#NBADigitalSeries 2013-14: Charlotte Bobcats

Al Jefferson may have been a snubbed All-Star, but basketball has always been a team game.The 30 franchises that make up the NBA have generated a revenue pie in excess of $5 billion. The digital age has enabled this game to reach its worldwide audience anywhere, anytime. Teams can build up their own local fan base through the sundry of platforms available.

Much like our #NFLTechSeries, this time SportTechie delves into the digital strategies–from web, social media, mobile apps, and any other technological connection–of each team and analyzes them, including insights from some of the digital executives involved. Today, the #NBADigitalSeries 2013-14 continues with the Charlotte Bobcats. Stay tuned to for ongoing coverage of the #NBADigitalSeries.

Albeit in the Eastern Conference, the Charlotte Bobcats have had a memorable season by making the playoffs. That, in it by itself, is a proud accomplishment. Coach Steve Clifford has established an identity built off of defense. For a franchise that’s in transition, the present still shapes what lies ahead.

Identity, however, is something that can be further crafted and distilled through digital mediums.

The Bobcats’ website conveys a quiet ordinary aesthetic. The same, typical layout used virtually across the league is evident here. Despite their winning ways, there isn’t a presenting sponsor backing the site’s homepage as a whole, just KIA within the top stories hub. The main menu tab on the top has a scrollable feature for their various pages. Social media networks do not have their own tab; rather, they can be found under the “fans” section and doesn’t include their Intstagram account. What’s interesting here, though, is the team feels it’s necessary to have a tab exclusively for their cheerleaders or “lady cats”. Ticket sales remained a focal point with its widget juxtaposed next to the top stories hub; nothing else really stands out.

This bland approach is reciprocated among the team’s social channels as well.

On Facebook, the Bobcats highlight the team huddled up together before a game as their cover photo coupled with an updated logo for the playoffs. The over 715,000 volume have access to the team’s Instagram, Pinterest, and tickets via Ticketmaster from its applications. Again, here, cheerleaders are displayed through polls and quizzes format, which is powered by a company called Fan Appz. The best posts usually are the pregame and postgame ones; the former consists of a relevant player image, hashtag, and sponsor, while the latter shows the final score, player stats, hashtag, and team logo as the backdrop. The copy is straightforward, sometimes without proper punctuation, and plenty of hashtags, which lacks a proper, better voice as a result. And the majority of posts are simply shared links to their site, but these don’t offer nowhere near the kind of engagement as the aforementioned better ones.

As for Twitter, virtually the same kind of voice as Facebook’s is evident here, too. The 204,000 followers receive tweets throughout the game with an excitable tone. Too many tweets have words in all capitals and links back to the site that are not shortened, both of which don’t translate well for engagement. They do occasionally reply back to fans and retweet them, which is a nice gesture on their part and could increasingly benefit them by doing it more often. Unfortunately, videos and images–two key facets to enhance behind-the-scenes content–are almost non-existent.

Immediately, on Instagram, the 66,000 followers could possibly be turned off by the blatant Ticketmaster link under the team’s biography, which isn’t even shortened or presented better either. There’s a significant amount of posts strictly from postgame interviews with copy just being full quotes on a subject. The same pregame and postgame graphics shown on Facebook are present here, too; other few original, branded ones are reserved for certain achievements. The video utilized just showcases players shooting jump shots before the game, during practice, or walking to the arena; more access and unique footage is sorely needed. A large portion of the posts serve as a mere teaser to content found on the site and looks to redirect fans that way.

Yet, the Bobcats did one interesting campaign surrounding Al Jefferson and his All-NBA chances.

They launched a microsite called Big Al’s Paint to help promote the many facets of Jefferson’s game in order to prove why he’s a worthy candidate to make one of the league’s top three teams by season’s end. The overarching theme stems from his post game and that he’s owner of a painting company, where he makes a living. The branding and interactive elements of the site are leaps and bounds better than the team’s main website. Every page and piece of content help tell the story of Jefferson’s productive season as if he were, indeed, an owner of a painting company. Having tabs entitled “customer reviews”, “painting tips, and “shades of Big Al” further purport unique parts of the storytelling. The YouTube clips, in particular, with the music and Jefferson, himself, acting the role bring this campaign to life. This entire production, though, would be enhanced had the team prominently displayed it on Bobcats.com, strategically deployed it across social media, and have these networks readily available within the content so fans can share it.

What’s more, the Bobcats’ official app projects a similar composition like the team’s site.

Although this property is presented by Walgreens, the UI and UX are identical to many other NBA team apps since they’re all developed by Yinzcam. One of the only distinctions happens to be their continued push for their own cheerleaders as a feature within the app. There isn’t anything else that provides a different ploy not consumable elsewhere. In fact, there just may be too many features practical enough that fans would care about.

Despite what looks to be an early playoff exit to the Miami Heat, Michael Jordan has began strides to initiate the old Charlotte Hornets nickname. There are some positives, though, to take away from this season, both on the court and digitally. The consensus, nonetheless, yields for a highly anticipated relaunch of an adored buzz.

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