Since the NBA season has started, I thought it would be interesting to see which teams are using Twitter to post team news and engage with fans. To identify teams that are on Twitter, I used a combination of Twellow, Twitter Search and my own investigation to identify “official” Twitter accounts of teams (ones that looked official and had links back to the official NBA team site). In many cases, a blogger or other website (ex: sportytweets.com) has established a team Twitter account to post scores and news and links back to his/her blog. I didn’t include this stuff in my investigation, since this does not count as something that is coordinated by the team itself. I haven’t spent an eternity on this and have probably missed a few things, so feel free to correct me if I have.

 NBA Teams on Twitter (official accounts)

Detroit Pistons

Chicago Bulls

Miami Heat

**update **

Philadelphia 76ers (thanks to Russell Scribetti for the find)

Portland Trailblazers (thanks to Lauren Beyer and Kelsey Thompson)

Memphis Grizzlies (thanks Lauren)

I didn’t think every team would be involved with Twitter, but I’m surprised how few are. Other teams are missing a huge opportunity for community relations. They could be providing fans with official news, updates and discounts and learning about what their fans like. Instead, they are absent from the conversation. Instead of finding Twitter updates from official team sources, fans are finding them from other bloggers and websites, and teams are missing out on the opportunity to use Twitter to drive traffic to their own websites. I wonder if the NBA’s rule that restricts teams’ marketing territories has anything to do with the lack of teams on Twitter?

Do you think teams should be on Twitter? Would you want to see updates, news and ticket discounts from your favorite team (NBA or other league) there?

1) Advertising supported - This is the main way social networks are trying to generate revenue. It’s good for the users as they get free access in exchange for seeing a few ads. This has the potential to be great for advertisers, too, as they can often target users based on various demographic info and interests. But here’s a dirty secret–click-through rates on social networks (especially Facebook) are horrible. Last I saw the CTR was about .04% …. This actually makes sense, because people go on social networks for specific purposes—they want to check out their friends profiles, pictures, videos, etc. Social network users aren’t in a shopping mindset and so aren’t likely to be looking for information about products or services. But, social networking is still a good option for increasing brand awareness as Disney found out with its MySpace page for “Step Up” and “Step Up 2 the Streets.”

It doesn’t look like ad spending on social networks will be decreasing any time soon. eMarketer says that about $2.1 billion will be spent on social networking advertising this year, with the number rising to $4.1 billion in 2011.

2) Subscription Model – This involves charging users a fee to use a site. Dating sites have been very successful with this model, but outside of this space, I’m not sure who’s operating this way. People are so used to getting things for free, that its hard to convince them to pay for social networking. There would seem to be an opportunity to offer free services and upsell people on something that includes exclusive content, access, etc…In a way, some of the college sports recruiting/news websites operate this way–gives some basic content for free and charge for premium content and message board access.

Something to think about is whether there will ever be other niche or local social networks that people will pay to be a part of…sort of like online country clubs, where membership is seen as a privilege and a status symbol. What do you think?

3) Data mining - This model involves collecting data about a group of people and selling it to an advertiser. So say Nike wants to learn more about what kind of music and movies guys 16-19 like, they would be able to purchase data from a social network that tells them what they need to know. I’m not sure if any sites are currently doing this, but it may be something to think about. Do you know any sites doing this?

4) Sponsorship – Instead of just having advertisers, it would seem to make more sense to have sponsors who are invested in helping the site grow and adding value. Sponsorship could be something as simple as giving Brand X complete ownership of a contest or section of the site, or a sponsor could take things further and partner with the site to bring users something unique and valuable.

5) Affiliate Marketing – Affiliate marketing is basically selling an outside party’s goods/services and getting a commission or fee for each sale that is made. In my opinion, this is an under-utilized method of monetization. Instead of putting up some Google ads that no one clicks on, why not offer a relevant product or service to your users? While we’ve seen that most people aren’t in a shopping mode when they’re social networking, it never hurts to test offers, especially on niche sites.
It would be pretty easy to add a “store” to the site and feature relevant products. A couple sites are currently utilizing this method:

• Go211- They are using their status as an Amazon Associate to sell products and get a commission off of each product sold in their “store.”
• SkiSpace – It looks like Bode Miller’s site has a partnership with Backcountry.com to sell items in the “gear” section of their website

That’s all I’ve got for now. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this stuff.

Have a great weekend. Hopefully the Heels can pull out the W against Kansas for a shot at the National Championship. Let’s go boys!

I’m going to go ahead and warn you that this post doesn’t really have a theme or singular focus.

Forbes has a great piece on Nike that discusses its evolution from mass marketing and organizing the company by products (shoes, shirts, hats, etc) to micromarketing, focusing on the consumer and organizing the company by sports. The article also talks about how Nike really focuses on testing and getting the details right, in addition to touching on its expansion into China (Nike is outfitting 22 of 28 Chinese Olympic teams for the Beijing Games). Definitely check out the article if you’re interested in sports business and one of the most popular brands in the industry.

Another thing the article briefly mentions is Nike+. From both a technology and community perspective, Nike+ is a great idea. The Nike+ system requires an iPod Nano and shoes with a special chip that allows runners to track their times, distance, and calories burned. Runners can upload their stats to the Nike+ website and compare them with other runners. The website takes advantage of runners’ competitive natures and allows people to join or issue challenges to their friends or other Nike+ runners. It’s also got a link to the Nike Running Blog, which features interviews, reasons to run, and other running content. Best of all, it’s regularly updated (though it’s not exactly a true “blog” because it doesn’t allow people to comment or discuss posts).

It still amazes me how ingrained Nike is in our sports culture–and just about every sport. Just a few years ago they didn’t have any presence in golf. Now they design shoes for Tiger Woods and sell them for $220. Spending $2 billion a year on marketing helps…

It will be interesting to see how Nike handles the Under Armour challenge. It seems they are both competing intensely for high school sports athletes–especially football players. Under Armour has Click-Clack and Nike has its Leave Nothing commercials. See the links below for a comparison.

Nike

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX_5tzwVz3I[/youtube]

vs.

Under Armor

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moPBR6os8Z0[/youtube]

Which commercial do you prefer?

Things should get even more interesting later this year when Under Armour releases its Prototype shoes, which I’m sure will be heavily promoted. Will UA’s new shoes be a hit with athletes? What do you think?

InterContinental Hotels Group’s Crowne Plaza has done a great job of aligning itself with golf and reaching golf travelers in the first year of its sponsorship of the PGA TOUR Crowne Plaza Invitational.

Crowne Plaza launched its first ever national ad campaign in April with golf-themed ads featuring national golf commentator/journalist David Feherty attempting to moderate an unscripted conversation among TV personality George Lopez, rocker Alice Cooper, golf legend Lee Trevino, LPGA star Natalie Gulbis and outspoke golf scribe Dan Jenkins. Not a bad crowd to hang out with. The commercials focus on the spontaneous dialogue of the group around topics such as golfing secrets, putters, and rules. According to USA Today, footage for the ads came from 18 hours of the cast ad-libbing. Crowne Plaza’s tagline is “the place to meet,” and golf has long been a great social activity for people, so it is a good vehicle for this message.

Up until recently, Crowne Plaza never even entered my mind when I thought of hotels, but now it stands out as one of the best brands that connects with golf fans. My favorite spot is the one that talks about golfing with wives. The spot opens with Natalie Gulbis talking about going on a golf date. Eventually George Lopez says, ” I think my wife would understand that I’d rather play golf with Lee Trevino than my wife.”

David Feherty responds, “I think my wife would understand that I would rather sleep with Lee Trevino than play golf with her. But that’s not a negative comment against my wife.”

You can see all six of Crowne Plaza’s golf-themed ads, plus some nice bonus footage, at its golf site.

In addition to sponsorship of its PGA TOUR event, Crowne Plaza is sending 72 average golfers to play in a pro-style tournament called the Crowne Plaza Amateur Inviational at Colonial in Ft. Worth, Texas. It also sponsors LPGA golfer Natalie Gulbis, and has some presence in Major League Baseball through InterContinental Hotels Group’s larger deal with MLB. Intercontinental Hotes Group also has deals with some MLB teams and Richard Childress Racing, in addition to some cause-related sponsorships, such as UNICEF and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Check them out here. There are definitely some good ones I’ll be adding to my RSS reader.

Twitter, which I’m currently experimenting with, is one of the things Chad talks about. He sees it basically as an RSS feed for his friends’ lives. Even though, he may not have spoken to someone in 6 weeks, Twitter allows him to feel like he knows what’s going on without actually being in contact with the person. I can see how this can be a time-saver and a good thing, but I can also see how this can be a bad thing. If you can’t make time to talk to someone every so often, chances are they aren’t that good of a friend.

Other than the Twitter stuff, see below for a couple other good quotes. For more, check out the podcast.

“If you’re going to be innovative with your media plan, be innovative with your metrics.”

“It’s not always about the volume, it’s about the quality of the participation.”

TV networks felt the same way, and spokespersons from Fox and NBC admitted their networks had rejected the ad. I don’t know if the ad should have been banned, but I still think it was too much. While Dove may have been hoping to get some buzz going for their banned commercial, Ad Age says the ad (posted in German) has received only 600 views on YouTube, and traffic to Dove’s website hasn’t increased that much.

I still need to show my mom this ad to see what she thinks. While I’m sure it does appeal to some baby boomers, most people saw through this as a publicity stunt. Dove wanted the ad to be viral and build buzz; instead it repulsed people.

Related link: Ad Age: Why Dove Oldies Aren’t on the Nets…or YouTube 

Apparently a ton of other people felt the same way, and YouTube had to turn off the comments for the video, because of the backlash. Some people even posted their own responses, and Schmuly’s video (found via Whistle Through Your Comb, a great blog by a planner/friend) is one of the best. Schmuly paints a pretty clear picture: Marketers read Wall Street Journal and think they know how to market to YouTubers, but they really have no idea what they’re getting into and are going to keep failing over and over again.

So I thought Dove might lay low for awhile after that screw-up. I’m reading Advertising Age today and I find this article, and see that Dove is using naked grannies in its newest ad for Pro Age products…

Anybody else think Dove’s taking the “be real/be yourself/everyone is beautiful” thing too far here? Watch the Dove Pro Age ad and let me know. Maybe I’m just off my rocker. Wait, I don’t even own a rocker.

The power of user-created content speaks for itself and according to Tapscott, major brands are taking advantage of this concept in creating new, innovative products and services. P & G will soon have 50% of all its new ideas coming from outside the company, Tapscott says.

It will be interesting to see how brands will attempt to control the marketplace of ideas. One area that many brands have yet to realize that they can’t/shouldn’t control is the world of blogs.
Blogs are by nature irreverent, spontaneous, and fun, though some companies have insisted on trying to censor comments, create fake blogs and misuse them to their advantage. Ultimately, however, the truth will come out and the remarkable brands will be the ones that listen to customers, acknowledge their mistakes and improve. They will create products and services that will enrich their customers’ lives, not just market things that help their margins. As the spread of ideas increases and more companies become transparent and ask for customer input, the brands that aren’t remarkable will slowly die and be forgotten.

Reid Overcash is ??? at Strategic Insights in Raleigh, NC.

What started as a documentary about war-ravaged Northern Uganda and the suffering children face ended up being spread across the Internet, downloaded to iPods and covered by CNN. The name of their project is Invisible Children.

This is a great example of how to create a story, make people care about it and get them involved. If your product is interesting/unique/beneficial enough and you can tap into all the right channels– especially, people themselves, the Internet, music, videos, iPods, TV etc.–then there’s no telling how big and influential it can become.

Research

I’ve always enjoyed the process of researching and picking out insights that can be used to understand the consumer better. However, research is a lot more than just analyzing numbers and trends. Inspiring visions rarely include numbers. Steel says that research should be geared towards creating relationships with people outside traditional facilities(aka focus groups in natural settings-if possible), so they will be more likely to tell the truth. Research should embrace unpredictability. Because even if you get a lot of consumer opinions, you have to realize that people don’t always say what they feel or can’t express it, so opinions can be misleading. Lastly, it’s important to realize that people often don’t know what they want.

The Creative Brief

I’ve always explained a creative brief as the strategy that inspires and guides creatives to create actual ads, promotions, etc. Steel says the creative brief “is the bridge between smart strategic thinking and great advertising.” Advertising which involves the consumer on an emotional and rational level. I know every agency does it’s creative briefs differently, but here are the key questions Steel believes every brief should answer: Why are we advertising at all?; What is the advertising trying to achieve?; Who are we talking to?; What do we know about them?; What’s the main idea we need to communicate?; What is the best way of planting that idea?; and How do we know we’re right?

An important thing to remember is that ultimately a brief is only as good as the resulting advertising. “You don’t have a good brief until you have a good ad,” Steel says.

Next on my books to conquer list: Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and my old school representative, The Diary of an Ad Man, by James Webb Young

In this video, he gives three examples of different triangles that can be used in thinking about a difficult problem. People think in 3s, he says, and triangles are a great way to visually show relationships between people, brands, products, etc.

Since I was inspired by the video, I came up with my own triangle, which can be used in discussing people’s reactions to a specific ad or campaign.

This triangle is useful (at least to me) in examining the relationships between how the advertising message makes people feel, what it makes them think, and how it makes them behave. For example, when I see CPB’s Burger King ad where the dude randomly squeaks, “I’m SPICY!!” I feel happy and I feel like doing something really random, too. I think it’s a cool ad, because it’s so unique. And my behavior is connected to my thoughts and feelings. At first I laughed but lately I’ve been imitating the guy. I’m SPICY! Yeah, I’m cool.

If the advertising message ilicits the intended thoughts, feelings and actions, then the advertising is doing it’s job. If not, well, it might be time for another triangle…

One that unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect.

I can’t believe George Mason keeps winning.

Ok, they beat Michigan State- must have gotten lucky, I thought. They couldn’t be that good, I thought, after they beat UNC. Then they beat Witchita State (WHO!??) and still, I thought they were a decent team, but didn’t have talent.

Now they beat UCONN, and I’m forced to admit it. They are good.

George Mason was a runt, a nobody, sort of like the kid that always gets picked last for dodgeball–because no one knows him and the few that do, know he sucks.

Now George Mason is the new hotness. And anyone who goes there or who picked them is feeling really good right now.

This got me thinking about how seemingly crappy, small brands can still be players in the big picture. Whether you like it or not, George Mason has reinvented itself as a real basketball team, just as Target went from being another K-mart to a trendy/design-focused store where you “expect more and pay less.” Similarly, New Balance was all-but forgotten by everyone except hardcore runners until they started using grassroots efforts to become the brand they are today, with a focus on function and appealing to the average person.

On an even smaller scale, a local cinderella web hosting company–Tranquil Hosting–can find a niche and do a pretty nice job of hosting websites and offering personal service, something that the big boys might not do such a good job of.

I guess the moral of the story is that sometimes cinderellas can can challenge the big boys. In sports and in the business world.