Digital and Social Media Sports
A business-minded look at digital and social media in sports
On episode 166 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Brad Friedman, Social Media Manager for the Minor League Baseball.
What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher.
On episode 164 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Matt Lawler, Director of Digital Media, AEG Global Partnerships.
What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher.
It’s never been easier for a brand to tell its story in this era of digital and social media. But it has also never been more difficult to drive people to actually engage with and relate to those stories.
Brands can pay for attention – as they’ve been able to do for decades – but those that are ahead of the curve today aren’t creating ads that interrupt, they’re creating content that inspires. They’re not engaging in standard ‘best practices,’ they’re creating what’s next – the best practices of tomorrow.
For years, Hitachi Motorsports has been lauded for their forward-thinking tech like their fuel injectors, which plays out each week fueling every car in the IndyCar series, but as the 2019 season approached, the global brand knew they had an opportunity to push their sponsorship and reach further, engaging consumers like never before. As Hitachi headed into what would prove to be a monumental second year with driver Josef Newgarden, they collaborated with digital agency MKTG to activate with the inventive speed, innovation and teamwork that the Hitachi Motorsports brand represents.
Hitachi has activated their Indycar racing sponsorship across digital with MKTG since 2014, and this year they created the brand’s new racing handle on Instagram, allowing Hitachi Motorsports to connect with a highly visual audience via inspirational, original visual storytelling – a feed-first essential to inspire in our social media, feed-first world of 2019.
“We knew our microsite for Hitachi Motorsports US, which details the racing partnership and celebrates Josef Newgarden all season long wouldn’t be enough,” said Gavin Blawie, Senior Vice President – Strategy and Digital at MKTG. “We also wanted to push Hitachi Motorsports and Josef’s winning season story on Instagram with original, shareable stories as told by multiple artists working in partnership with the brand.”
When it comes to capturing attention and engagement in the feed, eye-catching, aesthetically awesome content reigns supreme, particularly the visual-first mediums like Instagram. Hitachi Motorsports has created inspiring content for years, but with the new Instagram account the opportunity for break through work led to Hitachi’s Artist of the Race Series – a season-long celebration of Josef, his story, and the sport through visually stunning, original brand content by a recruited roster of talented artists built to stand out in the feed. The agency brought on a group of elite artists to create their interpretations of Newgarden and the ongoing story of his drive to a championship IndyCar season. Each race meant the unveiling of something fans had never seen before, representing Newgarden and the excitement and precision playing out on each of the unique tracks around the continent. The campaign was led at MKTG by Elliot Gerard, Vice President and Creative Director at the agency, and the veteran creative noted the goal wasn’t just about eye-catching art, but visualizing the thrilling IndyCar season. [articles continues below examples + artist comments]
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MKTG’s Elliot Gerard worked with racer Josef Newgarden to create a piece for the St. Pete race which started the journey of the Artist of the Race Series:
“To celebrate Newgardens success in St. Petersburg we created an illustration that captured the spirit of the race and energy of his winning moment. After starting the artwork, we gave Newgarden himself an opportunity to complete the piece. This collaboration with Newgarden inspired us to develop the Artist of the Race Series. Sparking the journey of working with talented artists all across the world.” -Gerard, United States.
Artist Joseph Alessio’s work represented the Toronto race and explains the thought that went into every detail:
“For the Honda Indy Toronto, I wanted to take a hand-crafted but graphic approach, incorporating a few different scenes. Toronto is a bold and colorful city, so the piece leans into bold colors, drawn from the Hitachi Indycar livery—such as creating a geometric paper craft centerpiece evoking Toronto landmarks, paired with body paint to create a monochrome effect. The tire smoke is just carefully arranged bits of cotton batting, with a blue light from the left to give it some depth—the result is fun but the glamorous process consisted of obsessively pinching and pulling a tiny bit of cotton between frames! While the process was intensive, the materials were simple—a lot can be done with paper, lighting and a bit of tape! Relying on a couple bold colors and flat surfaces worked well to bridge the gap between graphic and handmade. Between paper shapes, a bit of body tape, a couple of backdrops and a whole lot of frames, the handful of scenes came together to create a dynamic stop motion video.” -Alessio, United States.
Dariusz Ejkiewicz had the challenge of illustrating the Indy 500:
“As a part of the general idea that I came up with using torn paper and scratched elements I was tasked with creating a physical piece of artwork. That artwork was done for The Artist of the Race. I wanted to reverse the process, pretty much creating a piece of artwork that was built from pieces of torn paper, stars, framing, stitches and tape.he whole idea was an interesting process that became very satisfying and in the end the piece I have created was something refreshing for my process. I am very happy that I was a part of this special project. -Ejkiewicz, Poland.
Ann Chen created a masterpiece for Portland:
“As a lettering artist, I knew right away I wanted to highlight the driver’s name as the focus of the design while portraying some key elements of Portland, as the location is fairly new for IndyCar. The direction I received called for a celebration of the race in Portland. I started off with a loose sketch showing lush greenery against a cityscape with the iconic white stag from the Portland Oregon sign sitting at the peak of a triangle that represents Mount Hood. With Josef’s name, I went for a bold script lettering with sharp edges and big curves and a finer script for the name of the race. My favorite part of the illustration is how the letter “L” in Portland is extended to become the track for the Hitachi race car. I love working with bright colors and Hitachi’s brand color, red and black were perfect for creating strong contrast in the palette. My personal style includes using shapes to create a feeling of energy and excitement, which is why I chose to include a confetti of curved triangles and circles throughout the piece. The entire illustration was created using an ipad and drawing app, Procreate.” -Chen, United States.
John Boyce celebrated Team Penske at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:
“Working with MKTG on the Hitachi artist of Race series was great. It was a sport I wasn’t to familiar with but while finding elements to be apart of the artwork, it was cool to learn about Josef Newgarden and how he dominates.” -Boyce, United States.
Sabeena Karnik set up the season finale at Laguna Seca:
“The instant idea was to have the Indycar showcased in the artwork made with paper and the win. Creating the letter H was my original goal which was also backed by the agency that I worked with. [MKTG] sent me imagery associated with the event along with suggestions of using some landmark locations at Monterey California espe-cially the corkscrew curve/bend which I tried incorporating in the piece. I wanted to do a time lapse video to showcase something created very fast to go with the idea of speed and racing so that the entire process with paper layers is clearly visible. Hopefully the fast video was someway in sync with the [race]. – Karnik, India.
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“It wasn’t just about creating cool content for the feed,” said Gerard. “It’s about the various creative voices working together to bring Hitachi Motorsports to life, resulting in a powerful message about how each of these artists connected with Hitachi Motorsports, these incredible races, and Josef at the wheel. And then how they translated those feelings into these fantastic pieces that just pop out of the feed. It was exactly what we’d hoped for and it really speaks to Hitachi’s brand mission of Inspiring the Next.”
MKTG recognized the opportunity Hitachi Motorsports was giving them, wanting to collaborate on something extraordinary, a campaign with emotion-infused KPIs with creative placed largely in the hands of talented independent artists. But both sides had the longstanding relationship and the mutual understanding that Newgarden’s success and notoriety presented an opportunity for the Hitachi Motorsports brand to do something special.
“Hitachi is a trusted client who gives us as an agency the trust and opportunity to push the content game, and really play in the area of what is next,” said Blawie, who has worked with Hitachi Motorsports throughout his tenure at MKTG. “Hitachi is a historically important brand and their Indycar sponsorship is a proven driver of relevance and technology showcase. Along with Josef’s rapid ascendance in this sport, this was such an exciting project that everybody wanted to work on.”
Hitachi’s technology powers and enables some of the world’s greatest innovations – including fueling the thrilling IndyCar race – but such high-level tech isn’t readily relatable and necessarily amenable to social media. But spend a minute and browse the Hitachi US Motorsports feed on Instagram, and the inspiring take on tech and winning track record begs to differ. Because marketing and advertising is in a new era, and brand activation means storytelling in ways that haven’t been done before, pressing down on the throttle to speed ahead of the pack to what’s next.
Watch the video below to see more of Hitachi Motorsports Artist of the Race Series!
On episode 151 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Chris Grosse, Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing at Penn State Athletics.
What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher.
Once you work in sports business, you’ll never experience sports and sports marketing the same way again. Once you work in social media, you’ll never be able to relate to the average social media user again.
These may be well-worn adages, but they nevertheless true. It’s why we must be always be inquisitive – you can read all the studies, observe all the data, but nothing beats a conversation with a human – to get the true take on their perception, their habits, their values, their reasons, and their experience. And it’s why for the 150th episode of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, I spoke with a ‘normal’ sports fan – my brother, Steven Horowitz.
I uncovered some interesting insights on fan development, on driving game attendance, content consumption, engagement channels and habits, and more. Here are 7 1/2 findings from my chat with Steven, trying to go inside – as much as possible – the mind of the modern millennial sports fan.
Push Notifications are incredibly important
Many of us live on Twitter in sports. We may even have notifications turned on for noted bomb droppers like Woj, Schefty, Shams, Rosenthal, and Bobby Mac (bonus points if you get all these nicknames). But guess what? Most fans aren’t first seeing that news on the platform with the blue bird – they’re more likely getting an alert from their preferred sports app or hearing about it secondhand from a friend via text or private message. Steven explained, using a recent example related to breaking news about his favorite team – the San Diego Padres:
“For me, how I’m finding (big news) on a normal basis…it’s typically a push notification from one of my apps…[Steven gives the example of a recent Fernando Tatis Jr. injury] I happened to be on Twitter when Kevin Acee from the (Union Tribune) broke the story…shortly after seeing that on Twitter…I started getting notifications from the apps on my phone. When I did find that out about the injury, I was texting someone I work with that’s a big fan of him just to let him know…For the most part, it’s finding out from notifications or another friend or colleague texting me if they hear it before I do.”
We think of apps and push alerts as afterthoughts, oftentimes, but the fact is they work. Fans may not open every alert or expand every alert, but rare is the alert that goes unseen from one’s sports app. And with app downloads for teams only slated to grow as mobile ticketing nears 100% and fans access tickets via their team’s app, push notifications can’t and shouldn’t be simply an afterthought. There can be just as much data analysis and targeting as there is with digital marketing and social media content. Are your push alerts analyzed and executed thoughtfully?
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Fans don’t default to pirated streams anymore
A generation of us grew up with Justin.tv (which later morphed into Twitcb – heard of it?) – as an endless source of free live TV. Other sites popped up offering similar free streams and many are linked off from Reddit. They may be grainy, they may get pulled down frequently, but they’re free and they’re difficult to police. But with more options than ever to pay only for the content you want, needing nothing more than a connected device of any type, not as many fans it seems rely on the pirated web to satisfy their sports needs. Steven explained his evolution (and, yes, an income has something to do with his evolution, too) –
“I used to (watch pirated streams) a lot. It’s been a couple years since I’ve done that. There was a time when it was a lot easier and then they started cracking down on it more…Now, I get the Red Zone (subscription) every year. Sometimes, if there’s a big boxing match, I’ll try to stream that on whatever sites are available, but other than that I’ve gotten away from (watching pirated streams).”
Steven noted he’s heard of many new players and platforms in the sports streaming space – DAZN, ESPN+, YouTube TV, et al. (but not so much fubo TV, Pluto, and Flo Sports). The pirates may not be winning as much as they used to, but the live sports space is becoming ever more fragmented and we can’t take for granted fans are aware of all the emerging platforms out there, which sports are on them, and how best to bundle their subscriptions to meet their needs while also not paying more than they have to. We can’t take for granted the average fans keep up with this space, it’s hard enough doing so when you’re actually trying to keep up!
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Season Tickets are emotion-driven > value-driven
Yes, fans today seem to be more attuned to what, exactly, they’re paying for. And the term ‘membership’ has largely displaced season ticket holder in many cases (even if some, not all, seem more lip service). But being a member is not all about a laundry list of benefits, 10% off at the team store, access to a preseason VIP or seat selection event – those can all be great perks – and it’s not a mathematical equation looking at average cost per game or potential resale value investment – even though many do sell their tickets, let alone ‘members’ that are actually brokers – it’s still a purchase largely driven by emotion and connection to a community and an experience. Steven was once a San Diego Chargers season ticket holder (yes, San Diego, this was years ago) and he tried to articulate his reason for being a season ticket holder:
“I’d say the real reason why I wanted to go and get season tickets was my love for the team. There’s nothing I enjoyed more than tailgating at Chargers games, spending the day at the stadium, and seeing them win…It was a good time and I always look back fondly on those times…”
Getting season tickets wasn’t a calculated decision for him. It was because he could picture no better way to spend a Sunday than heading to Qualcomm Stadium, pigging out at a tailgate, donning his jersey – those powder blues are pretty cool – and cheering on his team among all his fellow fans, friends, and members of a community connected by that shared passion. Maybe this is an anachronistic, nostalgic view of things, but if being a season ticket holder was about love for a team a decade ago, becoming a ‘member’ is sure as heck about an investment of the heart, an emotional tie.
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Football watching when you don’t have a favorite team
As a follow-up to the previous point, Steven abandoned the Chargers when they abandoned San Diego. He then became like many fans today – cheering on their fantasy players and their chance at winning money / beating friends instead of cheering on a specific team. Worrying more about who scored than the final score, more about the name on the back than the name on the front. With players shuffling around the superstar-driven NBA, fans growing up in a culture of fantasy and rarely attending games (pr being priced out of games), it’s the new norm. And while local broadcasts still do big numbers, there’s a reason fantasy and daily/weekly fantasy keeps growing each season and more fans are filling their Sundays with Red Zone or a panoply of highlights and updates across a suite of apps. Steven described his fandom nowadays:
“To me, the NFL has become different. I still enjoy watching it, but the way I experience NFL now really revolves around fantasy football. I watch it to see how my fantasy players are doing, see how my team is doing, and that’s really how I go about watching football now (Steven notes he won his fantasy league last year)…I’m able to be unbiased now about who I choose for my teams, who I start in my weekly matchups because I don’t have to worry about (if they’re playing against the Chargers)…It’s definitely changed how I watched football.”
Fans of teams, fans of players, fans of gamble-able outcomes in sports — no matter how they’re watching, plenty of reasons remain for fans to be as attuned as ever to live content and content about who will win and why and to learn more about the players on their rosters and driving these exciting moments each night.
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Daily fantasy (and gambling) can create new fans
Speaking of fantasy and gaming, many in the sports world see a future of new fans and more avid fans brought on by the growth of gambling and continued growth of fantasy options. Will these new opportunities bring about new fans? Steven has lived one fan’s story, finding himself a more avid fan of the NBA than ever – thanks to daily fantasy:
“I never hated the NBA, but I was not a huge fan of it. I followed it casually, but more so in the playoffs. But how this happened is – on the daily fantasy website that I play on typically, they gave me a free play (to win money) for a NBA (game) and I think I ended up pretty high in the standings and won some money…and that got me hooked, and I started playing NBA dailies almost every day and that quickly evolved into enjoying not just following the sport, but I also found myself watching the NBA regular season on TV and I hadn’t done that in years.
“I would check Rotoworld a lot because I was having to teach myself about some of these players, too…I would check their stats, I would also see who they’re up going up against…It’s a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to continuing to playing it.”
It’ll be an interesting next few years to see how teams, leagues, and rights holders can harness these fans entering via gambling and fantasy channels and bring them into their ecosystems. The gateway is there, but it remains to be seen how this new wave of potential fans plays out.
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Sponsored content is fine, but don’t be disruptive
There are a lot of ways sponsored content is presented these days – a logo bug in the video, tagged on the social platform, the incredibly original “‘sponsor name’ x ‘team name'” or ‘presented by’ in the copy, an end card, pre-roll, and many more options. The good news? Fans don’t seem to mind if a sponsor is involved or even integrated as long as the content is quality. But don’t be disruptive. Don’t interrupt content viewing or steal attention to simply insert a ‘normal’ commercial or ad. Steven shared his thoughts:
“I would say overall I more tune it out and I’m not really paying attention to who those sponsors are. Even sometimes, if I pull up a video and there’s an ad before it, I’ll turn off the sound for it before the content even starts…
“I would say sometimes when they do videos and they do an ad in the middle of the video, I will turn off the video – whether it’s because I don’t care what’s coming up or it just didn’t have me interested enough to continue to wait 20-30 seconds…I will sometimes just turn it off…”
Fans want the content. And, unlike the days of previous decades, fans and users don’t necessarily see sitting through ads as payment in their side of the value exchange for the content they actually want. There are too many ‘free’ options out there and too many content creators doing a better job of integrating sponsors whether passively or actively. Don’t abuse the attention and don’t disrupt the experience – add to it or, at least, don’t detract from it.
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Consistent promotions FTW (and be mindful of price sensitive fans)
There is no secret sauce or magic pill that made live gate for sports rise to the level of 20 years ago. Attendance isn’t falling everywhere, but the trend is clearly a downward one from the highs of previous decades when no one gave thought to building stadiums with smaller capacities. But nowadays, even as many teams and schools are awash in media rights money, getting butts in seats is more challenging than ever. So what could we learn from asking a fan about his experience being driven to go to games? Let Steven share his take:
“Over the last year, I pretty much have been only going to Padres games and occasionally a Gulls (AHL hockey) game. How I hear about them? I obviously follow the Padres pretty closely, whether it’s through an app or the team’s website or social media pages..I just know there are games going on. In regards to the Gulls…I don’t go to a bunch of their games, but really what does drive me there is when they do do promotions – they do $2 beer nights sometimes on Friday nights, I’ll go to those games…”
[Steven notes he finds about Gulls promotions typically through their organic social media and will sometimes check their website to see when their next $2 beer night is]
Marketing and sales staffs at teams are getting more and more sophisticated with targeted emails and ads, retargeting previous buyers, and doing their best to assure the right fans see the right promotions. But a takeaway from my chat with at least this fan, Steven, is that, while advertising and digital/social media remains a key tactic, you can’t rely on these platforms to always assure fans find out about your upcoming bobblehead giveaway or flash deal. Which deals are most effective and/or which promotions are the easiest for fans to recall? If you ask an average fan of your team – especially one not coming to every game – to name a promotion the team runs, what would they say? It may be fun to joke about LeBron usurping ‘Taco Tuesday’ for his own, but every Padre fan, including Steven, knows Tuesday games mean Taco Tuesday at Petco Park. Get the word out about unique or ad hoc sales and promotions, but try to create some that stick with fans, so they look forward to your next Half Price Beer Mondays without having to see multiple ads to remind them.
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Why does he attend several Padres games? Nostalgia, atmosphere at the ballpark
What drives fans to go to a game, especially if it’s not a novelty or a one-off? Well, the previous point touched on promotions, but the compulsion to seemingly always have consideration top of mind, the internal notion that watching at home is never the same, the key to penetrating the heart and mind of a fan – that doesn’t come overnight. For Steven, our fan guide, much of his inherent desire to be at the game comes from a sense of nostalgia and a practice and bond that originated as a kid. It’s why so many leagues and teams are focused on getting kids to their games while they’re still in grammar schools and they’re just developing their earliest passions and memories that’ll conjure goosebumps of nostalgia when they look back in 20 years. This is how Steven tried to articulate why he finds himself more than once at Petco Park every season:
“Obviously my love for the team. You and I have been going to games since as long as we can remember. We used to go with our dad all the time to the games…I always look back fondly on those times; I love going to games and I still like watching on TV, but if I have the option of going to watch the Padres in person, I’m gonna be there…”
We’re drawn to things that remind us of good times – and nostalgia plays a big role in that. It’s why those in sports say we’re in the business of making memories. Every game is a chance to help a fan form a memory that’ll last forever and bring up of warm feelings every time an element of that memory is resurfaced. Every night is an opportunity to build a fan for life.
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On episode 147 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Victoria McBryde, Integrated Marketing Coordinator for the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher.
On episode 146 of the Digital and Social Media Sports Podcast, Neil chatted with Kinsey Janke, Social Media Manager for Tampa Bay Lightning.
What follows are some snippets from the episode. Click Here to listen to the full episode or check it out and subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher.
Ever since there have been sports, there have been sports partnerships. The admission to sporting events held at the Roman Coliseum was typically free – often sponsored by Roman politicians looking to curry favor with the public.
The forms of entertainment and things that capture public attention has multiplied exponentially since the days of Ancient Rome, as have the ways for people – or, more commonly these days, businesses and brands – to activate a partnership. Yet, sports remains at the center of sponsorship. And sports teams and leagues now operate extensive ecosystems of partners that deliver tangible and intangible value for the businesses that pay millions for the right to co-mingle with a league, its teams, and its fans.
At the recent Leaders Week conference, Rahul Kadavakolu, Executive Director of international brand and prominent sports sponsor Rakuten, beautifully articulated three key factors behind why a brand like Rakuten chooses to invest as a partner in sports, all strengthened by the unique, powerful emotional ties that bind fans (consumers) to their favorite teams and athletes, and to the brands with whom they partner.
Brand Awareness
It has been well-documented that sports remains one of the best ways to reach masses of engaged, attentive eyeballs on a consistent basis. And that’s why you see brands – big and small – investing in sports to help get their name out there. YouTube TV plastered themselves all over the World Series and now finds themselves on the jerseys of Major League Soccer club LAFC, while everyone that follows hockey now knows PPG Paints thanks to them putting their name on the Pittsburgh Penguins’s home arena. And it’s why Elk Grove Village continues to sponsor the ‘Makers Wanted’ Bowl, and even why an international powerhouse brand like Rakuten, seeking more US awareness, finds themselves on the Golden State Warriors jerseys and spending money on a clever Super Bowl ad. Impressions and eyeballs may be softer metrics, when awareness is the KPI, the scale and engagement that sports offers is a helluva value prop for partners.
Brand Preference
In less crowded industries, the frequency of impressions and awareness detailed in the last point can drive business simply because, well, they may not know a ton of paint brands off their top of their head, but PPG Paints sticks with them. Then, in verticals where more options are more well-known, sports represents an avenue to drive consumer preference. This happens a number of ways we see every day in sports sponsorship – demonstrations, free sampling, first time trials or discounts, team-branded products, and players/teams using the product or service themselves. The emotions play a role, too, as many fans will opt for one brand over another simply because they do sponsor their favorite player or team. It’s why sponsors love NASCAR, in which 65% of fans surveyed were more likely to consider a product or service if they see it’s the “Official ‘x’ of NASCAR.” And perhaps all those fans of ‘Dub Nation’ will bookmark Rakuten on their browser or in their minds instead of opting for Amazon.
Brand Extension
This is a quickly emerging element of sports partnerships – as sponsors of the same team or league congregate together, learn from each other with how they’re activating their partnerships, and often find and activate upon synergies or co-branded activations. It’s why you’re starting to see more teams host sponsorship summits the last few years and multi-brand promotions like a sweepstakes that involve purchasing a Coca-Cola product at a Pilot Flying J or perhaps even a company like Rakuten offering a discount on a fan’s next purchase of a Nike product on their site (both of these are hypothetical examples). Brand extension means partners can be so much more than the sum of their parts when they work together to win over the fans’ hearts, minds….and wallets. And sports offers entry into a community of sponsors unlike any other avenue.
Many of us who have worked in sports business don’t know it without sponsorship comprising a key piece of the pie. RFP’s come in, deals are renewed or reworked over decades, and certain categories continue to spend a huge portion of their marketing budgets on sports partnerships. And it was illuminating to hear from one of the world’s biggest companies on what makes sports special for them. So, why sports? I encourage you to watch the full video snippet below and you’ll understand the answer to that question.
In order to build a brand…there’s a certain emotional quotient that’s required. We believe that sports can do that better than other platforms.”
Great overview of why sports – brand awareness, brand preference, brand extension. #sportsbiz #LeadersWeekpic.twitter.com/9FVmbyiKmQ
— Neil Horowitz (@njh287) May 21, 2019
Want to learn more about the Leaders group? Check out their site
The best part of working in digital and social media is that we’re surrounded by examples every day. Examples of marketing, of sponsorship, of content, of ads, of engagement – every swipe and scroll is an opportunity to learn. I’m always trying to continue learning – it’s no secret these platforms are changing daily and new ones are popping up, too. The tactics, the metrics, the algorithms – you have to be a lifelong student. There’s also incredible talent and creativity all over, and it’s an excellent ‘free’ source from which to learn.
So, here are the latest Five Finds (examples of sponsored social media or marketing in sports and social/digital):
The #ChipotleLidFlip: Chipotle’s TikTok influencer program to try to start a trend.
Looks like it’s rolling out today – curious to see how kids respond to sponsored trends (& ones that pretty much require you to buy a meal to play). Smart to get Dobrik – his fans love him. pic.twitter.com/dB5qqEuHFV
— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) May 5, 2019
Share your thoughts with me and I’m always happy to connect with and help folks in this space! Find me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Digital and Social Media Sports 