Let's keep moving through the Big East Conference, looking at how programs market themselves to young athletes (or fans) online. This is our chance to see how coaches and programs in a power conference stack up against each other -- and how they share what they stand for.
Here we go...
#3 South Florida
The Digital Scouting Report
Strengths: Great job of elevating their strengths via Twitter and an Interactive Guide
Weaknesses: Need to pump in more updates that connect us to this year's team.
Full Scouting Report:
First, I scroll down the home page and see this image -- solid access to a plethora of options to follow the program. (I'm not even sure what some of these are!) Let's click around.
First, the USF Youtube Channel is here. It's a pretty active channel, with 63 videos and coverage across all sports. As you can see, they have a cool name (BullsVision TV) but they don't separate videos to enable subscribing by sport.
The USF Facebook page (here) is extremely active. There are about 5500 fans, and there's a lot of video sharing and polling of the community to keep it vibrant. Solid.
Clicking on Twitter takes us here, to a well organized Twitter directory. The only callout I would have is that I'd love to see this organized by sport, not by Head Coaches and Assistant Coaches. Give me quick access to all basketball stuff together... but still, very solid work.
The USF Athletics Twitter is here, with 1100 followers and some personality to it. For example, check this comment:
"We know you have lots of options for Live Chatting & Blogging, but we want U with the Bulls on GoUSFBulls.com :) log on http://bit.ly/1KFVro"
Head Hoops Coach Stan Heath is on Twitter, shown below and linked here. Coach Heath does a wonderful job on Twitter - hitting up his 540 followers (including me) with frequent updates and insight. He also has some fun with this, posting links and commentary.
Backing out to the USF home page and highlighting the Multimedia button shows you there's another way in to all of this content. Nice.
Moving to the basketball home page, you'll again see powerful visual energy. But I'd like to turn your attention to the bottom left of this page first, which I'll zoom into.
This Feature window on the Basketball Home Page hypes ways to follow the program, with some personality. Check the caption in this image below -- Solid work!
Clicking on the Multimedia tab gets you into Bulls Vision All Access, shown below. It looks like there's a good amount of content but it is no longer Men's Basketball specific and is in a different window. All that said, the content is strong.
Clicking on "What's New?" gives you the latest Twitter post from Coach Heath. Cool. Really cool. I just wish this was hyped a little more -- pumped into the site so you know what is here. Coach Heath does such a nice job that I wish it was more clear you had this available. Maybe it's the wording that's tripping me up. "Coach Heath's Tweets" is a little wordy, but gets the point across.
Another area of opportunity would be to pump the Coach Heath Twitter into his bio page (shown below). They do a nice job of pumping in his press conference interviews, I'd just like to see his Twitter feed in here too!
Clicking on Media Guides takes you to the page below. Like many programs, they offer the ability to browse or download the printed guide for this season (and previous seasons). But they also include an Interactive Guide to the USF Bulls. Let's click in...
The Interactive USF Basketball Guide begins with an overview of the team. Who they are and what they stand for, from Coach Heath. A solid start.
USF does a nice job of selling you on the benefits of playing in the program. And I love that they think through the advantages they have and focus in on each. First, an overview of living in Tampa -- a nice warm spot for a college athlete.
Next, they give you a simple guide to the Academics programs, complete with a video tour of campus. And note the numbers - in each step below, South Florida thinks through the message they are trying to leave you with and spells it out in a bold and consistent manner. The power over the course of the site is palpable.
USF isn't known to be a pipeline to the Pros, but they have success stories which they illustrate below. I only wish they would go a little deeper on what impact each player had at USF, to help high school athletes envision themselves following the same journey.
Playing in the Big East means one big thing: media exposure. And I love the fact that USF brings this out in a clear way below. (For example, 4.5 Big East games on National TV each week. Wow.)
They move from the exposure to the success the Bulls have had. And it is a nice subtle reminder that every year nationally ranked teams are coming to play you on your home court. That's a lot of chances to make a statement.
USF talks through the philosophy and track record of Coach Heath and the Assistant Coaches in a clear way. What they have meant to the program, and what makes them who they are.
As you can see below, USF elevates Assistants - not merging them together but rather letting you know how each of the Assistant Coaches impacts the program.
USF then goes into players in a powerful way. See how they tell the story of Dominique Jones via images and video highlights. I love elevating stars, as it symbolizes that if you excel, USF will help market you.
The team is then revealed by year. Here's a powerful image of the Bulls Sophomore class.
And the USF Strength & Conditioning program is shown below - in video, images, and words. This is a critical component to maximizing your athletic potential and they do a nice job of bringing it out here.
The Locker Room. It's powerful to see what your pregame and pre-practice life will be like. And USF gives you a nice look inside.
Players care about gear. Here's a little guide to the gear the USF Bulls will wear, both on the court and off the court.
And, lastly, they end this journey with a page on how to follow the program through the season. I like this - but hate that it is the last page (not all of us make it to the end!) Either bring this to the front of the guide or build it into the navigation so it is always there!
As you can see, USF kills it in this guide. I only wish they would take this content and pump it through the site as a whole. It is great packaged together, but why not make it the heart and soul of the whole online experience?
We are down to our final two programs: Marquette and Providence. Who's it going to be?
Come back tomorrow for team #2.
Andy
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2 comments:
I was rather bored with the USF site until I found the interactive media guide. It's buried! What a waste! It should be front and center on the mens bball page!
I agree. I loved it, and don't know why it's so hidden -- like a player waiting for their opportunity to get into the game!
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