Hockey is as Russian as gulags and alcoholism. So who would've thought the Magnitogorsk Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League would need grassroots marketing to sell out a home stand for a team that is 18-7 and third in its division?
Magnitogorsk welcomed ticket buyers with a couple of new hires. The girls are well qualified, having between them several years of employment at the local house of burlesque.
The reason the team expanded its ticketing operations:
They wanted to cheer up the fans before the next home game series. Spent casting among nightclub dancers and the three offered a job at the box office!
It's reassuring to see a Russian local business do its part to chip away at the country's 5.5% unemployment rate.
Apparently, there is no secondary ticket market in Russia, and fans are forced into the antiquated practice of buying tickets at the box office. Not even StubHub is safe from the injustices of the Putin regime.
We'll see if Russia will relent from training lethal forces and copy Magnitogork in its marketing for the 2014 Winter Games.
These ladies are pure pros.
On-the-job pressure is ratcheted even higher when you have looky-loos snapping photos on cell phones outside your window. Trust me, I've been there.
Let's just hope they double check those TPS Reports.
ABC, ladies! Always Be Closing!
This is not the first time Magnitogorsk has resorted to guerrilla marketing. The club shoots an annual calendar and has Ice Girls called "Steelworkers" to entertain fans.
Yet, after this community outreach, Magnitogorsk lost its next two matches in shoot-outs. You can conjure whatever marketing gimmicks you want, but nothing sells tickets like winning. Where's Stakhanov when you need him?