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January 31, 2006
The Steel Curtain of citizen marketing
Steeler Nation is an army of Steeler citizen marketers.
Fans of the NFL team are: creating photo slideshows with music, producing highlight videos, and recording tribute songs, to name a few efforts -- and it's everywhere on the web. With Super Bowl mania (or hype, depending on your perspective) reaching a crescendo this week, Steeler love is pinging from fan to fan at a dizzying pace.
Here are some of the more notable efforts among the citizen marketers:
* Steeler Fan Tribute - A photo slideshow of Steeler fans from around the world set to a Foo Fighters song. So moving, many viewers are reporting they tear up. I guess it's a 'Burgh thang.
* The Polamalu Song - A funny sendup of the old Muppets video "Mahna Mahna," set with new lyrics by Pittsburgh band Mr. Devious and dedicated to Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.
* Steelers Fight Song 2006 - A fan invites a polka band to his house and videotapes a gaggle of fans singing a new, Super Bowl version of the Steelers Polka. The video uses technology that includes a slideshow of the words in a separate window so you can sing along.
* Steeler Tribute Video - Photos from this season and audio clips from every Steelers song there is (and there is a LOT).
* Jerome "The Bus" Bettis Tribute - Photo montage of The Bus pounding in the touchdowns set to a Bettis tribute version of the retro dance hit "Double Dutch Bus."
When people who love a brand are conversant with technology, the spread of their passion is exponential. The fans assemble their media quickly, and fellow fans eat it up as fast as it's served.
The Steelers organization (and the NFL) wisely keep a safe distance from asserting any sense of ownership or control over what fans produce. The backlash would be swift, and it would serve little purpose except to dilute what is clearly worth millions of dollars in free citizen marketing.
Just imagine if this was your brand with such loyal and demonstrative evangelists. What would you do?
Other blogs that reference The Steel Curtain of citizen marketing:
» Puhlahmahlu from Mostly Muppet Dot Com
So the Pittsburgh band Mr. Devious (MySpace page) was so incensed that a Fox announcer mis-pronounced the name of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu they wrote a song about it. Actually, they just took the Muppet classic Mahna Mahna and tinkered... [Read More]
Great post! I love it! Of course, the original citizen marketers of the Steelers were "Franco's Italian Army" - replete with war helmets and Terrible Towels. The guy who was the self-appointed leader used to buy whole loaves of bread, hollow them out before the game, hide bottles of wine in them, and carry them inside Three Rivers. You know, back before the Internet... lol NFL Films did a great episode of this once and it's a good watch of passionate citizen marketing at work.
Jackie,
I blogged about the recent Craigslist search hack that was snubbed by the folks at Craigslist - and I can't understand why they (and other companies) haven't embraced this sort of citizen marketing.
Anyway, from the home of The Bus -- congrats on the Superbowl win! It's great to hear that the Pittsburgh organization embraces fan ownership. Now maybe the Ben-glove discussions can end! :)
