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Monday afternoon, the Phoenix Coyotes hired Jim Brewer as Vice President of Marketing and Communications. To most Coyotes fans, this announcement may seem like more useless off-season news.  I mean the majority of you are waiting on the next off-season free agent signing, right?

Phoenix Coyotes fans should be treating this announcement as if another Don Maloney was hired.

Why?

In short, the hiring of Jim Brewer into the Coyotes Marketing and Communications department has the potential to bring further stability to the Phoenix Coyotes in terms of marketing the team and bringing in much needed corporate sponsorships.

On paper, Brewer brings some impressive credentials to the Coyotes. His resume in the press release (from the Coyotes about his hiring) weaves a story of not only someone who has extensive experience in marketing and communications but also someone who has:

1) Worked in a professional sports environment (The Suns)
2) Worked in startup/policy creation situations (ASU)
3) Worked in the corporate (Suns), non-profit (Phoenix Zoo) and governmental (ASU) fields

What does this mean and why is this important to the Coyotes?

From his experience with the Suns, Brewer knows how a winning pro sports team operates and what will be needed, marketing and communication wise, for the Coyotes to be successful.   This work experience alone sends a huge message that the Coyotes are serious about building a winning tradition.

Secondly, Brewer worked in a startup/policy creation position at ASU, these skills will come in handy as the Coyotes begin to take their steps to the next level on and off the ice.   Brewer has the opportunity to develop a new path for the Coyotes in the marketing and communications realm starting from where the team currently is.

Finally, Brewer has worked in the corporate, non-profit, and governmental fields.  This means that he more than likely has a wide range of contacts and has built numerous relationships over the years to draw on in terms of corporate sponsorships for the upcoming Coyotes season.  In addition, he knows how all three types of businesses work in terms of bringing in much needed income for the Coyotes.

Now as good as this signing may be on paper, Brewer’s hiring brings up some questions:

Question #1) Again, Brewer’s resume is indeed impressive. There is no point in arguing that. However, he has zero hockey experience and, from what I can tell, zero experience in situations where a pro sports market does not identify with the team or its players. How does he plan to tackle these challenges?

When it comes to hockey, Coyotes fans are not just going to want a team that wins or just offers various specials on tickets. Don’t get me wrong, fans love a winning team and being able to get a price break on Coyotes tickets in this economy.

The thing that fans want is to identify with players on the Coyotes roster whether they are marquee players or not.

For example, take Luis Gonzalez and the recent retirement of his #20 by the Arizona Diamondbacks (D-Backs).

The D-Backs have not been able to draw fans for the 2010 season for various reasons that aren’t important in this article.  All of a sudden, not only do they sell out the Gonzalez retirement game, but said game is now the eighth largest sell out in Arizona Diamondbacks history.

Why?

Fans had a connection with Gonzalez and the 2001 D-Backs roster. 

Following the number retirement ceremony, Gonzalez met with reporters (myself included) and stated that part of the reason for the team’s success in 2001 was because of the on field chemistry. He then stated that the other part of the Diamondbacks success was off the field, which helped with the fans connect with the team during the 2001 season.

Gonzalez said to the assembled reporters, “I always poured my heart and soul into the team, staying here and doing whatever I had to do to help…(whether it was) off the field, in the community, just to try to help promote the team or do whatever we had to do and I felt like it was part of the many hats I wore here when I played with the Diamondbacks.”

THIS is something that the Phoenix Coyotes severely lack in their team marketing.

Phoenix Coyotes fans and potential fans do not have players outside of Shane Doan and perhaps Paul Bissonnette to identify with. Regular fans of the Coyotes know that there is a great makeup and chemistry on the team. However, none of the casual fans or potential fans know anything about the team and how well they work together on the ice.

Over the years, Phoenix sports fans have shown that they can and will rally behind players on a team that they identify with.

So how can fans identify with the current Coyotes roster?

Here is an idea….

How about getting Fox Sports Arizona (FNSAZ) to create a show around Coyotes forward Paul Bissonnette?

Fans may or may not remember the ‘Eric Byrnes Show’ not too long ago on FSNAZ.

Here’s a sample of the ‘Eric Byrnes Show’:

Imagine Bissonnette taking over the ‘Eric Byrnes Show’ format. Do you know how potentially fun that would be?

Question #2) There is nothing written on how good Brewer’s marketing experience is in the online world. How does he plan to address this?  The lack of attention to the Coyotes online presence and online fan base has been a head scratcher for many years.  

When it comes to the communication aspect of the Phoenix Coyotes, there is not a whole lot of information coming out about the team other than box scores and your standard interviews.

One of the main reasons I started this Coyotes site was to report on aspects of the Coyotes that did not make it in the evening news or the daily edition of the Arizona Republic.  In this town, there is only a limited amount of space and airtime; Phoenix Coyotes stories are not always included in the final product of TV/Radio/Print.

This is not a negative or a slam against other media outlets in town, its fact.  There’s sometimes no room for Phoenix Coyotes news in the local TV/Radio/Print.

Fans, in some cases, literally have been screaming for additional coverage for years and gone as far as venting their frustrations on the local media.

(Example http://coyotescorner.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9007).

Phoenix Coyotes fans need more than just basic information about a game or players. Fans want information that supplements their game experiences as well as wanting to make a connection with the Coyotes and other fans.

Two prime examples of NHL teams that ‘get’ online marketing and communications are the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks.

http://canucks.nhl.com/

http://oilers.nhl.com/

Poke around their sites and see the many and various ways fans can connect, contribute, and digest information about both teams. This includes podcasts, forums, deals for kids, and so on.

Now, I am not saying just open the floodgates open up to every blogger or wannabe writer that requests a press pass.  No, people that want to write about the Phoenix Coyotes for an upcoming season are going to need to show that they are serious about writing. In addition, they have to show the professionalism required to cover a pro sports team.

As an Editor, I personally have been in a situation where I needed to see if a writer was serious about covering a pro sports team not too long ago. 

In between the 2009 and 2010 Major League Baseball seasons, I had approached the Arizona Diamondbacks about sending a reporter to cover the team for home games during the 2010 regular season.  The D-Backs told me present them a proposal when I am ready.  I had a vision of what I wanted for the coverage and a writer in mind for the assignment.   I needed to see what this writer could do before I could approach the D-Backs for credentials.

Long story short, I built this writer a dedicated site, gave them assignments, tapped them into D-Backs press releases, and even offered them a cut of Advertising revenue for the site I built them.  They ended up flaking on the entire project without any notice or warning.

The point is that like my example above, people who are going to request credentials need to be serious about covering a pro sports team.  On the other side, the Coyotes need to start taking a long look at the local bloggers and wrtiers in the area for potential credentialling.  There are some really gifted writers/bloggers in the Phoenix area that deserve credentialing or are close to that level to where they should be credentialed.  Unless, the team starts taking a serious look at these writers, the fans need for more local team coverage will continue to suffer.

When it comes to the health and identity of the team, the Marketing and Communications of the Coyotes is probably just as important if not more important than what General Manager Don Maloney has done in terms of the player related stability of the franchise.

Like Don Maloney when he first became General Manager of the Coyotes, Jim Brewer is going to have to build a solid Marketing and Communications foundation that he can use to build and grow the Coyotes into a winning franchise for years to come.

But let’s face it, even with all the experience and connections across town, Jim Brewer has got his work cut out for him.