Part Two:  The National Basketball Association (NBA)

In Part One of my look at the presence of natural social networks in sports, I looked at social media's impact on professional soccer. In this part, I'll look at the National Basketball Association.

Let's start by taking a look at the top corporate brands on Facebook:



At first glance, it appears that one of the most effective tactics utilizing social media is providing promotional privileges for fans to get their pick-me-up.  Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull are all in the top five. What can brands in other industries learn from the natural social networks formed by sports?  

The NBA, at #9 on the list, is actually ranked 1st in “Page Value” by the same site.  Its success in the social media space is likely driven by its success across the globe, with a powerful fan nation both online and off.  

For over three decades the league has been expanding internationally with marketing programs growing the game in over 240 different countries.  

The international growth demonstrates the sport’s ability to translate across culture, gender, and level of play. In an interview with Emilio Collins, the Senior VP of Global Marketing Partnerships for NBA Entertainment, he explains how the nature of the game facilitates social inclusion. “The game can be played a variety of ways, 1 on 1, indoors or outdoors, male or female.”  

Participation fueled the craving for content, which proved profitable for the NBA.  In fact, Collins cites content distribution as the NBA’s number one source of international revenue.  150 different broadcast partners and numerous highlight shows provide fans their daily fix of the league’s core attributes: passion, teamwork, intensity, history of the franchises, and tradition of the league.  Combined, this is the caffeine equivalent to sports fans.  

Most importantly, the league has maintained its brand identity throughout its development.  Collins states this simply, “Basketball is the NBA.  One entity, one brand associated with the sport.”  The sweat, tears, and slam dunks all make up the National Basketball Association, and the fan nation follows religiously.

So what can other brands learn from the NBA?  “Make your consumers as passionate about your brand as you are,” suggests Collins.  Find those defining attributes that make you brand stand out, and offer a powerful identity to encapsulate those attributes.  

For example, take the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, cited as the turning point in the NBA’s international growth by Collins.  This is when the world met the Dream Team, setting the stage for the perfect storm of sport, strategy, and brand.  “Kids got to see how inspirational the sport can be, and they saw the domination of our players.  And as a result, we saw all points of our business grow—the distribution of media, participation rates, and the increase of international players,” said Collins.  In effect, the NBA only had 17 international players in 1992.  Now they have 85.  

Regardless of industry, businesses can learn a great deal from the NBA’s success.  More companies need to find passion in their product or service offering and package this into one voice, one brand.  Once established, this brand should serve as Team Captain to employees, fans, and followers, directing the entire team down a path to victory.

Just as athletes communicate during the game to adjust the game plan on the fly, utilize social media to listen to your consumers and respond with innovative marketing strategies.  Finally, commit… to your team, to your fans, and to the game plan.  The NBA has done just this, and fans and teams alike are enjoying its success.

Part One: Professional Soccer

What is it about sports that make “social networking” so natural, so effortless?  More importantly, what can brands in other industries learn from sports as they spend marketing dollars to acquire digital fans?  A recent attempt by Syncapse to estimate the value of a fan on Facebook has resulted in an average worth of $138 per fan.  The study further states that:

• On average, fans spend an additional $71.84 on products for which they are fans compared to those who are not fans
• Fans are 28% more likely than non-fans to continue using the brand
• Fans are 41% more likely than non-fans to recommend a fanned product to their friends

Given the demonstrated value, I sought out Casey Romany, an Account Executive for Soccer United Marketing (SUM) to uncover their ingredients for success.  SUM holds all commercial rights to both Major League Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation, including the men’s and women’s national teams that are playing in the 2010 World Cup.  In addition, they hold rights to Mexican National Team games played in the United States, the CONCACAF Gold Cup™, and InterLiga.™  

SUM just launched the new MLSnet.com, which has been years in the making.  Obviously, they are not ahead of the technology curve, but as Casey describes, perhaps it is because they have never needed to be. 

Soccer fans are extremely loyal and craved a centralized location to read about the sport.  They flocked to the new website where they can read about international matches, local MLS games, and their favorite players from all over the world. 

“We needed to take control of the space.  A fan would have to go to so many different leagues, teams, and national sport sites to access information about soccer,” said Casey.  SUM then supported their investment by hiring some of the biggest soccer journalists, affectionately called “soccer heads,” to tell the sport’s stories.  Genius.

By building one platform for all of soccer and capitalizing on its protagonists, its epic battles, and its gossip, SUM has pulled together a social network so powerful that other brands invest marketing dollars to gain access to the soccer fans that SUM has unified.  When a multi-million dollar business model also includes a way to monetize your marketing and PR tactics, it’s clear your fans are worth more than $138 each.  

The key takeaway:  Soccer, and the rest of the sports industry, is in the business of telling stories.  Strong, passionate, exciting, tales of victory, tragedy, and legends in the making.   Shakespeare only wishes he had it this easy.

And by comparison, fan pages on Facebook are flat.  Most connections are superficial—purely discount driven, and without true loyalty.  Where are the stories?  The passion?  Brands forget that they are selling more than products, and they lose depth in the relationships when they set the expectation that being a fan means getting a price reduction.  I’m not arguing that this method isn’t a great way to build numbers, but I am arguing that it is a fragile way to build loyalty.    

In my opinion, here are a few brands that have succeeded:  

• Starbucks: Starbucks offers promotions, but more importantly, the page also connects to those fans that are socially and environmentally aware— a strong attribute of Facebook users within that 18-24 demographic segment.  Maybe this is why a Syncapse report revealed that Starbucks fans are likely to spend $238.22, more than triple the $71.84 average.  In addition, their photo albums tell vivid, engaging stories about the company, the products, and the leadership (Check out Howard Schultz’ trip to Rwanda).

• Southwest Airlines: As over-the-top as the flight attendants can be, it is refreshing to witness personality in the airline industry.  The persona is also displayed full force on the Southwest Airlines Facebook page, and fans eat this up (a relatively safe assumption given the number of times fans ask, “How do I work for Southwest?”).   Another thing I like about the page is how they speak to checked bags like they are passengers, personifying a service they offer.  I value my personal belongings on a trip, and everything on this page reminds me that Southwest Airlines does also.

• Nike Football (Soccer): Admittedly chosen due to its soccer content, this site still exemplifies the art of storytelling.  The videos instigate a real emotional connection, and the calls to action are extremely powerful.  The Nike Red campaign is building the same momentum as the LiveStrong campaign did $47 million dollars ago.  This page screams “Join the team, unite as a fan of the sport, rally behind the cause, and be loyal to the Nike brand.”

Soccer United Marketing has united fans in a way brands can emulate.  If you are looking to build loyalty, why focus solely on the collection of fickle bargain hunters?  Present your product information by telling the details about the hard work and research during development, or build stories around employees and spokespersons similar to fiery sports features on players and teams.  Most importantly, let your fans know that you have a heart; you are human; and you are the hero, not the villain.  Like.