Kent County Cricket Club’s Sales and Marketing Team received the Best In-Ground Event Package Award at the ECB’s annual Business of Cricket Awards (BOCA) in London on Thursday night.

The Team were also shortlisted for Best Integrated Campaign (International), as well as Best New/Lapsed Fan Campaign.

The awards, which are designed to celebrate Marketing and PR excellence across domestic and international cricket, were attended by representatives of all 18 First Class Counties and MCC together with guests from the wider sports industry.

Commenting on Kent’s in-ground events package, the judges said; “Kent launched a match enhancement campaign with the goal of receiving excellent feedback for the event experience in the annual customer perception survey. The campaign provided attendees with the extra benefits of being at the live event, such as prizes and player meets, coupled with a high energy approach to delivery, with constant new additions and music as a core theme.

“Kent also aimed to continually ‘surprise and delight’, delivered with activities such as the helicopter drop of the captain and an ‘Elvis’ appearance at another match. The initiative has seen an increase in positive perception of the event experience and social media engagement increased significantly.”

Kent County Cricket Club were also shortlisted for Best Integrated Campaign (International), with the judging panel commending Kent’s media coverage and ability to maximise awareness and ticket sales through targeted marketing and an online presence, whilst supporting community groups and encouraging their participation.

In shortlisting for Best New/Lapsed Fan Campaign, the Club received praise for comprehensively engaging with supporters and for the development of ticket packages, with the panel stating that; “responding to customer needs has led to an increase in member satisfaction with membership and ticket packages – demonstrated through customer feedback and surveys. Sales of new ticket packages increased overall ticket purchases and resulted in higher in-ground spend.”

The Club’s success at the Business of Cricket Awards follows a year in which the Sales and Marketing Team have introduced a number of new innovations which have resulted in an increase in positive perception of the event experience.

ECB’s Director of Marketing and Communications Steve Elworthy said: “This has been a tremendous year for cricket in England and Wales on the field and Thursday night’s awards demonstrated that the off-field promotion and marketing of our game continues to set new standards of excellence.

“Our judges were rightly impressed by the breadth and quality of the entries in a variety of different categories and picking winners was no easy task. We congratulate those who did win but also send thanks to the judging panel, headed by the Chairman of Synergy, Karen Earl, and to all the entrants for their hard work and creativity over the past 12 months.”

 

ECB Business of Cricket Awards –

The list of winners in full:
Best In-Ground Event Package – Kent
Best New/Lapsed Fan Campaign – Essex

Shortlist: Essex, Kent, Somerset
Best Integrated Campaign (International) – Warwickshire

Shortlist: Kent, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Warwickshire
Best Improvement in Customer Database and Relationship Building – Hampshire

Best Use of Digital Media – Warwickshire

Best Friends Life t20 Activation – Essex

Best Membership Campaign – Worcestershire

Best Integrated Campaign (Domestic) – Derbyshire

Best Community Programme – Nottinghamshire

Best PR/Media Management for a First Class County team – Nottinghamshire

The Commercial PR/Team of the Year – Nottinghamshire