Skiles, It's Marketing and You Need It!

In case you didn't see this...the Milwaukee Bucks have banned players from using Twitter while on company time... see Don Walker's article via the Milwaukee Sentinel. Charlie Villanueva @CV31 sent out the following tweet at halftime during last Sunday's game..."In da locker room, snuck to post with my twitt. We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up." Oh, and Villaneuva had 19 points and 7 rebounds in the Bucks 86-77 win over the Celtics.

I enjoy the tweets from Shaq, some along with pic's while on the bus to a pre-game shoot around etc. Or Lance Armstrong's updates before and after rides. By embracing Titter and other social media tools it brings the fans closer to the athlete and if they are closer to the athlete most likely they will be closer to the team. This type of non-progressive thinking reminds me of some early conversations I had with team personnel as the internet emerged as a marketing tool for teams and leagues 10-12 years ago.

So the team and their broadcasters ask the players to do pre-game, halftime and post game interviews on a nightly basis. In addition from time to time players are mic'd up to catch the nuances of what happens on the court. And don't get me started on what the players on the bench are doing during time-outs...videoboard races and dancers come to mind.

God forbid that a player is savvy enough to use social media tools during halftime to get closer to the fans. If the Bucks were smart they would have publicized the fact that this was the first time an NBA player did this during an actual game and leverage the immediate buzz they would be receiving and utilize Charlie's popularity to help market the team...Villaneuva currently has 7,281 followers and had less than 4,500 a couple of days ago. I guess the Bucks already have enough fans and are sold out every game for the rest of the year along with a season ticket waiting list like the Packers? The Bucks have 981 followers to their Twiiter account, maybe Skiles should start posting tweets at halftime...