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Carolina Hurricanes Communication Audit Mary Beth Mcdowell and Jordan Wise

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Carolina Hurricanes Communication Audit Mary Beth Mcdowell and Jordan Wise Carolina Hurricanes Communication Audit Mary Beth McDowell and Jordan Wise I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The following audit focuses on the communication tools and strategies used by the Carolina Hurricanes. This report will outline the communication tools used, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each method. It will also examine any changes caused by the NHL lockout and this year’s shortened season. Data was gathered through several methods including in‐depth interviews with two Carolina Hurricanes communication representatives, analysis of the team website, weekly media tracking of the Hurricanes social media and news outlets nationwide, and the study of the Hurricanes foundation Kids ‘N Community. Overall, the communication methods used by the organization are strong and successful, however there is a lack of news coverage concerning topics other than the team success. Other critiques include better promotion of its foundation, creating guidelines for player’s social media and providing more news of the organization as a whole. II. INTRODUCTION As a professional hockey team, the Carolina Hurricanes are members of the Southeast division of the Eastern Conference in the NHL and is currently owned by Peter Karmonos Jr. The team originally formed in 1971 as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association and in 1979 joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers. In 1997, the Hurricanes relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, and is the only major professional sports team in the city. The Hurricanes won the most esteemed championship in professional hockey, the Stanley Cup, in the 2005‐06 season as well as the Prince of Wales Trophy winning the Eastern Conference. As noted on Forbes.com, the team is currently valued at $162 million, a slight degradation in value since winning the Stanley Cup, but an increase from $48 million when the team was purchased. This decrease in valuation could be attributed to missing the playoffs for the last three seasons and the recent NHL lockout at the beginning of the 2012‐13 season. In 1997, the Carolina Hurricanes started a foundation called Kids ‘N Community serving the local Raleigh community. The foundation’s mission “strives to meet the health and educational needs of underserved populations in our community through programming and financial assistance to local, youth‐oriented organizations.” Since its establishment, more than $10.5 million has been given in the form of cash and in‐kind services to local nonprofits that focus on enhancing the lives of youth. The Foundation helps fund scholarship programs, youth hockey initiatives, educational efforts, health programs and the arts. III. METHODS To gather data we analyzed the following communication and information tools: Social Media: The Carolina Hurricanes uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest, Google Plus and Foursquare. Some players also have their own, separate social media accounts not associated with the organization. Interview with Mike Sundheim and Coop Elias: We interviewed Mike Sundheim, who does PR for the Hurricanes, and asked general questions about the Hurricanes communication and key messages. We also interviewed Coop Elias, who manages and runs the Hurricanes Social Media, and asked questions about the team and players’ social media practices and guidelines. Website, hurricanes.nhl.com: The website is the primary source of information about the Hurricanes. It provides information about the games, players, schedule, news, non‐profit and community work, tickets, news, etc. Kids ‘N Community, hurricanes.nhl.com: The website also has all the information about the Kids ‘N Community foundation, sponsored and run by the Hurricanes organization. Tracking the Storm and Community Corner Blog: Both blogs can be found on the Hurricanes website and are written by members of the Hurricanes staff. Google Alert/ Emails: The Google alert, Carolina Hurricanes, was delivered and reviewed on a weekly basis for twelve weeks. Hurricanes Emails: The organization sends out promotional emails to those who sign up, participate in contests, make purchases through their website, etc. IV. ASSESMENT Overall, the Hurricanes communication reaches many audiences and they have a great following via social media. They have many creative approaches and are successful in their key messages. The main organizational challenge is the lack of news releases. Most media about the Hurricanes is of wins, losses, trades and other topics directly related to the hockey game. Though those are important topics, news about the organization as a whole and the Kids ‘N Community Foundation should be just as readily available, and it is not. Social Media: The organization, as a whole, is successful with their social media. With their several media outlets, they have a strong following and communicate directly with their audiences. They have contest and Canes Rewards, a program to encourage fans to promote the Hurricanes social media and receive prizes. The Hurricanes control Cam Ward, Eric Staal and Jeff Skinner’s Facebook fan pages as well. They do not have guidelines for their player’s social media, however. There has not been a problem with posts or comments, yet, but there is always the potential for a player to say something to jeopardize the team’s reputation. Interview with Mike Sundheim and Coop Elias: Mike’s Sundheim’s interview dealt with a lot of general media questions. The communication team has been very rushed with the shortened season, but he said the key messages and ideas have remained the same as past years. He also talked about the lack of social media guidelines, but shared that rookies and new players go through a brief media training session. Coop Elias gave a lot more insight on social media. His biggest challenge is, “being proactive and not reactive in how we engage with social media. Because it's not my only responsibility, there are times when I have to put it aside while I complete something else. In that time, I'm missing out on opportunities to engage fans in real time.” Website: The website is easy to navigate and has a great amount of information. It includes information about games and players, news, community involvement and programs, blogs, fan activities and interactive tools. Some of this key information is not seen in other media outlets and the website is the only access. The website is also hosted by the NHL, as all other teams are, and can quickly link viewers to the main NHL site or to other teams. Kids ‘N Community: The Kids ‘N Community page is located on the Hurricanes official website, but it is hard to find. It contains a lot of information about fundraisers, grants, player’s interactions, ways to donate and other programs. These events are not as publicized through the Hurricanes main website or media outlets, though they have the same communication team. Tracking the Storm and Community Corner Blog: Tracking the storm gives insight on the players, games and overall season. Community Corner discusses Kids ‘N the Community and other community involvements the organization is part of. Google Alerts: After receiving Google alerts for twelve weeks, there were only news stories that covered the team’s success, the trade of an athlete, or the injury of a Hurricanes player. This showed a lack of community involvement or association with the Hurricanes foundation, Kids ‘N Community. Canes Emails: The emails share content about contest, promotions, upcoming games and upcoming events. They do give good insight to some events not covered in most of the press releases. The emails are sent out periodically, but don’t seem to follow a time pattern (i.e. once a week). V. LIMITATIONS There were a few limitations during the study of the organization. With the team located in Raleigh, and us in Boone, we were not able to have as much contact with key employees as we would have liked. Also, because the lockout ended and forced a rushed season, the communication team was under a time constraint. This limited the amount of information we could acquire. Because the shortened season affected their communication and media tactics, these audit results will be slightly different than those of a regular season. VI. RECOMMENDATIONS Based on our findings: ● The Carolina Hurricanes should distribute more information about their organization, rather than just the games and success of the team. News on specific players, staff, community events, Kids ‘N Community and other topics are not getting enough coverage. Many fans and community members are only aware of the Hurricanes as a hockey team and do not know about the aforementioned programs. ● The Kids ‘N Community Foundation is such a strength for the Hurricanes, and it is so beneficial to the Raleigh community. However, there is still room for growth. The Hurricanes should stregthen its corporate social responsibility and work on growing awareness of Kids ‘N Community around the Raleigh area. This will build the team’s and the NHL’s reputation. The Hurricanes communication team should incorporate press releases on Kids ‘N Community from its press section on the home webpage, hurricanes.nhl.com, instead of just posting on the foundation’s site. Creating a stronger link between the team and the foundation is vital in improving the team’s repuation and raising awareness for the cause. ● While the Hurricanes do have a general media training for rookies and new players to the team, the training does not include social media and players do not have any guidelines or restrictions from the Hurricanes or the NHL in regards to posting content. It is recommended that a training session and guidelines should be implemented for players. Even if the Hurricanes choose to forgo regulation of players social media, with a training session focused on outlets like Twitter and Facebook, players will know what is and isn’t appropriate to say as a representative of the organization.
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