For this brand assessment, I chose the Colorado Avalanche.
The first five words before looking at their social media that come to mind would be
· Gritty – Hockey is a gritty sport as is.
· Upswing – They’re second in the Western Conference as of 3/15/20
· Young – I don’t know their roster super well, but they probably have young players.
· Newcomers – They have been cellar dwellers for a while and are new to the playoff picture.
· Rivals – They have had long term rivalries with the Red Wings and other NHL teams.
For this analysis, I looked at the team’s Instagram and Twitter accounts for consistency, authenticity, and personality.
From the Instagram perspective, many of the photos were of players in game, players practicing, and players getting onto and off of their travel vehicle. They all followed the same type of style: they were all very intense yet real. They showed the player emotions in game and at practice. Many of the players were smiling in the pictures as the account showcased players celebrating a goal or their love for the sport. It feels very authentic and seems as if the Avalanche were able to accurately capture the player emotions.
For Twitter, much of the content was game related. It showed many videos of highlights before, during, and after the game. It showcased the starting lineups and started a thread of the game, including scoring updates and other highlights. The style was very consistent, and it was easy to follow. If I wanted to come and find all things game, I would be more inclined to come to Twitter because they used Twitter for more here and now content than they did Instagram.
The Avalanche’s Twitter mostly used in game broadcasts for many of their videos/gifs. Their content otherwise followed their Blue and Burgundy color scheme. For me, it actually worked pretty well in terms of popping on my timeline. It seemed very unique and the Blue and Burgundy seemed to pop onto my timeline, allowing it to be eye catching. On Instagram, their color scheme is highlighted more than on Twitter. The team’s Instagram bio said, “We post an avalanche of burgundy and blue photos”, further allowing the fan to know what they would get if they followed the page. The player pictures were mostly shot in portrait style to blur out the background and focus on the players. I personally enjoy that style of picture, and I found theirs to be aesthetically pleasing. Their creative team did a good job among the two platforms to create different yet effective content.
On Instagram, there was not much engagement with the fans, mostly due to the nature of the platform. Twitter was a better platform for engagement, and their Twitter bio even said:
They replied to a decent number of tweets. They replied to many tweets surrounding the cuteness of dogs when their mascots were shown holding puppies. Their mascot, Bernie, is a dog, and it made sense why they would reply to fan tweets when they hosted dog related events. There was a time the Avalanche responded to a fan, and the fan was shocked the Avalanche responded. Staying true to their brand, they tweeted back:
They knew they needed to interact with fans to keep them on the team’s side, and they saw Twitter as the best place to do this and designated their efforts to making Twitter their responding platform.
If you were to look at only their social media, the five words/phrases you would describe their brand as are:
· Fun: Between their content on Instagram highlighting the players having fun and enjoying the sport and their content surrounding their dog mascot, it showcased the fun and entertainment side of the brand.
· Aesthetic: All of the pictures on Instagram followed a similar aesthetic in terms of colors, content, and style. They were all very similar, and it allowed fans to know that Instagram would be a place to have the aesthetical pictures behind the scenes at practice and in games.
· Fan focused: The fact the Twitter bio referenced the account’s desire to interact with fans showed fans interaction would be a major part of the team’s brand.
· Content provider: The Avalanche made it very easy for fans to only need to interact with the team’s social media accounts to keep up with what was going on with the team. Between the game threads on Twitter and the highlight videos on both platforms, they did a good job making a provider of content as part of their brand.
· Socially aware: There were posts on both platforms about the Pride night the Avalanche hosted a few weeks ago. They also were responsive to sharing the information about the league’s stoppage and other issues related to the COVID-19 virus. Providing this information quickly and accurately helped portray the brand as socially aware and responsive.