Front Office Sports
On TikTok, it’s important to generate content that reflects the interest of the Pelicans faithful, said Gamboni. As of December 1, New Orleans’s most successful post is of players like Lonzo Ball, Jaxton Hayes and others participating in the “Hit the Woah” challenge. Not only has it been viewed more than 6.6 million times, but it has also accounted for more than 521,200 likes — roughly 40% of the Pelicans’ 1.3-million likes combined.
“It’s about meeting the audiences already on TikTok and finding what they’re finding joy in and what they’re interested in and just applying that to our team and our players,” Gamboni said. “They don’t want to know about a community event — they want to see if the players relate to them or if they have similar experiences to them.
Approach: Launching and managing the TikTok accounts for the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans.
Situation: TikTok was new to the social media scene, and the NFL and NBA teams, New Orleans Saints and Pelicans, sought to engage with fans through TikTok. By creating the Saints TikTok account, I launched one of the first NFL TikTok accounts.
Business Challenge: To effectively engage with fans and create content that genuinely aligns with the video style of the TikTok platform, the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans needed to develop and manage successful TikTok accounts. Another challenge included the inability to show gameplay according to league rules.
My role: As the lead on the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans TikTok accounts, I utilized my expertise in TikTok content creation, social media management, audience engagement, and video production to bring the teams to life on the platform. After pitching the importance of joining TikTok, I created a strategy and executed the vision for the Saints and Pelicans TikToks. I dug deep into researching the platform and then leveraged my video editing and storytelling skills. My work included directing players and talent to create high-quality video content. I worked closely with the team's players to create content that aligned with the unique style of TikTok. I was responsible for directing the players and shooting the content. My focus was on building a strong and engaged community of fans, and I successfully leveraged influencer partnerships and marketing strategies to achieve this goal.
Insight: The launch and management of the Saints and Pelicans TikTok accounts was extremely successful. The Saints rank 5th in the NFL league with 657k followers, and the Pelicans' top video has reached over 7.6 million views, with 471.1K followers. My expertise in TikTok content creation, marketing strategy, and directing of talent resulted in a thriving community of engaged fans and a successful presence on the platform.
Skills utilized: Trend forecasting, digital strategy, directing talent, TikTok content creation, social media management, audience engagement, video production, influencer partnerships, and music licensing.