I read a book called Emotional Branding over two years ago. The book was basically about how brands should appeal to people’s senses and emotions in order to stand out and get people engaged. It’s a very interesting book, if you ever have a chance to read it.

Flash forward to today when I was trying to come up with a post because it’s been too long since I last wrote on here. Somehow I thought back to Emotional Branding and started to think about how social networking sites and blogs can use some of these principles to grow their audience and interact with them.

Sports social networks and communities should especially be thinking about emotions. For many sports fans, there are few things that evoke as much emotion and passion than sports–intense feelings for a favorite team or player, or intense hatred for the rival player/team. There are different stages and types of emotion that hardcore sports fans experience. These range from the anticipation/excitement that is felt leading up to a big game, to the joy or sadness felt due to a big win/loss, which often affects people’s moods for days. Of course, there are many, many other emotions but the point is that sports (more than many other interests) is full of passion and emotion.

While it is pretty clear that sports social networks and online sponsorship will play a huge role in the future (see Pat Coyle’s “Think outside the stadium” post), there is no substitute for the game experience. There is nothing like the visual/sensory experience of being in a packed stadium or arena and cheering for your favorite team. While websites may be able to reach more people, one thing that is sometimes missing is the emotional factor.

In order to build community and increase engagement, teams/leagues/brands need to tap into the emotions (especially in sports). Just as food/beverage marketers have gotten us to think “it’s no longer about eating food; it’s about body management, refreshment, winning, etc.” social networks need to move beyond the tired notion of “connecting” and speak to what it really means for people. They should be thinking about taking some of the typical sports emotions and feelings–competitiveness, loyalty, pride, etc—and figuring out how to bring them online.

Some things to think about to get started with this might be:

• If my brand was a person, who would it be, how would he/she act, etc?
• What core emotions and beliefs does my audience have when engaging in the sport/activity/interest that my social network caters to?
• How can we brand our social network/community and integrate contests/promotions/ongoing elements that evoke these emotions?

Would love to know what your thoughts are about this stuff. I’m off to a concert, so I hope everyone has a great weekend.

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