Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
Tags
BY JOE FAVORITO
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
ON N.J. SPORTS MARKETING
The folks at Twitter should be sending flowers and thank you notes to everyone at sports leagues and media companies this week, as no one did more to grow the Twitter brand and create watercooler talk this side of Ashton Kutcher than the media Thursday.
First it was the NFL teams and their great debate over where and how blogging and Twitter postings can be done by players and the media ... and then the day-long debate over ESPN's new policy and the responses by Sports Illustrated, Fox Sports etc.
What it comes down to is the same issue that has been debated in various forms for years – message control.
If you are an NFL team you want to be able to have as much control over the message being given to the public as possible. If you are a brand or a media company you want to make sure that those on your payroll are being able to grow your brand by using the best means possible to the company. At the end of the day that is where the money is made for the brand and that's where you want fans to go for credible information.The 24/7 world we live in today creates many more distractions than ever before. So deciding what is a credible source with the right information is the challenge whether it is politics, civil defense, health care or sports and entertainment media.
What is even more interesting with regard to social media is the Wired Magazine piece on the U.S. Marines banning social media platforms, showing that the space can effectively create confusion and the spread of misinformation in life and death situations.
Now is the "Twitter in sports" debate any different from when the crisis for teams was sports radio, or college newspapers, or tabloids? No. In the end, policies for credible coverage using these media will be set, and we will move on to the next issue.
It remains more concerning that journalistic standards – and jobs – continue to disappear as media entities struggle to find profit centers that mix social media with the traditional. Social media alone still does not generate a business – but it does create buzz and lots of distractions, both good and bad.
As far as what it means for Jersey sports brands, second tier teams, including the Blue Claws with the Twitter gatherings, and Sky Blue Soccer, with their players using the platform to reach fans one on one, have effectively used the medium to build brand.
It can be a great rallying point for colleges looking to build interest. Will Rutgers use it to try and help move tickets or grow support on football Saturdays or Seton Hall for games at The Rock? But the NCAA is taking a long look at the platform with regard to recruiting.
Regardless of the outcome, social media applications will be evolving and will eventually end up as a piece, not the whole, of the way teams and brands access fans and build brand.
Joe Favorito has over 23 years of strategic communications/marketing, business development and public relations expertise in sports, entertainment, brand building, media training, television, athletic administration and business. Visit him at JoeFavorito.com.
