By Taylor Bloom – Email
Taylor is a native southern Californian sports enthusiast who will be graduating from UCLA in June with a degree in Communications. Growing up in San Diego, he has spent his life rooting against Los Angeles Sports teams. During his free time Taylor is found playing chess and ping-pong and rooting for the Lakers’ opponent.
What are the first images that are conjured up in the mind of a sports fan when Michigan football is brought up? For many, it is all of the classic matchups with Ohio State that helped build one of the fiercest rivalries in college sports. For others, it is Desmond Howard returning a punt for a touchdown and “Striking the Pose” during his 1991 Heisman Trophy winning season. However, Jordan Maleh, Michigan’s director of digital marketing, would like people to think of a hashtag when they think of Michigan.
On April 14th, during the annual spring football scrimmage and the Michigan versus Ohio State lacrosse game, #GoBlue was painted across each 25-yard line of the football field. Michigan athletics also added a “Tweet Board” for fans who follow #GoBlue on Twitter and want to get their tweets shown to the stadium during the game. Maleh explained, “This initiative will help our athletic department use technology as a competitive advantage to engage and connect to fans, build brand loyalty, and grow the digital audience.”
It is an incredible sign of the times we live in to see Michigan, a historic goliath in college sports, resort to using a social media marketing ploy to attract more brand recognition.
The relationship between a brand and consumer is becoming more reliant upon social media interaction. Regardless of their history, all brands and businesses are forced to have a social media presence or run the risk of being stuck with an obsolete reputation.
If a program such as Michigan feels the need to create a presence in the social media world then it seems logical that it won’t be long until this marketing strategy is a common practice for all college sports brands. With such an enormous alumni association and strong national brand recognition it seems that Michigan would not have to worry too much about brand promotion. But this is the pressure put on companies by the existence of social media. Any type of organization that does not get involved with social media will miss out on lots of new marketing options.
Consumers have come to expect brands to have a presence in social media. People have grown accustom to the more personal connection with brands that social media has provided. Adding the hashtag to the Michigan football field certainly qualifies as a more personal and interactive fan experience.
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It is a wonder that it took this long for a college sports team to place a hashtag on their field. This could be a sign of things to come in terms of social media presence inside stadiums and ballparks. With crowds full of smart phone owners, social media looks to become a huge new part of a fan’s experience by offering more opportunities to interact with teams in real time. Do not be surprised if Michigan has started a new fan-feuled social media trend.
(Photo credit: http://www.athlonsports.com)