The Game-Changing Huddle

Not too long ago in middle and high school, I remember our football coaches wheeling out a gigantic black box on a cart. Everyone would gather around the television and the coaches would insert the VHS (DVD in more recent years) and we would watch film on the other teams.  Our coaches had either obtained these films from some sort of black market for high school football videos or they met up with coaches of other teams and simply swapped out films.  It’s probably the latter, but you never can be sure too sure with high school coaches and the actions that they will take [see Texas referee fiasco here]. Nowadays, most schools have done away with VHS tapes, DVDs, and those roll-carts that substitute teachers used to show irrelevant movies.  Instead, coaches and players now simply go to hudl.com.  Hudl has changed and is still changing the landscape of high school football scouting and college recruiting.  

                In preparing for the next opponent, coaches now have an online library as a study resource.  That library may possess just a few games or it may even contain full seasons and 7on7 (a summer scrimmage style of play) games.  Studying these opponents is crucial to the success of a team and therefore Hudl is a great platform for coaches to exploit.  Additionally, coaches can study other teams to learn new formations and plays for their teams to run.  High school coaches aren’t the only ones doing research on Hudl, however.  Maybe even more than them, college recruiters spend countless hours following and scouting the talent of high school and EVEN middle school football players.

                There once was a time when only the most elite players had highlight tapes in high school.  If someone had a high school highlight video fifteen or twenty years ago, it was important to remember that name because you were about to be hearing it on Saturdays and possibly even Sundays.  Now though, every kid trying to play football after high school has the easy ability to compile a video of highlights onto their personal Hudl accounts.  With these videos always accessible on the online database, kids can then just send out the link to as many coaches as they desire.  These links are commonly found in Twitter bios, Instagram profiles, and Facebook statuses.  

This is just another way that social media has changed the game of high school and college football.  No longer is high school football confined to a local newspaper or a message board.  Now every kid in the nation can be seen by anyone whenever.  While this makes every athlete feel more visible to coaches, it should also give them the feeling that the competition is higher than ever for a scholarship since coaches can scout kids across the nation in the comfort of their basements at one in the morning.

Evolution of Internet Videos

                In the recent months, it seems that the average social media user is being exposed to more videos and I’d guess that they may actually be consuming more videos as well.  We are well past the days where videos were confined to YouTube.  Since those ancient days, we have seen developments such as Facebook and Instagram video.  The most recent changes to videos on these platforms are the auto-play feature and the emergence of the fifteen second clips. 

                Auto-play is a feature that runs on two, generally accurate assumptions: 1) Users enjoy the ease in which they can watch videos without having to take any action other than scrolling through their feeds & 2) Users that don’t like the auto-play feature are too lazy to turn it off.  In a society where the average attention span is comparable to that of a goldfish, it is important for marketers to utilize quickness and simplicity when trying to reach their intended audiences.  It is getting harder and harder to get consumers to jump through hoops.  Auto-play, especially when showing great and personalized content, can be highly effective in getting more people to view videos.  It is clear that at least some people are willing to give a video a chance if they don’t have to take any further action.  Personally, I am one of the folks that doesn’t much enjoy auto-play and I have been meaning to turn it off for months now.  See the problem there?  It would take me thirty seconds to change my preferences, but I’d be willing to bet that auto-play will still be enabled on my accounts tomorrow. 

                Auto-play has been complemented by the continued rise in popularity of Vines and Vine-like videos.  These shortened videos have really become the user-generated commercials of the internet.  There are businesses popping up that specialize in these fifteen and thirty second clips; sports generated content is one of the driving industries involved.  Businesses have certainly taken notice of this new fad and they have begun incorporating user-generated content as well as trimming the lengths of the videos so that they match those around them.  The popularity of these short clips should reaffirm businesses that sometimes less is more.

                Auto-play, combined with a user-generated Vine, actually paved the way for Deez Nuts to be a “potential” candidate in the 2016 US election.  The original, prank video has made its way through the feeds of all platforms and led to Deez Nuts becoming a household name. The video inspired a teenage boy to prank the nation. This should show businesses that with the right amount of creativity, humor, and timing, fifteen second clips can have content going viral.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34005135/voters-back-teenager-deez-nuts-to-be-next-us-president

A product that markets itself

As marketers, we are always looking for fresh and unique ways to advertise a product or service.  One of the most exceptional marketing schemes I’ve ever seen is executed by Chacos.  Chacos is a company that offers higher-end, durable sandals for consumers of all ages.  They market their sandals towards outdoorsy people who enjoy a shoe that possesses both comfortability and style.  However, Chacos’ most unique selling point is the Chaco tan.  

                The Chaco tan is exactly what it sounds like.  Chacos’ sandals have a distinct strap pattern.  During the warmer months, Chaco wearers gain tan lines in the formation of those straps. Passionate Chacos fans enjoy this strap pattern when they are wearing the sandals and also when they are not.  Therefore they aim to tan their feet while wearing Chacos so that their bare feet still show the Chacos.

                Social media increases the reach of Chaco tans exponentially.  No longer are these tan lines kept local.  A quick search on Instagram reveals that there are over 120,000 posts including “#chaco” and another 100,000 posts using “#chacos”. While these posts are mostly photos of people wearing Chacos, there are over 11,000 posts with the hashtag “chacotan” where users are highlighting their bare feet.  The Chaco tan hashtag has roughly the same amount of uses as the hashtags “tevas” and “keens”, two comparable sandals brands.  

 I've never once heard someone describe tan lines as cool or awesome or cute unless they were referring to the Chaco tan.  Not only has Chacos created a quality product and gained a competitive advantage, but in doing so they have also destroyed the "tan lines are ugly" mentality, at least as it applies to feet.  In summary, Chacos has a great product and they've also been able to create a trend out of a supposed fashion no-no. 

 

                Think about how many conversations are started when a heavy Chacos user has his or her bare feet exposed, in person or on a platform in photo form.  Products are considered to be good when large amounts of positive reviews are spread by people about the products; Chacos isn’t just a good product though.  Chacos word-of-mouth is driven by color-of-feet, so they’ve got two major body parts walking and talking for them.