The Altoona Curve of Minor League Baseball have announced their own plan to ease the current troubled climate in the United States economy by introducing the “Curve Economic Stimulus Plan.” At their April 20 game, the team will give the first 1,000 fans (15 and over) a $5 gift card that they can spend freely during the 2008 season, whether on concession items, merchandise, or future game tickets. (Team PR)

A timely and clever promotion in Altoona. Couple points to add into the discussion.

Gift Cards: They are actually a great value to give away, since the value is often unused or underused:

As for gift cards — well, let’s just say there is good reason that they are known within the retail industry as a stored-value product: they store their value very well, and often permanently. The financial-services research firm TowerGroup estimates that of the $80 billion spent on gift cards in 2006, roughly $8 billion will never be redeemed — “a bigger impact on consumers,” Tower notes, “than the combined total of both debit- and credit-card fraud.” A survey by Marketing Workshop Inc. found that only 30 percent of recipients use a gift card within a month of receiving it, while Consumer Reports estimates that 19 percent of the people who received a gift card in 2005 never used it. (NYtimes)

So giving away cards with a clear $5 value, might mean that you are only spending $3-$4 on the card. In addtional, giving away a $5 gift card in the team shop is obviously going to provide a lot of shopping opportunites for fans in a place where team mark ups often exceed 40%….another profitable move.

Value: $5 doesn’t sound like a lot, but with Curve tickets ranging from $14 to $5, this represents a strong discount value for fans.

The promotion is also timely and clever. I would have like to see the promotion be extended and woven into the game presentation more, perhaps with additional sponsor gifts cards given out in-game. But as a stand alone game promotion this is another strong effort from the team in Altoona.

–Cudo