aware of kind of how the apparel
industry works. So, um, what are some things that you
think people might not realize about running of brands like
(10:00):
this imperil in general or team apparel, because I feel
like there are two different animals. Sure, we'll team apparel, Yeah,
the team apparel. I don't think people realize how, you know,
specifically with the NFL and with any other leagues. You know,
there are a lot of rules and there's a lot
of things that you have to do to stay within
(10:21):
those guidelines. You can't just go crazy and change logos
and do, you know, whatever you want just because you
think it looks cute. You know, there's lots of rules
you have to follow and you have to maintain you know,
every single team's logos and their aesthetic to how it
needs to be. So that's one challenging thing when you're
trying to be a bit more fashion forward. Um, right now,
(10:43):
this whole supply chain issue is an absolute nightmare. Which
I'm sure everyone is well aware with because it's all
over the news. It's just, you know, getting product into
stores has been very challenging this season, um, with all
the backup and overseas, and yeah, those are probably the
biggest concerns right now with us, the supply chain issues. Yeah,
(11:05):
it's wild. I feel like that's every industry right now.
Is there a team, um that you guys have found
that it's like the most fun to create for, like
just because they have fun logos or colors. I feel
like the Cowboys stuff is always really cool because they
have like a cool brand. Um, But is there anyone
that like sticks out to you? Um, I mean they're
(11:25):
they're all great. I mean, listen, I'm from Pittsburgh, so
I haven't I didn't want to tell you guys, I
have a natural, you know, love of the Steeler, but
we won't talk about it this year because you guys
are crushing it and we're just you know, wating into
the dark. You know, the Cowboys are great, Um. The
(11:49):
Packers obviously have a massive fan base and they're very passionate,
so they're super fun. The rams um can be really
fun to work with because I feel just being a
based and it's kind of the whole celebrity Hollywood vibe.
They want to do a lot of really fun things.
We did a specialty project with them around their recent
(12:09):
uniform launch where we did this really cool sweatsuit that
had all kinds of hits on it, and it wasn't
just like their logos or their secondary logo, Like there
was like palm trees and really cool stitching, and you know,
they really want to kind of push the boundaries when
it comes to design on some pieces. So they're they're
great to work with as well. How did you kind
of go about expanding to the other leagues. Yeah, well,
(12:33):
obviously with Aaron, you know, being on the A team
for Fox and doing two games a week, it just
kind of seemed the most natural to start with the
NFL because it's where she has the biggest presence. And
then honestly, we launched in twenty nineteen, like you mentioned,
kind of mid season and it just took off and
you know, we were selling on immediately and other leagues
(12:54):
kind of came knocking. The NBA was very interested and
they um came along next, and and also n c
A so which was kind of Aaron's second love because
she spent so much time on college game day. She
went to a huge SEC school, so she just feels
like college football is a bit of religions, so that
was really important to get into college. UM and this
(13:19):
year we launched NHL, which also, as I mentioned, you know,
because of her ties, because her husband was really really
important to us, and we have been trying to get
them since day one, but sometimes it takes a little
bit longer with legs than others. So we still have
one elusive um MLB to chase after. So hopefully we'll
get the big four under wraps soon. That's really cool. Um.
(13:43):
I think something that I've noticed just from observing is
that both Ravens Wise and like where but e A
is that both kind of marketing have really embraced like
influencer strategy. So what kind of what does that look
like an execution? I guess, and what does that entail? Yeah,
I mean, I think with a lot of clothes thing brands,
it's easy to just send out, you know, find influencers
(14:04):
that have a huge following and send it to them
and just hope that you know, they post so you
get the exposure. But It's a little trickier with team
apparel because not every single person is a sports fan,
and you know that's something that's very personal and special
to people, like their alliances with sports, So you can't
just kind of send it to anyone because you want
it to be organic to note that they really love
(14:26):
that team, because that comes across and a lot of
the photos. So kind of what us it all started with. Honestly,
like I said, we're just this tiny little brand doing
it on our own, including Erin. So she would literally
go and have interviews every single week with players, and
so she's sitting down with Tom Brady, would pack up
a bag, give us the gazelle. You know, she's going
(14:47):
sitting down with Patrick Mahomes, give us to Brittany. So
that's kind of where it started. And we know that
a lot of fans look to wags wives and girlfriends
of players for style because they're always doing a lot
of really great customization. So that's our first thought with
you know, gifting out to wives and girlfriends. And then
also Aaron obviously being a sideline reporter, she knows that
(15:12):
everyone every team has a sideline reporter, most of them
are female or team reporter or social media manager like
yourself for department. So then we kind of just took
that route of you know, we're going to focus on
these women because you know, it's almost like micro influencers
there because you all have your own small, you know,
or large following, so and it's the people that are
(15:33):
going to be buying for that team. You know, everyone
that follows you is a Ravens fans, so you're seeing
you wear that, like, where do I get that? So
that's kind of our thought process and influencing and gifting out. Yeah,
that makes sense, Katie. What about for a brand like
the Ravens, where like the obviously people know that the
Baltimore Ravens exist, So what does that like strategy? How
does that kind of differ I guess yeah, Well, first
(15:55):
I just wanted to say that when we had our
virtual Purple Evening last year, you guys were amazing. Not
only did you completely outfit us, you gave us prising
for bingo. Aaron also sent a video that we shared
that performed really well for us. So again, smart and savvy,
not only fashionable but business woman. I love it so much.
But you guys were great too, and you came to
(16:15):
us with that opportunity, Like, that's our big thing is
we are we love working with the team's individually and
anything that anyone brings to us, we want to figure
out how to work. Because you know your fan base
better than anyone else. So if you're saying that this
is going to help us out with exposure, than yes,
we will help you as much as we can. And
you know we want to get the fantom board. Yeah,
(16:37):
perfect opportunity, perfect partnership. Um, and then cast me back
to your question. So the Ravens are new kind of
in this influencer marketing strategy as you know. Um, we've
been kind of tapping in and flout of trial and
error the first couple of seasons, and this is finally
the first one I think when especially with covid um,
we didn't have many touch points last season. This is
the first one we've really kind of taken off. And
(16:58):
Baltimore is not l A, it's not New York, it's
not Miami. So we do not always have the flashiest names,
don't quite the database a lot of amazing personalities, people
from all different trends, whether it's fashion or fitness, or
movies or reality TV. So it's been really fun to
(17:18):
work on that. And again, like you said, Lauren, people
get so excited with free gear um, and our biggest
thing is just to associate them with the brand, to
be a touch point. Let them know that, hey, if
you're in Baltimore or if you're another city where the
Ravens are coming, let us know. We want to connect
you um and then yeah, just share your experiences hashtag
(17:39):
Ravens flock um. But just kind of building that connection
and that branch to them and then the masses that
they have on their social media. Those followers don't always
follow at Ravens, so they're not seeing daily what Castie
and her team are producing in the content that we're
putting out there. So it's just a really big opportunity
(18:00):
for the most part that doesn't cost a lot and
it's a great way to engage where everybody's winning. It's
so fun too to see like them post the stuff
that we've said, Like I just get so excited, Like
it's just like you see like Rudy Gay or like
Crement and say, I'm like, oh my gosh, like they're
posting I see you post cast Like, yeah, I don't
(18:23):
think I'm quite on that level, but so much, UM, Katie.
I know you guys have done cool things too with
like bringing influencers to the stadium and having cool experiences.
Can you elaborate a little on that? And I feel
like that's a really cool, unique opportunity that we've done. Yes,
so a little limited with COVID, but in a normal year,
UM tickets parking kind of like your red carpet treatment.
(18:46):
You get to have me escort you around being what
is joy UM, But you'll get down to the fields,
I get to see the team warm up, and that
in itself is just such an amazing opportunity. Like the
first time you kind of step on the field at Mt.
Bank Stadium, it really does kind of take your breath away,
and then to see it filled with all the people
and the energy. So that's just a really cool experience
(19:07):
and something that a lot of people have never done before. UM.
And then on game day hospitality, UM little touch points
here and there. We always put together little bags of
swag and goodies, apparel, things like that, so that once
you leave the game, you have those touchpoints. But we'll
do the same thing for events everything V I P Style,
UM and we really don't make too many asks. We
(19:28):
just want people to come to have fun post obviously,
but let it be organic, have fun with it and
show your followers that you're having fun. And that relationship
of not asking so much and just providing touch points
to the team that everybody is enjoying has been really
successful for us. Yeah, totally. I feel like even though
we might not have as many like celebrity fans, the
(19:49):
ones that we do have are very dedicated, whereas I
feel like other teams have more like casual fans like
Josh Charles, the Goldwin, Michael Phelps. They're all like all
in all the time on every thing, and so it's
kind of like there's pros and cons of both ways,
you know, but I feel like it's we have those
really really core yeah, and it's super appreciative. Like last
year when we were doing the cardboard cutouts, we created
(20:12):
cutouts for those celebrity fans and our local influencers and
they totally freaked out over that. I think Josh Charles
still his Twitter like profile picture is still like him
as a cardboard cut out, So like, how fun harboard
cutouts are exciting? I jokingly said that to Aaron one time,
I was like, we need a cardboard cut out of
you in every single team store that carries where and
(20:32):
she just kind of like laughed at me. But I
was like, people would take pictures with it, and then
that's again it's exposure. They're like, here's me an area,
and then like there's where about you a right where
look at us coming up with ideas right now. Guys,
when I see that in our team start on now
that it's because of those podcast I love that. Yeah.
I remember Coach Hardball like talked in a press conference
(20:54):
about seeing Josh Charles Is cut out in the stadium.
He like a lot. It was so cool. So I
love that. Again, it's just more exposure there. Um, Katie,
I do want to go back to you mentioned it briefly. Um,
we're talking at the beginning, but one of the things
that you guys have taken on is really marketing football
to young girls, and like our youth football initiatives, expanding
(21:15):
that to female UM athletes. So could you explain a
little bit about what's kind of the process was behind
all that. Sure, I think again, with the Purple Club
being around for so long, you're always looking at ways
to expand your footprint UM, to convert more casual fans
to average fans, and that was something after so many
(21:35):
seasons we were just really like, Okay, we're missing something
here and we have an amazing youth football group UM
Adam and that absolutely kill it. Our RISE program and
focusing on for the most part, males kind of ages
six to four team playing the sport, and we're like, okay,
just how we talked about this is a unique opportunity
(21:58):
and untapped market. It's the same exacting. So luckily we've
been able to get the support. UM the past couple
of seasons, we established Purple Rising, which is like a
different tier that combines your female platform with your youth
football and youth sports UM. So for the past couple
of seasons, we've been piggybacking off of our high school
showdowns and have been using those matchups, picking the same
(22:20):
schools and it's your Friday night lights, but we're looking
at Tuesday and it's a soccer match five thirty girls
varsity and we're bringing Ravens players. They're the girls are
getting swag, we're raffling game tickets off at halftime, and
really just promoting how important it is to celebrate the
female student athletes in your school. So just this past
(22:42):
season we were able to go to five different high
schools ten schools total, UM and about five d athletes
we got to interact with, which was really cool UM.
And the biggest news probably at this fall it was
we announced our partnership with under mur and working with
the mp S s A, UM, mp S S double A.
It's there's a lot to say, it's a mouthful, UM,
(23:04):
but the program write a grant program for the next
five years to bring UM flag football as a varsity
sport for female athletes UM. So that was a huge
win for us, something that we've been talking about internally
because we all know what a great team sport football is,
how fun it is to play, but it also builds
(23:25):
your fandom and it's connecting you to the Ravens brand
to physically playing the sport UM and then we all
know the benefits that that team sports UM bring to
the individual. But how cool is that we have the
backing support from under Armour and the school systems that
were able to grow this program because in Maryland, growing
(23:45):
up in Maryland as a student athlete, I did not
have those opportunities. We might have played in gym in
middle school, I believe, but and flag was so much fun.
Oh my gosh. I still even as an adult, I
love playing UM. But it's it's going to generate a
lot more fans, a lot more athletes, give them opportunities
that they've never had before. So we're really looking forward
(24:05):
to the next five years and beyond. Yeah, I wish
that existed. When we were younger, we had powder puff.
That's like the closest I read about. We did powder
puff for you know, junior and senior year, and that
was it for flag football. Yeah, and it's so fun.
We have like they have this, Lauren, I don't know
if you've heard of this. We have Bolos Citey in Baltimore,
just like an adult sports league and they have co
(24:26):
ed flag football and it's so fun. Like, who knows
if I could have played this growing up, I could
be in the league, right. You would be on the team,
not doing so the team what could have been many ladies,
I really appreciate your time. It's just so fun getting
to learn about everything that you guys do. And I
think our fans all think this is really interesting. I
(24:48):
just think it's fascinating kind of what the behind the
scenes of all these things really are. So I appreciate
the time. Yeah, thank you so much for having us.
Thanks so much for tuning into this week's episode of
The Purple Chair Podcast. New episodes drop every other Tuesday,
and boy do we have some exciting episodes left this season.
I can't wait for you to hear them. Don't forget
to leave us a rating. If you're enjoying the podcast,
(25:09):
subscribe and tell all your people I'll talk to you soon.
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