With the NBA All-Star game will be this Sunday, I decided to write about Giannis Antetokounmpo and the social media strategy that Bucks used to make him again NBA All-Star starter.
He is only 23 years old and when he came in States he could barely talk English to the media and the improvement that he has done in short time is impressive. He has become a franchise player which is astounding, considering that 4 years earlier nobody knew him. The Antetokounmpo Experience is a joy of discovery and even in the first year commentators could not pronounce the name. Last year, he was a first-time All-Star, a second-team All-NBA pick, and the winner of the Most Improved Player award, which didn’t feel sufficient to capture his progress. In one of the former ex-boss interviews, Terry said:
“You will see this kid in the gym late at night after games working on defensive coverages. That is a special skill set. Nobody does that. When I saw that, it told me this kid is different.”
Last year in off-season Kobe Bryant said he can be MVP while Kevin Durant went a step further mentioning that he good be one of the greatest ever. The answer was that he is not affected and that he has got to get better every day. That’s his GOAL. The toughest in this transition is the franchise centerpiece: LEADERSHIP. He mentioned in an interview that it’s hard to be vocal as he is a low-profile guy but he reckons that when he speaks, team is more confident
The was a few things strategically by Bucks to make him a starter. Fr sure it was a shock for everyone in the NBA early in January leading the votes ahead of LeBron James and Steph Curry. When the voting finished, he was 2nd only behind James.
The first element that Bucks utilized was the creation of a customized Twitter so as to be able to tag due to the problem of misspelling the name properly. He quoted in the past:
‘If people could spell my name right I’d have a million more votes.”
With that they try to engage the international Fan base. The reason behind this choice was what they have done last year and how intense was. In addition, they tweeted in the Greek language so as to engage with anyone who could not speak English. On top of this, it was good for them to focus more in Greece as a country due to he is widely known there while he is becoming internationally known.
The campaigns had also an element of politics. By this, I mean that he is great athlete and star as he is one of the few in NBA who stays to sign autographs and greeting all the fans even after losses. Bucks tried to amplify and supported as he is an MVP candidate which was supported by real-time content in his social media. Not to mention as well that he is a NBA player without a big endorsement deal.
Another strategy that they used was the support by the family. It was crazy to see his brother tweeting for him five times a day. Even his girlfriend did it, with a quote ” Even all-stars are people too”. This is what Giannis wants as an image according to Bucks.
It is well-known that overloading people can make them feel annoyed. They utilised as well their knowledge for social media platforms. So, on Facebook they mentioned to copy and paste the name while on twitter they used the handle. In addition, they let fans to be more creative even by using the element of video in order to be more engaged. In an interview by the head of the media it was mentioned that it was Alexa by Amazon was used which in my opinion it is quite innovative.
Concluding, this is how Giannis has become NBA star and how social media strategists of Bucks managed to make him NBA all-star starter.
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