With the emergence of some marquee players, the Rays have some new avenues to follow in an expanded advertising campaign.
By LOUIS HAU
Published March 5, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Tampa Bay Devil Rays leftfielder Carl Crawford studies a racing form at the Derby Lane greyhound track on Gandy Boulevard.
Suddenly, he realizes that the dog he bet on - a befuddled-looking dachshund - is about to lose a race. So the fleet-footed Crawford - last year's American League stolen-base champion - leaps out of his seat, picks up the pooch and dashes for the finish line ahead of the pack.
"You go, dawg," says a guy in the stands. An announcer intones, "Devil Rays Baseball. Let's Play - It's a Tampa Bay Thing."
It's the Devil Rays' 2004 TV advertising campaign. And it really does look like a whole new ball game.
In a reflection of the Rays' growing confidence, this weekend the team will begin airing six 30-second TV spots starring Rays manager Lou Piniella, team mascot Raymond and assorted Rays players cutting it up in front of the camera.
While the Rays have run TV ads before, those spots promoted upcoming games, according to Dave Auker, the Rays' senior vice president of business operations.
The new campaign is the team's first TV-oriented effort at "image" advertising.
"We all felt it was important to start building the brand," Auker said. "We felt we had something to talk about."
The new "Let's Play - It's a Tampa Bay Thing" slogan will also show up on local billboards this weekend and radio ads next week. Auker declined to disclose the Rays' 2004 advertising budget but said it was "21/2 to three times what we spent" last year.
"This is a building process that complements what's going on on the field," he said.
The spots were scripted and directed by John Franzone, the Rays' director of event productions. Despite the polished look of the ads, some improvised casting was used to shoot them, with team carpenter Robert "Pappy" Miller and Robert Szasz, a fan known for loudly heckling visiting teams, both making appearances. In search of a suitable dog for Crawford to root for at Derby Lane, Rays public relations vice president Rick Vaughn borrowed his neighbor's 9-year-old dachshund, Amber. The entire campaign went from initial concept to finished product in about three months, Auker said.
"Going in, there is a certain amount of trepidation because this can be hard to pull off," he said. "We'll let others judge, but we're obviously pleased."
Other spots feature Rays centerfielder Rocco Baldelli rushing out of nowhere to catch a "fly" ball at a St. Petersburg golf course; Rays slugger Aubrey Huff using his mighty swing to cast a fishing rod on a pier near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge; first baseman and Tampa native Tino Martinez giving an actor impersonating Yankees owner George Steinbrenner directions to Tropicana Field; and Piniella blowing a call and ejecting a coach as he umpires a local Little League baseball game.
The spots are shot through with knowing humor. As "Steinbrenner's" limo drives away, his driver turns out to be Don Zimmer, the Rays' new senior baseball adviser, former New York Yankees bench coach and noted Steinbrenner detractor.
Having lost a staggering 589 games in their first six seasons, the Rays haven't had much to boast about. So the Rays' previous two ad campaigns were examples of making do with little. During the 2002 season, the Rays' used the slogan "Heart & Hustle" to market a team distinguished mostly by the utter anonymity of its roster. Last season, the team began with another line-up of largely unknown or untested players. So the Rays focused exclusively on the sole marquee name it did have in the clubhouse: Piniella. "It's a Whole New Ball Game," the Rays declared hopefully.
But after Crawford won the 2003 American League stolen base crown, Baldelli vied for A.L. rookie of the year honors and Huff proved to be one of the game's most formidable hitters, the Rays have homegrown stars they can market. And that, the team hopes, will help bring more fans out to the Trop.
"You start with the brand and the retail will follow," Auker said.
- Louis Hau can be reached at hau@sptimes.com or 813226-3404.
