Our year-long journey begins to come to life.
After looking at every NCAA program’s website and social media presence, it’s time to begin to recognize the 25 Best NCAA Digital Ideas in 2012-13. Judging so many great ideas is not easy but I’ve decided to take a stab based on five factors:
- Creativity. Was this a fresh way to look at a message?
- Scalability. How easy is this idea for someone else to steal, adopt, and apply?
- Simplicity. Is the message easy to understand?
- Execution. How well did they bring the idea to life?
- Impact. Did this help to shape or change the brand image?
Each day (or so) for the next 25 days, I’ll reveal a new idea along with some thoughts on how it could be extended or reinterpreted with the hopes that each idea can inspire fresh thinking.
Here we go.
25. Troy Athletics Puts Student-Athlete on Twitter Handle
It’s ironic that the first idea in the 25 best ideas is one that hasn’t fully brought itself to life. But, as I hope you find below, the opportunity is immense.
We are in a day and age where there is quite a divide on student-athletes and social media. Some are so bold as to put athletes’ social handles on their websites, others forbid the use of social media altogether. But is it possible to find a truly happy medium? To imagine a scenario where the athletes are elevated, fans get exclusive access, and the school’s brand grows?
Enter Troy Athletics.
Troy used this summer as a moment to rally fans. As you’ll see in this Facebook post, Troy took their most prominent student-athlete and brought him closer to their communities. The idea was simple: inspire their communities to grow by offering a direct point of view from their quarterback.
The message was extended across Facebook and Twitter.
We’ve cracked the 4,700 mark; need 300 more for QB Corey Robinson to take over @TroyAthletics for an afternoon. RT and lets get it done!
— Troy Athletics (@TroyAthletics) July 28, 2013
more
We need just 150 followers to reach 5,000. Help us reach our mark so #Troy QB Corey Robinson can take over our account.
— Troy Athletics (@TroyAthletics) August 19, 2013
Let’s dive deeper.
Why I love this:
- This idea offers value. The student-athlete is a prominent member of a prominent team. He is also not currently on Twitter, and putting him as the voice (literally) of the program just makes sense.
- This idea gives fans a reason to talk. There’s a reason to want to help grow the community, and there is a reason to know the size of the community.
- The idea is scalable. This is an idea that is easy to apply at another school, with another program. It can have as short or as long of a window as fits your situation.
What Could Make it Better?
- A clear payoff. As of now, the Twitter following is past 5,000 but we don’t know when we will see the student-athlete on the handle. But, beyond this, we could create more excitement by telling the story of what we will get.
- A more intimate goal. The end goal shouldn’t simply be putting the Quarterback on the Twitter handle. The end goal should be to let us feel the program, unplugged, through the inside perspective and connection with a student-athlete.
What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the idea and how it could apply further. We’ll keep this moving Wednesday as we continue our journey to #1. Follow along on this blog, or you can connect with me on Twitter or Facebook.
Until then,
Andy
