How the Canucks Have Embraced Social Media

Since Mike Gills took over as GM of the Vancouver Canucks, he’s wasted no opportunity in improving the team. From the employ of sleep doctors to the exploration of salary cap loopholes, not to mention a certain ten million dollar overture to one former Maple Leafs captain, Mike Gillis has explored every avenue to improve the team and make the organization one players want to play for.

So it comes as no surprise that during this time the Canucks have also embraced social media and the opportunities it creates to engage with the fan base. For example, while other teams have resisted the shift in media representation to bloggers, Vancouver has utilized it to build goodwill and blogger engagement.

But it’s not merely with bloggers that the Canucks have chosen to engage with; they’ve been active on a wide range of social media networks in order to engage fans and provide meaningful interactions. They’re on Facebook and Twitter, of course, but also on Blogger, on Foursquare and on Youtube too. It’s worthwhile delving into how they’ve used each medium to spread their message:

Twitter

The Canucks surely have one of the most active, if not the most active, Twitter feeds in the NHL. Run by Derek Jory and Nicole van Zanten, Vancouver’s identified that twitter feeds without personality are boring and disengaging. So rather than having a faceless, passive account, they’ve put their social media duo in the spotlight and it’s allowed fans to identify and interact with them (the Twitter feed regularly replies to fans).

Having full-time staff running their Twitter feed creates many avenues for fan interaction. Derek and Nicole routinely run fan contests using Twitter to take advantage of the mobile nature of the platform. Last year, there was a contest where fans had to navigate to parts of Vancouver for playoff tickets. Before this season, there was a contest to take a picture of Canucks tickets on select skytrain posters. These contests have allowed fans to engage with the brand in a fun way that shows that they really understand the medium.

Of course, discussing the Canucks use of Twitter would be incomplete without mentioning that Mike Gillis was the first general manager to use the service. Though not a regular user, he still found ways to interact with fans. He used it to break a trade and also invited fan questions in a Q&A session. Even if he’s mostly inactive now, that he would take the time shows that Mike Gillis understands the opportunities (or has people who do) social media can provide for engaging fans.

Lastly, beyond marketing and access, Twitter has really taken hold of how fans interact during games with the team and with each other. The Canucks have a separate account (@canucksgame) that provides play-by-play of the games (for fans who can’t watch the game) and hold events for Twitter fans to come together to watch the game (Tweetups). Rather than leave it up to others, Vancouver’s decided to take hold of fan interaction and engage fans on their terms.

Facebook:

The Official Canucks Facebook page shares similar content to the Twitter account from a marketing perspective, but utilizes Facebook’s strengths in photos for fan interaction. Unique photos of players, both on the ice and behind the scenes, are uploaded and shared amongst Facebook fans. Exclusive desktop wallpapers from the team are also uploaded. Recently, a photo album of a contest showing Canucks fans around the world was shared.

The feed also asks poll questions, links to Canucks-related Youtube videos and offers special ticket promotions only for fans of the Facebook page. The Canucks on Facebook don’t do anything unique (like having Mike Gillis on Twitter) but understand enough about the medium to utilize it well in many aspects. It’s a mostly passive medium, so the Canucks have used it as a base for their other work, using it to spread things from their official website.

Blogger:

Derek Jory, one of the Canucks bloggers, runs a blog called Fort Nucks where he shares stories of fans and also of what it’s like to work for the Canucks. He frequently talks about his friendship with Jeff Vinnick, the Canucks photographer, and adds another layer of personality to the Canucks social media presence. I count this as an ‘official’ Canucks endeavour since his work has been linked over on the official Canucks website and because he’s been given leeway to present interesting, behind-the-scenes stories. For example, last year he went with the Canucks on their road trip and allowed fans to live vicariously through him.

Youtube:

Vancouver has an official Youtube account (canucksdotcom) where they show many of the same videos as on their official website. They have player interviews, special vignettes, game day reports and highlight packages. This might not seem that unique, but it provides yet another platform for fans to engage and share content created by the team. It ensures that their videos get watched by as many people as possible.

Foursquare:

Yes, the Canucks have even found a way to use Foursquare! Last year, when they opened their new Robson street store location, Foursquare users who checked in at the store got 15% off! It’s small, but it goes a long way to fans that the Canucks have thought about the fan minorities as well.

There may be more platforms, but I went with just the ones that the Klout uses to calculate their influence. If the Canucks were on Klout, I’m sure it would be close to 100.

Overall I think the key to the Canucks use of social media has been that they’ve made a real effort at putting real people in social media roles (e.g. Derek Jory in Fort Nucks) and letting them be creative and show off their personalities. Social media is no fun you’re interacting with a corporate entity.

Morever, rather than that being passive and using these platforms for marketing, they’ve created content for fans to engage with. They’ve gone beyond the standard highlight packages to behind-the-scenes looks into the lives of professional hockey players. There’s a reason why HBO’s 24/7 was so successful last year and it’s because fans are eager to know the players they love as people rather than just as players. The Canucks have understood that what social media really affords fans is the abilities to see what happens off the ice and to engage the team in a more interactive way.

Hockey fans don’t become fans simply to buy tickets and watch games, but to identify with something bigger than themselves. Fans don’t want to just passively consume hockey media; we want to interact, to debate to embrace the team as our own. We want to see if Kevin Bieksa is as funny privately as he is in interviews. We want to engage with other fans who share our Canuck fandom. And, through social media, the Canucks have given that to us.