Running head: THE MINNESOTA TWINS VS. THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE 1

The Minnesota Twins vs. The Milwaukee Brewers: Social Media Presence and Practices

Libby Anderson and Noelle Nuss

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

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Executive Summary ● The focus of this case study is to examine the social media presence and practices of the Minnesota Twins and the Milwaukee Brewers, and how they appeal to their Midwest audiences. ● To begin, we went to both teams’ websites, where we found links to their social media platforms. From here, we took time analyzing each platform; what it has to offer, how they utilize their platforms, what content they post, etc. Next, we began to compare each platform to the other team’s platforms. In doing so, we were able to identify what each does well, and how their social media presence differs in ways that could be improved. ● The Minnesota Twins organization utilized their social media presence in a more effective way ○ Overall larger following ○ Platforms generate more interactivity with audience ■ Responding to comments, retweeting tweets, liking photos ○ Wider variety of content

Comparative Analysis The Minnesota Twins have nearly 1.1 million followers on Facebook, with 1.2 million likes. They encourage interaction through posts that allow for viewer input, replying to messages and promoting events. The team promotes their events through posts and photos by displaying coverage of the event, posting ticket sales links, and posting information about upcoming events. They also utilize their Facebook page by introducing products and services to fans, whether this being new gear, t-shirts, gift shop products, or ticket sales. Their brand awareness is strengthened through incorporating the Twins logo, using hashtags that others can connect to, and having their viewers utilize the “like” feature on their posts. Through a well-operated fan page, it is possible to make the world talk about your brand. Therefore, companies use Facebook’s news feed and “Like” buttons to encourage customers to spread a message (Tsimonis, G., & Dimitriadis, S. 2014). The Milwaukee Brewers Facebook page has a smaller following than the Twins, with only 986K followers and 1.1 million likes. Similar to the Twins, they encourage interaction through their posts. They also promote events to followers by creating event pages, posting information about upcoming events, and including links in their posts for ticket sales. Their page introduces products and services in a similar way to the Twins as well by posting ticket information, event (Brewers and Miller Park) information, and gift shop items. Not to mention, they create brand awareness through their logo incorporation in posts, and hashtag use. With a large platform like Facebook, one downfall that companies experience is negative comments made by users. Recent studies reveal that many companies do not respond to negative comments and/or delete them (Dekay, 2012). These studies also note that those firms that respond to negative comments do not adopt explicit strategies that transform these comments into useful opportunities for communication. This may explain why neither team is often seen commenting back to their audience on Facebook. Brands that have visualized messages such as advertisements are likely to prefer YouTube as a social media platform (Tsimonis, G., & Dimitriadis, S. 2014). Therefore, both teams use Youtube as a way to advertise their brand. The Minnesota Twins have 2,959 subscribers, as opposed to the Milwaukee Brewers 3,789 subscriber count. The Twins encourage interaction through their video postings, and allowing for their subscribers to leave feedback in Running head: THE MINNESOTA TWINS VS. THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE 3 the comments section (Chen, 2013; Pace, 2008). They have a few different video series on their channel that allow for entertainment and viewer engagement, such as: “On This Date in Twins History,” and “Twins Highlights.” The franchise also posts game highlights, entertaining and humorous videos about the players, and brief event coverage. Their YouTube account does not have much promotional material, nor introduction of products. However, they maintain brand awareness through the Twins logos, Twins apparel in videos, and edited franchise recognition on the thumbnails of their videos. In comparison, the Milwaukee Brewers similarly encourage interaction through their video series, such as game highlights, “Behind the Scenes” interviews with players and staff, and event and promotional videos to inform their viewers. YouTube’s “like” and “comment” features allow for the audience to acknowledge videos they like and dislike, as well as leave comments regarding the material. These interactive elements allow for the team to see what appeals to their audience. The Brewers promote their events on their channel in a similar way to the Twin’s franchise; short clips regarding the events, along with information on giveaways, upcoming games, and theme nights. Brand awareness is created on the Brewers’ YouTube channel through logo exposure, game highlight videos, and the like and subscribe features; all identical to the Twins’ account. Both the Twins and the Brewers are able to communicate through personal videos on YouTube, due to the video aspect. Developing a brand is an ongoing process that involves interactions with others in face-to-face communication and online (Hearn, 2008, Khedher, 2015; Peters, 1997; Vitberg, 2009). Their online communication is able to grow and evolve due to their YouTube presence. The Minnesota Twins have 566K followers on Twitter. They encourage interaction by responding to tweets, posting game highlights, retweeting and liking tweets, promoting events, and adding entertainment (happy birthday posts, gifs, photos, videos, and hashtags). Events are promoted through tweets with posted links for additional information, and ticket information. After the event takes place, the Twins post follow ups, including photos and videos from the event. Products and services are introduced mainly regarding ticket information, Twins events, and promotional material (bobbleheads or t-shirts). Overall, they maintain brand awareness through hashtags, logos, and player recognition. In comparison, the Milwaukee Brewers have less followers than the Minnesota Twins, with a total of 518.9K. Similar to the Twins, they encourage interaction by tweeting about interactive competitions and sweepstakes, retweeting and liking tweets, creating hashtags for followers to use, and promoting events. However, the Brewers organization is not as active in interacting with their audience as the Twins are in. They use a similar strategy when promoting events, by posting tweets using hashtags, video and photo content, and ticket information. When recognizing products and services that are available, the Brewers’ account is similar to the Twins’ in that they both post about ticket sales, and events. The Brewer brand awareness is maintained through logo exposure and hashtag usage. On Pinterest, the Minnesota Twins have 4,196 followers, while the Milwaukee Brewers have 6,216. Both teams encourage interaction through posting various boards that appeal to different areas of interest. For instance: clothing, recipes, events, products, player photographs, etc. Interaction is also encouraged by both teams by allowing viewers to comment on their pins/boards. Because there are different boards tailored to different interests, this makes both of the teams effective in promoting their products and services. For example, the Twins post boards promoting men and women’s apparel, and the Brewers post boards promoting Brewer gifts. It is true that companies seek feedback and previous experiences from those who have already Running head: THE MINNESOTA TWINS VS. THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE 4 used/bought a service/product (Garretson, 2008). In terms of Pinterest, the same can be done with the teams’ audiences. Because both teams allow for their audience to comment on the pins and boards, others can note what product is top notch, while others that aren’t worth the price. Pinterest is now the fastest growing content content-sharing platform, making these brands more exposed to a larger audience each time their content is shared (Griswold, A. 2013). Based upon our analysis, the Minnesota Twins organization seemed to have a higher social currency due to their larger following, more engaging content, and interactivity across all social media platforms. The Twins were more active in responding to their audience across all platforms, by responding to fans, retweeting tweets, and liking photos.

Strategic Objectives The Minnesota Twins have a prominent Facebook presence with over a million followers and heavy user interaction. This is an outcome of one of their strategic objectives: to create brand awareness. The Minnesota Twins use event, product and team information to create brand awareness amongst Facebook users. The organization also replies to Facebook users’ comments and questions on their posts, which creates a strong customer loyalty. The main objectives of the Minnesota Twins Facebook account is to connect with their target audiences in order to keep them updated on and give them information about the latest events, promotions and products. This analysis would agree that the Minnesota Twins are succeeding at achieving their strategic objectives on Facebook. The Milwaukee Brewers, like the Minnesota Twins, also have the objective of informing their target audiences about upcoming events, games, promotions and products through their Facebook. The organization achieves this goal by posting updates about upcoming events like concerts, charity events and games. The Milwaukee Brewers do an exceptional job at creating brand awareness amongst their followers by using hashtags specific to their organization, using logos and posting pictures of Miller Park and Brewers players. Where the Milwaukee Brewers fall short of achieving their strategic objectives through Facebook, however, is in forming customer loyalty. The Milwaukee Brewers post lots of visual and informational content to keep their audience informed. Unfortunately, they do not respond to user questions in the comments section of their posts. This does not build customer loyalty, as the organization does not take the time to answer the questions or address the concerns of their followers. Overall the organization does a good job creating brand awareness on Facebook, but could work on building customer loyalty. As YouTube climbs up on the social media platform latter, users are drawn to connecting with MLB teams. Specifically, 3,000 people have subscribed to the Minnesota Twins’ channel. On this channel, the Twins organization has the objective of entertaining their viewers. They achieve this goal by posting humorous and interesting videos that appeal to a wide range of viewers. The organization does this extremely well, as they post content that is different from any other franchise. For example, creating unique video series such as “On This Day in Twins History,” or specific bits done by different players. Not only can you get a good laugh out of these videos, but you can also find more serious videos as well, such as game highlights or event coverage. Customer loyalty is somewhat formed and lost in this platform, however. Although there is a like and dislike feature allowing for honest feedback, customer loyalty is lost in the comment section. Thousands of subscribers comment on videos leaving personalized notes and even suggestions on how to improve their content. However, the organization does not respond to these comments, which makes it seem that each comment gets lost in the shuffle. Overall, the Running head: THE MINNESOTA TWINS VS. THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE 5 organization does an awesome job at posting entertaining content which ultimately shows the brand’s personality, but should improve on building customer loyalty on YouTube. In comparison, the Milwaukee Brewers have a larger following on YouTube, with almost 4,000 subscribers. This organization utilizes YouTube to create a community. Their channel is heavily based on promoting events within the franchise, and encourages viewers to come to their games. They achieve this by posting short videos that hopefully appeal to a large demographic, drawing them in and triggering a pursuit to join their community. Although they are effective in marketing these events, they have the same problem as the Twins: losing customer loyalty. This team is not active in responding to comments from their viewers, which comes across as maybe they do not care or have time to interact with their audience. Overall, the Brewers are effective in creating a sense of community, which adheres to a strong brand, but lacks on engaging with what their audience has to say in response to their videos. With 566K followers on Twitter, the Minnesota Twins have captivated their audience through engaging content and interactivity. They use this social media platform to inform. When scrolling through their news feed, the organization is seen responding to tweets, posting game highlights, informing on ticket sales, promoting events, and more. All of this is done with a specific marketing tool in mind: everyone can read what they post, and learn something from it. Their posts are not only engaging, but also beneficial to fans and their needs. There is a little bit of everything on their Twitter page, making their variety of content large and appealing to a wide demographic. In responding to tweets and interacting with their audience, the Twins do an exceptional job at building strong customer loyalty. Their posts draw more and more people in, which speaks well for their brand. Overall, the main objectives the Twins’ Twitter account conveys is informational content and interactive elements with their followers. This not only creates a growing and solid brand awareness, but also brand loyalty in ensuring a positive experience for all. The Milwaukee Brewers utilize Twitter to get their messages out fast and effectively. With nearly 520K followers, the Brewers franchise can instantly communicate with their audience on announcements, upcoming events, a special deal, or even player information. In communicating in real time, the Milwaukee Brewers can also build their brand by developing and presenting a specific image that attracts their audience. The Twitter app allows for customer feedback, which generates customer loyalty. The two-way communication tool allows the organization to understand what their viewers like and dislike, receive feedback on posts, suggestions for improvement, and more. The main objectives the Milwaukee Brewers convey in their Twitter account is to stay connected with fans, communicate in real time, promote their events and services, and build their overall presence of their brand. They are successful in this, as their following shows and is continuing to grow. Engaging, participative, interesting posts are more likely to have a positive influence on customers’ brand loyalty (Erdogmus, 2012). This is something that both organizations kept in mind when creating their Pinterest accounts. Both organizations include posts and boards that entice followers and Pinterest users to engage and participate in their material. The Minnesota Twins Pinterest shares interesting content for its Pinterest target audience that encourages user interaction by either pinning the Twins pin to their own profiles, engaging in shopping, clicking external links, likes and comments. All of these create brand loyalty because they are various forms of interaction with their users. The organization also creates brand awareness by posting about apparel for sale, team-specific products and using their logo. The Minnesota Twins complete their objective of creating user interaction and engagement Running head: THE MINNESOTA TWINS VS. THE MILWAUKEE BREWERS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE 6 through Pinterest with the target audience using this social media platform. The Milwaukee Brewers utilize Pinterest to promote their products. They have numerous boards and pins that appeal to anyone in their audience, such as men’s, women’s, or baby apparel, gifts, stadium recipes, and more. In promoting their products, they are able to establish their brand and allow for others to represent it. This allows for customer loyalty, as they promote products that people can purchase over and over, such as apparel, gift shop products, and gifts for family and friends. Not to mention, they establish brand awareness by promoting these products that incorporate their brand name and logo. With nearly 7,000 followers, it is apparent that they utilize this resource well, as people from a wide demographic can gain something from their pins and boards. They meet their brand objective by posting frequently, and adding new products that users can purchase.

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