It's the chance to recap what we've seen in the Southeastern Conference. I'll start with a summary of the order of finish and then I'll conclude with the most inspiring pieces, regardless of team. And you'll want to come back tomorrow, when I'll hit you with the SEC All-Twitter Team.
The SEC has some powerful examples of branding. Here's how they finished.
- Kentucky. Coach Cal = most accessible coach in the SEC, by a large amount.
- Tennessee. Coach Pearl makes everything feel fun.
- Florida. Coach Donovan.com gives you the feel for playing at UF.
- Georgia. Love Coach Fox on Twitter, a lot!
- Arkansas. 360 degree tours of the training and weight room facilities.
- South Carolina. A coach-led tour of the locker room? What?
- Ole Miss. Nice Twitter presence by the basketball team.
- Vanderbilt. Best insider blog in the SEC.
- LSU. Video at the heart of both the Geaux Zone and Facebook.
- Auburn. Track the build of their new gym
- Mississippi State. Most accessible athletic department in the SEC.
- Alabama. Passionate Facebook community needs Hoops infusion.
10. Insider Blogs power South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee. Inside information seems to be the central theme in the SEC. Check out the way South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee connect with fans. Each of them powers their athletics site with a blog that gives you a personal feel for each team. It's authentic and original and well addicting.
9. Follow the UK Team on Twitter. Kentucky is the first team I've come across that really hypes their athletes on Twitter. And, if you follow them, you can't help but feel connected to the program. Here's the roster: Patrick Patterson (over 9000 followers. wow), Perry Stevenson (5500 followers), Daniel Orton (5900 followers), Darius Miller (5300 followers), and Joshua Harrellson (2400 followers, protected updates).
8. Arkansas Recruiting + Twitter. This image is powerful. I think it's the first time I've come across something this simple, yet powerful. Arkansas lists Twitter as the first, most prominent link in their Recruits Menu. Nice! (Now if only the Twitter itself was better...)
7. Florida's Locker Room Speeches and Parental Advice. BillyDonovan.com offers a couple of great features that give you a feeling of what it'd be like to join the program. First, they hit you with video of Coach Donovan's pre-game speech. Get you hyped! And, second, they offer video testimonials from former athletes and their parents. That's emotional and a serious way to connect potential players (and their families) to the program!
6. Auburn Gameday Central. This is a simple but smart feature. They bring you closer to each gameday by bringing in the latest info on both Auburn and their opposition on the site. You get all the info you need on the other team - players, schedules, results. Go scout the opposition on Auburn Athletics... and feel more connected to what's coming next.
5. Kentucky's Coach Cal.com's Interactive Box. OK, So Coach Calipari would never call this an interactive box. But technically it is -- within one box you get constant access to 4 things: What's new, the latest Tweets, the Daily update from Coach Cal, and most interestingly an interactive tracker of the charity.
4. Vanderbilt's Twitter Integration for Game Day. As you can see below, Vanderbilt integrates Twitter into their Basketball site. They also use their Twitter site as a live blog during game days. Add that together and you get an Athletics site that live updates through every game day. That's energy!
3. Tennessee's Creative Facebook Approach. I loved the branding Tennessee brought to Facebook, here. But click in and you'll see that they hold contests to win iPods, they have questions of the day, and they have scavenger hunts inside Facebook to win tickets to games. You have to love the way they connect the Facebook community to the physical world. Fun!
2. Arkansas 360 Tours of the Weight Room and Training Room. I've seen many schools offer 360 tours of their campus, or a gym. But never of the weight room and training room. That's what Arkansas delivers - and these are key parts of the athletics experience that just get left out. Cool.
1. South Carolina Locker Room Tours with a Coach! Finally, my favorite part of the SEC... South Carolina Assistant Coach Mike Boynton Jr takes you, the fan (or prospective student athlete) on a tour of the locker room, film room, and athletics offices. It's personal, it's smart, and it connects you both to the program and to the coaching staff, all at once!
That's it. Come back tomorrow as we hit you with the SEC's All-Twitter team. You don't want to miss it!
Andy
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3 comments:
Go CATS!
very nice information..Very good and elaborate analysis. Thanks
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