You Can’t Slap Social On Everything
Bringing social media into the physical world. Yes, it’s one of the latest social trends in the sports industry— hashtags on football fields, Twitter handles on the basketball courts and now, Twitter handles on jerseys.
The Philadelphia Wings (NLL) replaced the last names of players with Twitter handles on jerseys. At first glance, I thought the move was brilliant…
But the truth is, you can’t slap social on everything. When physically branding social media at a sporting event it should enhance the game (not detract), serve a unique purpose and engage.
1. Enhance the game— not detract
How does placing players’ Twitter handles on the jerseys enhance the game? It doesn’t. In fact, for those who don’t use Twitter, this could be especially irritating. Twitter handles on jerseys could make it harder for fans to follow the game, especially if there are new fans at the game or the Twitter handles don’t resemble the players’ names.
2. Serve a Unique Purpose
Replacing players’ names with their Twitter handles is no doubt unique, but there are other ways you can serve the purpose of promoting players’ Twitter handles without taking away an element that makes it easier for fans to follow the game— add the Twitter handles to the bios on the website, the game program, etc.
3. Engage
Social media is all about engagement. If you’re promoting social media at a sporting event, you want fans to go to the platform and engage right away. Fans can engage with the players post-game, but they aren’t going to be tweeting during the game when you have a captive audience . Promoting a gameday hashtag or the team Twitter account at a game makes more sense because people can join the conversation about the game and engage right away. Instant gratification.
Anyway, I love the idea of making social physical, but in my opinion, it doesn’t mean that you can slap a Twitter handle or hashtag on everything and call it a brilliant marketing tactic.
What do you all think? Is replacing last names of players’ on jerseys with Twitter handles a do or a don’t?
