What a Google Hangout can do for the New York Giants. And your Brand…

Who doesn’t love Sports and Social Media?

We like Facebook pages, follow athletes on Twitter, watch their videos on YouTube, and create all sorts of websites, clubs, wikis, younameit in their honor.  But can they be really, really social? Can they bring an athlete into your living room for a one-on-one conversation with them? Or better yet, bring 5 passionate fans from around the country, before the biggest media, sports spectacle in North America, to have a 15 minute chat?

If you’re the New York Giants, Linebacker Mark Herzlich, and five lucky fans chosen through social media alone, why yes you can..

This quick blog post will be:
- A brief recap of what the New York Giants did right, and a couple suggestions on how to improve the experience
- How this Hangout could apply to you and your brand.
- A brief look at the video of the actual Google Hangout for the thousands of Giants fans out there, and the few hearty Giants fans in our office that are surrounded by Patriots fans…

Feedback on the Experience
- Obviously, terrific use of Social Media to galvanize sports fan, for a specific team, from all corners of  the globe.
- Google made it a social, within a social, experience. A nice by-product of this Google Hangout is that the five of us on the Hangout are now connected, and will stay connected for a long time to come. Before, during and after the Hangout, we shared stories, goofy ideas, tech tips, and life stories and memories. Sounds hokey, but it’s not. That’s what social media is. Sharing a collective passion for a brand, product or service with other people, using platforms like Twitter, PATH, LinkedIn and Facebook. Remember the platform is just the tool….
- If I were the NY GIANTS, and had the resources, I would immediately publish this content right away.  Yes, the Hangout was “private” but Mark said nothing personal that he wouldn’t say to reporters in the locker room. Imagine all the Giants fans and  Boston College grads and teammates who would have loved to seen this. So, I’ve rolled the dice here a bit and pushed it up to YouTube. If they ask me to take it down, I will, but not without a little push back from me…(this is just the first 5 minutes with introductions and first round of questions)

Advice for your agency or brand
-If you are a college or university, haven’t you already considered a Google Hangout for “open-houses” or interviews for far-away candidates?
-If you are in real estate, financial services, or sales, why not use this this platform for collaboration, or information sessions (with content that is pre-approved for highly regulated industries)
-Consumer Products- Can you say Focus Groups?

So, I’m probably forgetting plenty of people, but thank you to everyone who made this possible. Pat Hanlon, Nilay Shah, The Giants, the NFL, the tech guy in the hotel room who set it up, Google, everyone.

Oh, and GO GIANTS….

P.S. My new Google Hangout Friend, Jeremy, will soon be posting the entire video in much better quality, in a few days, stay tuned.  Follow @acsys or @goodridge on Twitter and we’ll ket you know when it is up.

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