Guest, Author at Social 'n Sport

The Missing Social Platform from MLB’s Home Run Derby

By Guest On July 14, 2015 In MLB with 3 Comments

Guest Post by Adam Navarrete

Last night’s Home Run Derby was an action-packed event that featured new faces and a new bracketed format. But what was missing from the festivities was usage of one of the newest social media platforms. To be fair, it wasn’t until after the Home Run Derby was over that it dawned on me:

Of the seven teams represented (Angels, Blue Jays, Cubs, Dodgers, Orioles, Rangers, & Reds), not one team used Periscope to broadcast a single at-bat from their Home Run Derby contestant, or any other content for that matter.

Taking a closer look, all seven teams (as well as Major League Baseball) have a Periscope account. And collectively, they have 128,805 followers standing by for what could have been unique access to the #HRDerby. Instead, out of the seven teams and the MLB:

Up to this point in the season, both fans and teams have been streaming everything from games to press conferences to batting practices. So missing the opportunity to share behind-the-scenes content during the Home Run Derby seemed strange. And it wasn’t due to lack of interest.

A quick search on Twitter revealed fans were using Periscope to share the moment, with one of the better ones being Todd Frazier’s final at-bat that was shared from on the field by Juan Pablo Galavis, a former professional soccer and The Bachelor contestant.

The five and a half minute clip shows Juan Pablo sitting on the American League’s side of the field, talking to All-Stars and tracking Frazier’s home runs. And it is a perpetual heart-explosion the entire time while viewers commented things like: I’m loving this, that’s amazing and thanks for doing this!

Eight hours remain in the 24-hours time limit since Juan Pablo’s Periscope went live, and so far, it has had more than 6,887 replay views, 68 live views and generated 17,872 hearts. There’s no doubt the interest in the Home Run Derby was there. According to Topsy, there were over 243,000 #HRDerby tweets last night.

Of course, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Vine were all utilized by teams during the evening, which makes Periscope’s absence even more conspicuous. Here are several unique scenarios that come to mind where teams could have used Periscope:

Social media is no longer perceived as a megaphone. It’s a means of engaging, conversing and rewarding fans. And, Periscope could have been an opportunity for teams to engage and reward fans through a unique point of view.

It would be interesting to know if the lack of Periscope usage during the Home Run Derby was a conscience decision to not use this new platform by individual teams and/or Major League Baseball. I’ll be paying closer attention to tonight’s All-Star Game to see if teams use Periscope or not. One thing is for sure though: Whatever reasons teams had for not using Periscope, it’s important for all of us in the industry to embrace – not fear – new technology that would enable us to provide fans with new and exciting access to their favorite players and teams.

This is a guest post by Adam Navarrete, co-founder & CMO at IdealSeat. Adam’s playing fields are digital media and sports marketing. Connect with him on Twitter at @AdamNavarrete.

Insight Into the University of Oregon’s Brand Campaign: “If”

By Guest On January 13, 2015 In Brand Campaign with 1 Comment

By Tammo Walter, 160over90 Newport Beach

Chances are, you know University of Oregon for its athletic accomplishments – from the birthplace of Nike innovation; to the rise of America’s greatest distance runner, Steve Prefontaine; to UO’s historic Hayward Field and ‘Track Town USA’ moniker; and its championship-material football team.

You might not know, though, about the University’s amazing academic stories. UO is an R1, AAU institution, which puts the school in a short list with the top research institutions across the nation. Still, UO is small enough in size to maintain a close community and approachable nature. It’s a place where you can run into the President at Eugene’s Saturday Market, bump into your professor on a walk to Autzen to see a football game, or sprint alongside an Olympic athlete on your morning jog.

What’s different about this campus than many others is the unique sense of academic collaboration, where innovation comes from the intersection of disciplines. Green chemistry meshes with product design. D1 Football players pursue BFAs. Students double major in cinema studies and physics.

And campus-wide, there’s what we call ‘wonderlust’ – an insatiable need to explore, ask questions, and ultimately achieve great things and find ways to change the world for the better.

So at the launch of a new brand campaign designed to elevate state, national, and international understanding of UO’s academic achievements, 160over90 leveraged Oregon athletics as a ‘handshake’ to tell the complete UO story. And it just so happens that the Ducks presented us with one of the biggest national platforms to do so – the most-watched Rose Bowl in history.

Just before the game against Florida State, Oregon rolled out its new academic website and a campaign microsite, Explore If. And a 0:30 anthem TV commercial broke during half time of the Rose Bowl, following Florida State’s spot. [If you weren’t already feeling bad for FSU, now you really did.]

The commercial is centered on the idea of ‘If.’ ‘If’ sits at the very core of the wonderlust that drives UO’s exploration, collaboration, and innovation.

The commercial was launched to over 28 million ESPN viewers and 92,000 in-stadium game-goers. And it prompted people to action. In the hour after the ad aired, Oregon’s web traffic quadrupled. Visits to the academics information page doubled, while traffic from the school’s homepage to the admissions page was six times what is was the previous year when the Ducks beat Texas in the Alamo Bowl.

The ‘If’ spot aired on ESPN [which garnered an 18.5 overnight rating] when Oregon took on Ohio State University in the College Football National Championship.

Because “If walks like a duck and quacks like a duck … and goes for it on fourth down.” “If is running the play while the other team is catching their breath.” And “If will change the game. If will change the world.”

Learn more at www.exploreif.com.

In addition to the spot, the larger campaign will employ a mix of traditional, social, and guerrilla tactics — including print ads, radio spots, Duck mascot pop-up appearances, digital billboard runs, targeted outdoor advertisements [from wallscapes to train and bus wraps] in West Coast power markets, and more — throughout the year to highlight UO’s storied history of experimentation, innovation, and collaboration. In each execution, the team behind the campaign is balancing the University’s strong local commitment with UO’s far-reaching contributions and increasingly global impact, and to affirm UO’s position among the nation’s premier academic and research universities.

A big thanks to Tammo Walter and Caleb Mezzy of 160over90 for bringing this post to life. You can follow their work at 160over90.com.

Q&A With the Miami Dolphins Social Media Manager

By Guest On January 3, 2015 In Social Media with 1 Comment

The Miami Dolphins have an extremely strong social media presence. They currently activate across five social media platforms and boast an audience over 2.6M: Facebook (2M), Twitter (379K), Instagram (232K), Snapchat and Yo. If you follow them on any of their platforms, then you’ve probably noticed their content this season. I really like what their social media team has done. From their #StrongerTogether rallying point and gameday-score graphics to their use of compelling images, they have found a way to create a community that is passionate and engaged. They get it.

Their social media manager, Vincent Pannozzo, took the time to answer questions on their approach to social media. Below he tackles everything from activating on Yo to creating engaging content. I hope you enjoy the questions / answers below. It’s always great to learn some of the best in the business!

What are the goals for the Miami Dolphins in the social space?

Our number one goal is to deliver great content to our fans. We are always looking for new and creative ways to expand and reach our fans across all platforms. To do this, we work with our content and creative teams to produce exclusive and entertaining content that engages our followers. We also work closely with our sponsorship and sales teams to help drive revenue for the organization.

You all are currently on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Yo.How do you decide what platforms to activate on?

We want to provide content to fans in the way they want to receive it. The same fan that is on Facebook may not be on Twitter or Instagram, so we want to ensure every fan has the opportunity to have a similar experience. We also realize the importance of programming to the platform; the same content that does well on Facebook may not succeed on Twitter.

The Dolphins became the first NFL team to join Yo. Can you talk about why you all decided to activate there, the type of content you are pushing and early success?

We pride ourselves on being early adapters to new technologies and platforms. When Yo approached us, we saw two opportunities with it. First, it was an opportunity to connect with current fans and expand our reach. Second, it positioned our organization as an early adopter next to major brands like the NBA and Starbucks. Yo is a network that delivers a push notification to the forefront of your phone. Because of that, we want to be cognizant of what we send to our followers and not overload them with messaging. We try to limit our messaging to about two per week.

We have found infographics and locker room victory speeches are great for Yo. Currently if a a fan sends the Miami Dolphins a “Yo,” they will receive our fight song in return delivered through Sound Cloud.

Managing five platforms for a team is no easy feat. What tips do you have on managing many platforms for other people working in sports or across large brands?

Organization, planning and communication are so important. Depending on the initiative, we may begin planning weeks or months in advance. Flexibility and adaptability are also key.

We always monitor the conversation, and when appropriate, we like to jump in. We have a few fun examples from our game against Jacksonville. The game play was going pretty slow, but on social and TV everyone was talking about the pigeon on the field. During the game, we pushed out a photo of the pigeon and it saw a great deal of engagement. The next day, with the help of our creative services team, we had the pigeon “appear” at various moments throughout the game (even changing our logo on our #StrongerTogether bug to the infamous pigeon). Listen to the conversations and interests online and adapt accordingly.

Another important key is to know your audience.

The Dolphins have good engagement across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What do you think are the three biggest keys to creating content that people want to share and engage with?

Programming to the platform.
Beautiful and Engaging Content. We pride ourselves on the content that our team is able to create. A beautiful and powerful image can tell a story within itself. Fans expect more from us, and we want to provide the best for them.
Timeliness. Breaking news and playing off emotion leads to incredible engagement. A compelling image from a game with the score posted seconds after a big win carries the excitement of the game over the social space and through the rest of the day. Likewise, we strive to own and break our news over social. Working closely with our communications team, we have been able to become the source of breaking announcements for our organization.

While we are on the topic of engagement: There’s a lot of talk about decline in organic reach on the Facebook. Have you all still seen success on the platform organically? And, what platform do you see the largest amount of reach and / or engagement?

While the changes to Facebook’s algorithm has decreased organic reach, we still see success. It is still that platform that we see the most reach on. The key is to deliver engaging and meaningful content that taps into fans’ emotions. In addition to posting organically, we are working on case studies around paid posts. We have found great success with these and continue to build out our paid strategy for the future.

I love that you all have rallied around #StrongerTogether. What’s the story behind the theme? Why did you all decide to use this hashtag versus a generic one, like #MiamiDolphins?

For us #StrongerTogether is much more than just a hashtag, it is the ethos of our organization. Much like how Nike has “Just Do It,” we have #StrongerTogether. It is also something that goes beyond just the football team. We look at it as a unifying force among the players, coaches, front office staff, fans community and business partners. We strive to build at 365-day relationship with our fans, rather than just on Sundays at the stadium.

Finally, what do you think is the next big thing in the social media and sports industry?

I think we are just at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to social media and the sports industry. As new platforms continue to emerge, I believe that we will continue to see sports teams adapt and reach fans like we have never before. In addition, I expect to see social media teams within organizations to continue to grow.

A big thanks to Vincent Pannozzo for taking the time to answer these questions. Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter: @vjpannozzo

Thanks for reading!

15 Things to Consider in Social Media + Sports in 2015

By Guest On July 22, 2015 In Best Practices, Social Media

It’s time to tackle social media trends for the year ahead. This isn’t meant to be a forecast of what’s to come per say, but a list to get you thinking about what you want to do in the New Year. I realize everyone’s goals and objectives are different, but hopefully there is something here that will align with what you want to accomplish. Without further ado, here are 15 things I would like to see in social media and sports in 2015:

No. 1- A personal approach to fans.

@USSoccer dominated on Twitter during this year’s World Cup. From a huge influencer program to stellar content, they rocked it. One of my favorite initiatives from @USSoccer was the personalized, digital jerseys (and yes we’ve seen many others follow suit since then):

I love the idea of creating personal experiences for fans because it’s a great way to “thank” them. I do realize the sports industry is fortunate: For the most part, you don’t have to beg and plea for people to pay attention. Even then, teams shouldn’t neglect fans. There will be highs and lows with teams. Social is a great opportunity to foster dedicated fans that don’t stray even when the team isn’t winning.

A personal approach to fans doesn’t have to mean personal content either. There are many initiatives where teams can surprise and delight fans through a personal touch:

Tweet a coffee to a dedicated social fan on a cold day.
Give someone a seat upgrade “just because” you saw them tweet from the game
Have a player write a handwritten note to a “super fan” and then tweet a picture of it to the fan
Personal photograph souvenir by turning a fan photo into a branded piece of content (like this example from the Seahawks)

The bottom line is this: In 2015, let your fans know you appreciate them through your online interactions. If you do, you’ll encourage them to spread your team’s love even more.

No. 2- Maximization of Facebook.

Facebook gets a lot of flack it does not deserve. Despite all the gloom and doom, it’s still the king of social media platforms. Facebook has a 90%+ reach across all ages 18 – 64. That’s pretty impressive. Facebook is still the place to play if you want to reach the largest audience,

Instead of whining about changes and falling organic reach, look in the mirror and ask if you are making the most of Facebook. Are you sharing quality content? Are you playing to pay in a strategic way? Are you leveraging the targeting options? If you want success on the platform, then you need to be able to say “yes” to all these questions. Make sure you leverage Facebook for all it has to offer in 2015.

No. 3- Interactive video.

We all know the importance of video by now. YouTube reaches more US adults ages 18 – 34 than any cable network. It’s time teams and leagues maximize their engaged audience on YouTube by leveraging annotations (clickable overlays) or an interactive video platform (choose your own path video). Doing so can help increase engagement, subscribers and make fans take action.

An example of this is from Nike: They used YouTube annotations for their LeBron video this year to drive consumers to a poster:

The simple action of clicking to download a poster is something that translates really well to teams, leagues and others in the sports industry looking to share game schedule posters, title / championship posters, TV schedules, etc. What’s the best part? YouTube allows you to add annotations to videos for free. It’s time to take advantage of them.

No. 4- Campaigns each season.

I would love to see teams and leagues think of each season as a new brand campaign. What is your team’s story this year? What can you rally your fans around?

Take a step back before each season begins and plan a “campaign”. Focus on the team’s story that season, the look and feel of your graphics, the rallying points (hashtags, phrases, etc.), content series, etc. There’s power in thinking about each season as a campaign because it differentiates content year after year, builds anticipation / story lines and gives focus to the content.

An example of this is South Carolina’s “Here” campaign:

No. 5- Convergence of the physical and digital worlds.

Teams looking to enhance the gameday experience need to give a hard look at experiential marketing. In its simplest form, experiential marketing helps to bring a brand to life in the physical space (i.e. the team) through a memorable experience. A great example of this is the Red Sox vending machine where fans tweeted for tickets:

Another play in bridging the gap between social and the physical world is repurposing social media content for in-venue. Below is a great example from the Hawks where they displayed Instagram photos on the court:

Photo courtesy of @34billy42.

Focus on bridging the gap between the social and digital world in 2015.

No. 6- A brand voice all your own.

One of the trends I wanted to see in 2014 was more personality from teams and leagues. And yes, we saw a lot more personality in social media + sports, but a lot of what I we saw was snark. It seems that there’s a misperception that brand personality means you have to be snarky. That’s not the case.

Brand voice is hard to define. I get it. But here’s a clue that you’ve nailed it: If the social media manager leaves today, and the rest of the team wants the tone and language to stay the same, then you’ve found your voice. The entire organization (top down) should buy into brand voice, especially snark. Your social media accounts reflect your brand across the board.

In 2015, I would like to see teams take a step back and actually think about what brand voice means. Find your own and know that you don’t always have to resort to gimmicks.

No. 7- Content series.

This year we saw the start of a new trend: Designing a look and feel for certain moments. Think end of quarter score updates, tip-off information, big milestones, post-game presser quotes, etc. I like this trend: Not every photo needs intensive labor, but if you have several areas where strong visuals make sense, it helps the content to stand out from all the noise. I hope we continue to see much more of this in 2015. Sharp and consistent content like the series below will help your content stand out:

Want more inspiration? You can get some here.

No. 8- Content for each platform (with mobile in mind too).

There are two parts to this thought. First, it’s time to create (or at least tweak) content for each platform. Stop hitting fans with the same content across all platforms over and over and over again. Take the time to differentiate from platform to platform, keeping in mind the audience, how consumers use the platform and what tends to resonate. Even if you want to share a photo after a win, consider sharing different ones across each platform. I’m sure you have more than one great shot to share after a big win. Why not use them all? In 2015, we need to think about our content strategy and how we can create or tweak content for each platform.

Second, it’s time to design with mobile in mind. Facebook now has 1.35B monthly active users, 864M daily active users and 703M mobile daily active users. Time spent on mobile surpassed TV this year for the first time. Mobile is big. Design with it in mind.

No. 9- Quality video.

Video content is huge these days. To get good traction though, teams need to do it the right way. In 2015, it’s time to throw out the boring talking heads and the idea that you have to churn out video content daily. Focus on creating quality video instead. I want to see more thoughtful and personal storylines, quality production and content that taps into emotion. Even in this fast-paced world, it’s worth taking the time to do video content right.

Interested in some video inspiration? Here you go.

No. 10- Less FOMO.

Bryan Srabian said it best in the lessons learned in 2014 post: Let “My Way” be your mantra. In 2015, I want to see less fear of missing out. You don’t have to jump on every new platform, tweet every game action and hijack the holiday conversations.

You can’t do it all and that’s okay. Let’s stop fearing the chance we might miss one fleeting moment. Instead, focus on generating smart, funny, emotional, great and compelling content — that’s on brand– 365 days a year. Let’s stop fearing that we’ll be last to the party if we don’t jump on the latest platform. Instead, let’s take the time to understand the why behind what we are doing. In 2015, stop fearing that we might miss out and focus on accomplishing the goals ahead.

No. 11- A content-first approach.

Repeat after me: Your role expands far beyond the platforms. Content is king, so a good social media strategy starts with a content strategy. Platforms may come and go, but the need to communicate and tell a story online is here to stay.

In 2015, start thinking about all the ways you can keep content fresh and interesting. It’s not all about text, photos and videos. The opportunities with content are endless, from photo essays to Twitter quizzes (like this example below):

Start thinking about all the types of content you can create to tell a more cohesive story. And, if you feel like you’re in a content rut, then this guide can get you started.

No. 12- Data to focus on what matters.

The sports world doesn’t struggle with content. I would argue that it has the opposite problem: There’s too much content to work with. In 2015, I would love to see the philosophy that less is more. This will allow you to focus on quality. You have x number of games a year. You don’t have to capture every little moment at every one. Instead, focus on making the big splashes.

Data can help you focus on what matters. Let it guide you:

Bucket your content into topics (like play by play, behind-the-scenes, etc.) to see what type of content resonates most. Put your energy in the topics that resonate with your fans.
Look closer at the trends: When does your content engagement peak and when does it start to fall off? Do people seem to lose interest after so many tweets?
Pay attention to sentiment.

No. 13- Off-the-field stories.

There are so many powerful and inspiring stories in sports. From the players to the fans, compelling storylines are all around. I want to see more teams and leagues focus on the stories in 2015. People connect with the off-the-field moments even more than the game scores. Emotion in sports is the common thread that ties everyone together. Focus on weaving the emotion and the stories into your content strategy.

No. 14- Podcasts.

I have to give a hat tip to both @jasonmbryant and @kfreberg for suggesting this one. As we all know, the podcast Serial has brought serious attention to the medium again. But what’s the audience like for them?

Edison Research noted that podcasts claimed 1.7% of Americans’ overall audio listening, well behind radio, which holds a whopping 52%. People that do listen to podcasts, however, tend to spend more than a quarter of their audio time with the medium. Put another way, podcast listeners might be a small group, but they are fervent consumers. – Mashable

Considering sports fans are a passionate group, there’s an opportunity to attract a bigger audience. And, there’s something about audio that forces you to focus on the heart of the matter: Powerful storytelling. A podcast can engross an audience more than any other platform because requires keen attention to paint a picture.

There are a lot of options for podcast series for sports. Some examples include:

A day in the life series, chronicling the players and people behind your team.
A journey down memory lane, featuring interviews of past players and personnel recounting the history of the team, league, etc.
Team through the fan’s eyes, tapping into the emotional connection that fans have with their teams, personal moments that meant so much, how sports bring people together, etc.

I think the key is having a fantastic host and compelling stories to follow throughout the year. If you are looking to mix things up a bit, this could be a really fun play in 2015.

No. 15- Messaging apps.

With the rise of messaging apps, from WhatsApp to Snapchat, they need to be on your radar. You don’t have to launch a presence on them today, but take the time to understand these platforms and start thinking about how your team and league can capitalize on them.

I like that these platforms have such a personal feel to them. If someone is interacting with your team there, then there’s a very good chance they have a strong affinity to it. The platforms provide a great avenue to foster more deep and personal connections. Bottom line, if they aren’t on your radar now, they need to be heading into 2015.

Now it’s your turn to sound off! What would you like to see in social media + sports in 2015?

Thanks for reading!