brand building

Kobe Bryant’s Social Media Enigma

by Sam Chan|December 14th, 2010

When we think of social media in basketball, a lot of names come to mind. Shaq was the pioneer. Steve Nash engages with fans with the same smoothness he does orchestrating the basketball court. Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh make announcements on Facebook. LeBron makes notes of his haters. The list goes on, but Kobe Bryant isn’t on that list. No, Kobe Bryant doesn’t understand Twitter or the importance of building his online brand at all.

Mind you, he does have a website with attached Twitter and Facebook accounts but they are merely a microphone to announce his latest shoes, and I’m pretty sure none of it is run by him personally. In the age of social media where authentic content is key, Kobe just doesn’t quite get it.

Or that’s what he’d like all of us to think. You see, Kobe actually knows a lot more about social media than we all think. Even as he pretends not to know how to use Twitter or Facebook, he understands, maybe better than anyone, the power of building an online community.

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About Sam Chan

Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.

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From Sports Team to Social Experience

by Ash Read|October 12th, 2010

This is part of a short blog series where we take a look at how social media can be utilized to grow a sports team’s fan base, regardless of whether the team already has a large following or is starting from the grassroots level. You can see the other posts here.

In the first post of this series I covered the importance of listening in social media. Today I’m going to cover how community can help your fan base grow.

Using social media to create an online community is a great way to bring your fans together, constantly keep them thinking about your team and also reach new fans. You can also use an online community as a way to add to your teams overall experience and create brand advocates. [click to continue…]

About Ash Read

Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14

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Build a Brand Like Apple in Sports

by Gail Sideman|May 27th, 2010

When you think of brand positioning for Apple Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:AAPL) a few words come to mind: creative, quality, dynamic design and secretive.

In light of the last definition, most all information that has any hint of a new product, design or circuitry hits every mode of media within minutes. Apple’s PR department has one of the easiest, most rewarding jobs in the industry because the brand has evangelists that hang on the company’s every word, official or otherwise. Media of every kind look for an edge when it comes to reporting about the company’s latest product. It’s also been rumored that Apple leaks information to the media in an effort to set off the buzz meter about a product. It works every time.

There is a brand parallel to Apple in professional sports. His name is Brett Favre.

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About Gail Sideman

Twenty years of public relations experience, including 10 in NCAA Division I sports information during which she received national awards for her work, have helped Gail Sideman emerge as a nationally-respected publicity professional in sports, social media and publishing. She is also a veteran support staffer of sports television crews for events that include the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA regular and postseason and others. You may learn more information about Sideman's business at www.publiside.com or follow her at www.twitter.com/PUBLISIDE and www.facebook.com/gail.sideman.

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Sports Marketing + Charity + Brands = Community ROI

by Lewis Howes|February 17th, 2010

(This is a guest article by Cord Pereira)

“On behalf of the Atlanta Hawks, I’d like to thank our ownership group for recognizing that for every dollar we give away, we get three in return!”‘

These were the honest words of an Atlanta Hawks spokesperson during an acceptance speech when the organization received the “Pro Team Community Award” from the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, back in the mid 90′s. The Hawks, like all pro teams, work closely with their community charities in a multitude of ways. After all, professional sports franchises are really quasi-public utilities that are emotionally owned by their communities, and therefore an organic platform to all kinds of community programs.

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