NCAA Tournament Basketball Marketing: What we can learn from #8 Seed California

We're in search of inspiration- things that all of us can take and apply into our worlds. Then we will apply a "Plus One" method to make each inspiring thing even better. Thus far, we've looked at top seeded Duke, #2Villanova, #3 Baylor, #4 Purdue, #5 Texas A&M, #6 Notre Dame, and #7 Richmond.

Let's go.

South Region #8 Seed California: What's Inspiring about California Athletics Marketing? (Link Here)

1. Live views of campus inside the recruiting guide

There's no doubt that the gorgeous views of the Bay Area are one of the draws to attend Cal. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to not just see a photo gallery inside the Cal Recruiting section, but actually a live camera view (linked here).

It's a little ironic that this view is a cloud of fog but (as you can see below), they also offer time lapsed views when it isn't a dense wall of grey in front of you.

Plus One: The live view idea is pretty cool, but where I see the potential is in expanding the time lapsed views. Perhaps find a way to combine the time lapsed views with testimonials from student athletes on what the Cal experience meant to them! Same visuals, but give us the emotion that comes with sound.

2. Cal NCAA Tournament Central

This is something that just doesn't get old to me. Cal pumped in their 2010 NCAA Tourney preview right into the nav of their basketball pages. Linked here and shown below, you get a full on preview of their upcoming matchup (that's naturally no longer upcoming). But I think just like you would hang an NCAA tourney banner in the gym, you should also virtually hang one on the website. And that is what this could become...


Plus One: Keep this up. But update it with photos and testimonials from the Bears on their experience this year. Over time, hopefully they'll add more and more of these banners to their site, and it will become a visual experience that hits recruits with a powerful taste of success.

3. A great social media directory

Want to know what options are out there to follow the Bears? Well click no further than right here, where you get a look at the Cal Athletics accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It's a nice one-stop shop to see everything in one handy web browser.

Plus One: Give access not just to the "official" Cal sites, but also to the bloggers and twitterers who cover the programs. If you can give access to the point of view of the unbiased, you'll connect more and more fans (and recruits) into feeling the beat of your program.

That's a wrap.

What's next?

We'll be back to continue our collegiate journey Monday with a breakdown of #9 seed Louisville.

As always, you can follow along on Twitter - I'm @pawlow34.