Julian Valentin: Rockies, social media and ballpark figures

Julian Valentin: Rockies, social media and ballpark figures

Rich Clarke
podcast
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In terms of digital and social media, Major League Baseball is perhaps the most enigmatic sport in the world.

We are constantly told that America’s pastime is past its prime. It is an ‘aging sport’ that is struggling to hold on to the coat-tails of the major players, NBA and NFL whilst coming under increasing pressure from up-and-coming sports like soccer.

Click for Julian’s LinkedIn proflle

Click for Julian’s LinkedIn proflle

However, MLB Advanced Media and incarnations were at the very forefront of innovation long before other sports started to plough resources into digital and continue to be a leading light.

The Colorado Rockies are not the most fashionable team in baseball but they have built a reputation for quirky interaction and content with personality.

Julian Valentin leads the strategy at Coors Field. With the 2019 baseball season fast approaching we discussed the past, present and future for the Rockies and how the hell his team covers 162 regular seasons games!

TOPICS

3:00 The Rockies content strategy in a nutshell

3.50 The targeting and segmenting

5:00 Coping with that huge number of games

7:10 Turning a ‘chip on the shoulder’ into a positive

8:30 Creating content around that

9.40 Interacting with the fans and, when necessary, standing your ground

10.51 What tells them that fans want their attention

11.16 Buy-in from the top on reacting to fans

13:02 Creating continuity of voice

15:07 How they staff a game

17:07 The advantage of having a dual role – social media and player relations

19:40 The ideas that have worked… and the ones that have failed.

20:52 The KPIs they look to

22:31 Why “be interesting” is not enough as content strategy. It must be attached to a Rockies feel

24:02 The analytics tools he uses

25:10 The relationship between MLB and the clubs

26:25 The legacy of MLB Advanced Media and its digital/ social media innovation

28:44 MLB’s rules changes and the Facebook deal

31:34 Publications strategy, is it worth it?

33:45 The value of very long-form content

37:45 Why still images can be > video

39:45 The move towards monetisation

42: 34 Cultivating creativity

44:16 Does being an ex-pro athlete help his role?

46:37 The content emphasis placed on the home opener

48:12 His favourite MLB content teams

50:01 Looking outside of sport for inspiration

52:13 The difference in tone and voice for college teams vs the pro teams

53.03 Where to take sports digital and sports content

54.15 Will there be an EVP or SVP of content

LINKS

Julian Valentin on Twitter, LinkedIN, Wikipedia

Other stories on Julian

Front Office Sports podcast

DSM Sports podcast

9News feature

Julian wins the National College Soccer championship with Wake Forest, receiving a nasty kick in the face for his troubles

Colorado Rockies on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

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