Andrew Luck uses sponsored Google+ Hangout to meet Colts fans
Posted on Apr 27, 2012 by Matt Garner
There were zero surprises around Andrew Luck being taken first overall by the Indianapolis Colts in yesterday’s draft. Based on the growing use of Google+ Hangout by top athletes, celebrities, and brands – it also wasn’t much of a surprise to see Luck (at the behest of the Colts) use the video tool to interact with a handful of lucky Colts fans only minutes after he was formally drafted by Indianapolis. The Hangout was less than 10 minutes, but it’s fair to assume that the fans selected to join the Hangout will forever be Andrew Luck fans. Read More…
Who is building your online brand reputation and What are you doing about it?
Posted on Apr 26, 2012 by valeriemorini
Gone are the days of carefully structured paper resumes and simple word of mouth references. Even LinkedIn is limited in presenting our personal and business brands, providing more of a networking building platform than a true reference point for what we represent and how we work. These days, when we want information about something, or someone, we search Facebook, Twitter, Bing or Google it – we Google early and often. Google has become the new keeper for resumes and references, and dictates how we are represented both as individuals and professional brands.
In just tenths of a second Google can spit out a full report of your online history and mentions for anyone to see, placing you at the mercy of Google search and SEO ranking for what pieces of your image percolate to the top. ‘Digital footprints’ and ‘digital Legacies’ are frequently referenced when discussing online reputations, but often focus on what we produce and share, too often overlooking what other people post about us and the brands we represent. At BuzzManager we call that your “digital shadow” The same is true across social media platforms, empowering your audiences, followers, fans and critics with the tools and reach to either strengthen your brand reputation or decimate it, building a digital resume about you whether its accurate or not and whether you like it or not.
What’s important is to be constantly vigilant, listening to all relevant brand related conversations. Clients that subscribe to our BuzzMgr monitoring service and review our brand dashboards see sentiment, volume and frequency of mentions, share of voice all neatly broken down to better understand. However, the value in the analytics isn’t what many think it to be. It’s not about nicely padded statistic to share with the boss or the board. It’s not that 81% of brand mentions are positive or very positive, the value is in drilling deeper for insight and leveraging both sides of the sentiment analysis.
When you have positive feedback and community supporters, engage them, appreciate them, and leverage them to boost your presence, multiplying and amplifying the positive brand buzz. Despite tendencies to focus on the positive, the negative typically provides the greatest value. Negative feedback is the quickest way to identify issues with branding, customer service, or products, and can save significant time and money if you quickly address the issue. Knowing who is hammering your reputation and why is tremendously valuable. It also provides a window to directly address the whispers and individual criticisms before the screams drown out the brand’s positive reputation.
If you want to change the way you engage with your audience contact BuzzMgr for a free demo of OUR monitoring, social strategy and education services: info@buzzmgr.com, or call 1.704-541-5942
Social Media meets Social Sports at U. Michigan Spring Game with #GOBLUE Campaign
Posted on Apr 13, 2012 by valeriemorini
In the world of social media, engagement and innovation is critical to brand success. In the world of sports, the same is true. This week the University of Michigan announced their partnership with BuzzMgr for their #GOBLUE campaign, kicking off with the Spring Game on Saturday. Check out the release below for more information and to #GOBLUE with Michigan Football and BuzzMgr.
Michigan to Paint #GOBLUE Hashtag on Field for Mott Spring Game
April 11, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The University of Michigan Athletic Department will paint the FieldTurf at Michigan Stadium with the hashtag #GOBLUE for the upcoming Mott Spring Game presented by PNC Bank. The Wolverines will use the opportunity to generate exposure inside the stadium, on the nationally televised broadcast, and most importantly in the social media world.
The annual spring football scrimmage and the “Battle at the Big House” men’s lacrosse game against Ohio State will be held Saturday (April 14) at Michigan Stadium. The Victors Classic alumni flag football game will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the annual spring football scrimmage at noon. The lacrosse game is tentatively slated to start at 2:30 p.m.
The hashtag #GOBLUE will be painted maize at two locations, straddling the 25-yard line on the northeast and southwest sides of the field.
“Our goal is to challenge the status quo and to create innovative ideas that speak to our fans,” said Jordan Maleh, U-M’s director of digital marketing. “This initiative will help our athletic department use technology as a competitive advantage to engage and connect to fans, build brand loyalty, grow the digital audience and monitor and listen to what is being said through the digital engagement cycle.”
It’s believed to be the second time that a collegiate program has painted a hashtag on its football field. The other instance was a Mississippi State football game against Mississippi last fall when the Bulldogs painted #HAILSTATE in one end zone.
The Michigan Athletic Department already has the Michigan Athletic Ticket Office Twitter account, @umichtix and MGoBlue.com painted into the court in front of both benches at Crisler Center. In addition, U-M promotes its social media platforms — Twitter and Facebook — on the video boards at Michigan Stadium, Crisler Center and Yost Ice Arena.
Michigan Athletics will introduce a “Tweet Board” for the Mott Spring Game presented by PNC Bank that will showcase tweets from fans throughout the Victors Classic alumni flag football game and the Mott Spring Game. Michigan Stadium video boards will highlight the #GOBLUE hashtag throughout both games by including a dedicated #GOBLUE bug and call-to-action asking fans to tweet and use hashtag #GOBLUE. Michigan, in real time, will monitor and approve fan tweets in order to showcase on the “Tweet Board.”
“When a brand ‘gets it’, they stand out from the competition,” said Kathleen Hessert, founder and president of Buzz Manager, Inc., the company Michigan is partnering with to provide a social media audit of the #GOBLUE hashtag. “Michigan combines the best of iconic tradition with a view to the future. Their use of digital and social media is driven by clear business objectives. Michigan is committed to being in the middle of the public’s passionate conversation about sports and, by listening deeply to their fans, they also earn the right to lead.”
Find the complete release here, and follow the #GOBLUE action throughout the weekend with @UMichFootball @buzzmgr & @kathleenhessert.
Controversy, Character, & Confusion in NCAA Sports
Posted on Apr 11, 2012 by Kathleen Hessert
There’s so much controversy in the world of NCAA sports these days that I feel like I’m watching a ping pong match of charges and counter charges, fans and critics shouting from every vantage point. You would think it was the finals of American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, or America’s Got Talent where the public texts or calls in their vote and it counts. “The Winner is…? Ah! There’s nothing quite like the passion and community of sports. Read More…
Community Development and the Human Experience of Brands
Posted on Apr 03, 2012 by valeriemorini
Social media is just one slice of a brand’s online community and communications plan. With the rise in social media popularity and brand pressure, many brands look to first hire a social media manager, skipping over the more vital position: the community manager.
Community managers serve as the voice of both the consumer and the brand, bridging the gap between the two through authentic relationship building and trust. Beyond social media engagement and management, community managers are brand ambassadors, community advocates, content writers, marketing and PR gurus and connectors within the internal structure of their organizations.
Evaluating and strategically thinking about how all the pieces of the organizational ecosystem fit together, community managers work with leadership across the organization to align goals for all parties, bridging them together in a strategic communications plan and consistent brand voice. Once the culture of the company has been cultivated, the focus becomes listening to the consumer audience to understand them, hear what they are saying, and understand their wants. Understanding both sides helps to better develop a natural, authentic, and easily communicated brand voice.
When developing your brand community, having a community manager or internal team that is devoted to putting all the pieces together and creating the brand landscape is absolutely critical. Once the internal pieces have been connected and aligned, the next steps in building the community are to listen, understand and engage with the brand audience, authentically. The community manager, or team, acts as the consumer’s human connection to the brand through social and online interactions that build relationships first, and share content only after a relationship of trust has been established.
As the human experience representatives, community managers serve the brand and consumers, connecting both sides to create mutually beneficial experiences, trust, and brand loyalty that will be reflected in online conversations and word of mouth promotion.
If you are just starting out, or need to refocus your community engagement, start first by looking at your brand landscape and how to better streamline all the pieces of your internal culture together. Then, address your external community, listening first and thoroughly through monitoring and influencer tracking.
For more information about BuzzMgr’s monitoring and listening tools, strategy and education services, contact: info@buzzmgr.com, or call 1.704.541.5942
