The NCAA College World Series wrapped up last night at TD America Park in Omaha. New national champion, Vanderbilt beat Virginia 3-2 on the strength of a dramatic 8th inning home run from John Norwood.
Sporting events of this magnitude offer marketers fantastic opportunities to communicate value to a highly engaged TV audience. But how does a fan capture a moment in the game and share it with others who love baseball? Not the next day. Right now!
Answer: fans turn to the NCAA’s CWS account on Twitter, where lovingly created snapshots of the action are captured in real time and posted for all to see, share, bookmark and/or repurpose.
HOME RUN!!!
John Norwood puts @VandyBaseball ahead 3-2. #CWS pic.twitter.com/lPytGP0sDk
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 26, 2014
At the stretch… @VandyBaseball and @UVABaseball are all square.
Who will be the hero? #CWS pic.twitter.com/Ox1aTcxna1
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 26, 2014
Head Coach Tim Corbin on the approach of his @VandyBaseball offense the rest of the night… #CWS pic.twitter.com/Vnfcjsm0R5
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 26, 2014
The images above were rendered in real time by the NCAA social media team. They came to the ballpark with readymade graphics and a template, yet they had to work live elements into this static framework, and they did so in rapid succession.
Take a look at the @NCAACWS stream from last night. There’s a solid mix of straight images and text, along with the ad-like posts I highlighted above. The posts above got my attention because they have a collectible quality, kind of like baseball cards.
Hate to be a yenta but shouldn’t the headline read “College World Series. . .” rather than “College Word Series. . .”?
Yes.