New Buffalo Bills Graduate Management Assistant

[Sniper]

Congrats Sniper. I avoided this thread at first because I thought there was going to be a link to the Pixyland guy/person.

You're in for a lot of fun and who knows where this will take you.

Good luck!

 

Thank you, I put in a lot of hard work to get to this point. It's funny that the Bills brass was throughly impressed with Buddy Nixon, and the amount of knowledge us fans have on the sport and our team.

 

What's funny is during my interview they admitted to checking message boards, and reading topics. The BBMB makes us all look like fools.

 

Hopefully, I can give them a real insight until the knowledgeable fan. Hey, if I'm ever in power to make changes or decisions, I would check here to see if there is any thoughts or ideas.

 

Always know Sniper is watching, and hoping to put in your thoughts and ideas as soon as I can.

 

Wouldn't it be cool to say someday that the fans influenced a pick/team/free agent signing? I can see the headlines now.

[JÂy RÛßeÒ]

To add to that: That Utica band must go....what the heck is that all about?

That's Attica, not Utica. Just sayin'

[Bob in STL]

I figured I would let you guys know first.

 

I have been working on getting a chance to work underneath Littman, and the internal Marketing team.

 

I will be thinking of new ideas to help promote the team, image, products, tickets, stadium ideas and rules.

 

They really liked my knowledge of the league, and the team. It has to be due to so much message board talk and discussions.

 

Any thoughts ideas, questions, or comments will be appreciated and presented to Management!

 

 

-Sniper

 

 

If this is real then congrats.

 

Promoting the team is simple? Build a winner. Stop the losing.

 

Kill the notion that the Bills are a cheap, disfuntional organization that has no direction and is run by bean counters that have no interest in winning.

 

You can market to casual fans by doing all the things that Brandon has already been doing. Big deal to that. I am afraid until your boss Littman is gone this will be a tough sell.

 

Let Mr. Brandon know that real fans, the die hards, do not have confidence in this front office. The charade that was a GM job search jaded me forever, and I been have a fan since 1964. Buddy Nix was picked because "Ralph knew him". Great.

 

Before that, how about the announcement that Tom Modrak, who had been the Chief Scout fot ten years was finally going to be allowed into the "inner circle" in draft day.

 

We hear this stuff, quoted directly from these guys, and we lose confidence.

 

The product on the field backs up the disfunction in the front office.

 

Good luck.

 

PS - I don't expect you to help draft better players or bring in better coaches. How about getting rid of the out of control drunks at the stadium and fix up the bathrooms. They both are an embarrassment to Buffalo. Look at Ted Black and copy that. That would be a good start.

 

See if Mr. Brandon can at least do that right.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Bob in STL

[BillsRUs]

That's Attica, not Utica. Just sayin'

 

 

Noted. TY

[1gap2gap]

Congratulations, Sniper

 

1) Get off this board and close down your username. Going to the boards and seeing what is said is different from being part of the board.

 

2) The Buffalo Store and online ordering needs to be addressed. Most of the fans who buy are not as computer perceptive as you might think. The obvious to you is not the obvious to us. Have some older people who you know go on the site and order stuff and tell you the problems they are having.

 

3) Have cheerleaders promote more woman products with Bills logo. Sleeping socks, comfort-sleeping wear etc.

 

4) Your E-mails are fine keep sending them. If someone does not want them, they can block or unsubscribe.

 

Good luck, I think the store and the on line aspects of it would be a good place for you to make your bones. Find out how much they make. If you make that a priority than when the Bills start winning again you will look good. Also, see if you can influence the Bills in trading for Tim Tebow. He will fill the stadium. I thought they should have selected him #9 in the draft when he came out but ...what I know.

[SoulMan]

Here is a very complex and infallible marketing plan.

 

WIN

[Sisyphean Bills]

Here is a very complex and infallible marketing plan.

 

WIN

Agreed. Your slogan could be "Winning creates market."

[wnyBacker]

you will prob be promoted to GM by the end of the season so you had better start preparing for who you want to draft in April. we are all counting on u so make us proud!

[Bufcomments]

Draft better players. Get better Coaches on D.

 

Keep the good ones that we have now. ( Please resign Stevie and Give Fred Jackson a huge bonus)

 

As the late Al Davis said. "just win baby" the stadium will be full fall and winter no doubt.

 

People around B-Lo just want a winner. The marketing is something we gloss over. Just win baby at all costs. Best way to fill the seats.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Bufcomments

[bowery4]

Congrats on the job kid and I have no idea if anything but winning will help to sell tickets, but I do know full price for preseason gets under a lot of peoples skin.

If you ever get a chance to suggest anything to Chan, I have a lot of ideas. Running Corey would be one. Please provide me his email and I will contact him myself for the rest

[JPicc2114]

Realistically.. you can do all the marketing strategies you want... but it all comes down to winning games. PERIOD.

 

 

I'm almost at the point where I am just done watching the Bills all together.. I didn't even watch the game last week against the Chargers.. and I'm glad I didn't. I refuse to waste my time until this team puts the effort in to be competitive.

[BuffaloBill]

I'll go first. In no particular order:

 

 

3) Do not hold events honoring people like Scott Norwood. Fair or not, he is a symbol of failure, not success.

 

 

 

SJB - while I think the majority of your posts are spot on this is terrible. Norwood's career should not be defined by one kick. The Bills team lost that game. If you really want to lay blame call out Levy for being flat outcoached.

[Fan in San Diego]

Put the team up for sale without anyone knowing. Then when Jim Kelly puts in a bid, slip it to Ralph for signature. Say its a standard appearance contract or something. That should do it.

[dwight in philly]

tell brandon that the community is waiting and deserves comments from the "braintrust" on an ownership succession plan.

[zow2]

Thank you, I put in a lot of hard work to get to this point. It's funny that the Bills brass was throughly impressed with Buddy Nixon, and the amount of knowledge us fans have on the sport and our team.

 

What's funny is during my interview they admitted to checking message boards, and reading topics. The BBMB makes us all look like fools.

 

Hopefully, I can give them a real insight until the knowledgeable fan. Hey, if I'm ever in power to make changes or decisions, I would check here to see if there is any thoughts or ideas.

 

Always know Sniper is watching, and hoping to put in your thoughts and ideas as soon as I can.

 

Wouldn't it be cool to say someday that the fans influenced a pick/team/free agent signing? I can see the headlines now.

 

Congrats. I interned at OBD back in the day after college in Marketing & Advertising. It was Lot's O fun. I'll never forget chatting with Marv Levy in the breakroom on occasion and also hearing Polian going ballistic on the phone with people in his office (often!). I wish i could go back and re-live those days. This was back before internet message boards as well so any feedback was in written letters, the newspaper or people just showing up at reception or the box office. It's a different era now. I would not share too much on a message board... Gathering ideas is fine. Don't give your opinion or talk about sepcific things that you overhear.

[Jon in Pasadena]

Wasn't that Week 4? I thought we were 0-3 when we beat the Niners?

AFCE had a stupidly early bye week that season in week 4.

[kenny3000]

don't ever have the franchise's focus be on anything other than getting the best and brightest upcoming talents in management and coaching. do that and winning will come

[Fixxxer]

So you got a job that pays you to read this board? Lucky man. +

 

 

Congratulations and good luck.

[coloradobillsfan]

The Bills Backers section of the web site needs an overhaul. The locator map is a smear of tiny Bills logos on a world map - it is very difficult to find individual chapters. There is very little interaction between us and the organization. We have been trying to get a Bills personality out here for a charity fundraiser for years now. We raised hundreds last week for a local Denver childrens hospital with just a dunk tank and Sahlens hot dogs. Give us anyone from the team - heck the backup punter - and we will come out in droves with our wallets open.

 

Good luck on the new job sniper, wish you all the best

[Astrobot]

Listen 95%, Talk 5%.

 

The Bills are also going to need a FA signing or a draftee to create some "buzz", not unlike the TO signing or the Dareus drafting. It's called Hope.

[HalftimeAdjustment]

I'll go first. In no particular order:

 

1) Don't feature a photo of Brian Moorman punting out of his own end zone on any marketing, advertising, or promotional items (like the Bills did last year).

 

 

Excellent suggestion.

[Gray Beard]

All these posts that say winning games is the best marketing plan are correct, but I assume any ability to effect that issue is beyond the scope of your assignment.

 

I live in the Utica area, and our CBS station that plays Buffalo Bills games on Sunday afternoon is out of Syracuse on Time Warner Cable. It stinks that we are subject to the black out rules even though we are 200 miles from Buffalo. The Syracuse CBS station is the only CBS station between the Rochester area and the Schenectady area. That is a lot of coverage (of course, there aren't that many people for all that area).

 

Most people in this area are Giants fans, since the Giants are broadcast on the local Fox network, are not subject to blackout rules in this area, and generally win more often than the Bills. You could stop people on the street around here and ask them to name three players on the Bills team, and they probably couldn't. And this is a local broadcast market. Think about that.

 

Do the players do local commercials on Buffalo TV? I never see any out here in Central New York. It seems like a no brainer to get some name and face recognition with things like public service announcements. "Hi, I'm Fred Jackson of the Buffalo Bills, and I would like to remind you to put fresh batteries in your smoke detectors twice a year."

 

My daughter is a Colts fan because she thinks Peyton Manning is funny in TV commercials. Of course, it's much easier for your agent to get you TV commercials if you are on a winning team, but if a few guys can be successful with local spots, maybe their agents can then start to work on bigger deals. Maybe in the Buffalo area these things are common, but like I said, I'm in Central New York, and I NEVER see anything that is related to the Bills on local TV.

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

Over the years Ralph has promoted his niece Mary Owen from marketing intern to Executive VP. She has been heavily involved in efforts to "regionalize" the Bills brand into Southern Ontario, including, IIRC, some work related to the Bills-In-Toronto Series:

 

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/02/28/People-and-Pop-Culture.aspx

 

Ralph ain't gonna be around forever, and he knows which way the wind blows at NFL owners' meetings. He has publicly said (some years ago) that the team is gonna be sold when he's gone. Ask yourself, out of everyone in the Bills organization, who is Ralph most likely to throw a life jacket to when the ship goes down?

 

Then find a way to make yourself valuable to Mary Owen, whatever she may be working on these days. Don't be a brown-noser or suck-up, but try to bring something to the table. If Ralph has her working in areas that will make her most employable by a future team owner (as seems likely), it wouldn't hurt to be considered a valuable contributor on the same projects - - no matter who eventually buys the team and whether or not it moves.

 

You can sleep when you're dead.

 

Good luck!

[San Jose Bills Fan]

you will prob be promoted to GM by the end of the season so you had better start preparing for who you want to draft in April. we are all counting on u so make us proud!

Freaking hilarious.

 

SJB - while I think the majority of your posts are spot on this is terrible. Norwood's career should not be defined by one kick. The Bills team lost that game. If you really want to lay blame call out Levy for being flat outcoached.

Sorry BB.

 

I've stated numerous times that the hold by Reich on the infamous field goal attempt was off (the laces faced the right sideline), and that Marv WAS outcoached and I've pointed out the numerous plays upon which the razor-thin margin could have changed… the clock mismanagement, etc.

 

I do not mean that Scott is a failure… only that he is a symbol of our failure in that game.

 

Thus in reflection (at the time I thought it was a warm, fuzzy idea) I saw no reason to honor him at this time.

 

Honor him when we are celebrating a Super Bowl victory… but at any rate, honor him AFTER Saban, Gilchrist, Flutie and several others.

 

 

[bbb]

AFCE had a stupidly early bye week that season in week 4.

 

That does make sense, because I remember the game being early October, and that was back when they started the season on Labor Day Sunday, so Week 5 would have been then.