When Michael Downey came to the Toronto Raptors, he brought with him a simple philosophy: The team is the marketing engine.

This past season, after nearly four years as vice-president, sales and marketing for the franchise, he had the unhappy experience of watching that engine sputter to a halt.

It was a year the Raptors would love to forget. Their 17-game losing streak at the start of the season was a grim portent of things to come. Next came the acrimonious departure of respected general manager Isiah Thomas, the resignation of head coach Darrell Walker and finally, the trade of franchise player Damon Stoudamire.

These are the sorts of developments that tend to complicate a marketing strategy. It’s tough, after all, to persuade people to buy tickets for a team that rarely wins. And the organization’s highly publicized front-office upheaval imbued it with an air of instability, which is not exactly an advantage in attracting corporate sponsors.

Marketing the Raptors is arguably one of the toughest jobs in pro sports. And as if that isn’t enough, Downey has recently seen his responsibilities triple.

Earlier this year, Maple Leaf Gardens, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, acquired the Raptors and their unfinished new arena, the Air Canada Centre, for a reported $350 million. Richard Peddie, president and ceo of the two franchises, persuaded the mlg board of governors that Downey should become vice-president, sales and marketing, for all three entities – the Leafs, the Raptors and the acc, which will house both teams when it opens next February.

So how does a guy who, by his own admission, has never been much of a sports fan find himself at the centre of all this?

Downey came to the Raptors in January 1995 with a strong background in packaged goods marketing, having headed new product development at Labatt Breweries of Canada for five years. Before that, he was a group account director at agency Bozell Palmer Bonner, where he worked on the ‘Legend in Black’ campaign that revitalized Molson Breweries’ Black Label brand.

(Downey also has the distinction of having issued the recommendation to pull the plug on that campaign, when he realized that it no longer fulfilled Molson’s strategic objectives. ‘There are a lot of people who worked on [that] campaign, and a lot of people who try to take credit for it,’ he says. ‘I take credit for being the guy who initiated its closure in Ontario.’)

When former Raptors owner John Bitove approached him about the job, Downey recalls, it was clear that he was looking for someone who’d been around, had seen it all and could roll with the punches.

‘They might have found a better pure marketer,’ he says. ‘But what they really wanted was someone who could fit in and adapt.’

Downey shrugs off any suggestion that his lack of sports marketing experience puts him at a disadvantage. Quite the opposite is true, he says – often, an emotional involvement in the sport can actually hinder a marketer’s judgment.

‘I’ve simply applied the principles of something called ‘sound marketing’ to a product called the Raptors,’ says Downey of his role over the past four years.

Now, of course, his duties include the marketing of a second and very different franchise. But as far as Downey is concerned, this is no different from the challenge a packaged goods company faces in marketing two different brands.

‘They may have a different target market, so they may be positioned differently,’ he says. ‘It’s really just a matter of identifying the major strengths of each property and then going out and marketing them accordingly.’

Admittedly, the challenge is heightened somewhat by the fact that the two organizations are such polar opposites.

The Leafs are steeped in history and tradition. Their fan following is legion, and they are widely recognized to be the most valuable sporting property among adults over 25 in all of Canada. The Raptors, meanwhile, are the irreverent new kids on the block, in a sport that still has a limited local following.

Still, Downey is convinced that the unique characteristics of each team can be mutually beneficial.

‘Certainly the Leafs can benefit from some of the contemporary appeal of the Raptors, and the Raptors can feed off some of the rich tradition of the Leafs,’ he says. ‘Now that we’re united as one family, perhaps the Raptors can reach some of the older audience through the Leafs – and on the Leafs side, maybe we can reach a teenage base through the Raptors.’

Reaching audiences, however, is a function of getting them interested in attending games – and for the Raptors, this is a cause of some concern at present. As Downey concedes, there’s no better leverage for a marketer than a winning team, which means that much of his success will depend upon the efforts of general manager Glen Grunwald and new head coach Butch Carter.

On the up side, the Raptors will enjoy at least one important advantage next year – namely, a new building.

‘Part of our problem has been that the SkyDome is a poor venue to watch a basketball game,’ Downey says. ‘ Once the Raptors move into the Air Canada Center, fans will finally get to see a basketball game the way it’s supposed to be seen.’

When it comes to the Leafs, the task would appear to be significantly easier. Games sell out regularly, which means that corporate partners are eager to climb aboard.

But it’s important never to take the popularity of the Leafs for granted, Downey says. If, for example, it’s too difficult for younger fans to procure tickets, there’s a risk that a whole generation could forsake the team in favor of other forms of entertainment.

Planning for the future health of the organization must be a priority, he says. ‘We’re making sure that everyone around here understands one thing – the word ‘captive’ should never be used. Sure, we have a strong icon and a rich history with the Leafs, but we do not have a captive market.’

In keeping with current thinking in the sports marketing business, one of Downey’s main objectives is to ensure that fans attending Leafs or Raptors games enjoy a complete entertainment package. Professional sports organizations, he says, now recognize that to compete with all the other sources of amusement out there today, they must offer their fans a lot more than just the game itself. Music, light shows, promotions – everything must work to heighten the excitement of the experience.

‘It comes down to treating fans the way you would want to be treated, and providing them with more for their money,’ Downey explains. ‘We’ve got to optimize that to ensure people will continue to want to see the product. You can’t just sit there and say ‘Man, I hope our team wins 45 games this year and makes the playoffs.”

Despite the challenges ahead, Downey’s outlook is optimistic. Potential corporate sponsors, he notes, have shown considerable enthusiasm about the opportunity to do one-stop shopping and link up with both the Leafs and the Raptors.

Downey’s strategy for building partnerships is based on the ‘less is more’ philosophy – the idea being that fewer partners and reduced signage mean greater value for all concerned.

‘I come from a school of thought that says every time you add another partner or another sign to the venue, you’re diminishing the return for your current partners with clutter. So we really want to keep the building clean – that’s the driving force.’

Currently, Downey’s plan is to sign up approximately 20 partners for the Leafs and Raptors in the Air Canada Centre, eight of which will have ‘platinum’ status. In exchange for making a larger investment and a longer-term commitment, platinum partners will receive ‘title-within-title’ privileges in the building. Essentially, this will provide them with greater promotional opportunities and more direct access to the fans.

But it’s the signage in the Air Canada Centre that represents the real innovation. Instead of having backlit panels throughout the arena, displaying the logos of 30 or 40 different sponsors, the acc has purchased a rotating sign system that encircles the upper bowl. In all, it amounts to approximately 730 feet of signage, plus another 80 feet around the scoreboard.

The idea is to allow each of the 20 partners to ‘own’ the entire bowl for three full minutes of game time. Once three minutes have elapsed on the time-clock, a new partner will appear on all of the panels. So while a sponsor won’t maintain a continuous presence throughout the game, it will command exclusive visibility for its allotted time.

Many of the specifics of Downey’s longer-term strategies for the teams remain to be determined. For the moment, most of his efforts are focused on short-term priorities: signing up corporate partners and season-ticket holders, and preparing for the grand unveiling of the Air Canada Centre.

Ultimately, the groundwork that Downey is laying right now for the Leafs and Raptors will pave the way for more ambitious goals.

‘We don’t want to be seen merely as a sports organization,’ he says. ‘We want to be seen as sports marketers. We want potential partners to approach us because we are a leader in providing marketing solutions – not just because we have a rinkboard available.’

Also in this report:

– Driving sponsorship a challenge: Jenson p.16

– Cinema ads becoming feature attraction: As the quality of onscreen advertising has increased, so have the opportunities for advertisers to get their message in front of a captive audience p.17

– Radio rulings bode ill for advertisers: New Cancon requirements may please artists, but CRTC decision on station ownership could spell higher ad rates p.18