Indians fans can expect "an injection of new blood this season" from RF Nick Swisher, CF Michael Bourn and manager Terry Francona, but one thing they "can't expect: lots of bobblehead giveaways," according to Kate Kaye of AD AGE. The team in the past has "planned five to seven promotions featuring bobbleheads." But Indians VP/Marketing & Brand Management Alex King said that the '13 season "will bring just two." He said that the decision was driven by "marketing-mix modeling, a data-centric marketing approach that's still novel in the sports world." King: "What we found is, it's most incremental for us to have more giveaway nights and fewer giveaways per night." The Indians began "working with marketing-mix-modeling firm ThinkVine before last season." ThinkVine "mimics a market rather than employing actual consumer data." The company "built a marketplace of 5,000 simulated consumers living in the greater Cleveland area, some die-hards, [and] other infrequent visitors to Progressive Field." The team compiled "marketing and promotional information from the previous five years -- things like PR impressions, TV and radio ad buys, digital spending, promotion dates, and how all those efforts translated into daily sales for each game day" (AD AGE, 3/18 issue).
