The Thunder Create The Blue Alliance to Drive Fan Engagement

The Oklahoma City Thunder teamed up with Old Hat Creative to create a brilliant online and community fan engagement strategy - The Thunder Blue Alliance - that allows fans from all areas of Oklahoma to become team ambassadors for their communities.

Fans interested in participating in the Blue Alliance initiative simply have to:

• Log on to the official Blue Alliance landing page
• View an interactive map of the state of Oklahoma and click on a flag that designates the area of the state that they live in (or apply to represent their city)
• Submit their testimonial video or photos and an essay telling the Thunder why they would be a great Blue Alliance Captain for their home town  

Once fans are selected as Blue Alliance Captains, they are tasked with representing the team in their hometown via:

• Organizing team watch parties
• Monitoring a Facebook community page (each fan club area of the state is provided a Facebook community page)
• Assist with local team-oriented promotional initiatives
• Communicate with fellow members

Blue Alliance Captains receive a number of perks for representing their hometown, including:

• Welcome letter
• Game ticket voucher
• Personalized Thunder ID card
• Thunder yard flag and pole flag
• License plate frame
• Embroidered Blue Alliance polo
• Opportunity to attend semi-annual Blue Alliance meetings and special events

The Thunder Blue Alliance has been rolled out in a two (2) phase strategy, with the first phase generating a tremendous response from fans looking for new ways to engage with the team, demonstrate their avidity, and take a leadership role in their community. The platform's strategic use of Facebook groups allows it to be easily manageable for team stakeholders, community leaders, and participants.

Looking for more teams to roll out similar platforms to engage fans statewide, nationwide, and across the globe!

   

The Making of a University Athletics Team Poster

Have you ever wondered how Athletics team posters are made? Or how many hours of labor goes into designing an appropriate look and feel that coincides with the team's brand DNA and team slogan?

Team posters take hours of expertise and a nice creative touch to produce an outstanding product. Geoffrey Rogers of Old Hat Creative recently created an outstanding five (5) minute time lapse that showcases the eight (8) hours of Photoshop expertise that went in to designing the 2011 Stanford Lacrosse Team Poster. Check it out below:

And here's another video detailing the creation of the 2010 Florida State football team poster:

Old Hat Creative is on fire right now with their creative services and out-of-the-box marketing tactics. I would encourage you to check out their site and sign up for their newsletter.

Old Hat Creative Delivers a Terrific Recap of The Big Chill at the Big House

Sports properties looking to give their marketing materials, recaps, and videoboard vignettes some flair should take a close look at some of the work that Old Hat Creative is doing on behalf of their partners.

Old Hat did a tremendous job creating a collection of marketing materials for The Big Chill at the Big House, an outdoor hockey game between the University of Michigan and Michigan State that was played in front of an announced crowd of 104,000+ at Michigan Stadium in December.

To drive buzz around the event, Old Hat developed:

• The Big Chill at the Big House Microsite
• An Intro Video - Click Here to View               
• A Historical Tribute - Click Here to View
• A "Pump Up" Video - Click Here to View
• A Prelude - Click Here to View
• A Michigan 3D Video - Click Here to View

But Old Hat's finest work was their recap of The Big Chill at the Big House, which is one of the most original recaps that we have seen in some time! Check it out below: