Social Media Café Blog – David Granger
October 24, 2013
Hello and welcome to the very first iSportconnect Social Media Café blog.
It’s the place where we take a look at the sporting social and digital universe, pick out some of the best bits, look at the people doing things right, and round-up some of the news and opinion to keep you abreast of all things online.
Athletes Getting It Right: Roger Federer
The Swiss tennis legend (does he count as a legend yet) has really taken to Twitter in a big way.
There are other athletes and teams who haven’t always got the hang of it and occasionally been hung out to dry, but Roger is an athlete getting it right.
He’s already a nice guy and someone who takes a little time and care over the relationship he has with his fans, but a recent flash Q&A demonstrated just precisely how nice a guy he is.
Federer was quite happy to chat with fans about everything and anything from his taste in television to which countries he’d like to visit, his favourite Italian football team and his handwriting. You’ll find the full story here: http://mashable.com/2013/10/10/roger-federer-twitter/
Team in Focus: Lotus F1
When Kimi Raikkonen decided to make a return to F1, it was always going to be a breath of fresh air. And always going to be social media gold for the team he drove for.
What the team has managed to do is retain a sense of humour, while maintaining a slick, F1-aspirational tone to their output.
They’re quite overt with their hastagging. It’s done with tongue firmly in cheek and what they also do with some panache is aggregate content on their website.
While the premise of social media is push, rather than pull to a digital hub, Lotus’ community section (second from the left on the main menu) gathers all the content they’re producing in one place. A single place to see all the Instagram, Facebook and Twitter content and, in addition they use the nifty Storify application to bolster the whole thing and gather in even more content.
But… there is the tendency to get a little self-referential at times with the videos. The first video of the year which saw Matt Le Blanc quiz a typically reticent Kimi Raikkonen on his thoughts on the new car on YouTube was a little forced. And the slightly awkward Déjà Vu video, again on their YouTube channel, was unnecessary. Their idea of getting a slide guitar player to emulate an engine noise is a good one. And even if a car company did use a similar concept, parading your innovation and dismissing an agency’s apparent dearth of original ideas is not one to display in public.
But far more often they get it right. And perhaps their coup de grace was fortuitously in Monaco.
Where for most it’s an alpha male competition to see who can host the most lavish party or serenade the biggest A-lister into their motorhome/yacht, Lotus managed to seize the zeitgeist by the short hair and made more of a splash with two French guys most people would have trouble recognizing whether they’re wearing their helmets or not.
The Columbia Records link-up has proved fascinating. Lotus have managed to bring music into the Paddock while retaining their cool and the label’s credibility. But in Monte Carlo, just nine days after the launch of perhaps the most (over)hyped record of the year, Daft Punk strode through the Paddock, met the drivers and watched the race from the garage. And the on-track/in-harbour action was all backed up with a great social campaign, spearheaded with another hashtag. #getlucky, of course.
The upshot is that a team which was having a small bout of identity confusion (Renault-Lotus Renault-Not Green Lotus-Team Lotus-Lotus F1 Team), but in its latest 2011 guise had heritage in name and livery, now had a charismatic lead driver and a newly unveiled wit and sense of humour.
Case in point? The brilliant picture they put on Twitter when Kimi Raikkonen announced he was leaving to re-join Ferrari. That picture didn’t only light up the Paddock, but it also went viral. Even sad news can be re-worked in the wonderful world of social media.
Their social and digital media wasn’t a necessity, therefore, but it has lifted the fans’ (and the sponsors’ potential audience) appreciation and dedication to the team.
Fan Interaction of the Week
Not so much sports, more an internet phenomena which will not only take up five minutes of your day but will also have your eyes rolling at the state of the youth of today.
Check out #dunkcam on Vine for some hilarious high school, basket ball-related pranks and some which really aren’t so funny. And if you’re inspired to try one yourself, do send it in to us… We’ll put some on the digital café blog for you to take a look at to take up five minutes of your day…
You’ll find video’s here: http://seenive.com/tag/dunkcam
Training Ground – Better hacks for your social media marketing
Use Socialbro to figure out the best time to send your tweets. The timing of your tweets is really important. You can send during a quiet period when not many followers are online hoping the few that are will see your tweets. Or you can send during the busy times when most of your followers are online. Socialbro will help you figure out the best time. Lots of other great functionality but that’s a good one to start with.
Don’t forget that the Social Media Café congregates around a large cappuccino every week at iSportconnect.tv.
We’ll see you there.