We've taken you on a 5 week journey, covering the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves,Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers,Memphis Grizzlies,Toronto Raptors, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, OKC Thunder, Charlotte Bobcats, San Antonio Spurs,Milwaukee Bucks, Portland Trailblazers, Miami Heat, Utah Jazz,Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Dallas Mavericks, and Cleveland Cavs. It's time to bring this home.
Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Los Angeles Lakers (link here)
1. The Popcorn Machine Blog
The Lakers have a brand name built around glamour. And they bring that to life in their blog, appropriately called the Popcorn Machine blog. Linked here, it combines players, coaches, broadcasters, media, and celebrities into one engine. Intrigued? Me too. Clicking in and you'll see they have posts from Brian Billick, Matt Kemp, Matthew Berry, and that's just this month!
Plus One: Give a VIP package (courtside seats and a handshake with a couple players) to a celebrity in exchange for a post on the blog about their experience. It connects the team and the glamour while connecting the posts more tightly to the team!
2. Team Player Pages
The Lakers take team pages and turn them into directories packed with excitement. Linked here and shown in the images below, you'll see that this starts out with a visually engaging look at the team...
And then clicking into a player reveals not just a bio but also access to Audio, Video, Images, and Articles on the player right here in this central spot.
Plus One: Let fans subscribe for their favorite player. And track how many subscribe to each player. This keeps fans coming back while also creating a monstrous platform for contests. Imagine only Shannon Brown subscribers have a shot at joining a chat session or winning a signed Michigan State jersey.
3. Timely photography in Facebook
The Lakers have an enormous footprint on Facebook, here, with nearly 1.1 Million fans.
But it's not the size of the group that's powerful it is how the Lakers leverage it. As you can see in the images above and below, they keep this updated with imagery and videos in real time (Artest's game winner in photos appeared right after the game, shown above). It's timely and intimate and amazing.
Finally, they take Lakers podcasts and drop them into the Facebook page as music tracks, shown below. I love that you can check out podcasts right inside Facebook -- no need to run over to NBA.com to find it!
Plus One: Release tracks here, first. If you could let fans get access to podcasts before they roll onto the site, you take what's great about the video and photo content and blow it out to another level!
4. J Peezy's Playlist
Lakers reserve Josh Powell records a podcast breaking down the music scene, here. I like this for many reasons - not the least of which is it shows a different side of a player, and builds connections between fans and a role player on the squad. Really solid stuff!
Plus One: Elevate Josh to the role of defining music in the arena, and then have him blog or record podcasts that go into why this music is timely for the squad. I think there's so much that can be gained by letting fans in on who the squad is listening to in order to get amped up, and why!
5. Laker Girls Fitness Profiles
Many NBA teams get exposure from their dance squad. But perhaps no one gets more than the Lakers, with their Laker Girls elevated into the main navigation, shown below and linked here.
Clicking into the Laker Girls Fitness Profiles is really interesting! As they put it "The Laker Girls are more than just skilled dancers and icons, they're also incredibly fit. We asked each Laker Girl what her secret is to staying fit."
Wow.
Why is this so powerful? Because they step out of the obvious box of appealing to single men with calendars. They take the Laker Girls and are positioning them as role models for young women -- how to stay active and fit, and also excel in other places.
Amazing stuff!!!
Plus One: Develop related content. I think we could see favorite recipes and favorite restaurants as easy messages that would really add onto this experience. And look at how they could provide fitness programs to help women and teens get in shape.
That's it. 30 teams. Now it's time to shift into the next phase: What's all this mean? Tune in on Monday as Peter Robert Casey hits us with an Eastern Conference Wrap (here). And then I'll take you through the West on Tuesday. You can follow along with us on Twitter. He's@peter_r_casey. And I'm @pawlow34.
Andy
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