Marqui, Inc, a leading
provider of on-demand marketing software, today announced that the Phoenix
Suns, a Western Conference team in the National Basketball Association (NBA),
has selected the Marqui Blog Management software to streamline the management
and deployment of the team’s new interactive blog site. The Phoenix Suns’ new
blog features courtside and personal commentary from a cross-section of team
personalities, including players, trainers, commentators and dancers, making
it the first team-run blog in professional sports to capture every aspect of a
sports franchise. Marqui’s blog software — which is available via their
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model — allows the Suns to quickly and
easily post and manage blog content, enabling members of the organization to
instantly connect with fans around the world.
“Blogging provides a unique forum for the NBA and the Phoenix Suns to
reach out to its fans around the world and make following the team and players
more interactive,” said Jeramie McPeek, Vice President, Interactive Services,
Phoenix Suns. “In order to accomplish that, not only did we feel it necessary
to involve different elements of the organization — players, commentators,
etc. — but we needed a product that would allow us to easily interact with
the blog site and push out content. Marqui was chosen as it not only provided
us with robust functionality, it also allowed us to quickly deploy the product
so that our site was up and running before the start of the 2006-2007 season.
As we get more comfortable with this new marketing vehicle, we plan to make
the blog a key element in many of our multimedia marketing initiatives.”
Marqui Blog Management software, a subset of the Marqui On-demand
Marketing Software Suite, allows businesses to easily post content, images and
rich media files, such as video or podcasts, to the Web. It features
approval-based workflow so companies can control who is allowed to write or
approve blog content. In addition to Blog Management, Marqui offers a
comprehensive suite of SaaS marketing applications that simplify a broad range
of marketing activities, including e-mail campaigns, Web content management,
search engine optimization, analytics and program measurement. By combining
all of these capabilities into one Web-based suite, Marqui enables customers
to streamline marketing initiatives and improve program effectiveness without
the issues or costs associated with installing multiple single-purpose
products.
The Suns blog is frequently populated with player opinions on everything
from games and player performance to life in the off-season. For example, a
recent posting by Marcus Banks, point guard for the Phoenix Suns states,
“Well, I want to start off by saying thank you Phoenix! I have recently moved
to your wonderful town and I’m just now getting settled. As far as the team,
coaches and staff, I love everyone… the guys on the team are very fun to be
around… day one they all welcomed me to the team as if I was there last year
and that was a great feeling.” The Suns are the first professional sports
organization to also illuminate the perspectives of non-players and support
staff across several facets of the organization.
“The Phoenix Suns’ blog is demonstrative of the impact interactive
Web-based communications can have on sports team audiences,” said Dale
Borland, CEO of Marqui. “The Suns’ multi-dimensional approach to blogging
provides fans with stories from inside and outside the locker room that may
not otherwise be told and allows for two-way communication. We’re glad we’ve
been able to work with the Suns organization and help them leverage what we
feel is the industry’s premier platform for easily deploying and managing a
corporate blogging site. We look forward to working with more NBA teams and
other sports franchises in the near future.”
Further details about Marqui and the company’s Blog Management software
can be found at: http://www.marqui.com.
