What Lessons Could New Jersey Devils Ownership Learn From Steven Cohen
By Sam Woo
Truly Engage With Fans
When Steve Cohen began his own Twitter account, he started to engage with the Mets fans directly. He brought his sense of humor but was always honest with his fellow fans. Mets fans would even ask him the tough questions like when the organization had to endure the embarrassing hiring and firing of Jared Porter. Cohen always responded frankly and has been consistent with his mission of making the Mets a winner.
Cohen would ask for suggestions on Twitter on how to make the Mets fan experience better. Some of these suggestions actually came into fruition such as bringing back the 2000s-era black Mets jerseys on Friday games.
Devils fans, especially season ticket holders, get bombarded with endless surveys and focus group meetings or telephone calls. Nobody asked for our opinion about the ugly black “Jersey Jersey”. Since then, we have had to endure their relentless marketing campaigns in their attempt to go mainstream with celebrities by featuring this market study product, such as at the VMAs. You are not going to attract new Devils fans to the team when you can’t even get your own fanbase onboard. Keep it simple by engaging what the Devils fans really want instead of asking the fanbase to be more patient!