[Mistyhighlandslist] SCA: Marketing and You

[Joseph Vandevander]

I think everyone's being a bit slow to respond because there's a lot of meat
to digest in that.

I'm at work at the moment, so I can't reply longer much more than this.
Boy, you put a fair amount of thought into this.

Stefan

On 3/16/07, Ira Knight <iraknight at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello all!
>
> I'm a bit new to the SCA, but I'm very happy to be here.  I really
> appreciate the warm welcome that I've continued to receive since my first
> heavy practice some months ago.
>
> I thought I might have some input on the recruiting issue, because I have
> a little bit of experience in the marketing field.
>
> I think the first important step in recruitment is establishing a "target
> market."  Meaning, "a group of individuals whom have a higher than average
> propensity to join/express interest in the SCA than the average joe blow."
> I think there are a few parameters that we can establish fairly quickly in
> order to limit our search.  So, without further ado..."Let's get
> discriminatin'!"
>
> 1. Age: To participate in the majority of the activities that the SCA
> offers, you must be at least 18.  This rules out High Schools, and large
> gatherings aimed at youth.  I think the ideal age for a SCAdian is
> probably between 24 and 33.  That's not to say that people who are outside
> of this range aren't a good target for recruitment, however, they don't have
> as high a probability to join our organization.  People younger than 24 are
> still in college (some of us expressed interest in finding 'established'
> individuals) or are too young to join SCA (<18).  Those people over 33 are
> probably in the middle of starting a family, or too old to take full
> advantage of the majority of SCA events.  Again, this isn't saying that 50
> year old men don't get out on the battle field and beat me senseless
> (because they do).  I'm saying that it's much more likely for a younger
> person to be interested in the things that we do, and not be 'set' in their
> current way of life.
>
> If we can find areas where there are large concentrations of 24-33 year
> old people, we can find a good place to recruit.
>
> 2.  Gender:  I think that it is safe to say that men and women both enjoy
> SCA equally.
>
> 3.  Level of Physical awareness:  I think that the physical aspect of SCA
> can be very appealing to newcomers.  I know that heavy fighting drew me
> right in.  Also, fencing is pretty awesome.  Archery and the equestrian side
> of the SCA are also big hits.  I feel that the Arts & Ssciences side of SCA
> is attractive too, but in a much different way.  That being said, I think
> that the target markets for each of these SCA facets will be somewhat
> different.  Places like Gymnasiums (University Grad Students/Local
> Gyms/YMCA), Basket ball courts, and outdoor recreation areas (parks) would
> be ideal places to have informational nodes.  I'll go ahead and define an
> informational node as either a SCA event (routeine practice/planned demo),
> or a passive flier/active promoter (SCA person to chat with).  The
> non-physical side of SCA (A&S) would probably do well in more cerebral
> locations such as libraries, fabric stores (Jo Ann's, Wal-mart,
> Fabric-on-a-roll, etc.), and local coffee houses.
>
> 4.  Level of education:  Strangely enough, the majority of SCAdians are
> very well educated.  If someone could take a poll of High School
> Diplomas/Bachalor Degrees/Masters Degrees/Doctors within our current shire,
> I'm sure the statistics could help us uncover new areas to promote as well.
>
> 5: Exposure to the "geek" inside:  This isn't a physical attribute, but I
> feel that it is a very important point to discuss.  I think that people whom
> have had brushes with non-mainstream activities are more likely to respond
> positively to SCA advertisment.  For example, if they read comic books when
> they were young, rebelled in high school via *cough* "traditional methods of
> rebellion," or were exposed to dork-like activities (Magic: The gathering,
> D&D, Video Games to excess) just to name a few.
>
>
> So, combining these attributes together (and any additional ones that we
> can come up with as a group), we find that we are looking for men and women
> who are between the ages of 24 and 33 who are moderately well educated and
> have had some former brush with non-mainstream thought.  Where do people
> that fit this description reside?  I don't think we need to list Hobby Game
> Stores as number one on the list...but I will anyway...
>
> 1.  Hobby Game Stores (Tomb of the Unknown Fanboy etc.)
> 2.  Gymnasiums (University/Public/Private)
> 3.  Libraries (University/Public)
> 4.  Large Companies whom employee educated people (NIOSH, Mylan, Ruby
> Memorial, etc.)
> 5.  Movies that involve SCA subject matter, i.e. 300, King Arthur, A
> Knight's Tale, Elizabeth
> 6.  Jail    (*chuckle*)
>
> A special note on item 5.  With the release of 300 I can't think of a
> better place to have some exposure than in front of the movie theater after
> a show lets out.  I don't know a single person who saw that movie who didn't
> want to be active afterward (in some form or fashion)
>
> Also, I think generating buzz via non-traditional sources (one/two time
> non-'geek' sources) is definately a positive thing.  For example, if a
> "soccer mom" shows up to an A&S meeting just to check stuff out to chat with
> her friends about, or if a Boy Scout Troop wants a demo done.
>
> Thanks for listening to my thoughts!  Let the constructive criticism
> begin. :)
>
> Mundane: Ira Knight
>
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