Welcome again to the Social Media in Sports Mid-Month Review! We had a one month hiatus, but have no fear, I am here…to bring you some of the greatest and most innovative social media ideas that sport organizations, leagues, and marketing geniuses in general have brought to the consumer over the past two months. I’ll try to make this entertaining, while still providing some insightful nuggets of information. Let’s kick things off with a VenueSeen infographic and story from Mashable by Sam Laird.
Instagram continues to pick up steam among all segments, including sports fans. According to Sam, over 40,000 photos of ballparks have been uploaded this year. And which ball park does Mr. Laird say has the most uploads? That’d be AT&T Park in San Francisco. Having been to AT&T Park, I can say this is one good-looking ballpark. Although the renowned garlic fries weren’t my cup of tea, this is one stadium that should be on every baseball fans must-see list. Check out Sam’s look at how Instagram is taking over the MLB.
Next on deck is a list of Olympic sponsors taking to social media. With the summer games around the corner, Adam Vincenzini took a look at some of the ways sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Panasonic, BP, P&G and a few others have harnessed, or in the case of some, miss-fired on the social platform. One in particular that stands out is the P&G Mums campaign. P&G has taken activation to the web, including Pinterest, where they created a board for fans to post a video thanking their mom. P&G utilizes emotion, and it works!
Another countdown I have come across this summer is by Simply Zesty. Their top 50 social media campaigns of the 1st half of the year touch on some ideas that everyone can learn from.
The guys and gals at activ8social (who you’ll hear more about later) put together this list of their top 20 teams in social media. While I think the Tampa Bay Lightning should be higher on the list, they do a terrific job of identifying those that get it right. It does a tremendous job of trying to rank organizations and create a debate among their followers. So, how well do you think they did with the rankings?
In mid-July Sam Laird, yep same guy from before, brought his side of the social media activity of the MLB All-Star game. This topic hit home and caused a “which side are you on” scenario within the Twittersphere. Half of those bloggers and researchers I saw hailed the event as a step in the right direction for social media activation in sports while the other half saw this as another example of something overplayed and overhyped. I found the All-Star events fantastic, and although the idea of social media was a little in the viewers’ face, I enjoyed seeing that a league is trying. What metrics the MLB will use to prove the success/failure of the initiative is beyond me, but I lean towards allowing one less wall between the player and the fan to be a good thing. But don’t take my word for it, check out some stats from All-Star weekend.
Nike continues to take athletes and social media activation to the next level. Earlier this year I wrote a guest blog on the steps Nike has taken. Now halfway through the year, they continue to thrive. This past month they relaunched Nike+ GPS, their mobile app, and named it Nike+ Running. Aside from a name change, Nike expanded the integration of the app with iPhone and Android, increased the social sharing aspects, updated the maps gps, and created a levels feature to harp on their new campaign “Game on World.” I am really into this entire “I can outdo you” creation Nike has innovated. Aside from making working out a competitive game, the products seem top notch. Check out some more features of the new and improved Nike+ Running.
To conclude this issue, I want to sprinkle in one non-sports social media activation idea taken to a level I have never seen before. This video speaks for itself.
This summer’s must follow is a company I mentioned before. @activ8Social, aside from having a creative company name, not only has an impressive agency presence; they also deliver knowledge with weekly review of some of the greatest case studies and white paper research . If you are someone in this community of growth and learning, don’t just follow Activ8, subscribe to their email! You won’t regret it.
I hope you enjoyed the summer edition. Tweet me @MatthewVinson with any stories or social media news you’ve picked up on. And don’t forget to check back on OSMGuy.com for the 2012 MLB Cost per Win Standings!
Until next month,
Matt Vinson+