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Click the image above to learn about #WeAreUK!
Dear Faithful Readers,
It's funny ... last week, with the help of three top executives in the sports industry, we launched our first Paciolan/NSF Webinar of the year. (Thanks Paciolan!) This one was on Fan Loyalty Rewards Programs, and our executive panel, I thought, was excellent. (And definitely a special shout out to all of you that were able to join us!) And actually -- if you weren't able to join us ... but would like to listen to a recording of the webinar, just click the link here, and it'll take you to a download.
Aside from shamelessly shilling our webinar (!!), I mention this because the topic of Social Media, as you might imagine, wove all throughout the Fan Loyalty Rewards discussion. Let's face it -- Social is definitely here to stay. And in this week's story, Lucas showcases one school -- the University of Kentucky -- that is doing Social Media decidedly well. I hope as you read through this -- you'll think: "Wow -- look at the results this school generated off of just ONE hashtag! We've got to do something like this."
In that case, we hope you will. And if you do ... we also hope you'll tell us about it! We love passing along success stories like UK's. Have a great week....
Enjoy the feature,
Ron Seaver
[email protected]
P.S. - Want even more revenue generating ideas? Follow @NatlSportsForum on Twitter to get more helpful insights on #sportsbiz, #sponsorship and more!
PROGRAM TITLE
University of Kentucky: #WeAreUK
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OBJECTIVES
The social media world has grown overly cluttered with tweets, tags and people to follow. It is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate your program from others and capitalize on the seemingly endless social media possibilities. However, a strong social media presence is essential to the fans and without one, your team will be left in the dust. Though the importance of staying ahead of the curve cannot be overstated, the power of capitalizing on the original social media channels can also be immense. The Kentucky Wildcats have proven that here. They harnessed the power of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to get their fans involved and put their team on the social media map.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
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Nathan Schwake, Assistant AD for Marketing and Licensing at the University of Kentucky, and his colleagues wanted to implement a campaign that would "showcase people who were doing the right things on Twitter for [UK]," said Schwake. They wanted to create an online fan hub to aggregate and display fans’ tweets and Instagram photos in a central location, while amplifying the voice of the Big Blue Nation. In other words, they wanted to start their very own social movement. With these goals in mind, they pulled out a white board and the wheels started turning.
The Wildcats staff searched the social media atmosphere for something meaningful they could use to launch their program. Schwake asked one question: "What can we accomplish with the resources at hand?" When they found the already trending #WeAreUK, they focused in to take it to the next level.
Promoting the hashtag everywhere (electronic billboards, stadium cups, posters, Twitter... etc.) the Wildcats got the word out: tweets were selected and featured on video boards at games, a fan mosaic was created for the upcoming football season (picture above) and a video about UK Athletics went viral. The campaign ignited conversation within and outside of the fan base, providing genuine user-generated excitement that was easy to get behind.
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Originally, the campaign was built for the football team, but it attracted so much hype that it blossomed out into every sports program at UK. With all their passion, Schwake and his marketing team knew they could let the fans do the work for them and after its initial stages, they watched the program grow and build upon itself. "It's like a self-generating machine," said Schwake, "the more the fans interact across the different platforms, the more information we have to put back out there, giving the fans more ammo to comment or post with, etc." The fans themselves kept the program going! That is the beauty of picking the right platforms, people and hashtags to showcase in the battle that is social media marketing. When the fans generate the content for you and don’t end up with Twitter "burn out", you can be sure you are cutting through the clutter.
Click above to visit the #WeAreUK splash page!
PARTNERSHIP
The Wildcats teamed up with Cornett IMS in Kentucky for the #WeAreUK campaign. It started with a white board brainstorming session that resulted in what Schwake called an "easy, ongoing conversation that produced a successful social movement." Obviously, Cornett did a fantastic job working with both the fans and the Wildcats, as seen in the results (below).
RESULTS
Google Mark Stoops or John Calipari and you will find that these UK coaches have a lot in common, but the most of which is their massive Twitter following. Now search #WeAreUK on Twitter and you have to scroll down through twelve pages just to get to January of this year! The results from all the online chatter is astounding: 670,000 Facebook likes, 1.25 million followers on Twitter for their basketball coach John Calipari, over 17,000 Instagram photos tied to the campaign and an immeasurable amount of fan excitement. In Kentucky, this truly was a "social movement".
But the results in terms of ROI have not materialized quite yet. Schwake commented, "It's hard to measure the dollar value on the return of the campaign itself. But to have an interactive platform to communicate with fans (and have them communicate with each other) is priceless." With this program only through its first year, monetary results won't be truly seen or quantifiable until it has matured into next year.
LOOKING AHEAD
The future of the program is bright; riding off the coattails of success, there are no plans to end it. The program they have created may take a different direction, but the video boards, tweets and photos will live on. The roar of the Wildcats will be heard on Twitter and Facebook for years to come.
CONTACT
For more Information, contact:
Nathan Schwake, Assistant Director of Marketing at the University of Kentucky, [email protected]
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