Louisville Slugger Pitches to Women

Louisville, Ky. — Hillerich & Bradsby Co., producer of Louisville Slugger baseball bats, has been developing and marketing products specifically for softball since the 1980s. But its "Beautifully Powerful" campaign – launched in June – is the brand's first fully dedicated marketing effort aimed at the fastpitch softball segment.Product-specific ads, lacking any overall theme, tended to be the extent of past marketing endeavors. "We feel like this is a new era for the brand and the way it is presented in the marketplace," says Kyle Schlegel, vice president, marketing.Two primary insights (gathered through social media, connections with its sponsored travel ball organizations and brand endorsers) shaped the campaign. First, female athletes don't feel they are being directly spoken to but that products and promotions are created for men and then just adapted for women. Second, unlike the guys who have limited interest in star athletes off the field, female fans want to know about all aspects of favorite players.Professional softball player and two-time Olympian Jessica Mendoza serves as the campaign's lead endorser. In addition to being a great athlete, says Schlegel, she's also a sister, wife, mother and a teammate – attributes that resonate with the brand's target market of young women fastpitch players ages 15-24.The campaign kicked off at the country's largest amateur fastpitch tournament in Colorado. "We sold 50% more bats in two days than we sold in an entire week last year," Schlegel says. Memorabilia signed by Mendoza, T-shirts and other giveaways of "Beautifully Powerful" swag were distributed at fastpitch events across the United States over the summer.At the same time, the campaign came to life online through Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Use of the latter was a first for Louisville Slugger and is a space where "we can engage deeper into what really drives this core target visually and verbally," says Schlegel, adding that boards and pins garnering a lot of interest are used as starting points for print ads.The brand utilized Facebook engagement ads plus display ads on sites across the Undertone ad network. Working with retailers, Louisville Slugger also carried out the campaign through retailers' catalogs, circulars and websites. This initial phase was used to create buzz, build brand loyalty and drive purchase consideration for new products launched this fall. While the new products include a variety of fastpitch equipment – from catchers' gear to fielding gloves – the four new bats are the "heroes" of the campaign.Images of bats – particularly the Xeno with a suggested retail of $300 – play a strong role at all touchpoints, from Louisville Slugger's website to in-store posters. P-O-P materials are available to all retailer partners, but "this is certainly more targeted to sporting goods stores," says Schlegel, "from big box to Internet retailers to smaller, one-store team dealers." Because the Xeno is on the higher price point end and not all retailers may be able to sell it, materials are also being developed that feature the Mendoza bat (suggested retail $100)."Beautifully Powerful" will continue primarily through social media and partnerships with the many travel ball and college programs the brand supports. Louisville Slugger's social media manager and its agency – Dallas-based MEplusYou worked alongside the brand on the development and execution of the campaign – will jointly handle the ongoing monitoring. "We can say with confidence that this will be a multiple-year campaign – likely three," adds Schlegel, "but the marketplace will really dictate that to us as much as we would to it."Sales figures will be the ultimate factor when it comes to determining the platform's success, but already Schlegel says sales of fastpitch bat products are far outpacing last year's. Growth of its social following – the Facebook page created in June has nearly 60,000 fans – is also key. "The great part is that these fans are over 97% within our 15-to 24-year-old female target, giving us the perfect forum for continual engagement on the campaign."Other sports marketing entities, such as the St. Louis Rams, are also taking notice and have reached out to find out how they can generate more interest among their female fan base.

Louisville Slugger Pitches to Women

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