BBall Twitter Ban no Big Deal–It’s Basketball, not Branding!

Twitter was banned yesterday for all men’s basketball players at the University of New Mexico. (sar…OMG!…casm) I’m well aware that this will have some sort of effect on the Lobos and coach Steve Alford’s personal “brand(s).” Anyone in brand consulting knows that every little thing has an effect in one way or another. Otherwise, I’m taking an uncharacteristic “old fogey” stance. This is no big deal.

Not surprisingly, there is little coverage of the edict in the media. First, it’s New Mexico. A credible program, but were this Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, UCONN, or even Memphis, it might be bigger news. Mississippi State did the same thing last year, and judging by this morning’s sports radio yammering, few remember it.

From what I’ve read, there is little to no coverage in marketing communications circles either. However, a Twitter search offered these nuggets of pontification:

Steve Alford…shows his narrow sightedness…

U of New Mexico coach, Steve Alford, by banning twitter 4 his players, shows his old-skool mentality…

Why doesn’t New Mexico coach Steve Alford just go ahead and ban his players from TALKING?!

Steve Alford banned his players from using twitter? … Does he not realize what thats going to do to RECRUITING? Who wants to go there now?

I love it when sports and marketing collide (and I don’t mean sports marketing). Sports provides instant results and defines its own success each season. The objectives are simple: win, draw. In college: win, draw, land recruits. That’s it. Marketing firms pray for that type of clarity and resolution.

Don’t get me wrong. Marketing is critical to success in many ways, both internally and externally. (I strongly recommend Jonah Keri’s The Extra 2% on how the Tampa Bay Rays applied Wall Street business principles, savvy marketing, and heavy use of data to turn the Rays from laughingstock to contender. True integrated marketing.) Ultimately, however, it comes down to…”Did you win?” The best marketing strategy in history amounts to nothing if you don’t win. After all, “you play to win the game!”

For a college program, something like Alford’s Twitter ban could affect recruiting. I doubt it. Having been a varsity athlete at a small college, and desperate for additional playing time, I know that rules like this are fairly inconsequential. Our rules were no facial hair, wear issued gear at practice, mind your language (especially along the fenceline). Did any of these affect the outcome of a game? Not at all…on either side of the argument. Was the facial hair policy ridiculous? Maybe. Nevertheless, what’s the big deal? Shave for crying out loud! Or in this case, shut down your Twitter account for crying out loud! I guarantee there are decent players who would eagerly erase their digital profiles for a D-I scholarship.

These young men want to play basketball, and that is why they chose New Mexico. Our elitist marketing or personal rights ideals will not come into play. The question remains if this type of semi-draconian policy will drive away recruits or disrupt “management-employee” communication and gelling. Granted, in a few years, if not right now, digital chatting/posting will rival talking. However, until the coach requires duct tape over the mouth away from the court, this is neither anything to squabble over nor a “learning opportunity” to teach young men to be responsible.

In many ways, the same goes for B2B marketing departments. Do what makes sense and what will drive value. On the one hand, don’t write off the unknown or uncontrollable as some new fad that only facilitates frivolity and crises. More importantly, don’t lose sight of what you already do well, how you do it, and how to sustain growth. If that involves something new like Twitter or another digital channel, use it often and correctly. Whatever you decide, play to win the game first and foremost. That’s the whole point.