The Washington Nationals are trying a new trick to get more people to buy game tickets: call fans with a personalized message. And they're not only saying the person's name.
A blogger who identifies himself as Greg recently wrote on his blog, Econ Tricks, about a voice mail message the Nationals left him. In the message, Greg is addressed as "Gregory" and the caller discusses an article Greg wrote on his blog about the value of stolen bases … before pitching an opportunity to buy a "flex plan" of Nats tickets. As described in the voice mail, a Nationals flex plan requires buying tickets to four games before the purchaser gets a fifth game free as a result.
But it doesn't stop there. The Nationals also e-mailed Greg twice just before the phone call, hawking the opportunity to buy tickets to see the Nats play the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, two NL West teams that Greg follows because he grew up in California.
What?!?
After doing some research, Greg found an ISP address (the Internet address that an individual computer uses) from the District of Columbia that was browsing his blog just before he received the voice mail message. Greg surmises that the Nationals Googled his e-mail address — when one buys tickets online through the team's Web site, a phone number and e-mail address must be entered — and found his blog. At that point, Greg guesses, a Nationals representative looked through his articles to find several talking points to discuss in the phone call.
Despite the overly personal approach, Greg tentatively calls this marketing approach a success.
"I think someone could justify his or her salary making these types of calls all day if they end up selling five or six season ticket plans each day," he says.
However, as he concludes, it can be a bit scary to get a phone call from someone you don't know who apparently knows quite a bit of personal information about you. "It's a little creepy knowing that MLB has so much information on you," he notes.
Chalk one up for lack of privacy on the Internet.