Cleveland Indians Social Media Suite

According to Sports Business Journal Staff Writer, Eric Fisher states that social media usage has proven its credibility of being an “effective tool to boost fan interaction, forge connections between teams, leagues and their fans, sell tickets, merchandise, and help drive TV viewership.”  (Fisher, 2011) 

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/journal/issues/2011/08/01/in-depth/social-media.aspx.   Because social media has become such a broad leveraging approach to a new line of communication with consumers, it will never be considered a “one-size-fit-all” method of pursuing sports properties in order to exceed traditional media strategies. Fisher states that there are 20 top social media tactics that have utilized over the past few years, but the one that I feel is the most creative, is how the Cleveland Indians have took Social Media to a another level by adding a social media suite to their list of communicating with their fans, and consumers.  The Indians wanted to do something out of the norm to reach their fans and to relieve the attention off of their challenging season of losses in recent years.  So they “opened the social media desk the bleachers of Progressive Fields.  Seating 10 outfitted with wireless internet access, that were sponsored by Time Warner Cable, helped to build good will for the club”.  (Fisher, 2011) http://technorati.com/sports/baseball/article/cleveland-indians-taking-social-networking-to/   The new effort allowed the Indians to expand “The Social Media Desk” into a luxury 12-seat suite in the park.  Because of the success, the social media suite has acquired a large waiting list that extended for almost the rest of the season.  According to Author John Basso, the team’s president Mark Shapiro was in total agreement to the new idea and spoke highly of the idea on his twitter page and Sr. Director, Curtis Danbury for the Indians stated, “This has given us a tangible platform to show our commitment to the social media space.  We are creating new brand ambassadors who are then going out and talking about the Indians experiences and are in essence of spreading our message.”  (Basso, 2011)  Their new social media direction has allowed the Indians to build a “stronger relationship with their fans” (Basso, 2011) and develop a new strategy that has helped to ease the negative media comments, and open the line of communication with their fan base.  Their goal is to keep their new program and social media network strong and refreshing by having onsite coverage at every event during their season, for now on. 

References

Basso, J. “Cleveland Indians Taking Social Networking to A Whole New Level.  Technorati. 

     March 24, 2011.

      http://technorati.com/sports/baseball/article/cleveland-indians-taking-social-networking-to/

Fisher, E.   “20 Great Uses of Social Media in Sports” Sports Business Journal Daily.  August, 1 2011. 

     Page 14.

     http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/08/01/In-Depth/Social-media.aspx.