Just 14 months ago the Chicago Blackhawks were in the sports equivalent of the Stone Age. Only its road games were broadcast on free television and any attempt at a marketing campaign seemed disconnected with its distant and controlling leadership team.
Fast forward 14 months and the Blackhawks feel like a team on the cutting edge -- and I'm not just talking about the fact that all 82 games are broadcast on free television.
No -- the Blackhawks are using Twitter, the micro-blogging/free texting service, to reach the traditionally toughest-to-reach 18-40 something male demographic that is the core of its fan base.
I decided to try Twitter a few weeks ago; mostly because everyone else around me was doing it. I personally find little utility for it when it comes to tweeting about my life. Who cares about what I'm up to, right? Instead I use it to people watch -- it's my virtual airport.
Twitter does add lots of utility in another way, and the Blackhawks have it the nail on the head. Rather than navigate my way to either the Chicago Tribune or Sun-Times website to get news about the Blackhawks, I get the latest news delivered straight to my phone via Twitter.
It's a really simple thing, but yet amazing. I don't know who writes the tweets, but it reads like secret insider information in that it's detailed news delivered before it hits the internet or cable television shows. Now I have this strange feeling like I'm "in the know" with the Blackhawks, and because of this, I have this new and exciting personal relationship with the team.
No matter how much I love the Colts, I never felt this connected to them.
Twitter is a brilliant and free marketing tool. For the cost of a person's time to write the tweets (Twitter accounts are free), the Blackhawks have reached out to me in a way none of its other multi-million dollar marketing campaigns have.
How many brands, be it a sports brand or other product, can say they are truly connected with their customers? Very few. The fact that Twitter enables a company to build its brand through a personal connection of this sort will revolutionize the way marketers think about online advertisement and viral e-marketing strategies. Why send bulk e-mail when one can send a tweet with a link?
The Blackhawks are just scratching the surface with Twitter. It's the ultimate of opt-in campaigns because of its timeliness and personal connection to the individual, and will build untold wealth in terms of customer connectivity, brand loyalty and increased revenues. That none of my other favorite sports teams have caught onto this surprises me. It's too easy, cheap and effective for marketing departments to deny for long.
The Blackhawks have turned me on my ear. From the Stone Age to the Cutting Edge in 14 months. What will its marketing department think of next?
1 comments:
Hey very nice blog!!….I’m an instant fan, I have bookmarked you and I’ll be checking back on a regular….See ya
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