#necthis

[jtullynec-blog]

#This is boring

1) It’s the end of the 2016 MLB season and you have been asked to consult on the marketing efforts for the organization. Your job is to analyze the 2015 #THIS campaign and offer social media suggestions to MLB executives on the upcoming 2017 season. Using the four-step planning process or the POST method discussed in this week’s assigned reading from Groundswell – Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies – briefly explain what type of campaign using social media you would suggest for 2017 season.. • People: Which target market (audience) do you think MLB should reach out to in order to bring more fans into ballparks for the 2017 season? • Objectives: What are the objective or goals for the campaign? • Strategies: How will you achieve the goals from fan use of social media? • Technology: What are the specific social media platforms you would use to reach fans and how would you best use them?

1) People: I would change the target audience to adolescent, or even pre-adolescent males.  By changing the target audience to a younger customer, you help ensure longevity in a sport that can be seen as old fashioned, like something only your Dad watches.  Also, if you get this age group excited about baseball, the older, “Dad” generation is more likely to buy a ticket and experience a game with their kid. Objectives:  The objectives of this campaign would be to expand general interest in baseball in a younger demographic, sell more tickets, and create a positive groundswell that will draw new fans. Strategies: I think that TV advertisements are the best way to start introducing the #Focus campaign.  I’m imagining a montage of statistics, each separated with a clip of a batter making contact with a baseball, and that distinctive “crack” sound.  Another ad could highlight the need to focus on a game from the viewer’s perspective.  This could be a quick clip of a double play, finishing an inning, and clinching a win, all within a few seconds, followed by a black screen with #Focus in white letters.  Then, a voice would say “Focus, or you’ll miss it” or something close to that. Technology:  I think the MLB should tweet these ads as well, and perhaps ask fans to submit their favorite recorded plays with the #Focus hashtag.  This combo of corporate, large entity involvement, and individual involvement could help create a groundswell and draw more people to games.

2) Relating to social media vernacular, generational terminology, and use, why do you think the hashtag #THIS was chosen as the official hashtag of the campaign? Do you think it #THIS worked? What hashtag phrase would you suggest for the 2017 season?

I think that the MLB chose the #THIS campaign because they wanted something quick, easy to remember, and vague enough that they could mold it as they see fit.  Unfortunately, I think it is extraordinarily vague and virtually useless.  “This” doesn’t particularly resonate with me, on any level.  It is a word that holds no particular energy, and thus doesn’t conjure up particular attributes positive or negative.  

If I were to suggest a hashtag phrase for the 2017 season it would be #Focus.  I like the word focus much more.  My immediate reaction to the word is much more positive.  When one applies focus, they achieve goals.  Focus is considered a positive attribute in nearly any endeavor.

Also, I think #Focus lends itself particularly well to baseball.  Let’s face it, baseball does not unfold at a breakneck speed.  When plays do happen, they happen quickly.  It requires focus on the part of the spectator to catch the action.

Furthermore,  it requires focus to be a top athlete performing at the MLB level.  #Focus lends itself well to this because it is a key element to a player’s success.  The game is long, and to pay attention and perform at the highest level for that period of time takes exceptional focus.  Baseball is physical and mental.  #Focus would lean more toward the mental side of the game, but I think it would be received better than #This.

3) Now that you have researched the MLB #THIS campaign, do you believe by using social media tactics the MLB organization created a groundswell to bring people into the ballparks? Why or why not? Answer in one sentence.

No, I do not believe the MLB organization created a groundswell to bring people into ballparks because it did not promote individuals to get the things they need from each other (i.e. tickets), but rather promoted a specific aspect of the sport (individualism) that the MLB probably thought would “work well” on social media.

[nominivans1-blog]

#NECThis

1) After watching the MLB advertising campaign #This, I would recommend that they continue with that type of advertising because it is very accessible to the collectors, joiners and spectators of the social media world. I think that the target audience would be within those technographics as well. From what I understand the majority of the collectors, joiners and spectators would be the average American adult. By targeting families, Major League Baseball would build a fan base that continued going to the games as a family tradition. The #This campaign could continue with real life snips of games but focus more on the fans that are there. They could include fan content in their advertisement. By seeking input from the fan base they would generate a more active participation form their target audience. Fans could chronicle their experience at the games, their desire to go to the games and such. More active participation of the target audience would mean that the MLB message would spread further. Not only would it be liked or shared by the collectors, the advertising campaign would encourage more people to become creators and critics. I think that MLB could use Instagram and Facebook as well as Twitter to reach its target audience. Instagram and Facebook would be great platforms to reach the collectors, joiners and spectators because that is specifically why most people are on those sites, to browse, watch and share.

2) I think that #This was effective for the 2015 season, For the 2017 season why not hitch on to the good feelings connected to the Cubs winning the 2016 World Series. They could use a hashtag like #Legacy or #Tradition. That would tie into the desire to bring families into the ballparks and create a sense that watching baseball is an important part of life and will be a treasured memory in the future years. 

3)  I do not believe that with the #This campaign MLB created a ground swelling, if they had I would have heard of #This before this course.                   

[danielenokpablog]

MLB Campaign

#NECThis 

In today’s business in order to attract customers to sell your market one of the best means and most effective is  electronic  billboards. If I am campaigning to promote Major League Baseball the people I will reach out most will be all ages. It is very clear that Baseball is a sports  which majority Americans of all ages love the sports so placing billboards in all strategic corners for all to view will be a good idea. I will also print out magnetic stickers to place in cars, and other sticky places, recruit people to stand at certain places to distribute flyers, look for any other means like going to places like beer parlors, coffee spots like Dunkin Doughnuts and Starbucks, and last but not the least, I will use Air Balloons and small airplanes to carry the banner and fly them all over the area.

The hashtag #THIS will be choosen as the official campaign strategy because it makes it easier for fans to locate the content clearly.By placing the hashtag #THIS it will enable fans to quickly identify and follow the message the it has been tagged with and that message being my Baseball campaign creating an achive that will be collected into a single stream under the same hashtag by the fans.

I believe that  by using social media tactics the Major League Baseball organization will create a groundswell because doing so is trying the bring the community together in a positive way which is the main goal of everything.

[virtualmeowing]

The POST method is the method I will use to develop a social media marketing campaign for MLB. 

People: The MLB marketing campaign should focus on younger people, since younger people are often heavily  involved in social media as well as sports.  First and foremost, it is important for the players to develop a personal relationship with the viewers. 

Objectives: The objective is to engage more people in baseball. The campagin isn’t just for people who were already interested in baseball; it’s for people who are looking for a fun community sport. I am approaching the campaign from a “creator” perspective. Sports, in and of themselves, are active, and people who like being physically active are likely to be mentally active too. Just watching isn’t enough: you should get involved too, whether through art, photography, or actually playing. Some young people could be critics, of course, but I feel that creators will change the face of baseball as we know it. 

Strategies: The strategy should include muticulturalism. Many Latin Amreican countries see baseball as a sort of iconic sport from their respective homelands. Blogs and videos could unite people from countries who have a long history of apprecoation for baseball. The more people talk about and play baseball, the more people find things in common with others from different backgrounds, thus forming a global community. 

Technologies: MLB should advertise other countries’ gamea and players on their websites and social media accounts. Players could have their own blogs where they talk about the struggles and triumphs of their games, with shareable posts and words of wisdom and encouragement. Youtube could be a great vehicle for this--perhaps with monitored comment sections. If players express themselves, average people should be motivated to make their own videos or posts about their passion for baseball as well. Then they could have baseball meet-ups where average people get to play with their sports idols. For people who weren’t ever really interested in baseball, seeing how much fun their peers are having creating content to commemorate this chosen sport could lead to expressing their own thoughts, beliefs, and passions. 

#This is a great hashtag because it puts baseball in the spotlight. It says, “Pay attention. #This is the fulfilling experience you’re looking for.” 

[litergicaldancerkimcjw-blog]

Tumblr: #THIS

1) It’s 2014 and you are working in marketing for MLB. Your job is to pitch the #THIS campaign to MLB executives. Using the four-step planning process, briefly explain how you will roll out the campaign using social media.

People (answer who you think     MLB should reach out to in order to bring more fans into ballparks during     the 2015 season)

Most baseball fans are older adults, baby boomers. To expand the demographic, millennials must see baseball advertising in the venues that they receive information. The age group above millennials must also be intrigued to see baseball as something that they want their children to understand and get interested in.

Objectives (goals for the     campaign)

The objectives of the campaign are to make baseball players seem more approachable. Football fans see their players as human because they understand the physical, emotional and familial sacrifices that the players make. By showing players at practice and explaining what they encounter in their day to day paces at becoming the best player that they can be, this will add that humanizing factor.

Strategies (how you will     achieve goals by having fans use social media)

The strategies need to include humanizing factors. This should include showing the players in practice and spring training, having the managers speak to the daily lives of the preparation and discipline baseball players have to endure to be at their competitive edge, make the scenes inviting and fan specific, and show baseball players interacting with fans of all ages. Using social media to show these things should also include spring training schedules and opportunities for fans to interact with players. This should include showing clips of players spending time with up and coming players at the college, high school and little league level.

Technology (what other     technical or social media elements MLB could use to help propel the     campaign)

The technical or social media outlets that MLB could use to help propel this campaign needs to include Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. There should be blogs and links within these social media elements that lead to team specific pages with functionality to entice different age groups. There needs to be the ability for fans to interact with players in these formats. The players should have interaction links within the individual team pages. To pull new fans, there needs to be informational material that explains things like RBI in non-fan speak. There also needs to be activities that draw younger fans so that children will start asking their parents to take them to games.

2) Relating to social media vernacular, terminology, and use, why do you think the hashtag #THIS was chosen as the official hashtag of the campaign? Why the word THIS?

This is a buzzword. Finding a buzzword that captures the attention of the groundswell will increase interactive volume. With increased interaction comes increased interest in learning what is going on behind the buzzword. Once the consumer interest is peaked and the campaign draws attention, the groundswell will want to at least see one game to learn if they can engage. The hope of the marketing team is that getting users of the groundswell to one game will profit the expansion of more games being attended.

3) Now that you have researched the MLB #THIS campaign, do you believe by using social media tactics the MLB organization created a groundswell to bring people into the ballparks? Why or why not? Answer in one sentence. 

I think that the MLB #THIS campaign did create a groundswell to bring people into the ballparks because it was highly visible and pleasant to watch bringing in those humanizing experiences to draw fans to the players.

[klinknec-blog]

MLB & BLT

Alright so this post is not going to talk about BLTs, but it rhymed and I figured everybody likes bacon so it might get your attention that way. If I were a marketing executive in 2014 when the MLB used #THIS campaign, I would think about the following strategies:

People- the MLB should be targeting families with this campaign; the good old, hard-working Joe (or Josephine) that wants their family to enjoy the simple things like a nice, wholesome game of baseball.

Objectives- the goal of the campaign is to show that candid side of the players, coaches, and fans so they are seen as normal people.

Strategies- people like to prove that they are part of something. Between game attendees taking selfies in their team swag, the kids that are trying to make it there career posting videos or pictures from practice with it, and the fans sharing it around the internet because it is such a nice change to see the players & coaches in a casual manner there are ways to hit many targets that might not even follow baseball.

Technology- another avenue to take #This a step further could be a video project. We can ask fans to upload their baseball fan/playing videos with the hashtag to be considered for use in upcoming promotional spots. 

#THIS was a wise word choice because it is so simple. It is a word we use everyday and we use to begin other phrases. That means that even when consumers are searching for other topics #THIS will probably come up. It can drive accidental traffic. The word, “this,” also speaks to the simplicity of a ball game. Of course there are important elements for competition, but when a lot of people think about baseball they think of throwing the ball around with their dad, batting cages with friends, or the first game you got to sit in the stands for. 

I believe that the MLB organization created a groundswell to bring people into the ballparks because they not only opened a way for those outside the park to be involved, but they gave their fans a way to reach out to their social circles while they are in the stands having fun, which in turn makes others want to go have fun, too.

[tinabiers]

NEC - MLB #This

Steps 1 and 4 (People and Technology) - Our new social media campaign #THIS must start with identifying who the various people that MLB could reach out to in order to bring more fans into ballparks during the 2015 season. By identifying the various people, we can also decide on what technology should be used within our social media site to attract and keep them involved.

As the textbook "Groundswell" states, "you need to dissect and quantify the dynamics that separate different participants ... because a strategy that treats everyone alike will spell failure - people aren't alike and won't respond in the same way". Li, Charlene, Bernoff, Josh (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies (Expanded and Revised Edition). Boston, Massachusetts: Publisher: Harvard Business School Publishing (Page 40)

Following the advice given within our textbook, I think that we can identify the various types of fans:

A) Diehard fans of the game as a participating force. They follow each game of various teams, know the statistics of each team, know the players on each team and physically go to the ballpark to watch games, purchase tickets and buy merchandise. These fans are one of the core MLB groups and definitely one of the main profit centers within MLB.  It is critical that we keep these fans and find a way to incorporate them into our new social media experience.

On the "Social Technographics Ladder", they would most likely be the creators, conversationalists and critics and would be attracted to our new social media because of our new available blogs, available "do-it-yourself" web pages, ability to upload video and content, post ratings and reviews of games, and ability of these fans to actually contribute articles and commentary directly to our site.

B) Fans that either listen to MLB games on the radio, watch on television or participate from a distance.  They may live in an area that is physically distance from any MLB stadium and they may go to a game or two but only rarely based on their proximity. These fans may still buy merchandise but their main value to MLB is as the main audience that attracts advertisers and revenue based on number of fans watching or listening to televised games. These fans are a second core MLB group as they are another large profit center for MLB but not directly. It is critical that we keep these fans and find a way to incorporate them into our new social media experience.

On the "Social Technographics Ladder", they would most likely be spectators, but depending on their interest, habits and knowledge of the game, they may approach the participation level of our diehard fans as creators, conversationalists and critics. Their attraction to our new social media would be to feel closer to the action of the game and may also be very similar, if nor exact to our discussion concerning diehard fans.

C) Fans that simply follow the various MLB games based on their region and state.  For example, fans of the Detroit Tigers simply because they live in the State of Michigan.  These would be the type of fan that simply are aware of the previous game(s) and whether they won or lost, mainly as a conversation piece at the office or simply just to be aware of their legions standing.  They neither watch nor listen to televised games but they do catch up on the standing in the newspaper or internet. These fans would spend very little money on the game and would definitely be a target audience as they are a huge potential market and profit center, if they can be motivated to participate.  These are the main target audience for our social media expansion.

On the "Social Technographics Ladder", they would most likely be the spectators that both physically and mentally feel that they are far from the actual action of the games. They would be attracted to our new social media because they could read and view all the content that our close-by diehard fans would create, post and discuss. The goal would be for these fans to feel closer to the action through their online experience, which may develop into a desire to attend the games. Our site could also give discounts to spectators based on social media activity somehow, which may be enough to persuade them to drive the distance.

D) People that are not currently fans at all.  These are people have no current interest in MLB or baseball, but may be persuaded to become fans, if the right conditions arise. These could be something major, like their local MLB team has a great season and is a contender for the World Series, which pressured people to want to be part of something great. It could also be something simple, such as a sudden new desire within their family and especially their children arise, where they want to get involved with MLB.  

Social pressure causes people to join groups that they would not necessarily be a part of. Family pressure is even greater and can create a huge potential market as most parents want to do things that their children show interest in.  If our new social media experience involved free games or some sort of free interaction with and for children, this might indirectly impact long-term sales of merchandise and family-targeted ticket sales.

On the "Social Technographics Ladder", they would most likely be the inactives, but hopefully the site is interaction enough that it would cause them to become joiners. They might become attracted to our site because it would allow content and material to be attached from ours to other different social media sites, such as "Facebook" and this connection may inspire them to join ours.  Such joint material, such as the free children section and free games that might persuade children to become involved in baseball and MLB through the fun environment and free games, which in turn may attract their parents and other family members to become involved. It is critical that our site be very user-friendly and contain an easily found "New User" section.

Even though I love the game of baseball, one of the main problems that MLB has within the future of baseball, as a sport, is the fact that it has relatively no appeal to a large group of inactives, namely an entire generation called Millennials, who have a very small attention span and who will not sit and watch a 3-hour game of extremely slow baseball. So this social media site is critical to beginning and is our first attempt at appealing to this generational group, so that it can learn about or even begin to appreciate baseball as a sport.

Steps 2 and 3 (Objectives and Strategies) - As identified within our assignment, our main goal within MLB is to increase ticket sales and get more people into the stadiums and of course physically watching our games.  To do this, we must appeal to all of the people that we have identified.  Our main objective can be reached through our some of the 5 different strategies that have been identified.

Again, according to our textbook, we must do all of the following: energize our current diehard fans through giving them more ways to communicate and present ideas and blogs; keep the interest in those fans that watch, listen and follow MLB as spectators or critics; present many opportunities or situations that would attract our fans that live a good distance from our stadiums to finally attend games more often; and lastly develop new ways to connect to people and families that are not currently involved directly with MLB, specifically the new generation that uses social media as a normal daily tool.

In order to meet our primary goals, we must first use our new social media site as both a way to listen and talk to our fans. It is important to be able to directly talk to our fans but it is more critical to be able to listen objectively to our fans and their opinions and insights. This may be difficult as they may be critical and negative toward some of the things happening within MLB and baseball, but we must never stop or dilute the reality of their decisions. What our fans present as the truth is their perception, but within MLB, the perception of our fans (customers) is the truth.

We must also use our social media site to energize, support and persuade. Giving our fans new ways to follow, communicate and be a larger part of MLB is critical to move them from simple fans to super-charged enthusiasts. That is why the new site always all of our fans to create their own content, video, posts and blogs. It also allows direct interaction between different types of fans and MLB.

I do believe however, that since we are just starting with the new social media site, we are still a long way from what is called "embracing our fans", which is one of the last strategies that any company can use and is where we would allow our fans direct access to help make decisions or designing logos, etc.  This step is too large of a leap forward and I believe that we must first see how our fans react to our social media first and then get and give feedback before we even try to move that step into our overall strategy and the overall process.

2) Relating to social media vernacular, terminology, and use, why do you think the hashtag #THIS was chosen as the official hashtag of the campaign? Why the word THIS?

The hashtag #THIS was used to coordinate all the new advertising and marketing that MLB was trying to put in place in 2014 and was used because their new slogan per say was "This is Baseball", hence the hashtag word #THIS.  

As I mentioned earlier, I love the game of baseball but the problem that baseball, as a sport, is having is trying to appeal to a new generation, correctly called "The Millennials" and who have a much smaller attention span and only show interest in things that are quick, easy and fun.  I call it the generational curse of social media, which is only presented in 6 to 10 second GIF's that loop around and around, or in Twitter interactions that must be done in less than 140 characters, or in internet searches that must be done on high-speed broadband or forget it.

Let's face it, baseball is a 19th century sport, that prided itself on long games, with 7th innings stretches and of which average 2-3 hours and in reality may continue even longer if the game ends in a tie, because they will just add extra innings forever.  This is also a game with a total season that spans almost 7 months of every year. Millennials, as a generation, have very little desire to watch over 160 games in that long time period to see who the winner is.  They just finished their favorite video game in 3 days and binge watched the entire series of "Lost" in 6 days.  

So, baseball realized that it had to change the game, in order to appeal to this next upcoming generation, but it then has a huge problem. The older diehard fans don't want any changes to this sport because of its long tradition, whereby the newer fans expect and even demand changes to shorter the game and the season and make it more exciting and quicker.  

So, why the hashtag #THIS? Probably because any hashtag that was longer or had more characters would not have been accepted by what MLB knew was their future fans, the Millennials.

3) Now that you have researched the MLB #THIS campaign, do you believe by using social media tactics the MLB organization created a groundswell to bring people into the ballparks? Why or why not? Answer in one sentence.

The #THIS campaign did help create more brand loyalty from the diehard fans and routine spectators and it also gave a voice to other fans who may now feel closer to the game, however a groundswell has not really happened yet, and that is mainly because social media gives and gets inherently quick responses and feedback, in contrast to the sport of baseball which was specifically created to be a slow leisurely activity that takes hours, weeks and months to play and of which any change to the sport would be very difficult to make happen, even with today's technology.  

[lagerlugger27-blog]

Saving The Game

In recent years America’s Pastime has dipped in popularity. The core fan right now was just growing up in the 1970′s and 1980′s.  It’s now 2014 and these fans are aging.  These fans are having kids of their own.  This next generation of fan is connected to the game like none other.  Media coverage of the game is at an all-time high and what better way to connect with young fans on the fringe than social media? 

Marketing to this next generation fan via social media might actually be easier than we think.  The question is, what platform do we base this campaign on? The objective here is to connect to the fan that will bridge fandom to future generations.  Without this young enthusiastic fan, baseball could continue to fall. 

I am proposing that we use hashtags as way to have fans young and old share their baseball experience.  Social media has reached a point where every generation is connected.  Even Grandma is posting on Facebook.  By using hashtag #THIS, we can show MLB players in the natural state. Whether it be before a game, during batting practice or even walking to their car and signing autographs.  It shows fans that these larger than life ball players are relatable. You can connect to the game, simply by using a hashtag.  

Not only will fans be using social media, but MLB has the ability to post a promo worldwide.  The hashtag is not something you target, the hashtag has no boundary, it’s something that you spread and watch it grow.