Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Marketing: What We Can Learn from #7 St Bonaventure

There's something (or things) that every program does a fantastic job of that we can learn from. In anything you do, if you can find the good in what someone does and do more of that and then avoid what you find to be less effective, you'll end up in a better place.

Thus far our journey through the Atlantic 10 has shown us #14 St Joseph's, #13 La Salle, and #12 Saint Louis, #11 Fordham, #10 U Mass, and #9 Temple, and #8 Duquesne.

Let's keep moving.

#7 St Bonaventure

What the program is known for? You might be surprised at the history of St Bonaventure hoops. They've made the tourney 5 times, including the Final Four in 1970 and a Double-OT loss to Kentucky in 2000. Hall of Famer Bob Lanier is a Bonnie. And this is exactly the kind of lore that needs to permeate the Bonnies online.

Why are they 7th? I loved seeing St Bonaventure. The branding and organization hit me in a good way. And there's some definite creative thinking going on here, leading to a program that was one of the pleasant surprises in the A-10. What's missing is a creative extension to connect us to the Bonnies in season, from an Insider point of view.

What inspired me about St Bonaventure? (link here)


1. Every Bonnie Knows Some Bonnie


It's a clever headline.

But it's much more than that.

There's some serious power in the networks of alumni. They provide perspective, advice, and experiences that current and future student-athletes can benefit from. And one day they'll provide a network to help you find that job... once your hoops career is over.

So I loved seeing this call to get more alumni in their database elevated to the front of the athletics page. It's smart. But can they leverage the insights of those alums, much like we saw with La Salle? (here) If you get a big database and you use it not just for donations but for the power of experiences, wow.


2. Bonnies Postseason Guide


This is one of my favorite touts I've come across on any site. (bold statement, I know!) But I love this. As you can see above, the Bonnies are elevating their postseason guide. Elevate the goal. Really nice.


When you click in (above) you'll see it really is a guide to the Atlantic-10 tourney - not a big story of their goal to make it to the NCAA Tourney... But it becomes a great example of solid branding setting the tone and the impression.

It got me thinking of the possibility we all have by elevating our goals, and what we are doing to get there. Imagine if there was a statement on the website along the lines of "NCAA Tournament Plan". And within that statement was information on what the players and coaches were doing to make that dream happen. Interviews. Training. Weights. It would connect us to the program and blow us away in the process.


3. St Bonaventure Facebook

As you can see in the image above, or here, the Bonnies are incredibly active on Facebook. They've got just shy of 1600 fans, but they pump them full of inspiration around the Bonnies. Simple videos introduce us to student athletes on various teams. They seem to be shot with a flip cam, and they are simple. But that doesn't take away from the power of giving us insight into who makes up the squads and then posting it to Facebook... where fans can easily take it with them.

Now imagine if these videos were pasted into the basketball site. If the team rosters evolved based on the content that is posted into Facebook... there's an opportunity to really evolve the athletics site based on what's happening away from it.

That's it.

Tune in tomorrow as we keep moving in the Atlantic 10!