NFL Feels Effects of Players Building Their Own Brands with Twitter

August 3, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment

A great piece came out on MSNBC (source is Washingtonpost.com) August 1, 2009 called, “With Twitter, NFL Loses Control of Image Game – Fans no longer dependent on media reports for training camp updates“. The story highlights that players have begun to Twitter from training camp, in locker rooms, and to boost their own brand images. From my perspective the key takeaway here is the power of putting brand promotion in the hands of players.

The NFL is feeling a bit of stress because they’ve realized that just like the rest of who put our “brands” out there for public consumption that:

Our brands aren’t really “decided” by us…we’re just providing propulsion to the brand but we’re getting steered by crowd interactions, perceptions, and reactions.

Teams and the NFL have tried to react but obviously they’re used to being in control:

While athletes have used blogs the past couple of years, they say Twitter is quicker, more accessible and less likely to be filtered through agents, publicists or team officials before publication. From the perspective of both fan and athlete, that’s a good thing. But the National Football League is an image-obsessed league, routinely beset by athletes’ off-the-field antics. Twitter has already grown into a social media tool over which the league has little to no control.

This story highlights the uncomfortable balance between organizations and the people that drive them forward. Is your organization comfortable enough to “Let your best tell the world what they think?” As more and more players use Twitter and other tools to build their brands and interact with fans…we’ll start to get a much clearer picture of who’s who…and what’s what on…and off the gridiron. There’s no way to stop this train and I’d like to see a team have a “Must Tweet” policy and see what happens.