NCAA Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from the Kentucky Wildcats

Today we begin our journey into the East Region, from a marketing point of view. We're in search of inspiration - things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. And, for fans, of each team, that's a look into what makes you special.

East #1 Seed Kentucky (link here)

1. Wildcat Recaps. You can click in here to find these (shown below). But they are just incredible. Essentially, the UK team puts together highlights of each game, and then includes segments from Coach Calipari in the locker room before the game. So you're able to see and hear the pre-game talk to the Cats, followed by how that played out in the game. Amazing. And as a potential recruit, you get a look into how the team prepares for each game, how the coaches engage in the locker room, and well you just feel like you're a part of the team.

How could these get better? It's really about accelerating things - do more of these, as often as you can! The UK team could make it easier to share these clips, and to subscribe to have them sent to you the second a new one updates. This is truly fantastic!

2. Cat Scratches Blog.

Linked here, I was fully impressed by the Cat Scratches Blog on many levels. First, it does a great job as a blog. By that I mean they are timely and detailed in their posts. You get the feel (as you probably should) that this is a blog written by an insider. And you definitely feel closer to the program by reading this. Check.

But the Cat Scratches blog goes beyond this. First, they integrate the UK Athletics Twitter feed (shown below). So now, as the team updates Twitter, the blog feels more alive. That's smart and makes this all feel more dynamic.

Then, they pull in easy links to UK across the internet -- blogs and websites. I loved this! The UK team doesn't view this blog's sole job as trying to get you to spend your whole day on it. They want to connect you to the Cats. And this is one way of doing it, just like when you show up at a new job and get introduced to your teammates. Nice! The other great thing about this is that by linking out to other blogs, they are no doubt getting other blogs to link into them: and thus are amping up the reach of the UK Cat Scratches universe.

Finally, the latest comments from fans are pulled into this site, allowing you the diehard UK fan to become a part of this blog simply by shouting out about the team you no doubt love!

So how do we make this better? I'd love to see more interaction from the network of UK bloggers here, on this site. They are linked in, but how can we take those who no doubt bleed blue and allow them to help shape the path of this blog? It could be by allowing them to write on the blog. Or it could be by elevating what they are already writing on their blogs. But that collective power is something to behold.

3. Coach Calipari's energy.

We all no doubt know of the dominance Coach Calipari has on Twitter (click here if you don't!) With over 1.1 million followers, he has a passionate and enormous fan base ready to be inspired. And inspire he does, offering a combination of frequent posts (in both text and audio formats - how cool is that? (Most of us have trouble just getting to text format!) He also offers genuine support for other UK programs, and frequently shares great articles on the internet about his squad. You do feel closer to all of UK by reading his Twitter posts, which is simply fantastic.

Now if you weren't aware of this Twitter dominance, you also could find out by checking out his website, CoachCal.com (link here).

This site offers a magical box in the lower right hand corner (shown below). This offers a daily update from Cal, which can include videos (as shown below), links from the internet, or simply thoughts of the day. It's almost always updated and interesting.

As you'll see next, you can click on the other headlines in this magical box and see Coach Cal's Twitter posts...

...His Charitable goals (which is pretty powerful and elevated - no doubt showing you how important this is to Coach!)

And, finally, a list of all things new for the site. A simple glance below tells you that this site is definitely alive!

It's that energy that makes Cal effective and as followed as he is. How do we make this better? This is a tough question. I think the opportunity is to make this conversation a little more two-way. Drive more participation from this 1.1 million large network of fans. Coach will still drive this, but I'd love to see these fans get more participative in the way this site evolves!

Come back tomorrow as we move down that East bracket!