SF Giants Social Media Gets It

SF Giants Social Media Gets It!

Sports Techie spoke with the Head of Social Media of the San Francisco Giants (@sfgiants) Mr. Bryan Srabian (@srabe) about their use of sports technology as Spring Training 2011 fast-approaches.

I have been on Twitter for nearly a year, previous to that I was the Moderator for the NY Giants historical wiki as well as the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Thrashers and Big East basketball (Entourage and DWTS too!) online communities so when I say the SF Giants get it, I mean it!

Social Media SF Giants Style

What do they get? Social Media is what Bryan and the Giants organization understand best, perhaps better than as any other Major League Baseball team and certainly equal to or above any NFL, NBA, NHL or other Sports League. Fans want the inside scoop about the players, team Promotions or anything that is team related. Check the Giants Twitter stream and you will notice plenty of team coverage like the Happy Birthday to #AndresTheGiant as well as direct communication to their fans on almost a daily basis.

Bryan began with the Giants organization back in 1995, left in 2008 and returned in 2010. Why that’s important to note is because Social Media Heads need to have background and passion for what they are representing and Bryan certainly qualifies. His Social Media team is small, often times it is only him working with the individual departments. Matt Chisholm, the Media Relations Coordinator helps immensely on twitter, especially with all player related news.

I asked Bryan what kind of checks and balances are in place in terms of what he can and cannot post. His response was the Giants give him the authority to tweet at-will since he a key part of their Administration team. That is a lot of power and Bryan deserves this lofty responsibility. He is after all, a Sports Techie and SF Giants fan at heart!

Who didn’t enjoy following the Brain Wilson ‘Fear the Beard’ campaign during October’s MLB magic? I must have put out over a 100 tweets with the hashtag #fearthebeard. In fact, I guerilla marketed to Team Coco (@TeamCoco) and to Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien) himself with my own hashtag, #feartheredbeard, all in the hopes that I would get a retweet, maybe a shoutout on TV or YouTube or at least a simple thanks. Nada. No worries. I will simply try once again during the 2011 MLB season.

World Series Trophy Tour

If you did not know, the Giants paraded the World Series trophy around New York City and the East coast last week. The history the Giants have extends well beyond the Bay Area borders. The model has been set by the NHL with their Stanley Cup tour but why not do something similar since it is all about sharing with the fans. Here is a nice piece written by Joe Favorito (@JoeFav) about how the – Giants Are Keeping The Hot Stove Burning – via the Sports Marketing & PR Roundup.

New Social Media Campaigns

The big news is the relationship that Showtime Sports has established with the Giants. Look for a possible new TV series on Showtime as they showcase and follow around the defending World Series champion players with cameras, mics and perhaps even tweets! The concept is to share the unique character of the baseball players while they live, eat and breath the game they love. Bravo to MLB Productions for being proactive with the Giants success last season and giving fans everywhere an inside look at players like Matt Cain’s daily reactions, lifestyle and training.

The marketing team at the Giants are now searching for SF Giants 2010 videos created with a Flip cam that will possibly be used as part of a new Social Media campaign. If you have a zany video with pitcher Tim Lincecum, aka The Freak, or any other Giants related footage, send it to the Giants or Bryan.

Finally, the Giants Fanfest is upcoming. Look for plenty of interactive sports technology ways to have fun there and you can also be a part of the festivities via the Giants Social Media outlets like Twitter, Facebook (Facebook.com/Giants) and their web site at SFGiants.com.

2011

The Giants have nearly 75,000 tweeple followers right now. Can we help get them to 100k by Spring Training Sports Techie? No doubt about it because the SF Giants Social Media team gets it and that is what it’s all about in 2011.