TAB Sports-bet, Fail or Win?

ISSUE:

A few months prior to the 2011 Brownlow medal, TAB Sports-bet announced that they would discontinue their unprofitable multi-bet options on most votes per team. 

In 2010, this was a very profitable option for gamblers, and as a consequence the TAB lost millions of dollars. Consequently the gambling option was discontinued for Brownlow medal night. 

PROBLEM:

This was matched with an unbelievable social outcry -  online. Loyal gamblers felt betrayed and discarded by the tabloid organisation, and vented their disappointment through social media sites such as facebook. Here is an example of a hate group:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-hate-TAB-Ruining-the-brownlow-since-2011/270580686304979

Some individuals chose to post threatening messages on the TAB official facebook page which were consequently deleted, due to their language and content. 

RESOLUTION:

TAB listened to the fans. TAB listened to the social media surrounding this issue, and as a consequence re-opened up the Multibet betting options. 

WASH UP:

Was this a 'fail' from TAB? Did gamblers view this as a slap in the face? Or did TAB react perfectly for the situation?

TAB read, listened, and acted. Perhaps this was organisationally unprofitable, perhaps it wasn't. However the impact of social media is ever-growing, and the influence of available expressed disappointment is priceless for organisations. I commend TAB for caving to peer pressure, as they listened to their consumers (Through means of social media). 

Ultimately this highlights the strengthening place social media is taking in our business world today. 

Watching The Throne

Following on from Kanye West's 2010 album release: "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy", Kanye West Paired up with musical superstar Jay-Z for an online release of their new 2011 album: "Watch the Throne".

Watch the Throne was revolutionary in its nature, as it was only accessible online before it finally hit shelves.  

Here is a brief view of the album's timeline:

1. January 11: "HAM" is released digitally (A song featuring on the soon to be album)
2. July 7: Jay-Z hosted a private listening session at the Mercer Hotel in New York City, previewing the album's songs from his MacBook Pro for a select group of reporters and music journalists.
3. July 20: "Otis" is released digitally
4. August 1: Jay-Z and West held a listening session for the album at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City's American Museum of Natural History.

*From my experience, i was able to download the entire album late July. 

August 8: Watch The Throne is officially available to purchase digitally.

August 12: Watch The Throne is available to purchase physically. 

Now, we are all aware of the internet's capacities. Was this a brilliant plan of Kanye and Jay-Z's? or was it a genuine fluke? Were the singles on their album leaked? or were they strategically released to promote hype about their album? Either way hype was created. Undoubtably facilitated through social media. 

Fuelled by social media, a hot topic can spread like wild fire. Musical forums, blogs, youtube, even facebook, all allow word of mouth to grow, ultimately increase desire for when the album eventually releases. 

If this was planned by Kanye and Jay-Z, it was ingenious. According to "HipHopDX.com", Watch the Throne broke the iTunes record for first week sales, highlighting the success of the digitally released album. 

Was this a massive step in the musical industry? Is this the way forward for artists from now on? Or was this just a one off experiment which was rendered far too unprofitable to continue with?

Either way, time will tell us what the answer is. 

Social Football League

Once Again, not here to talk footy..

Yesterday was the 2011 AFL grand final, playing of were the two Football clubs hailing from Geelong and Collingwood. I am not blogging to discuss this game at all, but the way social media has influenced AFL as a collective. 

Yesterdays Grand Final crowd almost tipped the scales, with a whopping 99,500 supporters turning up to watch the best two teams in the AFL slug it out. Originally I did not have tickets to this blockbuster event, however with social media to the rescue, i was able to obtain last minuet standing room tickets. The MCC's facebook page updated its 5,000 fans on the seating situation before it's very own website was able too. MCC reserve members were presented with the rare opportunity to fight for 3,000 available tickets. I was lucky enough to get access to one, and I place my good fortunes in the hands of the MCC facebook page. 

Its not just a matter of facebook and football tho. OzzieSport.com have compiled remarkable statistics regarding social media throughout AFL clubs. 

Team	Alexa (1)	Ebay (5)	Facebook (4)	Foursquare (2)	Twitter (3)	Total points
Collingwood Magpies	30,641	838	111,315		11188	153,982
Essendon Bombers	31,904	842	101,940		8596	143,282
St. Kilda Saints	31,578	759	61,970		6649	100,956
Carlton Blues	29,400	812	56,950		6321	93,483
Adelaide Crows	19,776	888	62,969	28	7519	91,180
West Coast Eagles	20,125	920	63,734		3317	88,096
Sydney Swans	24,189	1,365	49,070		7161	81,785
Richmond Tigers	32,672	797	34,758		6580	74,807
Hawthorn Hawks	30,744	735	33,724		4585	69,788
Gold Coast Football Club	28,855	103	33,724		3771	66,453
North Melbourne Kangaroos	27,201	234	21,075		5304	53,814
Port Adelaide Power	20,678	295	24,771	28	3090	48,862
Western Bulldogs	22,145	1,185	22,880		2595	48,805
Brisbane Lions	24,238	1,035	22,306		673	48,252
Melbourne Demons	30,811	801	12,195	28	3675	47,510
Fremantle Dockers	4,821	712	36,094		3337	44,964
Geelong Cats	3,363	1,272	3,493		3825	11,953
GWS Giants	6,061	1	2,503		2154	10,719

http://ozziesport.com/2011/02/most-popular-afl-teams-across-social-media-sites-february-14-2011/

OzzieSport compile their own statistics and weighing system, voting teams from most popular to lease popular. Most remarkably, Geelong is only leading Greater Western Sydney (Who haven't even played a game) by 1,000 members. 

All AFL teams have an official website, just like the MCC has. 

Perhaps teams will start to announce breakthrough news through their facebook or twitter pages, (just like the MCC did for me) because it is easier, quicker, and their message will be heard, and seen by a greater audience. 

For example; If the Collingwood twitter page (11,188 followers) released important news throughout a match of football, most people would have easy access to this news via their phones. 

However if this news was released via website, a less effective message would be sent, as it is less convenient for people to surf the web on their phone. 

Will clubs eventually move to their major news being delivered via social networking sites? Will social media's place in sport continue to expand rapidly? Will anyone ever catch Collingwood's social media dominance?

Hopefully all reveals itself in the coming years, as no one knows where this powerful tool will take us.