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Position Paper 1

St. Louis Blues Newest Demographic

The more social media expands, the more people content is reaching. Companies are expanding their media to reach a larger demographic through the usage of expanding social media apps. Through this expansion, they are reaching a younger demographic and having to alter their content to stay ‘hip’. Much of this comes through the usage of humor on their social media accounts. The St. Louis Blues have been working to expand their media usage and last month got a little help when a TikTok about their holiday lookalikes on the jumbotron went viral. Receiving 3.4 million likes and 19.8 million views, this harmless TikTok gained the St. Louis Blues a lot of attention, without the company itself having to do much work. The Blues do a lookalike segment at every single game, usually each having a theme. The organization itself never publicly posts these videos; they keep it as an in-game experience. Despite them never publicly posting these videos themselves, the St. Louis Blues took to their social media and used it to broadcast how their production team puts together the in-arena look-a-likes each game. One person with one phone allowed this content to be leaked, and to the Blues’ benefit, people loved it. This situation showed just how important the fans are, even when it comes to media exposure. This post did not highlight the fan who posted it, the attention was on the St. Louis Blues organization themselves. Through the viral post of another, the Blues were able to gain the attention of a broader audience.

This viral post was a great opportunity for the St. Louis Blues to reach a younger demographic. The post went viral on a social media platform that targets a younger audience, and this cracked the door open for the Blues to enter. The Blues have a history of posting comical or “meme-based” content, but the younger demographic they began to reach after this viral post helped this content gain more interaction. Content such as this also receives attention from their normal demographic of 25- to 50-year-old hockey fans. Its undeniable that these posts are funny, and they tend to get attention from a broad demographic while targeting those on the younger side. They post this type of content in order to promote their players- such as voting for the NHL All-Star game or showing them before games- poke fun at other teams, and even give in-game updates. The Blues are able to boost engagement through humor in their posts- just look at the engagement rates of these posts versus their less comical ones. 

Another way the Blues target this younger demographic is through the platform that the jumbotron video went viral on. They joined the TikTok app last July, but only have 15 posts. They rarely use this platform to post original content, but instead, use it to interact with fans as well as team members of the Blues. They also gain engagement through the TikTok accounts of their team members. The players often post videos and usually tag the Blues in the caption. You will always find the St. Louis Blues in the comments for these videos. Thy can also be found in the comment sections of fans that post about the Blues. The verified NHL TikTokaccount also features the Blues every once in a while, drawing the attention of not just Blues hockey fans, but instead all hockey fans on the TikTok app. They make sure to interact with as many tagged videos as they can. This is another example of the Blues gaining social media attention through the accounts of others.

As a social media manager myself, it is obvious to me that the Blues post content that they want followers to engage with. This engagement ranges from clicking a link in the post, to leaving a comment or a like. The in-game updates are crucial, but the Blues social media managers also use their platforms to post content that the fans might also be interested in. These types of posts are extremely important because it allows a record-breaking engagement post to be shared and boost their future engagement. One of my favorite campaigns that the Blues keeps up with on its Twitter is The Science of Blues Hockey. This content is broadcasted over the jumbotron during the period breaks, but the Blues have brought it to social media. I believe that these posts receive many clicks and reach peach engagement. They are using their platform in an educational way, reaching a demographic that is deeper than just base fans of hockey. They partnered with Barned Jewish Hospital for this campaign, so they have the opportunity to pull in those who are affiliated with the hospital on top of their hockey fans.

    Overall, the St. Louis, Blues have started to pick up the pace on reaching a younger demographic. This is arguably the most important demographic to reach. If you hook people in now while they are still young, they are more likely to stick around and continue to be fans as they age.

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