The National Hockey League Creates Buzz!

If you’re a hockey fan then this is your favorite time of the year. The season for you starts at the draft, works it’s way through training camp, peaks at the trading deadline, and then races to the start of the playoffs.

As a hockey fan, I’ve become intrigued by the marketing approach of the National Hockey League and its teams. It’s been interesting to see them implement social media initiatives to communicate and connect with their fan base. From Twitter profiles to Facebook fan pages and even audio and video podcasts, many teams have embraced social media 100 percent.

To build upon what they’ve already been doing, this week at the start of the playoffs NHL fans from over 21 different cities in the US and Canada kicked off the playoffs with the first Stanley Cup Playoff Tweetup. Michael DiLorenzo, director of corporate communications at the NHL said, “As we carve out a niche for ourselves as the digital sports league, it seemed appropriate to launch the playoffs with a digital media event.”

This idea originated from an NHL employee that “tweeted” the idea on Twitter that then gained momentum with fans wanting to know how they could host a tweetup in their city. One fan even went so far to create NHLTweetup.com, a website that would provide information about the tweetups in each city.

While we don’t know how successful each tweetup was yet, we do know that passionate hockey fans, embraced an idea, created events in multiple cities that brought people together to talk about their favorite teams.

You Can Create Buzz Too!

Recently, Emanuel Rosen, author of the book, The Anatomy of Buzz and The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited, stopped in Louisville to speak at a Social Media Club event. Emanuel laid the foundation on how to create buzz around your story or idea.

Here’s the strategy that he presented:

• Give us something to talk about
• Encourage participation
• Encourage self-expression and creativity
• Make it easy and fun to spread the word
• Allow implicit recommendations
• Work with expert and social hubs
• Evoke an emotional response

Do you think this strategy can be seen in the NHL Tweetup? I do!! Do you think it would work for your idea?

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• 20 Ways to Engage Contacts in Social Media (kylelacy.com)
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• NHL Organizes Nationwide Tweetup for Stanley Cup Playoffs (mashable.com)