When fans arrive at the Red Sox's Minor League complex on Edison Avenue, they will see the first visible marketing presence brought on by the Daisuke Matsuzaka signing. The Funai Media Tent, located at the driveway entrance, is up and ready for the dozens of Japanese media members who wait for the pitcher to arrive each day.
The Red Sox announced a new partnership with Funai Electric Company on Wednesday. The Japanese company will not only have a major media presence at the club's Spring Training facilities in Fort Myers but also at Fenway Park. Financial details of the deal were not announced.
Funai, which makes and sells televisions, DVD players and recorders, cameras and other electronic equipment in North America, Europe and Japan, will have its logo on all the banners and curtains in the room at Fenway Park where the media will convene to interview Matsuzaka and reliever Hideki Okajima. Banners and curtains with the Funai logo will also be visible at interview locations when the Red Sox are on the road.
Red Sox vice president for media relations John Blake came to Boston from Texas, where he worked with the media covering Alex Rodriguez. Even with one of the game's biggest stars in Texas, Blake didn't have the 270 Spring Training credential requests like he does this year, approximately 130 of which are from Japanese media outlets.
To help brace for the sheer numbers, Blake spoke with the Mariners to see how they dealt with the Ichiro Suzuki craze before he made his American debut in 2001.
"The interest is kind of unprecedented," Blake said. "Seattle is more comparable [than Hideki Matsui in New York] since Ichiro was more of a new phenomenon at the time. That's why I sought them out. We're in much better shape. They had only 25 seats, where we have a full [Spring Training] press box and working area, along with a dining area. Space is not nearly as much of a problem as it was in Peoria [,Ariz]."
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船井と組んだのか。
The Red Sox announced a new partnership with Funai Electric Company on Wednesday. The Japanese company will not only have a major media presence at the club's Spring Training facilities in Fort Myers but also at Fenway Park. Financial details of the deal were not announced.
Funai, which makes and sells televisions, DVD players and recorders, cameras and other electronic equipment in North America, Europe and Japan, will have its logo on all the banners and curtains in the room at Fenway Park where the media will convene to interview Matsuzaka and reliever Hideki Okajima. Banners and curtains with the Funai logo will also be visible at interview locations when the Red Sox are on the road.
Red Sox vice president for media relations John Blake came to Boston from Texas, where he worked with the media covering Alex Rodriguez. Even with one of the game's biggest stars in Texas, Blake didn't have the 270 Spring Training credential requests like he does this year, approximately 130 of which are from Japanese media outlets.
To help brace for the sheer numbers, Blake spoke with the Mariners to see how they dealt with the Ichiro Suzuki craze before he made his American debut in 2001.
"The interest is kind of unprecedented," Blake said. "Seattle is more comparable [than Hideki Matsui in New York] since Ichiro was more of a new phenomenon at the time. That's why I sought them out. We're in much better shape. They had only 25 seats, where we have a full [Spring Training] press box and working area, along with a dining area. Space is not nearly as much of a problem as it was in Peoria [,Ariz]."
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船井と組んだのか。