Feigin the wizard behind Bucks’ marketing curtain
Milwaukee Bucks President Peter Feigin posed the challenge to his marketing staff: “How can we celebrate 50 years of Milwaukee Bucks basketball?”
Dustin Godsey, chief marketing officer, and Ted Loehrke, executive vice president, raised their hands.
Feigin credits Godsey and Loehrke for the “gestation” of the idea to celebrate the half-century of Bucks basketball by going back in time to play one regular season game in the 2017-’18 season at the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, formerly known as the MECCA Arena, across the street from the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
“Those two came up with the concept. Once everyone in the room heard that, we went crazy,” Feigin said.
The Arena served as the Bucks’ home from their inaugural season of 1968 until 1988. Legendary Milwaukee players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Jon McGlocklin, Bobby Dandridge, Marques Johnson, Brian Winters, Bob Lanier, Sidney Moncrief and Junior Bridgeman, along with Coach Don Nelson, helped make the franchise one of the most competitive in the NBA through the 1970s.
In 1977, the Bucks made the bold decision to allow the MECCA’s basketball floor to be designed by pop artist Robert Indiana. The colorful floor became the television signature of the franchise throughout the league.
OK. It’s one thing to have an inspired notion to play one game across the street at the Bucks’ original home. But the team needed to gain the approval of the NBA to turn that promotion into reality.
“The league made five visits. Fifty people. An alternative site. Security, facilities, food requirements, lighting. It’s a big logistical deal,” Feigin said. “This will be a celebration.”
The Bucks haven’t set a date for the
“Return to the MECCA” game, but Feigin said the contest will feature a “historical” NBA franchise opponent that also competed in the building.
Feigin is a naturalborn salesman. Both of his parents had accomplished careers in marketing.
Since coming to town in 2014, the New York City native has been a relentless promoter of the team and the successful drive to gain public support to help build the Bucks’ new $524 million arena.
The franchise has certainly benefited from Feigin’s smooth-talking persona. The team has sold 29 of 34 corporate luxury suites at the new arena. The prices of the suites range from $225,000 to $350,000 annually.
Each time a suite is sold, the buyer receives a bottle of “12 Point Pilsner” beer custombrewed by Miller Brewing Co. to celebrate the occasion. And the bottle is replaced by a cream city brick bearing the Bucks’ logo on a tote board at the team’s headquarters in Milwaukee’s Schlitz Park.
The Bucks also have sold 25 of 33 smaller “loft suites,” priced at $85,000 to $165,000 each.
The team has mock-up models of the suites at its headquarters, where
Feigin makes sales pitches to prospective corporate clients who can envision the possibilities. The pitches are even augmented by virtual reality goggles featuring the sight lines in the new arena, which will become the Bucks’ third home in the 2018-’19 season.
Joe Poehling, chairman
and CEO of Madison-based First Supply LLC, likes what Feigin and the Bucks are selling. The kitchen and bathroom supply company, which operates stores in the metro Milwaukee market, will have a suite in the new arena.
“I jumped all over it. I’m pretty excited about it. There’s such great new energy with the team. I think it’s a great growth opportunity,” Poehling said. “We’re
excited about the great visibility that it is going to provide us. Everything they (the Bucks) do is first-class.”