Every time Clemson football players rub Howard’s Rock when they run out onto the field, they’re engaging in a shared social experience. The same is true of Notre Dame football players when they slap the “Play Like a Champion Today” sign as they run down the stairwell out of the locker room.
From mascot pushups after touchdowns to student sections swaying between the third and fourth quarters, stadiums and arenas are filled with social interactions and traditions that strengthen relationships and loyalty to teams. It’s a great irony, then, that some colleges, universities and even professional teams are not maximizing opportunities for fans, players and coaches to engage with each other — and brands — in a social way.
By now, nearly every sports organization has dedicated personnel to engage fans on social media. But content creation and clever hashtags are only part of the way fans connect with sports teams socially.
For example, Mississippi State athletics since 2010 has brought its slogan “Hail State” to the fore. It’s the Bulldogs’ domain name and social handle. For a time, it was a hashtag painted into an end zone at Davis Wade Stadium. Hail State is the Mississippi State brand distilled into two words.
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Mississippi State athletics’ slogan, “Hail State,” became a focal point of the school’s football complex.
Photo by: ADVENT (2)
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It is also a focal point of Mississippi State’s Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex, where raised Hail State lettering stretches from floor to ceiling in the entryway. Hail State is not just a slogan for Mississippi State, but also a keystone where recruits, students and donors take pictures of themselves for their own curated highlight reel on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
It’s a stage for a selfie.
Sports facilities can no longer
just be places to serve the function of hosting an event or a practice or to house offices. Sports administrators must use these places to create opportunities for people to come together, engage with a story and share those stories with the world.
Studies indicate that fostering interpersonal interactions breeds value for organizations and brands. In sports, fans already find their own experiences to share, with or without the help of marketers. Customers and fans crave these opportunities, these “I was there” moments.
Sports organizations are perfectly positioned to capitalize on these moments — or to invite outside brands to be co-participants in these moments. But to achieve these moments, organizations need to create situations that are accessible, consistent and real. And when organizations look to create these opportunities for their customers, they must ask key questions: Are they in common areas? Will people congregate here? Are these moments part of already existing moments and traditions with which fans will connect? Are these moments authentic to our character and brand?
For decades, the University of Southern California featured All-Americans on adhesive graphics lining an interior hallway leading out of their football facility. The graphics honored each of its 163 All-American football players. While the graphics connected current players with the legacy of USC football, the way in which they were portrayed was below the perception of the award and the successful Trojan program. The hallway also was hidden from fans, located in a restricted-access location within the football facility.
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The Academic All-American wall (above) and lobby at the John McKay Center
Photo by: ADVENT (2)
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When USC redesigned the John McKay Center, the athletic program moved the All-American Walk out into the open. Bronze plaques featuring the images of the Trojan greats now line a ramp from the locker room at the football facility to the practice field. And near the end of the ramp, USC placed a Trojan sword in a column as a touchstone.
Immediately after the installation, the football team walked up the ramp to the practice field — and almost
every player touched the handle of the sword. Soon, fans took pictures of the plaques of players they remembered watching. Parents posted images to Instagram of their children posing with the sword. Students tweeted pictures of themselves trying in vain to pull the sword from the column.
And as the ramp was redesigned, the family of longtime USC donors William and Nadine Tilley asked to fund the All-American Walk, and now the Tilley name graces the area.
By putting an overlooked element of its football facility onto a bigger stage, USC touched players, fans and donors, and all of them had the opportunity to share their experience on social media.
USC is not alone. Many sports organizations are swimming in real-time opportunities to connect with their fans socially.
Programs just need to be willing to design Instagram-able, tweetable experiences that connect with their audiences in a memorable, authentic way.
John Roberson (jroberson@adventresults.com) is CEO and Todd Austin (taustin@adventresults.com) is president of Advent. Advent worked on both the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex and John McKay Center.
