Case Study: Golden State Warriors – Playoff Ticket Scavenger Hunt

GSW Scavenger Hunt

This year was Golden State’s first time in the playoffs since their incredible run in 2006-07.  The years between appearances resulted in placing of 3rd and 4th in their division and missing the playoffs.  Sean was lucky enough to be in town just as they clinched for the 2013 playoffs.  Their absence over the past couple of years has elevated fan excitement and the Golden State Warriors have used this to their advantage and have taken to Social Media to interact and engage with their fans through an exciting competition.

The Playoff Ticket Scavenger Hunt is a contest which the Warriors ran giving away a range of prizes in the ten days leading up to their first home playoff game.  The contest revolves around all social media and digital platforms for the Warriors including: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Mobile App, Insider email, Insider mobile and Youtube.  Each day there would be clues and challenges published on one of these platforms, which required you to respond to win.

Having a contest which incorporates all digital platforms has given the Warriors an opportunity to develop and improve their reach with their fans. If fans wanted to increase their chances of winning, the best opportunity is to sign up or follow all of the Warriors 8 digital platforms so they don’t miss out on the clues or challenges posted. This in turn possesses as an incredible opportunity for the Warriors to develop their fan base in a digital sense, but more importantly allows the organisation to interact and engage with followers in the future.

Let’s now look at how the Golden State Warriors used their Social Media platforms for the Playoff Scavenger Hunt.

Day 1: Engaging Facebook Fan Base

The Warriors started the scavenger hunt contest with Facebook, which has the most amount of followers at 458,384. Starting with their most popular platform is a great way in informing their largest base of followers of the competitions commencement. It also allows for Facebook users to become aware of other social media platforms the Warriors use regularly throughout the season.

The day 1 challenge started off with an easy assignment for followers which required them to ‘LIKE & SHARE’ the below post. Winners were chosen at random and announced the following day. The post received 6,983 likes and 6,815 shares.

WarriorsFBHuntImage

Day 2: Driving a Twitter frenzy

Following Facebook the @Warriors took to Twitter, their second largest following at 219,348, for the hardest challenge in the competition. The Warriors did warn that this challenge was ‘Extra Challenging’ in their first tweet. The challenge required followers to find a clue within their ‘Gameday Photo Galleries’ from the season.

Golden St. Warriors warriors on Twitter

Followers on Facebook who don’t have twitter received a clue via a photo post of Stephen Curry wearing a ‘@warriors – #letsgowarriors’ t-shirt. The picture also featured the twitter logo over the top of the Warriors logo. For followers on Facebook who don’t know what twitter was, hand no idea what the clue was, as comments of “blue jays carrying them over the bridge” and “a mocking jay?” featured throughout the comments section. Other fans where nice enough to direct those lost to twitter to follow the challenges instructions.

This is where the challenge gets tricky. There are 24 galleries per page and 17 pages of gallery photos since the start of the season with numerous amounts photos in each gallery, I guess the Warriors really wanted fans to work for their tickets. I have to be honest I didn’t manage to find the clue through the galleries as I gave up after close to an hour of searching, as did many others who didn’t have time to search.

Day 3: Driving Fans to Mobile App

Mobile App Clue

Day 4: Everyone loves Bobbleheads

The day 4 challenge was for Oakland residents to head down to a specific Lucky Supermarket and find a Klay Thompson bobble head. Once found you were required to take a photo with the bobble head and post it on Twitter or Instagram with the #FoundKlay hash tag.

This is a simple challenge which incorporated Lucky Supermarkets, who are the official grocery store sponsor of the Warriors and the Oakland Raiders. A great way of using sponsors in the social media competition to increase brand awareness for the grocery store.

Day 5: Show some love on Instagram

Instagram was the sole target of the day 5 challenge via their account @officialwarriors. The challenged prompted fans to be as creative as they can while impersonating player Kent Bazemore’s famous three point celebration named ‘Bazemoring’. The photo had to be tagged with #bazemoring hash tag for winners to be picked. Entries featured poses on top of cars, outside Oracle stadium and where ever the opportunity presented itself for fans.

#bazemoring Favourites

Kent Bazemore is known as the NBA’s number 1 towel-waver and bench hype machine, who continually displays his game long energy celebrating player’s shots. This signature move of celebrating 3’s was used by the Warriors as a Facebook check in competition for fans at a home playoff game to receive a 3 point foam finger, drawing on the ‘Bazemoring’ and ‘Splash Brothers’ hype. This is another impressive opportunity which the Warriors have used to their advantage to engage and interact with their fans. The Winner of the challenge was announced on Twitter and can been seen below

Day 6: Mobile promotion using SMS

Day 7: #DubNation pins down Pinterest

The Warriors Pinterest page has the least amount of followers out of all social media avenues used for the Warriors. As a result the scavenger hunt competition stands as a great way of promoting and increasing followers. The challenge was for users to create a ‘board’ labelled ‘#DubNation’ and required you to post 20 things that creatively display your Golden State Warriors pride.

As Pinterest is continually growing and relatively new to sports teams, the ways in which teams interact and engage with fans and supporters is different. Pinterest has a large female following and the inclusion of this platform in the scavenger competition is an excellent way for the Warriors to reach their female fans and supporters.  Check out our Sports on Pinterest board.

Pinterest Pin board #DubNation

Day 8: Share and Like the team you love on Facebook

We are back on Facebook with the 8th challenge looking at fans relieving their favourite moments from the season. To officially enter the challenge followers needed to again LIKE & SHARE the post and provide a comment on their favourite moment.

An easy challenge to complete which provides an opportunity for fans to talk about the amazing season the Warriors are having so far and continues the hype and excitement leading into game two of their round 1 matchup against the Denver Nuggets.

I thought i should also provide my favourite moment of the season. I feel sorry for the rookies . . . . .

Day 9: Crowdsourcing fan video on YouTube

The final day of the Scavenger Hunt continued on from the favourite moments challenge from day 8 and fans needed to get the camera out for YouTube. An extra two tickets were up for grabs and fans needed to film a 30sec clip of a re-enactment of their favourite play, people #Bazemoring, the Landry flex, putting up some 3-point goggles or wearing some Warriors merchandise.

Final Challenge

This challenge was promoting their YouTube channel and needed fans to submit their videos via the Warrior’s website. Riding their playoff excitement fans really produced some impressive videos in the short time they had. Below are two of my personal favourites

Day 10: Integrating Adidas with Twitter and Instagram

The Warriors weren’t done yet and threw in a BONUS day, giving away a Harrison Barnes jersey. The final challenge used Instagram and Twitter once again getting fans to take a photo of themselves with a mannequin wearing the jersey at the Adidas store in San Francisco. Once again we see an opportunity for a sponsor to be involved in the competition.

Bonus Challenge

Final notes

In summary most of the challenges were fairly easy to follow and complete, the only challenge which maybe and should have been altered was the day 2 challenge. This could of been improved with the inclusion of a clue indicating which date the gallery clue might be from. This could have saved a lot of time for followers and been more engaging and positive, as many people commented that they had given up as it was too hard.

The challenges throughout the scavenger hunt were fair as most challenges were not a race. This made each challenge available to all fans and supporters as everyone who entered had an equal chance of winning. The majority of the challenges were different as some involved appearing at stores and then using Instagram to the basic sharing and liking posts on facebook.

Using their most popular social media platforms as the primarily avenues to inform followers of clues and challenges was a great way of promoting other developing platforms such as Pinterest and their Mobile app. Drawing on key moments through the year such as the #Bazemoring poses, continually keep fans excited leading into the playoffs.

The only question which remains is, how active will these users be if they have only signed up to win playoff tickets, will they be influencers in the future?

What did you think?  Let me know in the comments.

"First of all, great post Curtis I like how you followed the promotion from the fan's point of view.  Great job by Kevin Cote as his team at the Warriors for executing a campaign like this to engage in midst of a exciting (and very busy) playoff run."
Sean Callanan, @SportsGeek
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NBA’s @MNTimberwolves help fans #GETCLOSER

Kevin Love signs autographs for fans to kick off the Get Closer campaign

Kevin Love signs autographs for fans to kick off the Get Closer campaign

The Minnesota Timberwolves, like many other professional sports organisations, use multiple social media platforms to engage and interact with their fans and supporters. Recently, the team has used to their YouTube channel to support and promote their innovative ‘Get Closer’ season-ticket renewal strategy.

The campaign draws on sports fans’ desire to be as close to the action as possible, but also embodies a sense of appreciation for fans who have continually shown their support. Driven by the hash-tagged #GetCloser slogan, this theme of ‘appreciation’ is consistent across all mediums, and herein lies the strategy’s uniqueness and effectiveness.

Instead of promoting season ticket renewals directly or giving away merchandise, the Timberwolves are showing how they have and will continue to give back to their fans and the community through, player/fan events and behind the scenes access. This gives us a sense that the fans are as important as the players are which is particularly evident through their recent series of videos on YouTube:

Behind the scenes access:

As you can you see from the videos above, Minnesota gave season ticket holders an opportunity of a life time to be part of their campaign commercials. The videos portray fans with players in a real life conversation discussing topics not relating to basketball. This shows another side of the players rather than their athletic abilities which are usually on display for the fans, but insight on a personal level, in a very comical way (Andrei Kirilenko’s ‘Get Closer:  AK’ was a personal favourite).

There are also a couple of videos which give fans a behind the scenes access of their jet, inside the TV Truck, interview with Wolves radio host Alan Horton and Player outing coverage. There is also a special playlist dedicated to season ticket holders who have renewed their membership with a special message from individual players, again going above and beyond for their support.

As we can see Minnesota has been very active and measured through their Youtube channel when showing fan appreciation and continually offering an experience even when the final buzzer has sounded.

To improve the campaigns effectiveness and reach the Timberwolves have effectively used their other digital platforms. Facebook was used to show the benefits and access the Wolves give to their fans which is the experience unlike another teams offer:

Timberwolves - Get Closer Fan Experience 1

Timberwolves - Get Closer Fan Experience 2

Twitter was also used with the #GetCloser hash tag to group and follow tweets:

 

 

Event coverage was seen through Instagram:

Nikola Pekovic Free lunch @ Jimmy Johns

Last but not least Google+ and Vine have also been used to support the season ticket drive:

One final note, Social media platforms all have their own unique way of engaging and interacting with followers and users, this provides opportunities for Sports organisations to establish deeper connections with fans and supporters. The Minnesota Timberwolves have executed a thorough campaign involving a range of platforms to show how they give back to their fans who give so much.

"Love this promotion by my mates at Timberwolves, despite a difficult season on court the Timberwolves make sure the fan is the centre of everything they do.  Congrats to Ted Johnson, Jeff Munneke and Bob Stanke for a great campaign."
Sean Callanan, @SportsGeek
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#SportsGeekTrip Recap – San Francisco, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles

Sports Geek Trip V4 - San Francisco, Portland, San Diego, LAOn Tuesday, I was able to recap on of my most successful #SportsGeekTrips, this marks the fourth trip to the US to connect with and catch up with sports teams and tech companies to learn more about what sports digital strategies are leading the way.

Here is a recording of the GoToMeeting I held with Sports Geek clients from Australia and New Zealand who tuned in to hear how it went after following the #SportsGeekTrip hashtag on my travels.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the recap in the comments and please fire any follow up questions in the comments below.

Want to watch a specific segment?
(Twitter 2:30, Tint 7:30, Pinterest 11:40, Golden State Warriors 16:15, List.ly 22:00, Oakland A’s 26:10, Chirpify 30:00, Ticketnet 34:00, Portland Trailblazers 37:30, Social Media Marketing World 13 – #SMMW13 42:00,Jay Baer 45:15, Pat Flynn 49:00, Brian Carter 50:30,LA Galaxy 53:00)

Want to skip through the presentation first?
Slides are also available on the Sports Geek SlideShare channel.

Sports Geek Trip – The tech side

Sports Geek Trip – The Sports side

  • Golden State Warriors
  • Oakland Athletics
  • Portland Trailblazers
  • Los Angeles Galaxy

Some Sports Geek Trip snaps

Would you be interested in joining me on next #SportsGeekTrip?

Stay tuned to find our when and where, make sure you’re subscribed to Sports Geek News.

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Social Media gives us a glimpse into the heart and mind of Kobe Bryant

“What’s the purpose of social media if I won’t bring it to you Real No Image” - Kobe Bryant

As the regular season of the NBA comes to an end and the excitement of playoff basketball begins, there seems to be a familiar figure missing. Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant will be watching, posting and tweeting from the sidelines while he recovers from Achilles tendon surgery.

Since the injury occurred against the Golden State Warriors, fans have been given a glimpse into the heart, mind and brand of an athlete who has over the course of his career, earned world wide status as one of the most recognised athletes in sport. Bryant has increased his online presence dramatically of late, and has proved an intriguing addition on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for Lakers and NBA fans alike.

@kobebryant

Bryant joined Twitter on January 4th, announcing the ‘Antisocial has become Social #mambatweets.’ Yet given how forthcoming he has been via this platform, you could be forgiven for feeling confused by his ‘antisocial’ self-assessment. His tweeting habits have included words of encouragement to team mates, recognition of opponent’s performances and insight into his daily activities and rehabilitation. Bryant is honest and engaging on Twitter, and has a clear handle on hash tag use; first describing himself as a fine red aging #VINO, then incorporating #countonkobe in his tweets to illustrate, despite his setback, he was as competitive as ever:

That Facebook Post…

Following the Golden State game, but prior to receiving any MRI scans to diagnose the severity of the injury, a sleep deprived and frustrated Kobe took to Facebook at 3:30am to vent his thoughts:

kobe-bryant-emotional-facebook-post-achilles-tear

This was a very emotional and raw ‘status update’, which gave fans and supporters a rare view into his thoughts at a time in which he was vulnerable and questioning the longevity of his career. Kobe’s desire to succeed and his forever present determination was also on display as he vowed to return, but not before affirming that for now he was to assume the role of the aforementioned ‘Coach Vino’.

Reading it over again, you can’t help feel the emotional outpouring in what was a genuinely heart-felt update. This is what social media platforms offer, an avenue for users to share their thoughts and feelings to their friends and followers. Sporting organisations and players are using these avenues more effectively to further develop their brand, as the many platforms allows them to have a ‘personality’ which fans, customers and clients can relate to and connect with.

Kobe on Instagram: 14 posts, 650,000+ followers & 1 person followed

Kobe’s all-star status as one of the greatest athletes on social media grew even more the following day as he started an Instagram account. His first post came as he was getting his MRI, followed by a shot of him getting ready for surgery. Kobe continued with his love of hashtags using #highasakite and #mambaout to humorously convey his pre-surgery thoughts:

MRI time!

Surgery prep time. Lookin like Mrs Doubtfire with a jerri curl cap lol Anesthesia next #highasakite #mambaout

Bryant’s personality is consistent through all his accounts. He is honest and likes to speak his mind, has fun with his hashtags and doesn’t shy away from showing his disappointment. This glimpse into the heart and mind in turn elevates Kobe Bryant as a brand.

Bryant has turned a tough time in his life into a positive and is taking us on the emotional ride with him. He has also done an incredible job in presenting himself professionally, which could not be said for other athletes (case in point, NRL Josh Dugan). As a result of opening the doors into his life, people can now relate to the Kobe brand on a personal level. They have seen the hardship and now understand what makes the superstar tick; solidifying the ideas of the #KOBESYSTEM and he will ‘Dominate Achilles’

YES! Dominate the boot. Dominate tendons. Dominate the cast. Dominate rehab. Dominate dominating demure dominants domination. Wtf u ask?!? "Your Welcome" #dominatehashtags

I’ll be following Kobe’s #mambaisms on Twitter and all his other social media activity and strongly advise you do too, as I am sure he will have a lot to tweet, post and share over the playoffs.

Breaking News: Kobe WILL NOT be tweeting during Playoff games

UPDATE: The unthinkable has happened. After receiving national attention during the ABC broadcast, Bryant announced that he wouldn’t be tweeting during games:

Upon hearing the news, the Los Angeles Times ran a poll to gauge fans’ reaction to the news. Six hours in, and it seems they want Kobe to keep live tweeting during games:

LA Times Poll

Fingers crossed he’ll still provide pre and post-game thoughts via his social media platforms; he may even decide to tweet during playoff matchups that don’t involve the Lakers, even if he still has a bit to learn when it comes to sharing images (and a sneak peek of the new Facebook timeline):

Kobe Phone screenshot of Facebook post of Tweet

But you’ve got to admire a man who has winning at the forefront of his mind and continually wants to do what’s best for his team.

Have a listen to the discussion Sean had with Harf on Harf Time about Kobe Bryant.

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Sports Social Media Rankings – April 2013

Sports Geek brings you a great way to stay in touch with Facebook and Twitter leaders for major sporting codes and teams from around the world.

Click on an image below to be directed to that code’s social media rankings page via sportsgeekhq.com

AFL

Collingwood and Essendon are dominating on Twitter and Facebook numbers, with 263,000+ and 260,000+ fans respectively, while the Crows, Lions and Eagles are also edging out their cross-town rivals when it comes to the social space.
AFL Social Media Rankings April 2013

NRL

While the Broncos are way out in front when it comes to their Facebook fan base, the reining premiers lead the way on Twitter with over 32,000 followers.

NRL Social Media Rankings April 2013

Big Bash

The Heat and Strikers possess a number’s lead on Facebook, but the battle for Twitter supremacy between the Melbourne and Sydney franchises is on!

Big Bash Social Media Rankings April 2013

A-League

The Victory and Sydney FC lead the way in the A-League, with the pair boasting online fan bases in excess of 107,500 and 83,900 respectively.

A-League Social Media Rankings April 2013

NBL

Clearly the two best teams on the court this season, the Breakers and Wildcats have also dominated the social space, each claiming over 27,000 Facebook fans and strong Twitter followings.

NBL Social Media Rankings April 2013

World Sports

MLB

As you’d expect, the Yankees are way out in front when it comes to online popularity, with over seven million fans. The next best are the Red Sox with four million and the Giants with a tick over two million.

MLB Social Media Rankings April 2013

NBA

Despite their up and down season, the Lakers still rule social media in the NBA with 16 million Facebook fans and over three million followers on Twitter. Chicago have the next strongest fan base on Facebook with 8.4 million, but only the Celtics, Heat and Magic can boast 1 million+ Twitter followers.

NBA Social Media Rankings April 2013

 

NFL

The Cowboys, Steelers and Patriots are the NFL leaders in the online space. Each have 500,000+ followers on Twitter, although Dallas has the edge on Facebook, with 5.3 million fans.
NFL Social Media Rankings April 2013

 

NHL

Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago & Detroit lead the way on Facebook, with each boasting over a million fans. However, in a great sign for the NHL, over 2/3 of teams have 100,000+ Twitter followers and one in every three teams has over 200,000.

NHL Social Media Rankings April 2013

EPL

While Manchester United have twice as many Facebook fans as the next best supported team in Chelsea (32 million to 16 million), amazingly they’re still third on a global scale behind Spanish giants Real Madrid (37.1 million) and Barcelona (41.5 million).

EPL Social Media Rankings April 2013

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Twitter Helps with Instant Marketing

Twitter has had the largest growth of any digital network globally as reported by GlobalWebIndexOne. They have experienced a growth of 40% in monthly worldwide active users from Q2 to Q4 in 2012.

Over the past couple of months we have seen businesses react with lightening speed in harnessing opportune moments in sports for their own benefit. Companies such as Oreo, Audi and Walgreens took to Twitter during the Superbowl power outage, while Under Armour created the #DeAndreDunkFace campaign on Instagram, following DeAndre Jordan’s earth-shattering alley-oop.

During the beginning of the third quarter with the Baltimore Ravens up 28-6 over the San Francisco 49er’s, the unimaginable occurred in the Superbowl, the lights went out. This delay was seen as an fitting time for brands to market themselves in a creative way through Twitter.

Oreo had an ad running during the Superbowl which was promoting their Instagram account, getting users to let them know which part of their famous cookie was their favourite.

But it was mission control with the brand team from Oreo and their agency, 360i, in a media type war room which stole the show, with their quick thinking Twitter post. The Oreo graphic (below) was “designed, captioned and approved within minutes” said Sarah Hofstetter, President of 360i.

The post was ‘retweeted’ and ‘favourited’ thousands of times within 15 minutes of it going up.

Audi, like Oreo had already aired an ad during the game, but decided to take on their competitor Mercedes-Benz. Now Mercedes-Benz, @MBUSA, is the naming rights holder for the Superdome, therefore Audi saw the opportunity to promote their unique LED lighting on their cars, by offering Mercedes-Benz some help.

Not to be outdone the supermarket giant Walgreens got in on the act with these two witty posts themselves.

These are just a few examples of companies which saw an opportunity to reach users on Twitter with their comical posts.

Another creative campaign which was aired last week via Instagram and Twitter was Under Armours “Show Me Your Dunk Face”. Under Armour saw an opportunity when their sponsored athlete DeAndre Jordan of the Los Angeles Clippers threw down one thunderous ally-opp dunk on Brandon Knight which was being labelled, ‘Dunk of the Year’ across the web. The video is below for your viewing pleasure.

This sparked Under Armour into action which created an Instagram contest, requiring fans to submit their best impersonation of the face DeAndre Jordan made at the end of the play walking back to the bench. A simple contest followed by the #DeAndreDunkFace hash tag.

De Andre Jordan Show Me Your Dunk Face

This has lead to Under Armour creating two limited edition graphic t-shirts to honour the ridiculous play encapsulaity the dunk and DeAndre Jordan’s face.

One of the limited edition t-shirts from Under Armour

One of the limited edition t-shirts from Under Armour

With the continual growth of active users on twitter and other digital platforms companies are able to become creative when attempting to engage with their audience. It also allows for instant communication and reach before the topic becomes saturated and losses its effectiveness. This means Sporting organisations need to be ready for any situation in which they deem or see could potentially become viral. It now comes down to how quickly they can turn around the production of the campaign as effectively as Oreo and Under Armour, but I am sure the examples given won’t be the last.

Let us know of a campaign which has impressed you within sports.

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John Wall Twitter Competition: Success or Lost Opportunity?

Despite his productive on-court form since coming back from injury, John Wall recently delivered the Twitterverse an example of precisely what not to do when it comes to social media competitions.

In an effort to promote the college-party themed film ‘21 And Over,’ the Wizard’s point-guard held a signed cap competition, tweeting the following on February 28:

On the surface – Positives and Negatives

Let’s acknowledge what he did right. The tweet contains a simple message and offers a task that is relatively easy for followers to execute. He also gets a tick for displaying the prize on offer, as this provides clarity as well as visual appeal to the competition.

However, the overall effectiveness of the promotion has left a lot to be desired.

What instantly hits me is Wall’s apparent lack of enthusiasm for the initiative. His opener; ‘Anybody want a signed hat?’ emits a lackadaisical tone, reminiscent of the I-guess-I’ll-choose-you attitude the captain of a school yard basketball team shows toward the kid chosen last in a pick-up game. The tweet feels subdued, and I can’t imagine his fans are jumping out of their seats to get involved.

But the more significant problem lies in the type of competition Wall has implemented. Given it requires just two of his followers to tweet in a photographic response it could, in theory, be run and won within 60 seconds. Fast-forward another 30 minutes, and it would be feasible to suggest that most of Wall’s 721,000-strong Twitter following wouldn’t bother to make the effort to take part, as they’d be under the assumption that, due to Wall’s popularity on the Twitter space, the competition’s outcome had already been decided.

The Stats Don’t Lie 

Astoundingly, despite being posted out over three weeks ago, it appears Wall’s tweet has only received one direct reply:

When we dug a little deeper – using Twitter’s advanced search tool - the results were even more damning. Here are some of the things we uncovered: 

  • Zero competition related tweets to @John_Wall containing the words: ‘signed,’ ‘cap,’ ‘movie,’ ‘ticket,’ ‘stub,’ or ‘prize’; 
  • Zero competition related tweets to @John_Wall containing the names of the major apps people use to share photographs online (twitpic, lockerz, instagram pic.twitter, snapseed, camera+, etc); and
  • One competition related tweet to @John_Wall containing the hashtags ‘#21andover,’ or ‘#signedcap’ (and that was merely a retweet from a fan).

In addition to illustrating poor fan engagement, I’m sure promoters of the film wouldn’t be that impressed with the 28 retweets and 28 favourites that have come since the tweet was published. 

Correcting Wall’s mistakes

A more effective way to implement a Twitter competition of this nature would be with the use of a random incentive system. In this scenario, instead of rewarding speed, Wall would stipulate that any reply containing a picture of a movie stub ticket from ’21 and over,’ sent to his account by a certain time two or three days later, for instance, would go into the running to win one of the signed caps. This would give each of his followers an honest chance at winning the memorabilia, and a reasonable time in which to reply. A competition held over a sustained period, with uncertain results would undoubtedly encourage a wider and more intense level of fan engagement. Winners would then be drawn at random using a website such as Twitterdraw.

While sportsgeekhq.com has already examined what it takes to carry out an effective social media competition, using Collingwood defender Harry O’Brien’s boot competition as case study, we can also use a more recent example provided to us by Wall’s NBA-counterpart, Kyrie Irving, who on February 22, tweeted about a competition for ‘Crysis 3’ a first person shooter game from Electronic Arts (EA):

Note the differences between this tweet and that of Wall’s:

  • The proactive tone and personalised endorsement of the product;
  • An easier method of competition entry (i.e. Retweet rather than a reply that has to contain a photograph);
  • A non-absolute sense of time (i.e. You may still have a chance to win, even if you aren’t in the first 5% to respond); and
  • No confirmation on the number of copies Irving has to distribute.

As you can see, this has been retweeted more than 4,500 times, which is a significantly superior result in contrast to his Washington Wizards counterpart, despite having a smaller Twitter fan base to work with (506,068 at time of publishing). While you could argue that the Cleveland point guard has a better product to promote, his approach is significantly more engaging than Wall’s.

Final Observations

Since there have been no follow-up tweets from Wall’s account confirming a competition winner there are still in theory, two signed caps up for grabs.  You could enter the competition now, nearly a month later, and still be in with a shot of winning a cap signed by a number one draft pick in the NBA!

If the Wizards’ guard replies, I’ll be sure to let the Sports Geek family know.

Tips for Prize Giveaways on Twitter:

1. Be Concise and Well-defined in your message – 140 characters can evaporate quickly; use them wisely!
2. Use engaging Criteria – Frequency over immediacy. Rather than asking for the ‘first’ reply or retweet, convey that any fan who meets the criteria by a certain time, has an equal shot at winning (It’s a marathon not a sprint!).
3. Adopt an Active and Enthusiastic tone – If you’re not excited about engaging with your followers, why should they reciprocate?
4. Don’t get offside with Twitter – Try to adhere to Twitter guidelines when it comes to competitions and giveaways.

*Photo of movie ticket stub was acquired from the Twitter account of Bspor3, who was responding to a similar competition held by Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons.

UPDATE: Thanks to Dane May from NCLUSIVEsports for alerting us to other another reply to John Wall’s competition, and the fact that there were other NBA players who partook in the ’21 and Over’ campaign:

Update - new reply

While Wall wasn’t the only NBA star to undertake a Twitter competition to promote the film, we chose to highlight his giveaway because we were amazed by the lack of response he received, despite having such a large Twitter fan base. Just goes to show how difficult it can be to engage a large audience on the social space.

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The Top 50 Harlem Shakes

To finish 2012 we experienced ‘Gangnam Style’, now the next viral Youtube clip for 2013 is the ‘Harlem Shake’. The viral video has prompted many elite sporting teams to perform their own take, most notably the NBA team Miami Heat lead by Lebron James as King James. Crazes and viral topics allow sporting teams to provide entertainment of a different kind than just the excitement of sport the athletes participate in. Offering some comic relief through such videos offers fans a different insight into the daily lives of an organisation and athletes.

The videos are roughly 30 seconds long and are performed with no real choreography or formal dance experience required.  Participants range from players, coaches, fans and mascots dressed as if it were Halloween “dancing” to Baauer’s  ‘Harlem Shake’ song. Most of the videos start with one individual in a mask dancing by themselves surrounded by a group whom don’t take much notice until the beat drops in the song when mayhem breaks loose.

If you haven’t seen one by now it’s okay, below you will find the top 10 Shakes performed by sporting teams and a list of FORTY other videos from different leagues and sports around the world, such as the NBA, MLB, NHL, EPL, College sports, AFL and NRL. Comment to let us know which one is your favourite and why, enjoy.

THE TOP 10

1. University of Georgia Men’s Swim & Dive Team

This has to but number one for one main reason, it’s performed underwater! Along with that, the setting up of the table and chairs are another feat in itself and lastly the student performing the shake in a sleeping bag underwater, gets a difficulty score of 10.

2. NBA Miami Heat

Miami’s shake starts with Chris ‘Birdman’ Anderson acting as his namesake, followed by Lebron James leading the team as ‘King James’. The Heat decided to perform an extended version with close ups of James, Chris Bosh with a blinged out boombox, a dancing bear and Ray Allen as the Phantom.

3. University of Maryland Men’s Basketball Game

A very impressive Harlem Shake which involves the student sections at the Maryland’s basketball game versus Duke. This is a great example of the craze being used in a unique way to engage fans at a live event. The songs prior are very impressive to watch as well. (1:35)

4. University of Kansas Men’s Basketball Team

This is the first video where we see a coach involved. Bill Self is seen coming up with plays for the team but isn’t having much success until he writes ‘Harlem Shake’ on the board. It’s always great to see a grown man dressed as a baby as well.

5. NBA Denver Nuggets

Denver’s rendition is impressive because of the Nugget’s centre JaVale McGee dressed as the predator, watch out!

6. University of Louisville Men’s Basketball Team

What better way to celebrate a win . . . . . than performing the Harlem Shake. Unfortunately no props or costumes, but definitely style points for the dance at the beginning.

7. EPL Manchester City

Manchester City is the first English Premier League team to perform the Harlem Shake, featuring many superheroes, i guess they were recruited to catch up on the table.

8. AFL Hawthorn FC

The first Australian sporting team to make the list involves a chicken being a chicken in the gym until a penguin and the Tasmanian devil arrive. I am unsure what the player in the bin is doing but i guess that’s what the Harlem Shake is all about.

9. NRL New Zealand Warriors

The New Zealand Warriors performed their Harlem Shake during a news report on a plane, yes on a plane. I don’t know if any safety regulations were breached but it’s safe to say people aren’t meant to fit in the overhead luggage stowaway (3.00)

10.  NBA Toronto Raptors

To round off the top 10 we have the Toronto Raptors. Amir Johnson decides to interrupt Dwayne Casey during a halftime speech wearing an alien mask. Why this rounds out the top 10 you ask, the extended solo by the giant mouse at the end.

NBA Harlem Shake Videos

NBA All-Star Jam

mascots, mascots, mascots, mascots and MORE mascots!

Dallas Mavericks

Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter star together in their simple rendition inspired from the 60’s

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs players haven’t performed a Harlem Shake yet, but that hasn’t stopped the Spurs staff from getting involved!

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors felt as though one Harlem Shake wasn’t enough. In their video they have brought us: the Arena Shake, Tunnel Shake, #Bazemourning Shake and Pre-game Shake!

Phoenix Suns

Another staff video, this time in the Sun’s team store. The players don’t always get to have the fun.

Atlanta Hawks

Harry the Hawk with some lucky fans in the 6th man section get into the spirit of things at the game

Charlotte Bobcats

The Bobcats weren’t happy with just one performance like Golden State, they have created an in game edition along with a team store special.

Orlando Magic

Orlando’s mascot STUFF leads this all out mayhem clip featuring fan’s at the Amway Centre

Minnesota Timberwolves – The Anti Harlem Shake Edition

If you’re not a fan of the Miami Heat you will definitely enjoy this clip. The Timberwolves mascot is seen hitting a fake lebron james with a bat, a video which was screened at the game. Unfortunately the inspiration didn’t rub off on the players to well.

MLB Harlem Shake Videos

Kansas City Royals

With spring training coming to a close a couple of the Royals players decided to celebrate.

Oakland Athletics

Between selling memberships and tickets, the sales team at Oakland managed to fit in a Harlem Shake during lunch!

Miami Marlins

What’s impressive about the Marlins performance is the use of costumes! look at the size of the crab and the seahorse.

Arizona Diamondbacks

I think the players weren’t too happy with their current warm up routine, I guess they found a new one!

Super Rugby Harlem Shake Videos

Crusaders

Speechless on this video, superman I believe almost knocks himself out on the camera.

Blues

I don’t quite understand the romantic affection with the weights, but the energy is definitely there from the Blue’s.

NFL Harlem Shake Videos

With NFL teams currently on break it was left to the rookies, and they haven’t disappointed. See if you can spot any future NFL stars.

 

NCAA Harlem Shake Videos

University of Kentucky

ESPN’s College Gameday and Kentucky fans have produced a great video with their own interpretation of the Harlem Shake song, so if you’re sick of the song you will LOVE this one.

Florida Gators (Live edition)

Wanting to get the crowd involved in half time entertainment, the Gators have found a solution.

Florida Gators (Again)

I believe they learnt their lesson from this version as it was lacking energy and participants, check out the dead cockroach!

University of Texas

I believe things are always bigger in Texas

University of Oregon

The Duck has come to fool everyone! Just when you think no one is going to Shake with him, there is a sudden rush of madness!

University of Nebraska

First practice at spring training for the football season is a great opportunity to get penalties out of the system . . . . . . . . and the Harlem Shake.

University of Georgia Tech

Not quite up there with Georgia’s underwater performance but are they walking on water?

University of Southern Miss

I guess we all knew Seymour wouldn’t be alone for long.

University of Tennessee

Another swim team edition featuring a gorilla and some handstands.

University of Georgia

Another video from Georgia but this is the land based version, DAWG style, from the football team.

Northwestern University

I am not too sure if this is the best environment to take your first date or even slow dance in.

South Dakota University

The effort is there but the participants are not.

AFL Harlem Shake Videos

Saint Kilda FC

Great effort by the players and the mascot but i am not too sure if the fans were too impressed judging by their top comment: “Thats cute and all, but i would like to see a flag in my lifetime. Thanks”

NRL Harlem Shake Videos

Gold Coast Titans

I guess you have to be in it to win it they say. Props to the cheerleader for hanging upside down!

Sydney Roosters

Sorry did I interrupt a yoga class?

Cronulla Sharks

An impressive showing of enthusiasm from the Sharks team and where did the motorbike come from?

National Hockey League Harlem Shake Videos

Phoenix Coyotes

With the energy they saved during the lookout the Coyotes players put it to good use on the ice.

Columbus Blue Jackets

A dancing bug, cheerleaders, beach balls and tenpins are standard in a Harlem Shake video now.

Racing Harlem Shake Videos

Jeff Gordon (NASCAR)

The Harlem Shake isn’t just for team sports, team bonding in racing is essential.

Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR)

Jimmie just wanted to keep on celebrating his Daytona 500 win, and his crew were happy to oblige.

Red Bull Racing (V8 Supercars)

Red Bull gives me wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings. The Harlem Shake has now been shown to reduce stress levels after working long hours, or is that delirium?

Sauber Team (Formula One)

This would make for some interesting viewing if each pit crew had to perform the Harlem Shake prior to refueling and tire changes.

English Premier League Harlem Shake Videos

Fulham FC

Keep calm and do the Harlem Shake! A great version by the Fulham players with some smooth moves by Billy the Badger.

No more Harlem Shake videos….

That’s it!  50 Harlem Shake videos from the world of sports.

Harf Time discuss Harlem Shake

Sean discussed it on Harf Time and declared it over, explaining memes are getting quicker and have a shorter lifespan than ever before.

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Sports Geek Look Book – @NBA edition

At Sports Geek we are constantly looking a sports websites to see what the latest trends are in sports marketing, digital activations and sports content marketing strategies.  We are constantly taking notes using Evernote to clip examples that we might use in the future with Sports Geek clients.  So we have decided to shortcut that method for you by creating the Sports Geek Look Book to profile sports websites, our first edition highlights the team websites on the NBA.

You can flick through all NBA team websites via the slides below or fill out the form and we will email you a link to download the full page versions in PDF form.

We hope you like the Sports Geek Look Book, please share it with your friends and colleagues.


To those at the NBA and NBA teams who have put in the hard work to produce these sites we thank you as a fan and as a Sports Geek.

Look Book on Pinterest


Look Book on Harf Time

We discussed the Look Book on Harf Time today as well as the unfortunate hacking on the Burger King Twitter account.

This week’s Harf Time segment looked a new tool Tint and a site called Thuzio.

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The Black Mamba Takes Over Twitter

While it seems like Twitter has invaded every corner of our everyday lives, there was at least one notable exception in the NBA world. Kobe Bryant, the superstar Laker of 17 years, had bucked the trend of athletes who have Twitter.

With the NBA having around 90% of it’s players on Twitter, Kobe was the biggest name in the game yet to commit to Twitter. Until Christmas Day of 2012, that is. He has been active on Facebook for a decent period, but it wasn’t until he took over Nike Basketball’s account Christmas Day that Kobe entered the Twittersphere.

He controlled the account for just three days, but was quite active, tweeting out plenty of pictures and engaging with fans around the world.

Shortly after, the Black Mamba fired up his own personal account.

As expected, the much-anticipated arrival of the Black Mamba on Twitter generated plenty of traction, as he picked up nearly a quarter of a million followers in the first day, including 100,000 in the first 75 minutes. His follower count currently sits in the high 800,000 mark, but he only follows 42 people so far.

There have been bigger follower rushes in Twitter history, with Charlie Sheen getting some eye popping numbers, but the manner in which Kobe joined Twitter, by taking over Nike’s basketball handle to spark will-he-or-won’t-he rumours about a personal account, was a stroke of genius. The hype surrounding his take over assisted him perfectly, set the stage for a dramatic entrance to Twitter. An entrance that he nailed.

So far, Kobe has been a good communicator on Twitter, engaging with fans, posting pictures and giving fans an inside look into the life of Kobe Bryant. What’s especially pleasing about Kobe on Twitter is he is starting to share his personality beyound the basketball court and TV commercials. For a player who many view negatively due to his prickly on-court demeanour, Twitter has, so far, proven to be a great tool for him to develop a more personable public voice.

Hi feed is full of photos of him in ice baths, the Lakers’ training facility and even a photo with former POTUS Bill Clinton. He even had some fun with the Dwight Howard fight rumour, posting this photo:

Overall, it’s been a successful beginning to the Kobe Bryant Twitter Era. That being said, it will be interesting to keep an eye on his account, with the Lakers struggling on the court this season and a Twitter account in the hands of one of the most opinionated players in the game.

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