What is the best way to introduce the public to paintball?

[Tony Harrison]

Baca Loco at VFTDB is running a poll titled "What is the best way to sell paintball to the public?"

Here's a link:-

http://viewfromthedeadbox.blogspot.com/2010/10/tuesday-monday-poll.html

I haven't voted in it, as I think the question needed to be adjusted a little, as I have done so above.

And the answer isn't 42.

My view is that at the moment, we are essentially preaching to the converted. We know about paintball stores, teams and tournaments because we are "in the loop" already.

So where is the advertising link that connects paintball stores and tournaments to the outside world?

Well, apart from the internet, there isn't one.

Paintball stores in the UK are traditionally located in out of the way places - as in away from the high street.

Tournaments are also traditionally located at existing paintball sites, with the notable exceptions of the exhibition events that the CPPS put on in 2009, the Campaign Cup, HB and the World Cup.

Now, I can understand the financial reasoning in this. High Street or shopping centre stores cost a lot of rent, and the added footfall and "passing trade" you get from a prime location may not stack up sales-wise to make such a store commercially viable.

However, if a manufacturer with enough financial muscle - say, Planet - partnered up with an existing chain of sports stores to sell paintball gear - say, JD Sports - what if?

Turning to tournaments, things get a lot more difficult. As soon as you move away from an existing paintball site, costs rocket, which usually result in the event making a loss, or at best breaking even.

However, I understand that the Council of Polk City - where the PSP World Cup is held at the moment - paid a financial incentive to the PSP so they would hold the event there.

On the back of this, and given that Blackpool Council were very receptive to a paintball event on the promenade when the idea was first floated, I don't think that it is beyond the realms of possibility that another exhibition event will take place in the UK.

To summarise, I think the best way to introduce the public to paintball is to have a high street presence and to have tournaments in town or city centres.

 

[cowface]

advertisement,

adverstising events to the public , exhibition games are a good idea and would like to see more locations being used for events which are easy access to the public

I have always had this idea to have a small astro area in the middle of a town centre with 3 or 4 bunkers with a few guys doing drills etc etc, then having a stand showing what it is all about. But then, that costs money....

 

[Tony Harrison]

Actually, I have an idea in the pipeline - I'll let you know if anything comes of it.

 

[cowface]

actions like this would benefit the industry but not to an individual (unless your advertising your company/team) so the best person/company etc to perform such an action would be a governing body , like the UKPSF or the federation team etc etc . A representative of the sport to hold such events in the interest of the sport to gain public awareness

 

[Sinister]

There's a massive problem with Eclipse approaching retailers such as JD Sports. First off, JD is a pretty bad example considering it's more fashion based than it is sporting goods - so JJB would be a better example as their larger stores provide equipment for a multitude of sports. Regardless, however, if I was to wander into my local JJB outlet - I'll walk straight past golf, cricket, tennis, darts, snooker and any other sports equipment that I have little or no interest in.

I work in retail (men's fashion, granted, but retail all the same), and without trying to disrespect anyone's shopping habits.. the large majority of men don't like shopping; regardless of what it's for (with few exceptions, cars being one of them). Even in stores like JJB, customers know what they're heading there for - even if it's a broad an objective as buying a pair of trainers, and they have absolutely no idea which trainers they're looking to buy - they're still buying trainers, and they couldn't care less about the Ego11 and the replica paintball jerseys on sale.

You can't begin to supply without adequate demand. Planet, in all their financial and manufacturing muscle, would be extraordinarily lucky to have a high-street retailer take on their product - even a sample batch. If they could get into a store of some description, prices would likely increase because said retailer would want to make their own profit on whatever product they're distributing. Regardless, even if you were to stock Planet Eclipse gear (all the way from markers to pads) in a major retailer - you're not going to stir up any form of interest in consumers playing paintball. They have to want to play first, then invest in equipment; especially when equipment doesn't come cheap.



In terms of having exhibition games - you've touched on the subject of councils supporting the sport, and quite frankly, it's a brilliant idea. It's very unlikely you'll ever see a field set-up in your town centre however, but if the council happens to own land in the local area - you might just find they entertain the idea - and help with marketing and such; providing they get to be involved in some capacity, I would assume. What you really need is one of the Sup Air Arenas that inflate in 4-parts with ready-made netting etc (I suggest you check out the SupAir website if you haven't a clue what I'm referring to) - but then again, you need someone with the financial clout and willing to make something like that become a reality.

I honestly believe Syd has a fantastic setup with the King of the Hill division - it's an effective way of allowing people to get teams together and borrow rental gear at a decent price - however, there's minimal marketing for it, and obviously it's geographically restricted. Tourney ball would benefit from a punter site that offers something different to woodsball and is advertised as such (might need cheaper paint though!)


Didn't mean to be too negative; just throwing it out there as a realist

 

[cowface]

personally totally agree with you regarding the outlet theory , its why i hadn’t comment on it. But i am very strong on the advertisement for public awareness, to me its not about getting players into the sport, its about getting public to events to watch paintball, then you can develop the interest into playing it after you have build up a pool of potential players.
I love rugby, i go to matches, i watch it on TV, but i don’t play rugby. Same with Snooker, its interest generating money to the sport which keeps it alive.

 

[Buddha 3]

One way that's proven to work is to involve site owners in promoting the game. Unfortunately a lot of owners, particularly the smaller ones, have conflicting interests when it comes to this.

A paintball site in Holland used to run "open days". Regular punters would still come and play, but there would also be fields available for walk ons (and club members, but that's beside the point). The punters would see people of all levels, woodsballers, Sup'Air ballers and so on, walk around in their gear, plus there would be a little market stall set up from where gear would be sold. A lot of this gear would be from the reasonably priced range, showing to the punters that it's not too expensive to get into paintball.
Now the guy that ran the site had a vented interest in converting people to become regular players. Along with the field, he also ran a distribution and retail operation and yes, a walk on or club member would generate less income for him per day of play, but most of these guys played AT LEAST once a month, where as a punter plays less than once a year, it was still good business sense. This site "converted" a lot of people into paintballers.

This also ties in with what's being said about retail above. After all, the punters that happen to show up on one of the open days are guaranteed to be at least interested in paintball, so they are inclined to come and have look at the stall.
What this does take though is dedicated and knowledgable staff.

 

[Bambulus]

personally totally agree with you regarding the outlet theory , its why i hadn’t comment on it. But i am very strong on the advertisement for public awareness, to me its not about getting players into the sport, its about getting public to events to watch paintball, then you can develop the interest into playing it after you have build up a pool of potential players.
I love rugby, i go to matches, i watch it on TV, but i don’t play rugby. Same with Snooker, its interest generating money to the sport which keeps it alive.

That brings up another debate though - Is Paintball a watchable game, especially to those that don't play?

I always have a fantasy of walking out of my front door, onto the gargantuan park that I cross each day and finding a couple of supair fields there.

Unlikely, I know, but something has to keep my mind occupied on my way to uni

 

[Bolter]

That brings up another debate though - Is Paintball a watchable game, especially to those that don't play?

I always have a fantasy of walking out of my front door, onto the gargantuan park that I cross each day and finding a couple of supair fields there.

Unlikely, I know, but something has to keep my mind occupied on my way to uni

Formula 5 is more watchable I think. Everyone is continuously fighting for the buzzers. Its the biggest focal point that has ever been in a paintball game.

(i still dont think its watchable for more than 5 minutes for Joe Public though)

 

[Blue Beanie]

what about if some sites around the uk with supair fields, what if the teams who train there all put in X amount of money for an open day which is well advertised (maybe homemade leaflets or if you have a designer in the team use there skills and count them as their input to the day) to the general public, family and friends where interested players all come and get a hopper of paint, a rental gun (or players could lend out their markers or backups) and they can have a try at a few x on x games with the teams marshalling, handing out tips, and occasionly playing alongside them (not overshooting them or playing as you would in a tournie) and make the whole day just bit of fun, and the teams there could use it as an opportunity to recruit new players meaning they will think of this day as an investment as the players they recruit should cover the £X amount each as it would probs be under a fiver, or max under a tenner
this is just an idea so what do you think?
what do you think