MLB Social Media Policy: A Monumental Leap Forward

Two weeks ago I posted a piece on the value of social media as a tool in regards to building athlete commercial value. In conjunction with that post, I thought it appropriate to briefly comment on Major League Baseball's 2012 trip into uncharted waters to adopt a social media policy addressing social media use by employees and players.

The principle take-away from the 2012 MLB CBA policies implemented is that social governance is highly centralized. These very policies set forth by Major League Baseball are "law of the land." Meanwhile, ballclubs themselves are restricted from creating social policies in contradiction with MLB. Additionally, punishment can be lain on a player via the Commisioner Office directly OR by their respective baseball club (punishments may not be handed down by both organizations for a player's violation of policy... simply put, one or the other).

*Note: All 4 of the following policies can be found on page 254 of the 2012-2016 Major League Baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Expanding upon the 2012 MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement, a memorandum released by Major League Baseball in March 2012 set forth greater detail regarding social media policy.

Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk does an exemplary job of summarizing the "don'ts" of this memorandum (2012 MLB Social Media Policy):

"The policy itself is more of a legal document, but it basically consists of a list of ten prohibitions:

• Players can’t make what can be construed as official club or league statements without permission;

• Players can’t use copyrighted team logos and stuff without permission or tweet confidential or private information about teams or players, their families, etc.;

• Players can’t link to any MLB website or platform from social media without permission;

• No tweets condoning or appearing to condone the use of substances on the MLB banned drug list (which is everything but booze, right?);

• No ripping umpires or questioning their integrity;

• No racial, sexist, homophobic, anti-religious, etc. etc. content;

• No harassment or threats of violence;

• Nothing sexually explicit;

• Nothing otherwise illegal."

While these control measures are fairly straightforward and common sense, the very fact that Major League Baseball has set guidelines to govern player social behavior represents an acceptance of "new media." Furthermore, it goes without saying that Major League Baseball recognizes the crucial role that social media plays in the lives of the young, a demographic that MLB must accommodate in order to remain sustainable and popular.

#EvoArmy: The EvoShield Social Model

A large percentage of organizations who set out with the goal of establishing a social media marketing strategy end up falling far short of their original intentions. However genuine in nature, these organizations often end up with a variation of an (online) marketing strategy... but with no semblance of "social." Typically, they wind up under-utilizing the social web, viewing it as an extension of traditional advertising (a one-way communication channel) to push their products, services, deals, etc. on followers/friends.

Why is it that companies fall short of a "social" strategy? Part may be innocent ignorance, part may be due to a lack of knowledge or experience working within social marketing, but in the case of many, the reason for failure originates from a lack of understanding in regards to the "social" potential of the web. The truth is, developing and maintaining a successful social marketing strategy can be laborious work. This stems from the fact that an organization cannot simply develop one persona and run with it indefinitely. Rather, the social strategy must evolve with the respective audience. 

For an exceptional example of social strategy within the sports industry, look no further than the Athens-born protective athletic gear company, EvoShield. Similar to brands of the past such as Under Armour, Mizuno, and Marucci, EvoShield has experienced explosive growth through the creation of a cult-like following among the athletic community.

Appropriately, EvoShield social marketing strategy has fueled the cult-like nature of the self-branded #EvoArmy (users of EvoShield products). The brains behind EvoShield social strategy understand the importance of two-way engagement, and (in the case of Twitter) have strategically embraced a series of widely recognized customer-bred hashtags such as: #EvoSwag, and my personal favorite, #EvoTan (a hashtag often coupled with a picture of a EvoShield Wrist Guard-resultant tan line). These hashtags have even wandered out of the digital world, and are now featured on a variety of EvoShield apparel (shirts, bags, etc.).

Very rarely does EvoShield use social platforms to push for direct sales. Instead, they rely on  #EvoArmy interaction and the aforementioned cult-following to drive their online social strategy. Based on their remarkable growth and following, the EvoShield social model is certainly worth monitoring and modeling.

Athlete Commercial Value (Beyond The Talent)

The 140 character, real-time talking space known as Twitter has revolutionarily bridged the communication gap between celebrities (politicians, movie/television stars, musical artists, athletes, etc.) and respective fans across the world. From expressing thoughts, to interacting with fans, to posting personal photographs/videos, Twitter has helped to cultivate a transparent online public sphere, humanizing celebs and establishing a sentiment of personal authenticity among fans. 

Moreover, Twitter has opened up endless opportunities for personal marketing and branding. While obvious that social branding for celebs/athletes is still enjoying its formative years, those who capitalize early place themselves in a position to reap the greatest benefits (a reality repeatedly illustrated as marketing mediums have evolved/emerged throughout time). Social opportunities exist for virtually all celebrities, but in keeping with the theme of my previous posts, I will focus on the athlete. 

The revolutionary nature of personal social branding has unsurprisingly inspired troves of articles/criticisms, so running a simple Google search of "athlete social branding" will generously provide you with a wide array of examples. However, among the related content littered across the web, one Wall Street Journal article by Daniel Barbarisi caught my eye:  Yankees' Swisher Takes Center Stage. Rather uniquely, the article delves into the nature of athlete social branding, highlighting the social presence of then-Yankees slugger Nick Swisher. While a GREAT read as a whole, the most interesting subject matter deals with the new-found social branding opportunities for the "mid-level"(not necessarily superstars) player: 

"This is the emerging norm—these [mid-level] athletes now have an ability to establish and build and then extend their brands, and break through a lot of the clutter. For many years, with traditional media, the top endorsers did well. They had a lot of notoriety and strong followings, and a lot of other athletes were relegated to the local supermarket openings, and cutting the ribbon at car dealerships." - David Carter, Money Games

Swisher, while fitting into this category of "mid-level" for his contributions on the baseball diamond, he is widely known for his energetic personality and sense of humor (need I say more?: KevJumba vs. NY Yankee Nick Swisher Ping Pong FaceOFF). Social outlets like Twitter give Mr. Swisher the opportunity to broadcast his personality... and with this strong social presence comes the money (courtesy of Mercedes, in the case of the above article). No longer are marketing dollars solely destined for the pockets of the superstars/celebs (i.e. Brad Pitt or Albert Pujols). Now, courtesy of social media, transparency allows the "mid-level" athletes/celebs to build their personal brands through: 

1) professional notoriety, AND
2) personality

Moving forward, expect more athletes and celebrities like Mr. Swisher to take advantage of the lucrative status/personality cocktail.