Episode 18
Episode 18: Lauren Abernethy - Marketing an Experience
About This Episode:
Guy Powell sits down with Lauren Abernethy, Vice President, Marketing of Braves Development Company. They discuss marketing an experience versus marketing a product or brand.
Responsible for the creation and implementation of the strategic marketing direction of The Battery Atlanta, Lauren has excellent insight into property marketing and marketing experiences. What are the benefits of marketing an experience as opposed to a product? What are the challenges?
About Lauren Abernethy:
Lauren Abernethy is the Vice President, Marketing of Braves Development Company with the Atlanta Braves. She is responsible for the creation and implementation of the overall strategic marketing direction of The Battery Atlanta, including development of compelling marketing and special events programming in efforts to increase customer traffic, tenant sales, digital footprint, and create mutually beneficial relationships with asset partners, retailers, advertisers, sponsors, grassroots organizations, and the surrounding business community.
Lauren has over 20 years’ experience in program development, public relations, and strategic marketing for property management across the Southeast with Simon Property Group serving in various positions including: Regional Vice President of Marketing, The Mills; Director of Marketing & Business Development of Lenox Square in Atlanta, Georgia; West Town Mall in Knoxville, TN; St.John’s Town Center in Jacksonville, FL, Melbourne Square in Melbourne, FL; and Biltmore Square in Asheville, NC.
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Lauren has lived in Atlanta for 11 years. She is a graduate of Mars Hill University in North Carolina, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications/Public Relations & Art with a minor in Business Management.
Links:
https://marketingmachine.prorelevant.com/getting-started/
@batteryatl
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-abernethy-6b4ab6b/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/giE9DGMjGCk
Sign up for ProRelevant Emails: https://mailchi.mp/prorelevant/newsletter
Transcript
Hi, I'm Guy Powell and welcome to the next episode of the
Speaker:backstory on marketing. If you haven't already done so please
Speaker:visit pro relevant.com and sign up for all of these episodes and
Speaker:podcasts. I am the author of the newly released released book the
Speaker:post COVID marketing machine, prepare your team to win. You
Speaker:can find more information on this at marketing machine dot
Speaker:pro relevant.com. Today we'll be speaking with Lauren Abernathy.
Speaker:She is the Vice President of Marketing for the Braves
Speaker:Development Corporation for the battery in Atlanta.
Speaker:Lauren Abernathy is VP of Marketing for the Braves
Speaker:development company and is responsible for the creation and
Speaker:implementation of the overall strategic marketing direction of
Speaker:the battery Atlanta. She has over 20 years experience in
Speaker:program development, public relations and strategic
Speaker:marketing for property management across the southeast
Speaker:with the Simon Property Group sermon serving in various
Speaker:positions, including regional vice president of marketing for
Speaker:the mills, director of marketing and business development for
Speaker:Lenox square in Atlanta, Georgia, and many, many others.
Speaker:Originally, she's from Jacksonville, Florida. But he's
Speaker:lived in Atlanta for 11 years. She's a graduate of the Mars
Speaker:Hill University in North Carolina, where she received a
Speaker:Bachelor of Arts degree in communications and public
Speaker:relations and art with a minor in Business Management. Welcome,
Speaker:Lauren. Nice to be here. Thank you for having me. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. Look forward to talking with you. So tell us
Speaker:what is your backstory on marketing? How did you get into
Speaker:marketing,
Speaker:I started really was going to be an art major. And my mother was
Speaker:less than thrilled with that path in my life.
Speaker:Really wanted me to get a job that didn't involve perhaps her
Speaker:supporting me, I think, and ended up in communications and
Speaker:marketing and college and really enjoyed it. So I worked for a
Speaker:nonprofit organization in the beginning, and then moved along
Speaker:to mall marketing. So Property Management, Marketing. And
Speaker:really just, that's what I love to do. I just thankfully found
Speaker:what I wanted to do very quickly.
Speaker:And that's how I got here. Yeah, fantastic. And I don't know, I
Speaker:can imagine marketing a mall or marketing a property as is so
Speaker:different than any other kind of marketing. So tell us, you're
Speaker:now with the marketing the battery of Atlanta. Tell us what
Speaker:the battery is. And tell us what marketing is like there? Sure.
Speaker:So battery Atlanta is 2.2 5 million square feet of
Speaker:basically, we call it live workplace day and cheer. So
Speaker:mixed use development.
Speaker:We've got office, we've got residential, we've got a lot of
Speaker:entertainment options and restaurants. And then of course,
Speaker:I have truest Park as my anchor. So in the mall world, you have a
Speaker:Macy's or Dillards. And I have a ballpark.
Speaker:Yeah, that's, that's definitely pretty cool. So we were there
Speaker:about a week and a half ago, and it was definitely a lot of fun.
Speaker:We ate dinner there and then hung out for a little bit. And
Speaker:then of course, went to the game. And and we won. So that
Speaker:was that was how could it be any better than that?
Speaker:Perfect way to end the day here for sure. Yeah, absolutely. So
Speaker:how is it different to market a property versus marketing, let's
Speaker:say a product versus potentially even doing some sports
Speaker:marketing. So I think that the biggest difference is
Speaker:truthfully, at the end of the day, I don't sell anything. I
Speaker:you know, as as a landlord, you know, we are marketing the
Speaker:property as an experience. So you look at a traditional sort
Speaker:of ROI on a marketing program, if you're selling a product and
Speaker:it's you know, based on sales and you can track clicks through
Speaker:to your website and it really does change everything when
Speaker:you're selling sort of this intangible that is an
Speaker:experience. So I you know, I talk the property as a whole I
Speaker:don't talk about specific entities within the property
Speaker:from a marketing perspective. So it really is an emotional
Speaker:connection with people and getting them to understand what
Speaker:the property is versus selling them you know, a widget Hmm.
Speaker:Now, are you marketing to
Speaker:people that are going to be tenants or are you marketing to
Speaker:people that are going to experience or all of the above
Speaker:all of the above so we obviously do the leasing for the place and
Speaker:so how we sell ourselves from as a It's a great place to come do
Speaker:business. While that is a lot of the experience as well, it's
Speaker:also a little more statistical. And, you know, we talk in
Speaker:numbers about why you shouldn't lease space here, but then to
Speaker:the general public, and that general public is literally the
Speaker:entire general public, which is also different from products,
Speaker:marketing, because you've got people straight out of college
Speaker:and you would market to those guys very differently than you
Speaker:market to say empty nesters who would come out and you know,
Speaker:enjoy a nice dinner at cls. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:So your audiences just about anybody that is looking for
Speaker:entertainment, and then certainly looking for
Speaker:entertainment. And then of course, going to the Braves game
Speaker:and, and stuff like that. And then potentially even special
Speaker:events, whether it's, you know, something that happens around
Speaker:the Braves or maybe even something that doesn't happen
Speaker:around the Braves. It could be offseason, or whatever.
Speaker:Yeah, we, we say, you know, when this baseball season ends is
Speaker:when really our our holiday season kicks off, because we do
Speaker:a tree lighting, and we do a New Year's Eve event for the
Speaker:community. We do farmers markets throughout the year, Monday
Speaker:night yoga. So there's always things that are going on that
Speaker:aren't just baseball. And I know that the first year people
Speaker:really didn't quite understand the property. And I feel you
Speaker:know, six years later, I don't feel like that's the case. But
Speaker:they just were like, Oh, you're only open when there's a game?
Speaker:And it's like, no, that's a terrible business model. That's
Speaker:that's not how the restaurants are operating. You actually can
Speaker:come out here 365 days a year.
Speaker:Yeah, that is. And that I think, is kind of fascinating, because
Speaker:then the draw is, is very, very different. So you have to get
Speaker:get people there to do you know, to come for the experience and
Speaker:the entertainment, but not then the connection with the with the
Speaker:Braves.
Speaker:Yeah, well, and that's how we look at leasing. So if we're
Speaker:actively recruiting a restaurant or a retail place, or service,
Speaker:they have to be able to survive 81 days of baseball, and thrive,
Speaker:not just survive, and they have to be able to pull their own
Speaker:weight when there is no baseball. So the experiences in
Speaker:the restaurants, you know, have to be great concepts. I mean,
Speaker:everybody wants great concepts. That's certainly not unique to
Speaker:us, but the situational of 81 days a year, hopefully 85 or
Speaker:more. It does change the dynamic that from a traditional say mall
Speaker:lease.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. And, and I guess then, so you have shopping
Speaker:as well as restaurants, or is it primarily restaurants or
Speaker:it's primarily restaurants entertainment, which I save just
Speaker:a touch of shopping enough to keep it interesting for
Speaker:everybody when they're here. Like we have the only Mizuno
Speaker:store in the world. And then we have sugar Buddha's does
Speaker:housewares dress up has like ladies clothing. But it's you
Speaker:know, enough to keep it interesting when you're coming
Speaker:for a game. But really, it's that entertainment driven sort
Speaker:of project. So we have great restaurants. We've got a movie
Speaker:theater, we've got the Roxy with 100, and some shows and events
Speaker:per year. So there's a lot going on. It's controlled chaos is
Speaker:what we like to call
Speaker:it. Yeah, that's for sure. And during the game, and I guess now
Speaker:and we're just one game back at the end of the season. It must
Speaker:be pretty crazy over there.
Speaker:It is. And I think, you know, from the retailer's perspective,
Speaker:their question is always you know, when are we going to play,
Speaker:say postseason games? And the answer is, I don't know. And
Speaker:that's the other thing, you know, having having people,
Speaker:partnerships with these restaurants and stores where
Speaker:they understand what they're getting into. You know, we could
Speaker:be playing a West Coast team, or we can be playing, you know, an
Speaker:East Coast team, which changes what time we play. And are we
Speaker:home or away first. So postseason is exciting, but it's
Speaker:also really challenging, especially for our tenants.
Speaker:Yeah, I can imagine. And it's that uncertain. Well, it's not
Speaker:the uncertainty. I mean, yeah, I guess there is uncertainty, but
Speaker:the inability to actually know exactly what day is going to be
Speaker:happening, and what is the series of things that are going
Speaker:to be happening and then being able to staff up or staff down?
Speaker:Depending it's that's got to be really an interesting challenge
Speaker:for them.
Speaker:Yes, it is. And, you know, thankfully, I think six years
Speaker:later that we've all sort of been through this. And we're
Speaker:getting better at it, I would say, but it is, you know, it's
Speaker:what you know, if you clench early, it makes it easier a
Speaker:little bit because at least you kind of know where you're
Speaker:starting, but then you're assuming that the other teams
Speaker:are already decided as well. So then you get into that home and
Speaker:away and yeah,
Speaker:yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And so last year, World
Speaker:Champions, how did that differ from Pro Are yours?
Speaker:Well, I mean, I'll tell you, it was not too shabby. We'll take
Speaker:it the first time in 26 years that we'd won the World Series.
Speaker:And I really think it was our gift to all of Braves country.
Speaker:Because I mean, it was such a celebration after 26 years. And
Speaker:I don't think if you didn't ask any of us, we really, you know,
Speaker:we were talking about this before you and I were like,
Speaker:nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody wants to think too far
Speaker:ahead. Nobody wants to jinx the outcome. But it was such an
Speaker:unbelievable experience and ride. And I certainly, you know,
Speaker:did not start out in the world of sports. I started out, you
Speaker:know, in properties. So to be a part of this is, you know,
Speaker:unbelievable for me. And just to see the team go through that it
Speaker:was it was very exciting.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. Well, it was a, it was exciting for all of
Speaker:us, that's for sure. So, so is the the offseason, does that
Speaker:differ very much from what you would do it like the Lenox
Speaker:Square Mall or some of the other properties that you manage? So I
Speaker:think, you know, traditional retail is, you know, heavy,
Speaker:heavy in fourth quarter. And you know, pretty even throughout the
Speaker:rest of the year. I think what the retail industry would say
Speaker:is, you know, 60% of its fourth quarter. Ours is fairly ours is
Speaker:a little different. Because obviously during baseball
Speaker:season, we see large crowds 81 days a year, and we are pretty
Speaker:even outside of that. But you know, our restaurants and all
Speaker:these guys do great business. Now we do two of our largest
Speaker:events, the tree lighting and New Year's Eve and fourth
Speaker:quarter. We have 15,000 people here for New Year's Eve. So it's
Speaker:a great time. And then, you know, as most outdoor centers
Speaker:would tell you, January and February weather isn't, you
Speaker:know, the best. But sports here are huge in general, outside of
Speaker:just baseball, football season is huge. We have we have several
Speaker:very large sports bars. And they do. Most of them are sold out,
Speaker:especially for the larger games like The Florida Georgia game
Speaker:championship games. They do great business.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. And actually, I hadn't you know, it's funny
Speaker:that you bring up the, you know, a different sport like that I
Speaker:hadn't even thought about, you know, going to a sports bar
Speaker:that's near the Braves stadium to watch football, or soccer or
Speaker:something like that. That's definitely different use of the
Speaker:of the facilities.
Speaker:Well, yeah. And think about you know, we were at that point of
Speaker:the year where the Saturdays they're also football Saturdays,
Speaker:so they you can reserve tables that live to go watch the
Speaker:Georgia game while we're playing baseball. And I mean, people do
Speaker:it. If they do great business with football, and I mean, it is
Speaker:the south. So that is the the way we do it.
Speaker:That is definitely the way we do it. Yeah. That is for sure. It's
Speaker:so so what other kinds of special events do you put on
Speaker:other than New Year's and Christmas in the tree lighting
Speaker:anything else? That's a really big draw.
Speaker:We do things year round. So we do your free yoga outside on
Speaker:Monday nights. And that right? We usually run that from
Speaker:February to October. When the team is away on Sundays in the
Speaker:summer we do farmers markets. And then we host a ton of
Speaker:charity, five K's different events on the weekends. Live,
Speaker:which is one of our tenants here does like a brew festival and a
Speaker:wine walk. And so we do well over 400 events if you add in
Speaker:concerts at the Roxies and baseball games every year. So
Speaker:it's a pretty active campus.
Speaker:Well, 400 events is more than one a day. That is definitely
Speaker:yeah. Well,
Speaker:when you think about like we could have a 5k in the morning,
Speaker:be playing baseball in the evening and also have a concert
Speaker:at the Roxy. I mean, those are three major events, you know, in
Speaker:one day and so yeah, it's it's an active campus.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Now, you're also involved in the
Speaker:warrior Alliance. Tell us a little more about that.
Speaker:So the warrior alliance is an MLB legacy project that we were
Speaker:able to bring here in 2021. It's a fantastic organization. You
Speaker:know, for us there are a tenant of ours, but they're also
Speaker:affiliated and do a lot with MLB. And just for people who
Speaker:aren't familiar, it's an umbrella organization that helps
Speaker:veterans of every branch, connect with resources that they
Speaker:just may not know where it's out there. So there's a lot of
Speaker:different veterans resources out there but getting to them and
Speaker:having somebody help you facilitate and navigate is a
Speaker:difficult process and the warrior Alliance does A
Speaker:fantastic job with that they're a great organization. I
Speaker:certainly encourage everybody to check them out.
Speaker:Yeah. So is that in there? So there's a charity associated
Speaker:with that as well? Or are they supported as well by the Braves
Speaker:or the MLB or
Speaker:so they're, it's a legacy project with MLB. So there is
Speaker:certainly some support there for the warrior Alliance, which is a
Speaker:nonprofit organization, then the warrior Alliance also does
Speaker:fundraising and, you know, gets grants and different things. So
Speaker:they can help facilitate all of these things. They continue to
Speaker:grow. They do outstanding work. But yeah, so we do a lot with
Speaker:them. And in different capacities, whether it's letting
Speaker:them use some space to host workshops or wounded warrior
Speaker:yoga. You know, there's, there's anything we can do to support
Speaker:them, we certainly as an organization are actively doing.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And, and that's a
Speaker:it's a definitely a wonderful cause to help out the, you know,
Speaker:the warriors. Because they're certainly they certainly
Speaker:sacrificed a lot. And I think you're right, I think baseball
Speaker:generally has done a lot for, for, you know, the, the fighting
Speaker:men and stuff like that. So that makes a lot of sense. So you've
Speaker:done marketing now for malls and experiences, which is definitely
Speaker:very different than anything else. And then you're also doing
Speaker:some marketing for then, for the warrior Alliance, or not,
Speaker:no, they are their own organization, we certainly do,
Speaker:again, assist and work with them and their relationship with the
Speaker:Braves foundation, that there's a lot of, you know,
Speaker:compatibility there and things and projects that they work on
Speaker:together, but they are their own organization.
Speaker:Oh, okay. Okay. And because I can imagine, you know, the, the
Speaker:nonprofit marketing would be very, very different. And then
Speaker:being a supporter of them at the very, very fascinating. So what
Speaker:are you? What are your key metrics? What are the things now
Speaker:going back to the battery? What are the key things that you
Speaker:tried to achieve? Every day, every week, every month?
Speaker:So I, you know, going back to our earlier conversation about I
Speaker:don't sell anything, me personally, and us as an
Speaker:organization, we're a landlord. So I mean, we look at, you know,
Speaker:do we have the spaces leased? You know, are we do we have
Speaker:tenants here are we at capacity, and then we turn around, like
Speaker:we're getting ready to do and build another building. So we're
Speaker:building a 250,000 square foot building that's leased. So we'll
Speaker:that'll go up 100% lease which is fantastic. We look at
Speaker:traffic, we look at the sales of the tenants, because that is
Speaker:obviously a key factor. Like if the tenants are doing well. It's
Speaker:like everything. If they're doing well, then we're doing
Speaker:well, and everybody's happy. And they and they stay and we want
Speaker:them to stay. So all of those are kind of our big things. And
Speaker:so it's, for me, for a marketing perspective, it's getting
Speaker:eyeballs on our messaging, which is very sort of experiential,
Speaker:and look at all the fun things you can do here. And then
Speaker:looking at what the traffic looks like, on site, like we've
Speaker:steadily increased our traffic over the years as the battery
Speaker:continues to grow, and it's going to just keep growing.
Speaker:Yeah, I think you're right, I think, you know, and plus, early
Speaker:on, it wasn't quite clear what what the battery was, when it
Speaker:was first put together with the new stadium. And then then as
Speaker:soon as you see it, you go, Oh, you know, now I get it.
Speaker:Yeah, I don't think people quite understood. I mean, the whole
Speaker:thing was, to better the fan experience is started. That's
Speaker:that's the was the most important part of it was a
Speaker:better fan experience for Braves country before and after a game.
Speaker:So you start with that idea. And then you want that experience
Speaker:365 days. So I think we've done a good job of curating that and
Speaker:building it where it can exist in and out of season. But yeah,
Speaker:it's we're gonna continue to grow. You know, I never, it
Speaker:would never surprise me for us to build something else or to
Speaker:announce something else. Because if it's the right thing for the
Speaker:property, then that's what we're gonna do.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. Well, what other similar types of
Speaker:properties exist that are like the battery Atlanta, you know,
Speaker:around the country.
Speaker:So they're, you know, certainly there's other sports venues
Speaker:where that they have great lake, the Bucs district out and then
Speaker:Texas live. And there's some great places typically though,
Speaker:the team doesn't own them. And for us, it was extremely
Speaker:important that we when we did this, owned and manage the
Speaker:property, because that way we do control the actual experience.
Speaker:It is a Braves day, experience and Mmm. And it was the first of
Speaker:its kind where the team actually built the development. Now, that
Speaker:is a model that all teams are looking at now. We've toured 150
Speaker:different teams through the property, showing them what
Speaker:we've built here. And I think there's, there's huge interest,
Speaker:because when you see how this can work and how, you know, it
Speaker:can benefit the team financially. You know, that's at
Speaker:the end of the day, we're here to win, you know, Another World
Speaker:Series. And that's how we're funding, you know, our ability
Speaker:to do that.
Speaker:So it must have been kind of a challenge, though, initially, to
Speaker:get retailers and restaurants to sign on, to be able to say,
Speaker:well, what am I going to do in the offseason? So you must have
Speaker:had a very interesting challenge at that point.
Speaker:So I think in the beginning, you had to start with the right
Speaker:people, like you had to start with tenants who had an
Speaker:understanding of either being near or a part of, like, we
Speaker:started with live lives a great example where they already have
Speaker:their own districts that are outside of large stadiums. So
Speaker:they understood now, our relationship here, is there a
Speaker:tenant where they don't own the whole district, so that was new
Speaker:for them. But they understood what we were doing. And then
Speaker:there was certainly a lot of people who bought in, because
Speaker:they love the Braves. And, you know, thankfully, even when
Speaker:working some like gardening gun magazine, they only own this
Speaker:restaurant here. So garden and Gun Club is their only
Speaker:restaurant. But they saw that Braves country was their
Speaker:breeder. So yeah, it was certainly Yeah. And, and the
Speaker:ballpark was the most important thing. It had to be finished
Speaker:first, we got opening day to consider. So I know if anyone's
Speaker:like me where I came out opening day, and I had not started here
Speaker:yet. And I they didn't have a lot open, because the focus was
Speaker:gotta play baseball in April.
Speaker:Yeah. That's kind of a hard deadline.
Speaker:Yes, that was absolutely necessary. And so for the next,
Speaker:you know, year and a half, we really just sort of opened the
Speaker:rest of the restaurants here. And so I know the first couple
Speaker:years as people came back, it was a different experience every
Speaker:time because there was more. So and we are continuing to open
Speaker:things, we've got battle and brew and a couple others there
Speaker:yet Pollstar, which is Electric Vehicle Company, that are
Speaker:getting ready to open that's just, you know, even more
Speaker:cultivate food and coffee. So we continue to grow.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. Well, as part of the AMA, so I'm on the board of the
Speaker:Atlanta, the American Marketing Association in Atlanta. And we
Speaker:actually did an event there as well, which was, which was a lot
Speaker:of fun. And it really opened my eyes up as to what could be done
Speaker:and how they have the space can be used.
Speaker:And I think that that's the really cool thing that that's
Speaker:where we are now like, you know, we're, we were babies still as a
Speaker:company. But people are starting to look at the property to do
Speaker:say, large meetings, where they stay at the Omni or at the Aloft
Speaker:Hotel. And then they go over to the ballpark, and they meet in
Speaker:one of the spaces in truest Park. And then they do their big
Speaker:gala event at the Roxy. So they there's more and more of these
Speaker:meeting and event planners that are looking at this as
Speaker:everything's here, you never have to you don't need a car.
Speaker:And that is very different for Atlanta. And it's a walkable bar
Speaker:district. So there's plenty for everybody to do. So we're seeing
Speaker:more of that. Like when the team is out of town, we'll have
Speaker:larger conferences that come in and rent the spaces. And so
Speaker:that's exciting to see as people discover how much they can do
Speaker:here and have be accomplished. For especially corporate
Speaker:meetings.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. Well, I just want to know how I can get reservations
Speaker:for one of those rooms at the Omni overlooking the game.
Speaker:That's all I want to know.
Speaker:You too. I mean, I'm telling you, those are their killer
Speaker:rooms. They're absolutely wonderful. But yeah, that view
Speaker:comes at a premium I am sure
Speaker:Yeah, well it plus you know, you can stand out there on the
Speaker:balcony and have a drink or whatever and watch the game and
Speaker:it just looks like a lot of fun. So, yeah, so what do you see
Speaker:then as big trends otherwise, in in marketing and then for
Speaker:marketing of the venue over the last couple years?
Speaker:For property marketing. I think the interesting thing is how
Speaker:cyclical it's become where as a as an industry, they are back to
Speaker:focusing on interaction with guests, where you know more
Speaker:walls when they first built, you know, were pretty inside, they
Speaker:had fountains, and then they slowly took all of those things
Speaker:out to put it in a kiosk and make more money. And now it's
Speaker:kind of come full circle where everybody understands that it is
Speaker:the experiential sort of guest, like entertainment, that people
Speaker:remember. And like, I think the Braves do a fantastic job in the
Speaker:ballpark of like entertaining their fans, their their fan, and
Speaker:it's outside the ballpark before the game. And that's something
Speaker:cool we get to do here. But I think that those trends of all
Speaker:of that stuff coming back where it's making it a really cool
Speaker:experience for our guests, whether it's, you know, a
Speaker:surprise and delight kind of thing, or they stumble across a
Speaker:farmers market. But it's a little bit like the world is,
Speaker:you know, we go in circles, but I think it's a little full
Speaker:circle back to where what marketing in a public place used
Speaker:to be.
Speaker:Yeah, I've been, I am so impressed with with the The in
Speaker:game experience. And then the pregame experience in the
Speaker:battery that it just kind of so easily flows. All together, you
Speaker:get kind of the, you know, the psych of the, you know, they're
Speaker:getting ready for the game and having a good time. And there's
Speaker:people all around and there's noise and, you know, and
Speaker:different interesting things going on. And then, you know,
Speaker:obviously then with the goal to get to the game and and I hadn't
Speaker:really thought about it as a as an offseason venue. So I'm going
Speaker:to have to definitely check that out. That's going to be on my
Speaker:list here. Yeah, I
Speaker:mean, it's, I think that we try to keep things going all the
Speaker:time that people can come and enjoy. I mean, I look at it as
Speaker:like a farmers market for me, I want you to stay a little
Speaker:longer. Because if you stay a little longer, you're probably
Speaker:gonna eat lunch, or maybe go to dinner, or maybe grab a cocktail
Speaker:and walk around and stores. So you know, we look at our type of
Speaker:marketing as extending this day, like, how do I get you to stay
Speaker:just a little bit longer. So I don't need like a well known
Speaker:group, but I could do a nice little cover band out there. And
Speaker:so it is it's a different type of marketing, and it's a
Speaker:different way to look at it than traditional, like, even even on
Speaker:the other side of my own business, you know, they're
Speaker:trying to put your butt in a seat, you know, they need to
Speaker:sell tickets. And that's, that's a measurable thing, where I just
Speaker:need you to buy another cocktail and maybe stay for 90 minutes
Speaker:instead of 60 minutes.
Speaker:So how do you track that? Do you actually go out and track how
Speaker:long people are staying and whether that's going up or down?
Speaker:And we use a artificial intelligence program called
Speaker:place or AI? And so we we've been doing that for the last
Speaker:couple of years, because it is an outdoor environment,
Speaker:especially in this particular environment? How do you track
Speaker:pedestrian plus Uber plus, plus parking. And, you know, we're
Speaker:connected by all these bridges. And there's no great way to do
Speaker:that, where, you know, in the brick and mortar world, you can
Speaker:put a tracker at a door. And whether it's you know, the light
Speaker:beam or whether it's you know, looking down from above, you can
Speaker:actually count people. So that has worked out we love we love
Speaker:working with them. Like I'm a data nerd. I think most
Speaker:marketing people are Yep. And being able to dig down into that
Speaker:and understand like that our average day is about 245
Speaker:minutes, which is enormous. But the very cool part of that is it
Speaker:is the same out of season. So you would expect it to be like
Speaker:that for a game day. But I think what was surprising to us was
Speaker:that it's the same outside of a game day.
Speaker:Yeah, that is amazing. Well in place or AI, they have such a
Speaker:good that that product is awesome for an AI as soon as you
Speaker:said it, I said you know, of course it's what you would do.
Speaker:It's amazing.
Speaker:Yeah, they really are. And what's funny is I think I did
Speaker:what all marketers do, and I was hand tracking and I was using,
Speaker:you know industry standard, you know, for USD t for the number
Speaker:of people in a car, all that stuff. And when I first was
Speaker:talking to them and we ran the numbers it validated A that I
Speaker:knew how to do standard count but also but I was that
Speaker:impressed me because I'm like we knew we were we knew we were
Speaker:close but being able to see it and understand it and then
Speaker:understand how they get the data and that they do self validation
Speaker:and things like that was was very cool. So we use it I mean
Speaker:you know when we look at our competitors, we look at a gauge
Speaker:ourselves against, you know, other top shopping centers or
Speaker:Top districts out there. And definitely that that stay time
Speaker:for us was eye opening.
Speaker:Well, you said 240 minutes, that's, that's four hours. And
Speaker:that, does that include the game? Or does that just,
Speaker:it is the same on a game day as it is on the non game day.
Speaker:That is crazy, isn't
Speaker:it? I mean that I think that was something we weren't expecting.
Speaker:Yeah. Because I get in there and crunched all the numbers and
Speaker:really pull it all out and look at it. And so we started
Speaker:tracking the, you know, in season versus out of season and
Speaker:the stay time, the variances, maybe three minutes.
Speaker:That is incredible. Yeah.
Speaker:So. And, you know, I think that there's just a lot to do here.
Speaker:So maybe you go to a movie, and then if you're in a concert, and
Speaker:you know, there's a lot going on here that probably feeds into
Speaker:that and keeps it a little longer than most.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. That is, that's really very impressive.
Speaker:So what is one other big important thing that you'd like
Speaker:to see or haven't seen yet, or that would relate to improving
Speaker:your overall marketing activities over there?
Speaker:Um, you know, I think the thing that the reason I keep doing
Speaker:this job is because it's ever evolving and ever changing. And,
Speaker:you know, as soon as you figure out something, you know, like,
Speaker:how to do you know, your Google ad campaign, they change
Speaker:everything, and you have to kind of start over, but to me, I like
Speaker:that. And I think for me, the constant, figuring out how to
Speaker:market to everyone and do things effectively, that reach those
Speaker:audiences. is, you know, I don't know that they'll ever be a
Speaker:great answer for that. But I certainly accept the challenge.
Speaker:Yeah, anything in in virtual reality, or augmented reality?
Speaker:You think it about or
Speaker:so? truest Park has done that? So they launched that earlier
Speaker:this year. And we've talked about how does the battery do
Speaker:that. But then you that goes back to sort of coordinating
Speaker:chaos where for that to be really cool. What I would love
Speaker:it to do is if you were to walk into a restaurant and you
Speaker:ordered it, then Uber Eats would take it to you. And then we face
Speaker:some challenges, 81 days a year about getting every driver in
Speaker:and out of here. But I think that there's some really cool
Speaker:things out there, how that plays out for us. Because for us, I
Speaker:look at it like how would that benefit my stores and
Speaker:restaurants like and what would be cool there. But that's, you
Speaker:know, 50 some odd different people trying to make decisions.
Speaker:And that certainly isn't an easy task. But yeah, hopefully,
Speaker:hopefully, we'll be able to do that at some point.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. Well, if you can get him from 245 minutes to
Speaker:200. And whatever that would be, it's just such an enormous
Speaker:amount of time. It's very impressive.
Speaker:It really is. And, you know, we even looked at it before we had
Speaker:the movie theater, and you know, maybe look at just the concert
Speaker:days, but I think it's just once you get here, you hang out, and
Speaker:you know, walk around and people come, you know, with their
Speaker:friends and watch different games. So it's certainly, we're
Speaker:proud of that. And we watch it very closely. Because at first I
Speaker:was like, well, maybe it was just that year. And I'm like,
Speaker:No, that's that's our average. That's what we do. Which just
Speaker:means that people love the property. And so and that's what
Speaker:we tried to build here was something that people wanted to
Speaker:be at.
Speaker:Yeah, that's interesting, I wonder, because it is an
Speaker:experience. And you know, you look at, you know, you look at
Speaker:Disney World, or some of the other kind of, you know, kind
Speaker:of, I don't know, what do you call them, like a pure
Speaker:entertainment, certainly a theme park. And yet you're almost you
Speaker:are an entertainment venue? And, you know, you wonder how
Speaker:different or how similar the marketing and everything else
Speaker:is, between them and what you're doing
Speaker:that well, you know, that's a big animal right there. When you
Speaker:start talking about the Walt Disney Company and what they do
Speaker:to market. I mean, like, that's a crazy thing. Where I feel like
Speaker:we're more traditional, but I certainly watch I would say,
Speaker:other developers and how they market their entertainment
Speaker:districts. We are unique. And so it is a little different for us.
Speaker:But I mean, like we keep an eye on sort of the rest of the
Speaker:industry and how they're doing it. And it is interesting to see
Speaker:where the entertainment districts are doing that, you
Speaker:know, true entertainment sort of thing where they're bringing in
Speaker:other stuff. And then I think that the mall industry has had
Speaker:to look at that and say, oh, we need to, we need to do more.
Speaker:They spent years just cutting it out. You know, because those
Speaker:things cost money with no actual return and visible return in
Speaker:some cases. And I think that that's where the community
Speaker:aspect of what we do got lost in some Yeah, some parts of our
Speaker:stream.
Speaker:So when how, how did things go? Coming out of COVID and COVID? I
Speaker:guess you were mostly closed down and then probably opened up
Speaker:before the the Braves started playing again and then and then
Speaker:now you're back, I guess at full capacity or full, whatever it
Speaker:is.
Speaker:We really, we were only close if you if you say that. I mean,
Speaker:like, as far as the property itself, there was a there about
Speaker:two weeks there were there was the mandatory sort of, and then
Speaker:all of our restaurants figured it out. And I think it was one
Speaker:of the most impressive things I've ever seen. Because no
Speaker:restaurant on this property had ever done DoorDash Uber Eats
Speaker:none of it because of baseball. So they figured it out. I mean,
Speaker:at one point and Tico, you could buy three pizzas delivered to
Speaker:you on dry ice. You know, which so I mean, they figured it out.
Speaker:And it was a really impressive thing to watch with all of these
Speaker:groups, like, how do you make people feel safe, and get the
Speaker:restaurants open and keep your staff working. And like places
Speaker:like the escape game, they were like, Hey, we've always
Speaker:sanitized after everybody went into a room. So the different
Speaker:types of marketing and how they, you know, move forward. And
Speaker:they're, you know, there were hiccups, like the the movie
Speaker:theater was supposed to open in 2020. And while there's no
Speaker:movies to release, so we delayed that, until 2021. But as an
Speaker:outdoor venue, I think it was a huge benefit to us, because
Speaker:people would go and just grab a pizza and then sit out on the
Speaker:plaza green, and have a picnic and so on. On a really nice day.
Speaker:It was fairly busy outside here.
Speaker:Yeah. Well, kudos to you. And kudos to the venue or not the
Speaker:venue, but the restaurant owners Yeah. And in their ability to
Speaker:pivot and respond to the challenge.
Speaker:And I think everyone that was in the same boat, everybody's
Speaker:navigating unfamiliar waters, but I do believe Outdoor centers
Speaker:had some advantages. Right, you know, just because people felt
Speaker:safe to come out with their family, because they could sit a
Speaker:little further away. So we, you know, and having relationships
Speaker:with all the tenants, and when we talk to people, and they come
Speaker:in here, it's it's a long term, this is a partnership, because
Speaker:we were looking for the right people, and they gotta love what
Speaker:we do as much as we love what they do. So knowing everybody
Speaker:well with as a landlord, very helpful as well.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. Well, before we close, is there anything else
Speaker:you'd like to mention?
Speaker:Well, I would just love for everybody to come out and
Speaker:experience the battery like you did. Like, I feel like we have a
Speaker:great time, game day every day. But you know, there's, there's
Speaker:so much to do here. And we just love it when I love it when I'm
Speaker:walking through the property behind somebody who's showing it
Speaker:to someone else that has never been here. Because they just get
Speaker:excited about as excited about it as we do. So, we look forward
Speaker:to seeing everybody come out and obviously supporting the Atlanta
Speaker:Braves as we hopefully get all the way to the worlds right
Speaker:knock on wood, we gotta get to the World Series again. I'm
Speaker:ready. We'll be out there in a couple of weeks. We've got
Speaker:tickets to some of the playoff games. So we're very excited
Speaker:about that. So that's wonderful. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Lauren,
Speaker:thank you so much. I really appreciate it. It's It's It's
Speaker:fascinating to learn about marketing for I don't know if
Speaker:you'd call it non traditional but different different things
Speaker:so marketing and experience as opposed to marketing Dove soap
Speaker:or or something like that very, very fascinating and really
Speaker:appreciate it. So is there anywhere that that you would
Speaker:want people to go to find out more about the battery?
Speaker:Sure they can go to battery atl.com And that's our handle on
Speaker:all social media as well battery ATL. And just sort of check out
Speaker:what's going on here are the events that are happening. Learn
Speaker:more about us learn more about like there's an event planner
Speaker:page that's you know, shows people what they can do here if
Speaker:they're looking to plan an event. But yeah, check us out.
Speaker:Fantastic well, so thank you so much and otherwise for the
Speaker:audience. Please stay tuned for many other videos in this series
Speaker:of the backstory on marketing and make sure you visit battery
Speaker:Atlanta or battery atl.com battery@aol.com To learn
Speaker:more We're about the battery and what Lauren is doing in terms of
Speaker:really promoting the Braves. And then, of course, the battery and
Speaker:here in Atlanta. And otherwise, for my book more information on
Speaker:that, please go to marketing machine dot pro relevant.com.
Speaker:And you can download the first chapter of the book and many
Speaker:other valuable excerpts. And don't forget to sign up for more
Speaker:episodes. And in any case, rate this rate this episode with five
Speaker:stars and we're going to be very much appreciated. Lauren, thank
Speaker:you so much.
Speaker:Thank you for having me.
