March Madness- A Breeding Ground for Marketing?

       I think it's safe to say the 2014 March Madness season has been anything but expected. Upsets range from Mercer defeating Duke, Dayton taking down Syracuse, Kansas losing to Stanford, and one of the biggest upsets yet, undefeated Wichita State being sent home by Kentucky. And stemming from these upsets came many upset bracket competitors. However, aside from these upsets,  for some businesses branding has been a success through this annual basketball tournament, and for most of these brands at the root of their marketing lies some kind of social media interaction. For example, Steiner Sports has been using the hashtag #steninerbracket to select a winner for their prize, the opportunity to meet and talk with basketball coach Bob Knight. Buffalo Wild Wings is calling itself "The Official Hangout for March Madness." The food chain is offering several prizes including a trip to the 2015 tournament and thousands of dollars in gift cards. To win these prizes you can do things like check into their locations and tweet about their challenge. Kwinn Media is offering chances to win $200 prize packets which you can be entered to win by retweeting their bracket link. Many other companies are offering prizes through Facebook comments and tweeting as well. 

       This is a great way for businesses to market themselves and increase customer's awareness about their products. By offering incentives like these, people are more likely to research the product and adjust their purchasing patterns toward these companies. When people are retweeting and sharing companies products on Facebook, that also reaches people who may be unfamiliar with the business and increases their knowledge about the company. Annual events in which thousands of people are invested in are key opportunities for businesses to connect with people, and these companies were smart to take advantage of such opportunities.

Use Social to Your Advantage

 

       I'm taking a different direction with this post and talking about something more personal as opposed to what the latest news is. I'm currently in the process of applying and interviewing for internships for this upcoming summer. I am exploring many marketing opportunities ranging from insurance to ad agencies to healthcare systems. However, through all of these different career routes I have found one thing in common. When preparing for an interview I instinctively find myself researching all social media accounts for a company. I obviously visit the company's website; however, I have found you are more likely to get a feel for a company's work environment through a Facebook page, a Twitter account, or an Instagram. For example, I am traveling to Atlanta this Thursday for an internship open house with an ad agency. I already knew the agency's internship is supposed to be one of the best, but when I looked further into their social media accounts I realized this is the internship that I want most. I was able to get a feel for the agency in greater depth than through their website, and see that they have a lot of fun while working. Because of this research into their social accounts, I am extremely motivated to stand out in this open house, probably more so than if I had not researched their social accounts. The social media aspect is also used by employers when accepting applications for internships. Several companies have included a link to add your Facebook page and Linkedin at the bottom of the application. This allows employers to do further research on you as a potential candidate for their internship.
        Lastly, I would like to discuss an instance at my job in which social media made a presence. I am a part-time sales associate at Pier 1 Imports and we are currently interviewing people for two open positions. Yesterday during my shifts two people were interviewed by our General Manager. When the first girl came in and went back to the office, the sales leader on duty began explaining how he and my assistant manager had looked her up on Facebook and checked out her page. Social media is increasingly becoming more significant when job searching; so I would suggest everyone take advantage of looking into potential employer's accounts, and scan your current accounts to be sure they are safe for employers to view.