NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Memphis Grizzlies

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your way.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards,Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, NY Knicks, New Orleans Hornets, and the Indiana Pacers.

Our full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Memphis Grizzlies (link here)

1. Elevating the Photographer for his expertise

I really dug this. Grizzlies team photographer Joe Murphy (what a cool gig, huh?) was asked to choose his favorite photos of the team in the 2009-2010 season. This is all covered on the site, here and pictured above, in a feature entitled "Behind the Lens." Clicking in and you get a thick gallery of shots of the squad in all facets -- locker room, weight room, in game, and in the community.

As you'll note at the bottom of this image is a caption that goes into the specifics of what was striking on the picture, according to Joe. "I love how the kid is peeking over to get a look at the book..." Brilliant. Captions/comments aren't available on every photo, which is too bad. But all the pictures are fantastic.

Plus One: What if we could ask fans to submit their favorite photos of the year? Let Joe review them. Maybe the winning fan could accompany Joe and the Grizzlies on their first road trip next year? Plus the Grizz would get a deeper gallery of great images!

2. Q&A with the Grizzlies Brass

The Grizzlies are going out to get content, and it is evident in this interview with GM Chris Wallace (link here). I think this is a great lesson for all of us. The one thing that teams have that no one else has is access to their staff. And this Q&A session gets you a look into the Grizzlies prospects this offseason.

Plus One: How can we change this from being one directional messaging to being 2-way chats? At a minimum, we could ask fans to submit questions. At a maximum, what if the Grizzlies site became a destination for online chats between executives and fans?

3. Grizzlies News from around the Web

This is a pretty cool thing: The Grizzlies offer you access to news on the Grizzlies from various newspapers, blogs, and beat writers. Simple idea -- bring fans access to the hype surrounding the squad from the rest of the internet. Here's the link, and the image is below.

Plus One: If you're going to offer this access, you need to do it in a way that builds the brand. What if rather than this feed, listed by source, the Grizz instead sorted it by topics that are relevant to the team? (Team on the Rise, International Coverage, Impact on the Community, etc.) That way you not only share information: You also build your brand.

4. Community Investment Coverage in a Blog

This is pretty smart. The Grizzlies offer direct access to their community outreach programs via a blog, linked here. The mission, "Creating opportunities for Mid South Youth through community outreach, education, and sport development" is powerful. And they have a framework/platform to connect with fans on this very topic.

Plus One: Now you have the framework to report. And with it the responsibility to connect. I'd love to see this blog dive into a behind-the-scenes look at the roles the team is playing in the Memphis classrooms. Maybe we could have contests among schools to get a Grizzly to visit?

5. Grizz Girls Wallpapers

One thing's for sure. Every NBA team has a following that is very interested in their dance squad. Memphis takes an interesting strategy with their squad, offering you the chance to download your favorite Grizz Girl's own personal wallpaper, here.

Plus One: Why not make it easy to have wallpapers not just for your laptop but also for your mobile? I'm betting that'd be a much more popular venue as most guys have their phones with them at all times, while a laptop is often either a work laptop or one at home that you share with the family...

That's all.

I hope you're enjoying this ride. Check out Peter Robert Casey tomorrow (here) as he takes on the Toronto Raptors. And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the New Orleans Hornets

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your merry way to spread the gospel.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Detroit Pistons, LA Clippers, and NY Knicks.

Our full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the New Orleans Hornets (link here)

1. Photo Gallery from the fans for the fans

The Hornets build all of their fan engagement into their fan site, SwarmCity.com. Clicking in here, I was intrigued by the Photos button at the top. Clicking into it, here, gives you access to a full download of Hornets fan user-submitted photos. Solid.

Plus One: While it's great having all these photos in one place, the Hornets should consider moving this one place to be their Facebook fan photo gallery, here (shown below). Doing so would give us a couple of key things: 1) it would be very easy for pictures to be shared and 2) fans could easily tag themselves (giving some viral power to this gallery!) and add additional photos to the gallery...

2. 30 Days of Prizes for Renewing Season Tickets

This is pretty sweet. For a period of 30 days, the Hornets gave fans who renewed their season tickets a chance at winning a prize. You can check it out here and see it below -- a calendar of prizes ranging from food to tickets to electronics.

Plus One: Fans get season tickets for one big reason: they LOVE the team. So why not consider rewarding season ticket holders not with electronics or food, but rather with access. After all, you can get a TV from anyone. But who can give you access to the locker room or a private tour, or to watch the game with the GM? That could get insane...

3. Saying Thank You to Fans adds up.

Sticking in the zone of appreciation, the Clippers pulled together a YouTube video simply to say "Thank you" to their fan base. If you check this video (shown below, sadly it wouldn't let me embed this one), you'll see that while simple and heartfelt, they have opportunity for so much more...

Which leads to my Plus One: Get more personal! Rather than simply saying "Thanks", have players talk in a little more depth what they think about their home court. How much the fan presence means to them!

4. It's Easy to Share Tweets, even if you aren't on Twitter!

One of the biggest arguments against using Twitter is the statement that not everyone is up on Twitter and, thus, not everyone could participate in this. As you can see in the link here, the Clippers get after this in a very innovative way! Pay close attention to the Share button.

Essentially, the Clippers take their Twitter feed and pull it into a tab inside their Facebook page. Then every Tweet comes with an accompanied "Share" button. So you simply click "share", you get access to your list of friends with whom you can share the latest.

Who would have thought there'd be an easy way to effectively re-Tweet inside Facebook?

Plus One: The engine is here, now we could consider having destination events. For example, set up times for players to meet up with fans for a Twitter+Facebook chat. If they can do this, they create a cadence of people coming here and sharing what they see with their friends.

5. A Day in the Life of DC

Hornets cameras take you inside a day in the life of rookie Darren Collison, linked here (choose the Video Feature by using the scroll bar. I guess that life might start out at a Krispy Kreme, much like many other non-athlete types...

Plus One: Here's a case for uStream. I love the day in a life style of videos. It's access that you just can't get elsewhere. But why not make it even bigger via uStream? This would allow fans to watch DC in realtime -- and in the process shift this from being a one-way conversation into a two-way conversation.

That's all.

I hope you're enjoying this ride. Check out Peter Robert Casey on Monday (here) as he takes on the Indiana Pacers. And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the LA Clippers

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your merry way to spread the gospel.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, and the Detroit Pistons.

Our full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the LA Clippers (link here)

1. Fan of the Game

I saw this concept and got a little giddy. There's so much potential here -- we see this in stadiums when the fan of the game wins a pizza or a premium seat or something... And it's elevated to the website, linked here.

But I clicked in and got not literally a Fan of the game, but rather lots of Fans from lots of games. Still cool, but maybe it could be a little more clear? That said, there's something immensely powerful about driving fans to Clippers.com after the game to get their pics.


Plus One: This will be a controversial one. Don't see this as a profit center. See it as a marketing opportunity. Consider a partnership with Snapfish or Kodak, where fans can simply buy them for the market rate, rather than the prices below.

And, consider posting these to Facebook, where fans can tag themselves or take the pic with them - driving big numbers of eyeballs to the Clippers goods.

2. The Clippers TweetMixx

There's something great here. The Clippers have created a Twitter channel, linked here and shown below. It features an Insider channel from Baron Davis, Blake Griffin, Craig Smith, DeAndre Jordan, Rasual Butler, plus the Clippers staff. There's a "Chatter" tab that shows you the buzz from the fan community.

And, as you can see below, there's the ability to grab this and take it with you.

Plus One: How could we take this channel of Clippers experts and bring them together around events? Perhaps encourage fans to follow the Clippers Insiders during Draft Day, the Playoffs, or even March Madness? Bring fans together with the experts in big moments of time to create community.

3. Hub for all things Twitter & Facebook

The Clippers leverage their website to become a hub for all of their Facebook and Twitter pages (and as you'll see below, there's a bunch of them!) Fans can easily come here and figure out where to head next, thanks to the hub being established. Solid stuff.

Plus One: I'd love to see the Clippers pull in feeds from these sites here. Rather than just being a list, provide access to the latest posts so fans understand what they get. Or, if they aren't wanting to leave Clippers.com, you can give them a dashboard of goodness right in this space!

4. Clippers Preferred Restaurants?

Seriously. I saw this and it got my mind moving, so I had to post it. Linked here, you'll see that the Clippers are elevating partner restaurants onto their site under GameDay experience. Fans think of the sport as entertainment, so pairing key restaurants in this space makes sense.

Plus One: What if it wasn't just partner restaurants? What if this was an interactive guide to the favorite places to eat of each of the Clippers athletes? That'd be powerful stuff! Now you can see where they like to go to grab a nice meal or for a simple burger... You elevate restaurants, and you connect fans to players in a different way!

5. My Clipper Nation Tab Design

Finally, I liked the tab structure that My Clipper Nation implemented. As you'll note below, they offer access to Clippers.com, Photos, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube via tabs at the top of the page. I don't know, maybe it's because I always seem to have multiple web browsers open, but this style of navigation feels very much like iGoogle, and that's comforting to me. Well done.

Plus One: If you click on any of these tabs, it opens a new window. What if My Clipper Nation was something that let you easily move from piece to piece, all in your same experience... your same window. It'd feel inclusive and comfortable, rather than sending you into different directions. And it would keep you locked into My Clipper Nation!

That's a wrap.

I hope you're enjoying this ride. Check out Peter Robert Casey tomorrow (here) as he takes on his hometown NY Knicks. And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Golden State Warriors

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your merry way to spread the gospel.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the NJ Nets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings, and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Our full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Golden State Warriors (link here, image below).



Here's 5 things to inspire you, along with a Plus One to make each better.

1. Weekly Facebook Video Show

I am a pretty big fan of the approach Golden State is taking inside Facebook. Their Page is home to over 38,000 Warriors fans (linked here). As you can see below, they air the program Warriors Weekly inside this fan community, right onto the main wall. The results, as the astute eye will also note, are powerful... post a video, 34 people like it and there's 42 comments. What that says is that the content is hitting the community in a way that is on point.

This is also fantastic due to it's viral potential. Posting the video up onto YouTube, then embedding it inside Facebook gives you easy access to your fans, and it makes it simple for them to spread the love. So many of us make it tough to share our features, and this is a nice example of success from simplicity.

Plus One. What is the schedule? I know it's a weekly program, but what's coming next week? Who are we going to hear from, and can we, the community, have a say in it? Can you flip the idea of a schedule and turn it into a planning session?

2. A Facebook YouTube Channel You Can Share

Sticking in the zone of Facebook, I was really impressed with this piece. As you'll note below, the impressive thing is the viral potential. Look to the box on the left hand side of this page (or click here if you can't see it).

Golden State has created a YouTube Channel, then they add a feed of your friends and ask you to simply check boxes and share this with them. In the spirit of making it easy, you don't get much better. Look at the channel, click a couple of boxes and you're off.

Plus One. Can you find a way to give me status in the Warriors community by spreading the word? It'd be powerful to see not just who is in the community, but who the people are who are actively informing others!

3. The Blog Squad

Blogging has come a long way, huh? It used to be a thing only the nerds did (hopefully that's not the case any more)! The Warriors have created quite a collection of experts (players, PR, Analysts, and Dancers) and put them under a fun sounding brand. It's all accessible here.

Plus One: How do you take the collection of experts and bring them together? So it isn't a series of links but rather a group (a team?) I think that's the challenge here. And I believe a moderator who guides us through the journey would be a big step.

4. Players Websites Here...

It's nice to see the squad elevating the websites of their players. And it's amazing to think of how many players in the league likely have their own sites now! This is easy to find, and it definitely signals to the players that the team has their back in bringing fans to them.

Plus One. These need to still be even more accessible. First, take these sites and add them to the player pages (see below) -- that would feel a natural place to tout their sites!

And, second, as you'll see from Stephen Curry's site, he has a nice widget that brings you everything from his blog to Twitter and more... and you can take it and share it anywhere. (So maybe the Warriors could also take it and share it on his page!)

5. Warrior Girl Central

Build access on what you have. As you can see below and linked here, the Warriors develop an inside community on their dance squad, Warrior Girls.

The site gives you access to bios, blogs, pictures and a video gallery of the team.


Plus One. Make it easy to share. Take the strategy that worked well for their weekly video show and implement it here. (YouTube + Facebook) It'll be easy to find and share with your friends.

That's all.

I hope you're enjoying this ride. Check out Peter Robert Casey tomorrow (here) as he takes on the Pistons (not personally but in his blog). And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Sacramento Kings

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your merry way to spread the gospel.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the Nets, Timberwolves, and Wizards. Our full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

Let's take a look at the digital connections made by the Sacramento Kings (link here, image above). Here's 5 things to inspire you, along with a Plus One to make each better.

1. Celebrate what you have.

Not everyone does this, but the Kings definitely did. Hit their home page and you get stopped with a message of success. There's a splash page (shown above and you can find it here) for Tyreke Evans and his 20/5/5 rookie season... side note, wow.

This features a 4 minute highlight reel, that lets you feel the excitement the Kings have for the future. Doing this not only paints the team around success, but also shows the team that they will elevate the successes!

Plus One: Could they connect fans to this experience? Perhaps it's as simple as asking others to voice a word of congrats for Tyreke? The Kings have elevated him, but could let fans join in on the fun.

2. Full Court Press Blog

The Kings deliver a blog that features a network of 9 people close to the squad: 3 Dance Squad members, 2 team reporters, a strength coach, a VP of Basketball Operations, and 2 players into one feed. Smart, as taking 9 contributors and bringing them together makes you feel like the site is alive.

Naturally, the star of this show is rookie Tyreke Evans (shown below)...

This likely worked out even better than anticipated. The Kings signed up rookie Tyreke Evans to give insight into his season on their site. This has been an ongoing feature that you can see here. And, as his season grew, the significance of his role on the site definitely rose!

Plus One: I like this strategy a lot. Where I think this could go is for someone to moderate this conversation -- to keep all 9 of the contributors on the same topic. Rather than feeling like a feed of 9 experts, can you imagine the power if it felt like these 9 were all weighing in with different perspectives on the same topic?

3. The Kings Photo Blog

I am a big fan of photos. And I've never seen anything like this one! The Kings created a photo blog, which publishes new photos every Thursday. See this here. You can then click in and share any photo you want, as you can see below.

Plus One: The description of this blog includes this line, "Most of the images come from the Kings New Media Team, local photo bloggers, Rocky Widner and Getty Images, who license them to the Sacramento Kings for our use." So essentially, these pictures are licensed for the Kings from many sources. But how could we get fans to participate? Could we create a weekly contest, where the top fan images get posted alongside these? Seems simple but uniting!

4. The Dance Team's on Facebook

As you can see here, the Sacramento Kings Dance Team (SKDT) is on Facebook. This is pretty smart. The opportunity of jumping into the conversation with males and young girls by elevating a dance squad is big. And Facebook is a great forum to do just this. It's a different way of getting the Kings to the top of the conversation.

To top this off, they are pretty active. They treat their 1,200 fans to a deep YouTube video collection and photo galleries (see below).

Plus One: Pictures. Can the SKDT create an opportunity for fans to get their pictures taken with their favorite dancer and then grab it from Facebook? I think there is quite a bit of buzz for having yourself tagged inside an SKDT album. And buzz = more eyeballs.

5. Kings Facebook Live.

The Kings Facebook page has over 27,000 fans (link here). And they have set up Facebook to become a point of uniting the fans around topics. While there are no events scheduled now, you can see just how easy they make it. Come to the Facebook page, click on "Live", and join in the chatter.

Plus One: Schedules. I'm guessing there'll be a live event around the NBA Draft in June. There should always be updates on when to come back. If the Kings can take this foundation and build upon it with a plan for the upcoming season.... Wow.

Hope you enjoyed this. Tune in tomorrow (here) as Peter Robert Casey breaks down the 76ers. And click here to follow me on Twitter.

Andy

NBA Digital Disciple Series: 5 Learnings from the Minnesota Timberwolves

30 teams. 7 weeks. 2 bloggers. 1 mission: to share our learnings of how NBA teams uniquely leverage digital tools to build fan community.

As students, or disciples of the game, we'll supply you with the doctrine - 5 takeaways per team - and then raise you one enhancement suggestion for each learning that's highlighted. (One way to make the great even greater)

Then, we'll wrap it up, pick a winner, and send you on your merry way to spread the gospel.

Cool?

Thus far, we've covered the Nets (over on Peter Robert Casey's site - check that post here). The full schedule is available here.

Let's move.

The Timberwolves season didn't come out as they'd hoped. But that doesn't stop them from creating a great experience online, where there is energy coming at you from all directions.

Here's 5 things to inspire you, along with a Plus One to make each better.

1. Wolves Twitter Pumps Through the Home Page

This is the key to the site feeling alive -- check the image below. You can see not only the latest Tweets from the Wolves staff and roster but, as you see here, all of the fan chatter around the team. Anyone hashtagging "#Twolves" gets elevated to the home page feed. Hot.

And, as you can see at the very bottom (or here), it is synched up for a mobile experience - meaning it is really easy to track the chatter on the squad wherever you go.

Plus One: How can we bring these worlds together? You have the Featured tab of TWolves players and experts and you have the chatter tab. Can we find a way to actually drive some of the chatter by interaction? Maybe it is hosting chats and having people use custom hash tags (like #AskJonny) to steer both the tab and the conversation?

2. Wolves Nation

Wow I'm digging this. A LOT. As you can find here and in the images below, Wolves Nation is the hub of all things social media and really the destination many programs could learn from. First, they elevate the latest pictures from Flickr, Tweets, Forum posts, and YouTube videos. If it is current, it gets elevated here. And second, they give you quick links to other sites that cover the Wolves -- news sites, blogs, and fan sites.

It's this area, the Blogroll, that leads to my Plus One: What if there was an incentive for people to pump into the site. What if bloggers actually got hyped on this site? What if each of them played a role in the lead story -- the traffic that'd drive would be monstrous for them. And the level of energy that'd give to the Wolves Nation site... Wow.

3. Flynn's Playoff Tweets

Rookie Jonny Flynn is active on Twitter, shown here (and below).



He's got just over 23,000 followers. The Timberwolves have an innovative way of keeping the dialogue going when their squad is out.

The Wolves are using Jonny as a Twitter source to cover the playoffs -- shown here covering the Thunder vs Lakers series. I like seeing this, as it shows the fans there's something to learn by hitting the site even after the games are over. Nice work.

Plus One: What if there was a schedule of times to interact with the players all summer long? Each player and coach could take the stage, rotating day by day. That gives us the same "gotta be there" feeling, while keeping it close to the current squad.

4. The Wolves on Flickr

I'm a big fan of seeing the Wolves Flickr stream hit the home page. You can check it out here, or below. This is great for a few reasons: 1) you can sign up for updates by adding the Wolves as a contact. 2) you can easily browse through these pictures by album and then take the ones with you that you want, and 3) just going through these photos makes you feel more connected to the Wolves.

Plus One: What if there was an incentive for posting the best pictures to the Wolves Flickr gallery? (Or to Flickr with the Wolves as a tag?) Perhaps the best fan photo each month shows up as the home page image for a day? Or gets turned into wallpapers for others to take with them?

5. Top 5 Plays of the Week

I'm a big fan of this. Elevate your strengths, and that you are an exciting brand of basketball. Week in, week out, the T-Wolves pump the best highlights right to the home page, shown below.

Click in and you get a pretty solid video player, along with access to previous weeks of highlights.

Plus, at the end of the video, you can easily share this to your friends. I'm not sure why you can't share this via email or Twitter, but at least we have Facebook!

Plus One: Bring the fans into the conversation. Ask fans on Facebook what their favorite plays were (or ask the players) and then roll those out as the final highlight packages. This is a chance to create a conversation -- take advantage of that!

Stand by tomorrow as we keep moving. (Here's a link for our full schedule of team breakdowns).