Calling Card: Clubs Use Celebrity Voice Messages To Reach Fans

Boston-area teams are using Internet phone technology powered by Indianapolis-based Vontoo Inc. to "pump up sales and reach fans more effectively," according to Jenn Abelson of the BOSTON GLOBE. Boston College sent out a phone message two weeks before the ACC Championship football game from QB Matt Ryan to more than 100,000 BC alumni and fans. BC Associate AD for External Operations Jamie DiLoreto said that for "about $10,000, Ryan's phone message helped the team sell more than 4,000 tickets in just two weeks, earning $200,000 and beating sales for some" of the team's previous bowl appearances. The calls cost about $0.10 each, and the technology can "track how many people pick up the messages, which ones go to voice mail, and how many transfer immediately to a ticket agent." The Celtics last spring ran a similar phone message campaign with C Kendrick Perkins. On the day the team ran the campaign, the Celtics "nearly doubled the number of season ticket renewals purchased in the same day the previous year." The Celtics are "planning to use Vontoo again later this month, to send out playoff information and to get an early start on season tickets." About half of all NBA teams "have used Vontoo, and other organizations are trying out the technology for their marketing efforts" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/10).