Blog 5 Slovacek

Parker Jenkins

Blog 5

Slovacek Sausage Sponsorship

“Let’s MEAT tonights contestants!” The immense crowds at Blue Bell Park roar with excitement as the fifth inning annual sausage race is announced to begin. Antsy in their seats, the passionate Aggie baseball fans cheer on their favorite pick of the three Slovacek's sausages: Summer sausage, Jalapeano sausage and the fan favorite Beefy sausage. Snook, Texas graciously shared The Slovacek Company with the rest of us in 1957, resulting in sausage enthusiasts from all over. Later, partnering with Texas A&M Baseball, The favored meat producers decided to creatively express their meats to the hot dog craving, baseball loving fan base while also providing mid-game refreshers by the now famously known Fifth Inning Sausage Races.  

Holding the spot as the 5th team in the country for the past two years, Aggie baseball has been attracting growing numbers to their seats. By engaging the baseball fans, the  Sausage Races increase the attention on the field. The company activated their sponsorship by slowly launching their meats around campus at smaller events such as Big Event. Formulating ways to increase their brand, by using Jalapeno sausage, Summer sausage and Beefy sausage as racing competitors allows an introduction to their meat produce. Slovacek's fifth inning races was finally a technique that produced positive results. Taking this method a step further, The Slovacek Company could potentially gain more revenue by taking polls before the fifth inning and passing out coupons to the lucky winners that guessed the champion sausage of that race. Also, the staff of this company could be present at the games, working hard to inform incoming fans and passing out lists of locations currently selling their products. Watching the advertisement every fifth inning, The Slovacek Company is expanding their name as the crowd itself expands. Its a tied ball game when it comes to the Sponsorship Title between Texas A&M baseball and The Slovacek Company. 

With the variety of yells, chants, hand gestures and other Olsen traditions, being involved in the action is almost impossible to escape. Adding to the ballpark amusement, Slovacek’s meat has added a spark through a game that gets the entire crowd excited about the last out in the top of the fifth inning.  A sponsorship should be emotional, relevant, immersive, efficient but most importantly, interactive and Slovacek does just that. Interacting the crowd with the ballgame essentially leads to higher percentages in interaction in the between inning trivias, games, and more. In The Slovacek Company’s case, they allow three of their most popular  flavor sausages to race around the bases. When the jumbotron shows these three competitors lined up at home plate the fans immediately react. Shouting out the name of which sausage they believe will reach back to home plate first, the Slovacek brand definitely creates certain favoritism for themselves. Interacting with the crowds has lead to the fan favorite: Beefy Sauasge. Twitter was even brought into the picture by having an account created for Beefy to interact even more with people who may not be present at the baseball games.  The upbeat music, bright colors and the quick process grasps the attention of the fans patiently waiting to see what the remainder of the inning will bring. 

Personally, attending an Aggie baseball game would not be complete without one of the delicious Slovacek hotdogs sold at Olsen Field’s concession stands. These hotdogs are a prime example of how Slovacek is using their products in the most efficient way possible for sponsorship. Having these products be sold within the field allows the fans and guests to have first hand experience in trying these flavorful sausages. By selling out at Olsen, Slovacek is gaining more business by providing samples of their meats. Although they only really advertise through a few number of organizations and events, they make every one of them count. However, I also feel as if it hurts the  company by only advertising at very few things. Since Slovacek is only a meat factory based company it limits people to only have their product at a major event such as a baseball game or big event. Slovacek is now a widely known popular brand around the Brazos that it’s almost a given that you’ll find someone cooking one of their meats at either their home or at a tailgate.

Sponsoring is the most effective way to progress a business. Boosting the visibility of your brand is the number one way for you to stay successful. I feel as though the way Slovacek goes about their sponsoring tactics is extremely smart. They discovered a way to connect with the Aggie baseball audience while also providing a way for the fans to taste their products through selling hotdogs within the concession stands. Slovacek partnering with Aggie baseball was a fantastic way to keep their business fresh and raise recognition.