West Coast Conference Basketball Marketing: #2 Portland

We'll keep moving through the West Coast Conference, looking at how programs are communicating to young athletes (or fans) from a digital point of view. Websites and digital marketing are the great equalizer -- a place where every program can share what they stand for. And I'd argue all of this is even more critical for the Mid Majors out there. Smart marketing can help build that connection that gets you the athlete you need.

Thus far our journey has shown us #8 St Mary's, #7 San Diego, #6 Gonzaga, #5 San Francisco, #4 Loyola Marymount, and #3 Pepperdine.

And then there were 2...

#2 Portland

The Digital Scouting Report

Strengths: Great job by Coach Reveno on Twitter and by the Pilots of integrating Twitter into their site

Weaknesses: Big opportunity to leverage the publicity they are getting this year, and thus far they aren't.

Full Scouting Report:
Hitting the Portland website and you are greeted with a bold callout to follow the program. In fact, this is a statement that is both visually compelling and drives you directly in.



Pretty.



My only callout here is to take the good in this but add a call to action/branding feel to it. Compare this to Syracuse's style of "Follow the Orange 24/7". Don't worry, I'll paste that one below. You'll notice a difference in emotion between the two. That's what we want to tap into...


Scrolling down the page and you'll see the Pilots Twitter feed pumped into the site. I dig this, I just wish it was higher up on the page so it was visible from the jump.




OK, let's click in. First, the Pilots on Twitter takes you here, home of their 894 followers. The site covers all Pilots programs, and they do a solid job of sharing videos, updates on programs, and pictures from the road. You'll also note in the lower left-hand side of the page they reference other Pilots on Twitter, including Head Hoops Coach Eric Reveno.




Coach Reveno is one of the best I've come across on Twitter (link here). He's got 771 followers, and hits the 3 key areas for a coach in my opinion: He's active, honest, and shares original things you can't find elsewhere.



I came across his sharing of both an update and a photo of Senior Nick Raivio as he rehabbed his Achilles injury. He posted this on game day against Pepperdine:

"Nik Raivio still out with achilles strain for 7 pm game against Pepperdine. But he is working the rehab."

And he shared this image.



Solid. Oh and it sends the message to prospective recruits that Coach is going to be with you if you are injured. Subtle.


The Pilots Facebook presence takes you here, to nearly 2300 fans. To be honest, I'm not sure what the Pilots are after on Facebook.



They aren't extremely active, or taking advantage of a chance to really interact with fans before, after, and during games. Plus, they have an opportunity to leverage their Twitter excellence here (see how Illinois State does it below, for example).


Finally, the Pilots on YouTube takes you here, to their Channel with 75 subscribers. I think the Pilots do a nice job on YouTube, offering up highlights of games and reminders of what is coming next. I'd like to see them extend these videos into Facebook, and offer ability to subscribe for basketball only but, other than that, I feel like they are in a nice spot.



OK, back to the home page you'll see a button on the left hand side for Podcasts. I clicked in and was pleased to see a list of available Coach Reveno podcasts plus the ability to subscribe. I wasn't as pumped when I realized these haven't been updated since last February... with the nice run the Pilots have had this season, I feel it's critical they get this updated and available for prospective athletes to find.



All of this content is also available via the Multimedia menu, shown below.



Moving on to the basketball section, your eyes are drawn quickly to the Videos tout on the right hand side. Let's click in...



As you can see below, you have a nice list of YouTube highlight packages of the Pilots this season. Really nice. And, by building these in YouTube and then embedding them in the site makes it easier to share and take with you, wherever you are. The only thing I'm confused about is the labeling of this area as "Videos & Photos". (It appears to be all videos to me)




Scrolling down the page you'll note the feed of Coach Reveno's Twitter account here. Very cool. I love it when a site takes the athletics site and then tailor fits it inside basketball. UP has done this. As I said earlier, the only thing I'd like to see is this bumped up higher on the page.



The Media Guide is available to either flip through online or download as a PDF. Check.



Now, what surprised me was (as you can see in this image) Coach Reveno does not make his contact info available, nor does he give you access to his Twitter feed here.



I think you should take the approach Nebraska does (see below) that allows you to at a glance follow each coach or contact them directly. I know, easy for me to say... but you do want it to be easy to connect to the Coach in some way.



The site is great. But to maximize the potential, the Pilots need to leverage the power of the national exposure they've gotten this season (see the example below of what Drake did in the MVC)... Big opportunity to build the statement of who this program is and they've had some nice publicity this year!


That's it. Come back tomorrow.

College Wednesday: Offseason Workouts = MTV Cribs of Recruiting?

Yes, they still have MTV Cribs on the air.  Here's a link to their site, where they are counting down the top 15 Teen Fab Pads.  Feel free to click for a moment -- I'll stick around and be here when you are back.

OK, glad you're back.

What was (and I guess is) great about MTV Cribs is that it gives you, the fan of an artist or athlete or actor the chance to see what it looks like inside their house, when no one is there except for that celebrity.  You can imagine what it's like to be them, in their world.  And you connect to them on a different level than before you watched the show.

That's what has struck me as amazing about this video.  Disclaimer:  It is not a polished show ala MTV Cribs.  But it gives you a look into the University of Portland hoops program.  You see what it is like in their house, when no one is around except the team and coaches.  You see how they are working out, not in the details, but in the style and intensity.  You see the facility.  You see the players and coaches interact.  And you see their gear.

Now, I stumbled onto this by reading Coach Eric Reveno's Twitter feed (link here).  And it was just that journey that had me wondering how schools can really create a connection with their potential recruits, with the families of current players, and with supporters of the program.

It really was kind of simple when you think about it -- a coach films the workouts and edits together a nice video.  It's posted on YouTube (here's their channel).  The head coach has a Twitter account and links to it, as hopefully do others in the university.  

Somewhere else, a recruit is considering this school.  They sign up to receive updates from the coach and get this link.  Suddenly they are able to visualize what it means to play in this program -- how the players interact, how hard they are pushed, and where they work out. Quickly, a connection is formed.

Somewhere else, a company is evaluating what kind of program they want to be affiliated with, to support.  They need to understand what the values are.  How hard players work.  Are they dedicated?  Is this program going to advance to the next level.  Videos like this show the inner workings of that engine.  Of the passion.  And connections are deepened.

I think we are just on the beginning.  Videos like this are quick to do, but thanks to the reach of Twitter and YouTube, they can have a monumental impact.