NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from West Virginia

Today we continue on 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.

Thus far, we've reviewed top seeded Kentucky.

Let's keep moving.

East #2 Seed West Virginia (link here)

What Inspires Me about the Mountaineers?

1. Leave our teams a message

This is a fascinating concept. It's really simple, but very impactful. You click into the feature and come to the image below. You have two successful programs - the men's and women's basketball teams, and you're given the opportunity to voice your appreciation for the program...

When you click into the Men's Team Page, you are taken to the image below, where you can both review posts from other fans and add your own. There's something powerful about being immersed in the world of your peers, celebrating success.

So how could this be better? I see two big things that could help.

1. Take these posts and pump them into the Men's Basketball site. Think of a Twitter ticker, like we saw in Duquesne's site, here. That way the site feels alive, like you're constantly in the sea of support!
2. Let us know how the team will receive these. Could this ticker also show up in the locker room? That'd be amazing! Or is it going to be printed out and made into signs or tees or something. I love the idea, but if you, the fan, know how they are going to be delivered to the program then.... Wow.

2. The bright light of Flip Video.

As you can see below, the men's basketball section provides inside access to interviews via Flip Video. Let's click in.

Clicking in gives you Flip Videos, loaded to YouTube, and embedded into the WVU site. That's smart. I have written about this before, but I think WVU takes this to a new level. It's simple (any of us can film with a $199 flip camera). It's easy to upload to YouTube. But doing this allows WVU to both provide realtime insider access AND make it easy to sign up to get more of these. Really smart.

How could it get better? This is super cool stuff, but could be better if they elevated this a little more. Create a big button to let people know that these Flip Cam stories are coming and intimate and available for you to subscribe. It's great, just let us know about it!

3. The WVU Widget let's you take a bit of West Virginia with you.

This is one of those things I can't believe more people aren't doing yet. It's super smart. Click in here, and you'll see this. I'll wait for you....

West Virginia makes it easy for you to take their site and pump it into your blog through this widget. Simple, and powerful. So if WVU updates their site, your blog updates as well. I'm not sure how successful these have been (I'd love to know!), but to me they are getting exponentially more viewers for every update they make thanks to this little guy.

That's a wrap.

Come back tomorrow as we keep moving through the East Region!