Weekly Roundup

Hello Again,

The Chicago Bulls, winners of eight of their last nine, have been cruising to date and it's clear that their success has a correlation with some of the good vibes on social media. This week, I selected a few tweets that really appealed to me and I just want to further elaborate on why I believe that @ChicagoBulls has been the weakest social media campaign thus far.

Beginning with the good...

The Bulls hosted a very good Golden State Warriors team and completely blew them out. There were many optimistic tweets that I saw on Twitter, but my favorite came from @NickFriedell towards the end of the game. In his tweet, Nick Friedell pokes fun at the Warriors' bad night for the amusement of Bulls fans.

Nick Friedell ‏@NickFriedell  Feb 26

How bad is your team's night when that team is down 20+ in the 4th and the opposing team's crowd is chanting for your assistant coach?

It was nice to see Friedell shy away from his normal in-game analysis to bring us this tweet. Though most Bulls fans remember, Brian Scalabrine was our former red-head benchwarmer who served as the unofficial mascot for the team from 2010-2012. Now coaching the Warriors, Scalabrine heard his name being chanted throughout the Bulls arena late in the game as Chicago had a big lead. This is what Bulls used to do when Scalabrine was a player on the team and Friedell's tweet was effective in evoking old memories for us to cherish. In my opinion, the best tweet is the kind that people can relate to and all Bulls fans can remember the good ole days, when we were number one in the league, and Scal was number one in our hearts. Although it has only been about two years, it does feel like a long time ago and Nick Friedell's tweet allowed us to cherish the past in the midst of a season focused solely on the now and in the future. Friedell's tweet definitely appealed to pathos; it was both comical and nostalgic, and that's why it was my favorite for this week.

(Brian Scalabrine in his days with the Bulls)

This next tweet from @Bulls_Jay was unique because I thought it really hit well on not one, but two rhetorical appeals. Again, Jay was referring to the Bulls-Warriors game by tweeting a detail that not all Bulls fans might know.

Jason Patt ‏@Bulls_Jay  Feb 26

Warriors haven't gone over 91 points at the UC since the 2007-08 season when Baron Davis (!!!!) dropped 40 if any of you remember that one.

As most NBA fans would know, the Warriors have been one of the highest scoring teams in the league for the past few years, yet every time they play at Chicago's United Center, they haven't managed to score more than 91 points- much lower than their season average. Now you may think that this tweet by Jason Patt only satisfies one rhetorical appeal, logos, as he is providing a true statement regarding the Warriors' history in Chicago, yet, there is another aspect of his tweet that shows his worthiness of being a Bulls blogger. It was remembering the game where Baron Davis, a former player for the Warriors scored 40 points. Maybe it's because I'm a huge Bulls fan, or because I have a strong memory, or both, but I myself remember that game and I even remember how Baron Davis said he "felt like MJ" in his post-game interview. However, even some of the biggest Bulls fans' might have trouble remembering that game (after all, there are 82 games in a season not including playoffs and exhibitions and 7 years have gone by since), but that game didn't evade Jason. The fact that he asks his followers, "if any of you remember" not only tells us that he's not expecting many people to recall that match, it also tells us that he knows his stuff. In 2007 the Bulls only had one player that is still on today's team, but Jason Patt has stuck with the team, documenting and analyzing their ups and downs since then, if not before that, and that kind of experience as a fan makes him the right guy for this job. He also appeals to ethos in this tweet, by certifying his own reputation and it took another huge Bulls fan (myself) to recognize that. He remembered that one insignificant regular season game in '07 and so did I, and I have to amend him for his recollection.

Last week, I made it know that I believed @ChicagoBulls was the weakest social media campaign that I had been following to date. Today, I just want to give you examples of both a good tweet and a bad tweet from the official Twitter account from the Chicago Bulls. I believe the Chicago Bulls' main goal should be to connect with not only their fans but the people of Chicago as well. There are many casual fans who follow the bulls on Twitter, so the team has to be mindful of the content they are putting on social media. Here is an example of a good tweet from @ChicagoBulls.

Chicago Bulls ‏@chicagobulls  Feb 24

We lost a good one in Harold Ramis. Actor, writer, director & Bulls fan. You’ll be missed. pic.twitter.com/o2RCKeFWn3

As you may have heard, legendary actor/director and Chicagoan, Harold Ramis passed away earlier this week. As we mourned the loss, the Bulls uploaded a very appropriate image of Ramis at a Bulls game with his two sons. Like all other Chicagoans, Ramis was also a Bulls fan and this tweet from the Bulls not only appeals to pathos, but it also shows us another side of Harold Ramis that people from Chicago can connect with. 

Now, it is understandable that the Bulls wont always be able to tweet photos commemorating local celebrities; however, they should always keep in mind that thier target audience is the average Bulls fan and not necessarily a diehard. Here is an example of a bad tweet from the team that came earlier this week. 

Chicago Bulls ‏@chicagobulls  Feb 26

Mike Dunleavy blocks a streaking Andre Iguodala. http:// #GSWvsCHI

That's it. Now think, if your an average Bulls fan who only catches regular season games once in a while and you constantly see tweets like this pop up on your timeline, wouldn't you unfollow the team? There is absolutely no substance behind this tweet and they don't even share a link to where you can see the block. All that is included is #GSWvsCHI and nothing else. This is the type of dull tweeting the Chicago Bulls need to refrain from. I understand it's providing in-game feedback for those watching or not, but there needs to be more than just "X blocked Y". This tweet has no rhetorical appeal and is a kind that I've seen far to often from the team.

I hope you guys enjoyed this week's blog post, let's hope the Bulls continue to ride on their recent success.

Matt

Weekly Reaction

Hello again, 

This week the Chicago Bulls began the second half of the NBA season with a big win versus their conference foe the Toronto Raptors. In my previous reaction, I pointed out three separate instances where I noticed an effective use of pathos on all the Bulls related Twitter campaigns that we’ve been keeping up with. This week I aimed to distinguish logos, pathos and ethos among all the Twitter accounts. Let’s start with @ChicagoBulls.

This week I chose to select a tweet from NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo that was retweeted by the Bulls’ Twitter.

Dikembe Mutombo ‏‪@officialmutombo Feb 14 
Me and the next best



 defender in NBA 


Most NBA fans know Dikembe Mutombo as one of the best defenders in league history. Last week, the Bulls lone all-star, Joakim Noah traveled to New Orleans for the annual festivities. Some of the events take place on the court, but the NBA community also gets together off it to take part in charitable activities. Mutombo (now retired) was present at an All-Star function where Joakim Noah was also at and Mutombo didn’t shy away from giving his praise to the young Bulls’ center. In his tweet, Mutombo refers to Noah as “the next best defender in the NBA,” implicating himself as the best. Some might agree with him and others might disagree, but Mutombo’s defensive prowess is to be respected. The Chicago Bulls seem to admire him too. Right before the All Star game, the Bulls retweeted Mutombo’s photo in a show of ethos. It’s evident that Dikembe Mutombo approves of one of the Bulls’ players, and the team didn’t hesitate to acknowledge that. It’s a display of legitimacy- one great player giving another his stamp of approval. Yet through this tweet, the Bulls want us followers to give show our appreciation towards the team and Noah, and I think it was an effective method. The tweet was retweeted 1,500 times; significantly more than other tweets found on the Bulls’ page.

The next tweet I’d like to discuss does a nice job in expressing another rhetorical appeal: pathos.

Jason Patt ‏‪@Bulls_Jay Feb 20

As so eloquently put by a BaB user, now we wait for Reggie Rose's State of the Bulls address. ‪http://www.blogabull.com/2014/2/20/5429656/chicago-bulls-trade-deadline-open-thread#216435659 …

This tweet by @Bulls_Jay provides the link to the blog that Jason Patt writes for, BlogABull. The emotional appeal ascending from this tweet is a comical one. Reggie Rose is the older brother of injured Bull, Derrick Rose. He is the head of Derrick Rose’s camp and other than that he has no real link with the team. Last year he caused a bit of a stir by publically speaking out against the organization and owner Jerry Reinsdorf for not surrounding his brother with better players. Since Derrick Rose is the core of the team, any discontent coming from his camp is definitely a concern. The Bulls stayed put at the trade deadline last week and Jason Patt’s colleagues wrote about it on the blog. As a measure to get his followers’ to check out the piece, Jason Patt took the funny comment about a fictional “State of the Bulls Address” to Twitter and I for one ended up checking out their article to get a laugh. By making light of Reggie Rose’s previous criticisms, Jason Patt effectively drew me over to the blog to read the linked article and the usually interesting and funny fan reactions.

@NickFriedell provided his usually bits and pieces this week, but there was one particular tweet regarding a phenomenal performance by Joakim Noah that I though had a really strong appeal to pathos.

Nick Friedell ‏‪@NickFriedell Feb 20

Best stretch of Jo's career continues. MT ‪@JeffGurt: Joakim Noah is first center with 13 assists in a game since Vlade Divac in April 1996.

In the game against the Raptors, the Bulls center had 13 assists, an unusually high figure for a player of his position. As a matter of fact, Noah was the first player of his respective position to have that high of an assist total since 1996, nearly 20 years. A lot goes on in 20 years of NBA basketball and the fact that Noah was able to achieve such a feat is remarkable. The stat that Friedell tweets is powerful enough for anyone to respect Noah and his performance. Not only does Friedell compare Noah to Divac, a former great, he provides statistics regarding the date of the last time Noah’s performance was matched, which makes it all the more sweeter. It’s hard to ignore the fact that Joakim Noah did something no one had done since 1996 and that is the goal of Friedell’s tweet. It’s a truly great use of logos. 

At this point of my analysis, all three of the Twitter campaigns have all steadily been posting tweets that have all been intriguing, each having strong rhetorical appeals unique to each other. Initially, I did think the Chicago Bulls Twitter account was the weakest, because they were posting a lot of tweets that lacked any rhetorical appeal or substance, but they have picked it up the last two weeks. What I really enjoy is seeing a wide spectrum of tweets, even though they are all related to the same topic. It is interesting to see how these different parties react to the team and its’ activities. Where as one week @Bulls_Jay’s tweets stand out, the next week @NickFriedell might be giving us something special. It varies and there really is no individual best Tweeter thus far. I am interested to see what happens as the season progresses.

Until next week,

Matt.

Social Media Marketing Encountered in the Last 48 Hours.

Greetings,

In the last 48 hours, I have been keeping an eye out on my Twitter and Facebook feeds specifically for cases of marketing and promotional purposes. After 2 days of casually checking both social media sites, I was able to come away with the following examples:

1. Boki Bandz- Tweet from my friend/upcoming Chicago Rapper promoting his new music video. Several of my good friends favorite this tweet as well. Clicked and saw photo of album art and instructions on how to download.

2. Luol Deng Foundation- Tweet from former Chicago Bulls player promoting his charity and how to get involved. Did not click.

3. CNNInternational- Advertising an on-air interview with a Hong Kong LGBT activist set to be aired on CNN at 4:30. Provides a link for more information. Did not click.

4. Vibe Magazine- Friend retweeted tweet from Hip-Hop magazine with a link to a web interview with Chicago based artist, Chance the Rapper. Did not click.

5. Old Spice- 2 friends on Facebook liked an Old Spice advertisement of comical appeal. Showed up on my newsfeed, but I did not click.

6. Miramar Theater Concert- Friend posts link to buy tickets to an upcoming show at the Miramar Theater asking, "Who's coming with?" Did not click.

7. Casey Wyatt Music- Friend on Facebook reposts sound cloud page of his DJ friend asking everyone to give a listen. Saw a good friend's comment of approval, so I clicked on it and listened to a track. 

8. Cigna Go You- Advertisement on the side of my Facebook feed offering a "magical trip to Ireland." Did not click.

9.  Date On Facebook- Advertisement on the side providing a link to meet singles in my area. Did not click

10. Pricegrabber.com- Advertisement on the side featuring Michael Jordan shoes on sale for $59.99. Did not click. 

Of the ten different examples presented, I only further investigated 2 of them. Both of them were music related which is one of my passions, but I feel that the most important reason that actually drew me to these two posts was the fact that each of them had good friends of mine also interested. Essentially, Facebook and Twitter were created for friends to connect with their friends. As both evolved through time, each became platforms for marketing and business related activities. This is something that somewhat bothers me; I see enough ads and promotions outside and on TV and now they are taking over social media as well. As far as I’m concerned, I will always ignore advertisements on social media unless they are really intriguing or shared by friends of mine. For example, the advertisements on the side of Facebook were completely disregarded by me. As a matter of fact, I normally do not even notice them, but for this assignment I purposely kept my eye open. The most powerful tools on Facebook and Twitter are the like and favorite options, respectively. Yet, the only way users ever like or click promotional related posts is if they are very appealing. I believe that Facebook and Twitter users are conscious of the fact that their friends and followers don’t necessarily want to see a bland ad or promotion, even if the user is a customer of that particular company. Online advertisements need to be either eye opening or comical if people are going to click and share them. This is something that all companies need to know, before they waste their money on irrelevant advertising.

Matt 

Weekly Round Up (Feb. 14)

Hello everyone,

We've finally approached the NBA All-Star break, so there is no non All-Star game related activity for this next week. However, the Bulls have actually found themselves looking pretty good heading into the mid-season hiatus, sitting at 4th in the East and riding a three game winning streak. All three of our Twitter campaigns were once again very busy this week, but each of them had a specific tweet that was consistent with a particular rhetorical appeal. Let's start with @ChicagoBulls.

We've seen a lot of marketing coming from the official Twitter account of the Chicago Bulls in the past few weeks. This week however, I stumbled upon a tweet that I found to be interesting because it was one of the first that I've seen the team not promote their own organization.

Chicago Bulls ‏@chicagobulls  Feb 10

Sending luck to Chicago's @ShaniDavis, hitting the track today in Sochi. #GoTeamUSA pic.twitter.com/CtMPGTmoj3

It was very cool to see the Chicago Bulls send out a tweet wishing luck to a Chicago native currently participating in the Winter Olympics. Speed skaters aren't nearly as famous as NBA players and I think it was awesome of the team to let everyone in the city know that we have one of our own representing our nation in Sochi. To me, this tweet just makes you feel kinda good that the Bulls took the time to let their 1.5 Million followers get the opportunity to know this hometown face as he takes part in an incredible event. Even though the tweet is technically still sports related, it's nice to see the Bulls venture away from their own matters from time to time. This tweet most definitely appeals to pathos, as opposed to their many other bland statistical or marketing related ones. 

Aside from his usual in game analysis, @NickFriedell also ventured away from his usual self on Twitter. During a game against the Atlanta Hawks, Friedell noticed something that might not matter much to the fans who follow him, but certainly to the front office of the organization.

Nick Friedell ‏@NickFriedell  Feb 11

There are a whole lot of empty seats in the United Center. A lot more than usual. Seems like some people are eating their tickets.

Expand

 

For the past couple years, the Chicago Bulls have led the league in attendance, even though they haven't been that remarkable of a team. This year, the team sold almost all of its' tickets prior to the start of the season, but once thier star player Derrick Rose (the one most fans come to watch) went down with an injury, the value of a Chicago Bulls ticket dropped significantly. This is an issue that is likely troublesome to the organization. In the NBA you can be a bad team, but as long as your making money things will be fine. Once the flow of capital doesn't come as quickly, teams start to worry. See, what's unique about this particular tweet from Friedell is that he is not only tweeting at the fans, he's directing it an the front office too. Though the fans aren't to preoccupied with the attendance at games, the organization definitely is, and Friedell appeals to pathos by making the people in charge a little anxious. The NBA is a business and loss of revenue is always what ends up killing a team. The Bulls are luckily enough to be in a major market, but that means the have to meet major expectations both on a basketball and financial standpoint. I'm sure they weren't too pleased at the truth behind Friedell's latest observation. 

Lastly and since we are on the subject of basketball economics, I want to elaborate on a tweet sent out by @Bulls_Jay during the same Bulls-Hawks game.

Jason Patt ‏@Bulls_Jay  Feb 11

Dorf is just watching this game and rubbing his hands mischievously hoping for a Bulls/Hawks 1st round series.

This tweet appeals to Pathos for the fans because it evokes a comical imagination of a sinister Jerry Reinsdorf (Bulls owner) watching over the game as if he is some sort of cartoon villain only concerned with money and power. See, if the Bulls make it past the first round of the playoffs the earn prized bonuses from the league and its endorsers. It's no secret that Jerry Reinsdorf is one of the most acquisitive owners in the league and it was funny how Jason Patt was able to create this image of him in the minds of his fellow Bulls fan followers. It was an amusing method of calling out the Bulls owner, and I believe it worked. Sometimes serious notions can be realized through comical means.

All in all, we saw each one of our Twitter campaigns excellently use pathos this week. I sure next week is as interesting.

Till the next,

Matt

Social Media Screw Ups: Kenneth Cole

Hey you all,

By now, everyone should know that when you send something out online, it's probably going to be there forever. This is especially important for public figures and organizations who have a wide range of followers, many of whom are customers that could be offended.  

For today's post on the biggest social media scandals, I want to address the tweet sent out by Kenneth Cole, making light of the Egyptian Revolution by promoting his own brand. I happen to follow Kenneth Cole on Twitter, and he walks a thin line between internet troll and ignorant celebrity. As Egypt was in the midst of a revolution in 2012, Kenneth Cole had this to say via Twitter "Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online." To be honest, I thought it was a funny joke, but it isn't one that can be said by a celebrity/CEO who constantly has his reputation on the line. 

Now what makes me think that Kenneth Cole is doing this for his own amusement? He tweeted a similar tweet regarding the crisis in Syria a few month's later, drawing more ire from sensitive followers. You can only make a mistake like that so many times. 

Kenneth Cole can get only away with this for so long. I highly doubt that Macy's would throw out all Kenneth Cole items out of their inventory after one inappropriate tweet, but if this continues to be a pattern, I'd say Kenneth Cole is in jeopardy.

If I am Kenneth Cole, I'm taking it easy on social media. Even if it is unintentional, there is simply way too many people/customers that can be offended. Remember Kenneth, at the end of the day, the customer is always right. 

Matt