AFL Digital Best Practices: Melbourne Demons Elevate the Voice of the Athlete

Teams build their identity through their players. No matter your level, it's the players whose style of play, passion, approachability, and swagger define what your team's brand equates to in the minds of the public. And with social media, that voice is happening in real time, throughout the world.

But what does that mean for the team? Does it take the brand out of your hand? What I found on the Melbourne Football Club site reminded me that there's a lot that clubs can do, structure-wise, to leverage this behavior and build a connection.

At first glance, when you hit the Melbourne Demons home page, you'll note the life in the page. Specifically towards the bottom of the page, you'll note a Twitter feed pumped in. But it's more that that...



Zooming in, I found the screengrab below interesting for many reasons. First, you'll see the feed is not just the latest posts by the Demons, but also those from their athletes. You'll note that the athletes are pretty engaging (asking for recommendations on technology). And you'll note that we see player profiles plus stats all in this same geography of the site. (Can a site have "geography?" I'm going with it...)




I want to signal out one more post from athlete Nathan Jones, below. It's a simple quick hitting insight that can't help but make you, the fan, feel closer to the squad.

But what's all this mean? How could this be better? I'd love to see this section connected. How can we connect the player roster, the stats, and the Tweets all in one unit? This is the latest news, talk, and stats on the team -- and if it were concepted together, we would see something that only the Melbourne Demons could deliver -- meaning it is a sustainable piece of digital work that will build their brand. Once you do this, you create a destination for post-game write ups/q&a via Twitter, photos from the action, and more than anything pure emotion.

Great starting point that I'd love to see pushed further!

That's another week in the books - thanks for hanging with me. Come back Monday for more AFL Best Practices! As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

AFL Digital Best Practices: The Hawthorn Hawks Give Us a Personal Look Into Their Roster

When you're a team, you have more access to players than most of the rest of the world. Which makes video content a challenge, oddly enough. There's a higher expectation. And it's that expectation that keeps several teams from taking a chance. The question to ask is this: "How do you use your players in a way that brings both the athletes and the team closer to fans?" (Oh and you have to do it in a way that is ownable and that you can become famous for).

No pressure, huh?

The Hawthorn Hawks give us a great model to follow.

The journey starts on the Hawthorn YouTube page, here. I'm going to paste a series of images from their video series "Hawks at Home" below. We'll pick this up after you check out these 3 images.

What you'll note is an image of one of their athletes (Shaun Burgoyne) in his house. Then you'll see a collection of toys. And then, his dogs. When the player is at his house, with his dogs, how can he not be relaxed? And when a player lets his or her guard down, the result is magical -- we become more connected emotionally with the team, not just with the player.

Watch the video for yourself, here. Or, you can hit this same video from the Player Profile on the Hawthorn Website, here.

How could this be better? It would be great to take these videos and create a Playlist for Hawks at Home, to encourage sign up. This could be hyped and used as a way to draw fans in.

From a content standpoint, the squad should maintain the style of conversation around points that will connect them closer to fans. For example, conversations about family, pets, team, and what they love about playing for Hawthorn. There's something to asking questions that will both let that guard down and which will make the team (and players) feel more relatable. Finally, I'd love to open up the sessions to include fan questions -- a touch that we've seen before, and which makes a monster impact wherever it exists!

Come back tomorrow for more AFL Best Practices! As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

AFL Digital Best Practices: Gold Coast Suns Leverage Social Media for Fan Questions

Social Media does two things really well -- it connects people and it gives you the chance to have access into another person, team, or brand's life that you just didn't have before. When you combine those two, consistently, you get a person, team, or brand that excels in this space.

The Gold Coast Lions show us a glimpse of the power this combination can deliver.

Hit the Gold Coast home page and choose "2011 Season"...

From here, click into "Suns Social Network", which takes us to the hub of interaction, here....

It's a bit tough to read, so let's highlight the key messages:

1. They ask you to provide a question and the name of the player you want to interview and "we'll take care of the rest".
2. The best questions are rewarded with a prize from Campbell Brown's locker...

Love the strategy -- fans ask questions of players and the best get rewarded, not just by their questions being asked (which is pretty amazing on its own!) but by a team prize. So wait... I love the team and you're giving me more access and a prize? Wonderful stuff.

How could this be better? A couple of questions come to mind with an end goal of making this an incredibly personal experience. Can we bring the fan into the interview? Meaning could the player reference the fan who asked the question when giving their answer? That personal touch could have a mammoth impact.

Finally, could the prize be contextual to the player of whom you were interviewing, rather than always from one specific player? I love the strategy laid out here and believe it'll be the details that transform the concept into one that's addictive and viral.

Come back tomorrow for more AFL Best Practices! As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

AFL Digital Best Practices: Geelong Cats Ask Us to Tweet the Coach

Many people like Twitter because it gives them a chance to get a glimpse into the life of the famous. To feel closer to the celebrities and athletes/coaches/teams that you love by seeing what they feel, throughout a day. But seldom do we actually get a chance to engage with these stars on Twitter. Seldom is it actually a 2-way conversation.

The Geelong Cats found a way to create exactly this. Hit the Cats home page and you'll see it -- right in the center under "News" is a call out for "Tweet, Tweet. Tweet the Coach."

Intrigued, I click in, taking me here. As you'll note below, there is a video series created by Geelong where fans ask questions to the coaches via Twitter... and some of these questions end up in the bright spotlight.

When questions are chosen, the user who submits it is highlighted, as @selfwrongeous is highlighted below.

And the response to question is simple but authentic.

It's a pretty powerful and simple journey. Ask a question on Twitter and, if it's chosen, see it pop up on the site and on Cats TV. The barriers to entry are low (have a Twitter account and a question), and the reward is high (you become famous). Love it.

How could this be better? I would love to see the concept expand. Let's bring in players, and possibly top fans to respond to questions. This would let more fans get a chance to be elevated while also continuing the style that has me hooked. I'd also like to see Q&A on Twitter -- without the video. This could add heat and, most importantly, awareness of the video series.

Come back tomorrow for more AFL Best Practices! As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

AFL Digital Best Practices: Fremantle Dockers Create a Social Networking Hub

Time. We only have so much of it, and if you're like me, you want to dedicate as much of it as you can to your favorite squad. But we often don't find a simple dashboard that can save us the time and let us see everything, at once...

Until now.

The Fremantle Dockers deliver just this to us. Hit the Fremantle home page and click on "Freo Fun..."




Now click on "Social Network Hub" which takes us here, shown below... As you'll note, we have the latest on Twitter and Facebook pulled in, at a glance, for the fan whether or not they are currently following the team on either social network. Nice.




I like this feature, because it shows us personality and it saves us time (we don't have to go anywhere to see the personal flavor and reward you get (or don't) for following. But it leaves out a critical piece of the puzzle -- the social engagement...

So, how could this be better? This page needs a burst of energy in the form of a call to action. What do the Dockers want us to do? Naturally, we are hitting this page once and we will hit our own Facebook or Twitter feeds multiple times per day. Making it critical we accompany this page with both a reason to come back and a compelling call to sign up to follow us. Ideally both. For example, ask fans to shout out support for the next match, right from this page. And when they do so, give them the option to follow the Dockers on either Facebook or Twitter (or both)! That way the page is fresh (tied to each upcoming match) and the database of followers grows in size and engagement!

Come back tomorrow for more AFL Best Practices! As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

AFL Best Practices: Essendon Elevates the Voice of the Fan

One common theme I hear in social media is that people simply want a voice... and that social media gives them a place to share one. The amazing part is that if you, the team, can find a way to amplify that voice, you both build a deep connection with that fan and you make your team's brand feel more personal -- which builds deeper connections with more fans.

All by elevating individuals?

Check out what the Essendon Bombers deliver through digital. Hit the Essendon home page and scroll down...

You'll see a section called "FANS", which I'll paste below.


Note how they have signaled out one voice, that of fan Alan De Menezes:

"Our depth was tested tonight. The boys were looking tired but Richmond played the better footy on the night and deserved to win."

Wow - talk about singling someone out. (In a good way) As mentioned earlier, we all just want to be heard. And Essendon more than hears this fan, they amplify his voice to allow for others to do the same. If you check back often (as I did), you see that they swap out these quotes fairly regularly.

Great inspiration here.

How could this be better? Predictability. How can they make it a moment when Gail appears on the site? Could they message her, with a screen grab of the home page and a note of thanks for being so passionate on the team. Could they inspire all fans, with contests and a promise to elevate the winner to the big stage (the home page)? Feels like this is a good idea that can become great with some subtle additions!

We've made it another week. Hope you're enjoying this as we dive into a completely new sport together.

Come back Monday for more AFL Best Practices! As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy

AFL Best Practices: Collingwood Pies Incentivize Fans to Grow Their Fan Base

How proud are you of your fan base? Enough to broadcast it as the first thing one sees upon hitting your website? Enough to encourage others to recruit to grow this base?

The Collingwood Magpies offer us a clinic on how to elevate and grow their fan base.

We'll start our journey by visiting the Collingwood Magpies home page, shown below. As you can clearly tell, they are hyping the size of the fan base immediately. I quickly checked out their Facebook page (here) and found roughly 130,000 fans -- meaning this was something totally different. But what?

Scrolling down the page you'll find this image -- a call to push the Pies past the 70,000 fan threshold. (Which they have) I clicked in...

Clicking in takes you here, to the Membership home of the Collingwood Magpies. Love this idea: Become a member and get some product (lanyard, magnet, ticket wallet, bumper sticker) and some access (priority ability to purchase tickets)... plus discounts on more gear.

But it was the next level that has me buzzing: They want not just members but recruiters. "The more you recruit, the more stars and stripes you earn. The major prize winning recruiter will win a return trip for two to Europe flying with Emirates..." So, the person who brings the most new fans into the fold gets rewarded, big time.

Love this idea -- find your biggest fans and reward them.

How could this be better? This is a great start. But I'd love to add two dimensions to it. First, how can we reward the best fans not with travel, but with access to the team? Don't just let them fly somewhere. Let them fly with the team and/or sit on the sidelines during a game. Give them what they are most after -- access to their favorite team. It'll cost less, and it will return more! Secondly, I'd love to see this idea introduced into the Facebook world. They have nearly double the fan base on Facebook, and I'd love to see them ask their members to recruit new fans on Facebook, on top of new Pie Army members! If you're a fan, you'll be down with multiple ways to follow the club and this is another way of bringing your biggest fans closer to you.

That's a wrap. Come back tomorrow for more AFL Best Practices! As always, you can follow me on Twitter (I'm @pawlow34) or on Facebook (Digital Hoops Blast).

Thanks!

Andy