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Sport Teams Continue To Think Outside The Box

May 2nd, 2012

The Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League in North America recently made unconventional history when they became the first professional sports team to don jerseys displaying their Twitter handles on the back of them.

The bold move to allow its players to replace their last names on the back of their jerseys with their Twitter handles is just another way of making professional athletes more accessible to fans, and I for one think it’s a great idea.

Before this process was approved, management sat down with several players on the team and gave them a social media tutorial showing that it’s important to continue to think outside the box when it comes to social media and sports.

This initiative shown by the Wings highlights that sports teams continue to appreciate the benefits, such as increased interaction and loyalty that are being offered through social media channels like Twitter.

As social media continues to become more prevalent in sports marketing plans, this initiative from Wings has already influenced how other sports teams look at the use of the medium for their own teams and players. The NBA became one such example when they recently began selling official T-shirts that feature some of the league’s biggest stars’ Twitter handles above their jersey numbers, where surnames would normally go.

While this has been a bold move, I think you’re going to see other teams around the world take a wait and see attitude regarding the use of Twitter handles on jerseys.

I don’t think you’re going to see a “@bryceegibbs” on the back of a Sharkies jersey anytime soon but this could this be the sign of things to come as more sports teams look for ways to engage their fans through the use of social media.

Could Twitter handles on the back of jerseys be introduced into Australian sports? What other ways can professional sports teams take advantage of social media?

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Social Media #fails

February 28th, 2012

After exploring the many opportunities of Social Media last year, we kicked off 2012 by examining the dangers and ‘do-nots’ of different social media platforms.

Throughout the seminar, we took a look at how some of the world’s largest brands stumbled and fumbled their way in the online space and learnt how you can rise where others have fallen.

For those after an online copy of yesterday’s presentation click here.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who attended and we hope to see you throughout 2012 as our seminars continue to explore the social space.

What did you learn from mistakes that other organisations have already made in the social space?

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Is Your Brand Leading The Way in Social Media?

February 3rd, 2012

Creating a successful brand in today’s information-overloaded social media landscape takes time, work, and believe it or not – courage.

Brands that achieve success within the social space go beyond the boundaries of your typical online marketing strategies.

Here are some tips on how to save your brand from becoming another face in the crowd.

Be Provocative: Some of the most discussed, shared, and re-tweeted content across the social space are about subjects that organisations wouldn’t dare talk about.

Being provocative on social media is not the same as being offensive. It means being unique and discussing content that your target audience won’t see anywhere else.

Leak Information Slowly: You want to create anticipation. A key ingredient to creating buzz is not sharing everything you have right away.

A consistent stream of information over a set period of time leading up to a big announcement can keep people engaged with your brand.

Think of your social media strategy in terms of how a new movie trailer works. Before a movie is due to be released the studios release highlights without giving the entire story away; hence, creating conversation and building excitement.

Engage With Your Audience: If your brand is trying to make a name for itself on social media platforms it is important to create awareness. Major brands have an easier time conversing with people because they are already well-known. You might not have the same luxury; therefore, a considerable amount of time must be spent building relationships.

Let people know you’re now in the social space, let them know what you’re all about and let them ask you questions.

Follow Your Competitors: The concept of out-performing your competition is a constant challenge. It’s in your brand’s best interest to monitor all competitors as well as your own brand within the social space. Too many brands focus too much attention on ‘numbers’ when the ultimate goal should be quality rather than quantity. I mean, if you are offering a quality service to the consumer, you could expect natural growth from word of mouth, sharing of content etc. Branded ads should only be used to support natural growth.

What do you think? How do you use social media to stand out from the crowd with your business or brand? We’d love to know.

@TWoSocial

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What Does Your Online Reputation Say About You? Part 2

January 21st, 2012

I recently wrote a blog entitled ‘What Does Your Online Reputation Say About You?’

I outlined how organisations are screening potential job candidates online and how managing your online reputation is as important as ever.

In part two of this piece, I will focus on how employers evaluate online reputations as well as provide some tips on how you could improve your online reputation.



What content on your social channels is available online?

Employers have quickly caught on to the social media trend. Organisations using social networking sites including; LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to recruit, increased from 34% in 2008 to 56% in 2011. In addition, the number of organisations who do not plan to use social recruiting dropped from 45% to 21% during the same period.

As expected, results established LinkedIn as the most popular for sourcing potential employees, with 95% of companies that use social media recruiting through LinkedIn. Facebook came in second with 58%, followed by Twitter at 42% and traditional recruitment sites at 23%.

What this means for job seekers is that it’s even more important than ever to be prepared to be found by organisations. In addition, it is also important to be proactive in your own search for a job so you’re in the right place and right time if a company is looking for someone with your skills and experience.

Tips to Help Improve Your Online Reputation

Social media has made our lives very transparent. When people hear about you for the first time they will usually Google your name to see who you are and what you do. Chances are that if they find content that they don’t like, they aren’t going to get back in contact with you.

Below I pinpoint ways in which you can improve your online reputation.

Google Yourself: Research suggests that this is the first thing a potential employer will do if they want to find information about you online, so it’s a good idea to be a step ahead of them. Be proactive and Google yourself! A quick online search will extract some of the information about you that is available to others online.

Maintain Privacy: Check your privacy settings on all your social networking accounts to make sure your personal information is kept private. Take advantage of Facebook’s privacy setting to keep photos and videos that others post of you off basic Web searches.

Remove or hide any negative content that you control: If you have negative content that can be seen to the public on any site that you control the best options are either to delete the page or change the privacy settings to private. The less negative content visible, the better.

Separate social networking from job networking: It’s easy to fall into the Facebook job-hunting trap, but keeping social networking and job networking separate will help you avoid blurring the lines. Build up your prospective job contact list on professional networking sites like LinkedIn instead.

Listen: Feedback is important but what people are saying about you will be useless if you don’t take heed. You can learn from the experiences of others when it comes to what information you share online.

Stay consistent: Make sure your professional and educational background information on your social networking profile matches the information on your resume. Needless to say, any mismatch in information will give potential employers a reason for concern.

Monitor your progress: To make sure you are in line with goals you have set yourself, double-check all information you share on your social networks. Be sure to constantly update any old information that is no longer relevant.

If you’ve never given a thought to your online reputation, now is as good a time as any.

Have you ever encountered a situation where your online reputation has compromised your work? Any tips to share?

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What Does Your Online Reputation Say About You?

January 16th, 2012

Like it or not, you are a brand.

People take what you put out as your persona and create a perception of whom you are, and what you mean to them.

We may not like the idea that people “judge a book by its cover”, but we do this all the time, its human nature.



Ever considered what your online reputation says about yourself?

With so much engagement across multiple social networks, employers can make judgments on potential employees before they even meet them. They are most certainly screening potential job candidates online, a vastly different procedure than in years past, making online reputation management an essential component of achieving success.

With easy access to our social networks through mobile connectivity, it is becoming increasingly hard for us not to post anything and everything online, often without thought or consideration. Education continues to be the key to knowing what to publish and what not to publish.

I challenge you to analyze yourself as a brand by presenting yourself to friends and or family. This could be a difficult task for some, but by seeing yourself as a brand, you are more likely to rethink your online image and set yourself up for success.

Below are some questions you could pose to yourself to ensure what you are posting online will not harm your online reputation.

1. If I publish something who will see it, not only now, but also in the future?
2. Will I have the same opinion in the future?
3. Have I done a good enough job promoting my expertise, and not just highlighting opinion?
4. How much do I want to promote myself?
5. Am I consistent with my messaging?
6. Have I done a sufficient job searching myself online to know what is being said about me, or what I have said in the past?
7. Is what I’m saying adding value to add to the conversation?
8. Have I done my research on the topics I discuss?
9. What photos of me are public and are they offensive?
10. Have I triple checked my grammar?

I am the social media coordinator @TwoSocial.  Follow me on Twitter @shanebrien

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Social Media Enhancing Your Sporting Experience

January 3rd, 2012

Social media continues to evolve and change the landscape of the sporting industry. Information is now instantly accessible at the touch of a button.

Through working within a social media agency, I have spent countless amounts of hours on Facebook and Twitter. What I enjoy most about these platforms is the instant, readily accessible information it provides and with over 600 million people signed up to Facebook and Twitter it makes even more sense that social media and sporting events go hand in hand.

We all follow our favourite sporting teams locally and abroad, and we are all fiercely loyal when it comes to staying up to date with the very latest in team news and results. But with the busy lives we all lead, it’s sometimes difficult to stay up to date on all the latest news, so it’s comforting to know that we have easy access to our Facebook and Twitter accounts from our phones, iPads etc which can provide real time updates wherever and whenever we are.



The upcoming 2nd cricket test between Australia & India creating plenty of buzz on Twitter.

Whether you are following your favourite Rugby League team on Twitter, or it is your friends commenting on your Facebook page about your football team losing, it is near impossible to not know all the latest news on your teams.

Social media is a great medium for sport commentary and below I outline why.

Pre/Post match conversation – Pre/post match excitement is not too hard to create, but having readily available access to social media means that more fans whatever location can get involved, rather than excitement being limited to the vicinity of the sporting event. Extensions such as Twitter ‘hashtags’ help maintain the conversation and make it easy to follow. You may not be directly connected with any particular event, but social media helps keep the regular fans in the know.

Latest updates received much quicker – The real-time aspect of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook allows for the latest news or scores to be communicated far quicker than websites can be updated. You’re no longer up to the minute; you’re up to the second, how good is that!

Fans share their voice – On some occasions this may not seem a good thing, but the voice of the passionate fan is often as good as the ‘expert’ commentary, and as such, it is much easier to start conversations. Fans will love talking with other fans about their own team, and will usually have a preference or opinion they are willing to share.

Interaction from sports stars and their fans – Social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have given sport stars a voice, enabling them to share their views and interact with their fans. In turn, the fans can get involved with their sporting heroes, making them feel much closer to the sport and team/player they support enhancing their experience. Sporting organisations have taken advantage of their players being online as they push their agendas to the wider audience.

Throughout 2011, the NRL took advantage of the use of hashtags to create plenty of conversation amongst fans of the game. Online coverage of the 2011 Dally M’s via Twitter saw #dallym enter Australia’s top five trending topics on the night, and the first Finals Series game between Wests Tigers v St George Illawarra Dragons was the highest trending sport topic in Australia.

The 2011 Rugby World Cup was another sporting event that showcased itself on the world social media stage. Over 1.46 million fans came together via the official Rugby World Cup Facebook page to share their Tournament experience and connect with other fans. Prior to the start of the Tournament the page already had 1.2 million “likes” from fans across the globe.

Stats provided from the Rugby World Cup website showed traffic on all social media sites peaked during the Tournament connecting fans who were in New Zealand and those who were watching from afar. Tournament highlights included:

• 1.46 million likes on Facebook (gained 200,000 during the Tournament)
• 114,000 + Twitter followers (gained 65,000 during the Tournament)
• Tweets mentioning RWC 2011 hashtags, ‘Rugby’ or the teams exceeded 4.1 million during the tournament
• 17,169 images viewed a total of 236,911 times on Flickr
• 4,347,676 video views on YouTube

Personally, I find that Twitter is essential when I’m engaged in a sporting event. Social media integration within sport is only going to get bigger throughout 2012, particularly now that digital PR teams for such events know of the benefits it can bring in terms of publicity and engagement.

@shanebrien

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Big Bash Set To Take Centre Stage

December 15th, 2011

The Big Bash, Australian crickets franchised T20 product is only a day away.

With teams from each of the major cities including two in Melbourne and Sydney, the build up has been just as frantic off the field as it will be on.

Social media’s role in sport has dramatically increased over the last 5-10 years and the Big Bash League has recognised the phenomenon. Majority of  sporting codes and associated teams have some form of social strategy as they look to connect with the over 300 million registered profiles worldwide.

Because the Big Bash League had just been introduced, the franchises needed an energetic and cohesive online strategy to overcome low levels of initial familiarity.



The big budgets promised when this product was first touted have not been realised as companies in an uncertain economy have failed to back the city-based teams in the first year of their existence. As a result, this has left the door open for the franchises to leverage opportunities afforded by digital media to reach the youth-oriented target market. Engaging marketing actions through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube has been crucial since the announcement of the Big Bash.

Wanting to generate healthy competition between the teams, to have fans declaring their allegiances and joining in the rivalry, management have looked to the players to play a major role in spruiking Australia’s answer to the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Not seen before in history of Australian cricket, the players pushing their teams agenda has somewhat been a little unusual, especially as some teams have left their regular states to find opportunities in other states.

The traditions of the shorter and longer forms of state cricket and its rivalries dictate that on the field it is war between gentlemen and after the game you share a drink and a story.

It is almost unheard of for state domestic cricketer to comment in a public forum about how good his team is going to be for the upcoming season, and how you should all become members and attend the games. Some would say, this should have been apart of the whole marketing structure, but compared to other sporting codes in this country; cricket has certainly taken a backseat when it came to pushing agendas on the social network. It will be interesting to see if the Big Bash marketing structure carries over into other formats of the game in the future.

Whether it is rugby league, AFL or soccer (football), sporting tragics across the country are fiercely loyal to their teams. They will attend games, buy the merchandise and even become members of their chosen teams and the Big Bash League is looking to cash in on the public loyalty toward ‘their’ teams.

As a cricket tragic, I have been eagerly anticipating the start of this exciting brand of cricket. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a purist when it comes to the game of cricket, test cricket is and always will be  the ultimate when it comes to representation, but I cannot hide the excitement of watching the possible emergence of a another sporting competition in Australia, especially in the form of 20/20 cricket.

The hardest part was deciding which team to follow. Being a Sydneysider, it was always going to be a choice between the Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder. In the end, I thought it would be novel to let the social network decide for me. I followed both teams on Twitter, and the first to follow back was the team I would align myself with. A little over a week later, the decision was made. The Sydney Thunder was going to be my team, and I could not be happier. With the likes of David Warner and Chris Gayle leading the charge, this was sure to be an exciting adventure.

If you’re a still finding it difficult to pick which team you will support,  below is a bit of a preview of each team.

Sydney Sixers The Sydney Sixers have gone low key with overseas signings with English T20 opener Michael Lumb and West Indian All-rounder Dwayne Bravo, both will be keen to make an impression but were surprising signings. The sixes are good even unit with a strong quartet of fast bowlers in Brett Lee, Patrick Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc.

Melbourne Stars & Melbourne Renegades The two Melbourne sides will be both very strong and bragging rights both on and off the field will be up for grabs. Renegades coach Simon Helmot will be keen to impress and push Stars Coach Greg Shipperd out of his comfortable Bushrangers post next summer. It will be hotting up in the Bushrangers dressing rooms now as the Big Bash shadow lurks. On one side of the room will be the Renegades Brad Hodge, Andrew McDonald and Aaron Finch conjuring up some plans to upstage current team leaders Cam White and David Hussey. Bobby Quiney (Stars) will be the peacemaker floating between both camps trying to keep the ship together (No pun intended). The younger quick’s Peter Siddle, James Pattinson and Clint McKay will want to show the nursing home Renegades in Nannes, Tait and Harwood who really has the pace as opposed to the pacemakers.

Brisbane Heat The Heat have gone to Kiwi big guns Daniel Vettori and Brendan McCullum as two quality signings, the problem is they may only be available for a couple of games. Hayden is out of his rocking chair and will be another interesting player to monitor. He had lost his mojo in the IPL and the Chennai Super Kings handed him the pension cheque payout and wished him farewell. The Gabba pace will test his eye and examine if it is still as sharp as it once was.

Sydney Thunder Chris Gayle opening alongside David Warner for the Sydney Thunder will be a tough assignment for many teams as no ground in the world can contain these two if they get in the groove. The Thunder will rely heavily on this pair to win them matches. Fast bowler Fidel Edwards is the other overseas player for the Thunder.

Perth Scorchers Perth Scorchers have old age pensioners Gibbs and Collingwood as their overseas players, two astute signings by Micky Arthur. The Perth team has a strong batting unit but may be exposed in the bowling department given their injuries at present. The Marsh brothers will be the keys to success along with the highly impressive fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile if he can get back on the park. Simon Katich returns home for the Big Bash. The big question will be can Brad Hogg have any impact?

Hobart Hurricanes The Hobart Hurricanes have invited back Rana Naveed a clever performer with the ball alongside Englishmen Owais Shah, who may not even make their full strength team especially if Ricky Ponting is now perhaps unexpectedly available for most of the tournament. The Hobart team were very disappointed to have not secured State captain George Bailey and impressive all-rounder James Faulkner who were snapped up by the Melbourne Stars. They seem a bit disjointed and one feels they will struggle to make an impression.

Adelaide Strikers The overseas players will create a lot of fanfare and the Adelaide Strikers have the biggest gun of all in this format in West Indian Kieron Pollard who hits the ball harder and longer than anyone in the world. The other import is South African Alfonso Thomas. Not a big name on the world stage but a very impressive new ball bowler and outstanding finisher, do not be surprised if he doesn’t cause a real storm for the Strikers.

Follow me @shanebrien

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Apple wins bid to halt Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

October 13th, 2011



Apple has scored a major victory in its patent war against Samsung, winning a preliminary injunction to temporarily block the sale of Samsung’s flagship tablet computer in Australia; however, exact orders will not be released until tomorrow, which means Samsung could be allowed to sell a varied version of the tablet in Australia.

NSW Federal Court Justice Annabelle Bennett today granted Apple an injunction against Samsung in a court hearing earlier today.

Needless to say, it’s a big blow for Samsung and could mean that one of the iPad’s biggest Android rival never sees its launch down under.

Read more at Sydney Morning Herald.

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Still Time For This Sleeping Giant To Awake

October 12th, 2011

As reported by the FFA, expenditure on advertising has plummeted from $5m in the A-League’s first season to approximately $2 million this season. This reduction in advertising spending could be seen as having a high correlation with the reduction in crowds.

To ensure continued survival and success, the FFA need to dig deep into its pockets to remind Australians that A-League exists and is supported. Clubs need to start becoming astute marketers and innovating with ways to draw crowds to games.



The FFA experimented with social media during the bidding process for the 2018-2022 World Cup’s and thus should use these experiences and transfer this knowledge to the A-League.

Social media is a relatively cheap communications platform when compared with mainstream advertising. The “Australian Football” which is an independently run Facebook Page is a perfectly executed example of the power of social media and the way that sports administrators should be communicated with fans.

The page has more than 30,000 “Likes” and is an excellent platform for increasing the exposure of domestic football in Australia.

Let us not forget just how far the FFA has come in the past six years. It has successfully created an entirely new national sporting league, introduced a national Youth League to supplement the development of the game in Australia, as well as developing the W-League to reach out to professional women footballers.

The list of achievements by the FFA is endless, yet challenges still await. These challenges are just a natural progression in the development of the game in Australia and should not be seen as impossible obstacles.

Football in Australia is constantly referred to as the ‘sleeping giant’. If the FFA continues on its path of development, we will see what this giant is capable of when it awakes.

@shanebrien

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Apple co-founder, Chairman Steve Jobs dies

October 6th, 2011

Apple co-founder and chairman Steve Jobs died today, he was 56.

Co-founding what was considered the world’s first personal computer, the Apple II in 1976, with his childhood friend Steve Wozniak, Jobs had been suffering from well publicised health issues, in particular, a rare form of pancreatic cancer.

Apple released a statement confirming Jobs’ death.

“We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today,” the statement said.

“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.

His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”

On the back of his health issues, Jobs resigned as Apple CEO in August, stating

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” he wrote in a letter to the board of directors at the time.

“Unfortunately, that day has come.”

Jobs will be remembered for having such a tremendous vision and passion.

RIP Steve Jobs, thanks for the years of reinventing how we perceive technology.

What is your lasting memory of Steve Jobs?

*Timeline of Steve Jobs’s life, from dropping out of college to taking the helm of Apple to his death today

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