Triune Designs Blog: Web Design, Development, & Marketing

Basketball player dunking

I recently read an article by, and talking about, Rod Benson, a basketball player who also happens to be a blogger. In the article Benson discusses the negative stereotype that is associated with pro athletes who blog. He references a quote from an SI.com article discussing Rod and the potential impact his blogging has on being signed by an NBA team:

“As successful as Benson has been with his creative endeavors, the possibility exists that they could have a negative impact — that the stigma of being a blogger could actually keep a talented 6-10 athlete out of the NBA. Says Benson’s agent, Bill Neff, ‘One GM told me that [the blog] was a red flag, and he wasn’t the first. There’s an insecurity, from NBA guys, about the blog that shouldn’t exist, because Rod is just hysterical. People may end up looking at him less seriously, even though he averages more rebounds per minute than any pro other than Dwight Howard. Instead of thinking of that, [GMs] may be saying, ‘Do we want this guy writing about us?’”

That last question says it all about the mindset GM’s and NBA team executives have about blogging: they are scared about their players writing about the team. What is unfortunate is that this fear is also prevalent among most companies as well. Corporations (including NBA teams) want to tightly restrain what is said about them in the general public and part of that is restricting what employees say. If most corporations do have a blog, they set such tight and restrictive parameters around what can be written that the blog just becomes a bland, useless tool.

Conversely, if corporations really want to connect with their consumers (or fans) then they need to change and loosen the parameters. They need to embrace blogging for what it truly is: a way to humanize a company and draw in consumers in a way that has never been done before. While I do think there needs to be some rules in place for what can be written (e.g., no explicit material, insider secrets, play books revealed, etc.), companies should relax and let the employees write about what their job-related passions.

An excellent example of how athlete bloggers can help market a team is Curt Schilling. I started following the Boston Red Sox a little closer as I heard more about Curt Schilling’s blog, 38pitches. To be honest, I never read a single article on Schilling’s blog; however, my friends did, and they talked about his articles and I listened. Talk about exposure! Whether the article was positive, negative or indifferent, Boston got free marketing and that marketing was more successful than a flashy commercial could ever provide.

This is what makes blogs so important to companies today. Blogs are a vital component to any web marketing strategy. They create buzz about a company, they bring customers back to read more and blogs make a company less corporate and more human. In the end, I hope that a smart, savvy NBA team decides to take a chance with Rod. Not only could they end up benefiting from his strong basketball talent, but they could benefit from the free marketing he would constantly provide for them.

If you want to check out Rod’s blog you can view it at toomuchrodbenson.com.

Update – After writing this, I read an article talking about how the NY Islanders are embracing blogging instead of avoiding it. Here is their blog box. Thanks to David Meerman Scott for the info.

Tags: Blogs, web marketing