Posts Tagged 'Branding'

Can Brands Be “Friends” on Facebook?

Published October 27, 2009 Branding , Facebook , Marketing , NHL , Social Media Leave a Comment
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fbookMy two cents – in a word, “No”.

Here’s why…

Let’s say you have a Pro Sports Team Facebook Fan Page – and a brand – one that is not currently a sponsor of yours – shows up and engages your brand on Facebook. The viral nature of Facebook makes this action visible to many, possibly thousands of other people. Is this kind of brand interaction “fair” to your other (paying) sponsors who are not actively engaging your brand on Facebook?

Perhaps fair is the wrong word, but you get the idea. Social media is a platform – and yes – it is a free one, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that brand interaction in this space does not have a price. In fact, I would counter that it does.

As teams and leagues begin to negotiate the social media space (check out the NHL’s new Fan Page that launched recently) these kinds of questions need to be asked and addressed. These are the kinds of answers and strategies that I build. More on just how to do that in a later post…

What do you think? Can brands be Friends?

Twitter Sponsorship Strategies

Published May 9, 2009 Branding , Social Media , Sponsorship , Sports Marketing , Twitter Leave a Comment
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TwitterIn a previous post, I talked about sponsorship activation via Twitter and provided a list of brands that Tweet. The idea being that these brands did not need to be educated on Twitter and would be more open to a conversation about sponsorship.

As of yet, I am not aware of any existing sponsorships through Twitter. In this post, I’d like to take a look at other ways to leverage Twitter for sponsorship:

  • The first and most obvious is to display sponsors on a teams’ Twitter background. Teams have branded their Twitter backgrounds, and the next step is to use parts of that space for sponsorship.
  • Teams can provide sponsor’s links in Tweets
  • Teams can drive fans to back to their website via tweet links where their sponsors are advertised
  • Use hash tags (#) to create sponsor titled contests or events (Ex. #sponsorGameday, #sponsorUpdate, #sponsorContest)
  • Crossover – Teams can participate in a sponsor’s own Twitter feed and encourage fans to follow the sponsors

Like any sponsorship – it is truly a partnership. Some brands will be more aligned with teams in terms of compatibility or Twitter crossover. Considerations surrounding frequency of messages, tracking, timing  and visibility will all come into play. Again, these are the very early days – smart sales teams will be moving on these opportunities and laying the path forward one step at a time.

For a complete list of players, teams and leagues on Twitter, click here.

Your feedback…

  • Any ideas for more activation?
  • Know of any sponsors working like this now?
  • Feedback/comments/questions on these ideas?

Branding the Purchase of the Phoenix Coyotes

Published May 6, 2009 Branding , Social Media , Sports Marketing 4 Comments
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makeitseven.caAs the sports news and blogs light up with Jim Balsillie’s offer to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes on condition of the ability to move the team to “southern Ontario”, I want to focus on the accompanying website, www.makeitseven.ca.

The idea behind makeitseven.ca is rooted far more in PR than social media, but one can only wonder if the Make It Seven Facebook Page is far behind – or if @makeitseven is already snapped up on Twitter (at the time of writing, neither was).

What makeitseven.ca is essentially doing, is building a brand around the purchase attempt. This is being positioned as something “for” Canada, for hockey fans, for the good of us all. I have “signed up” and am looking forward to seing exactly what will come my way via email from the Balsillie camp.

While I am certain there are countless opinions on whether or not this deal makes sense, or the conditions of the agreement are valid (let alone legal), what I am looking for here is the branding element of this story.

What do you think about the idea of branding this potential sale as it is?

Blue is the New Green

Published December 16, 2008 Branding , Marketing , Twitter Leave a Comment
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As it is the end of the year, people like to make predictions. So I’d like to look back  at a previous prediction for 2008 that blue would be the new green.

In late 2007, Ad agency JWT posited that blue would replace green as the color of the environmental movement – after all, the sea and the sky are blue… As it turns out, this didn’t happen and green is still green.

I interpret JWT’s  prediction differently – blue is (or can be) the new green, but not in so much as the colour blue standing for all things environmental. This thought is not a prediction for 2009 – but I think that companies and brands should be looking at “blue is the new green” as an opportunity – at least ones that provide a product that involves water (read as blue).

One of the greatest (subjective) marketing ideas of the 90’s was the commodification of water, and the second greatest was the upscaling of coffee. As far as I know, coffee is mostly water – so just where does that water come from anyway?

So I asked Starbucks (via Twitter):

carsonmckee @starbucks… where does the water in your coffee come from?
And @starbucks replied…
Starbucks @carsonmckee All the water in our stores goes through an extensive water filtration system. 11:57 PM Dec 11th from Twittelator in reply to carsonmckee

No link, no details – just filtered water, a missed opportunity… As consumers continue to demand more and more environmentally sound and healthy products – will companies begin to focus on the water in their products? Is there a market innovation opportunity for companies like Starbucks to bring the water used in coffee production to the forefront? Would Coca-Cola ever release a “Blue Coke“?

Now is an ideal time for water producers to position these ideas to brands, and for brands to embrace and promote how water is used and produced in their products. Water is “invisible” in so many products, does bringing it to light offer a unique positioning opportunity?

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