One of the questions I've pondered a lot is how can teams better leverage the fact that there are individuals who are literally fanatical about their product? I mean it's not something that happens a lot in the world -- where a person can literally be brought to tears (of joy or sadness) based on how a product performs. Crazy huh?
The Milwaukee Bucks have found a way to not just recognize but elevate their best fans.
Late in the season, a visit to the Bucks home page and showed a call out for their 6th Fan Blogger. Without even clicking in, I liked this -- as it's the sound of a crowd is known as the 6th Man... So let's dive in.
Clicking in, you can get the story of Jake LeRoy, the Bucks' current 6th Man. He tells us about his experience here. I'm going to paste the set up because this is a great way of understanding how much emotion, how much opportunity is right here:
"My experience as the 6th Fan Blogger for the Milwaukee Bucks as been the perfect marriage of two of my greatest passions: writing and the Bucks. I would estimate I’ve watched approximately 90 percent of Milwaukee’s games over the last 12 years. This is despite living in locations that weren’t at all conducive to watching Bucks games. Certain measures had to be taken so I could get my fix. Not taking these steps would’ve resulted in a severe Bucks deficiency and I would’ve been a shell of my former self..."
A closer look shows that not only do we get his name on the posts, but we also get a link to his Twitter profile, here (@JakesTake34). What I love about this is that the value this fan will get from being the 6th Fan Blogger (increased awareness/followers/personal brand) will last long after his tour of Bucks Duty is complete. He's now in a spot where other fans look to as an insider.
And the Bucks are asking fans to enter to be the next blogger, here. I love that you are asked to tell them in exactly 24 words why you have what it takes to be the next Blogger...
The winner gets free tickets to the games and, of course, exposure. So at no cost to the Bucks they are fueling the passions inside the strongest of their fans. Solid!
How could this be better? I'd love to have a Bucks Official Twitter list of past 6th Fans. So your tour of official duty is done, but you are still listed as an insider. I'd also love to see the Bucks create a special location on press row for the 6th Fan to live blog during games from. And publish that live blog on the scoreboard in arena, during the game... Thus raising the fan voice to levels never seen before!
Are you fired up yet?
Come back next week as we check out another best practice from the NBA. And as always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).
Thanks!
Andy
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1 comments:
Awesome post! I am a huge believer in giving fans the tools they need to promote their favorite teams. That is part of what motivated me to build unseat.me. I would love for you to take a look and let me know what you think. College basketball, coming next season, for sure.
unseat.me
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