PRANK calls, dress ups, viral trends, ugly filters, airport tricks, matchday selfies and Meek Mondays. Hawthorn isn't just winning on the field.
The Hawks' hot streak of 10 wins from 13 games has them on the verge of an unlikely finals appearance, but the team's enthusiasm, confidence and brashness is being matched by its social media presence.
Victories help, but Hawthorn was enjoying itself before the results started to turn and its content reflected it. Its rebuild looking ahead of schedule, Hawthorn knew if it was going to go through some darker times it could still keep things light.
Throughout its golden era of success, Hawthorn was historically a shut-off club, keen to keep its superstars under wraps and premierships its sole pursuit. Successfully, the Hawks traversed that path and did things their own, closed-off way, bringing in silverware but keeping out potential distractions.
Sam Mitchell's ascent as the Hawks' new senior coach ahead of the 2022 season opened the door to a flip in direction. Walls, literally, were broken down inside the club as Mitchell made changes to the football department layout. But those outside have also been won over by Hawthorn's creative, personality-driven player content that has made the Hawks fun again.
Last week, ahead of the club's biggest game of the season, the Hawks players took on a retro dress up day, happily captured by their in-house media team. Changkuoth Jiath took the disco direction, while Finn Maginness wore an old-school David Beckham England top and looked straight out of the 1990s.
When the Hawks had their players do a membership ring-around earlier in the year, they created a mocked up opener of The Office, while at the same time getting some players to prank others thinking they were talking to supporters.
As 'rawdogging' caught on worldwide – the trend of doing a long-haul flight without any technological entertainment – Hawks captain-in-waiting Will Day joined in to jokingly do the same on an interstate trip.
Hawthorn's strategy is clear: inside the club it could see their players enjoying each other's company, laughing and getting on. The work was to transport that to the outside world of the club's fans and beyond. Mitchell and their players have bought in to the plan, being open to showcasing the club's culture in snippet form.
It's working. The Hawks' numbers on Facebook and Twitter have continued to grow, but they have seen a massive uptick in their TikTok and Instagram engagement. On TikTok in particular, the Hawks are more than double their numbers on last year in a significant increase.
Their biggest Instagram hits have been the Day travelling video, their 'What's up brother?' take-off of the viral trend as well as asking players to swap something from their lockers for a lollipop. All have had more than a million plays.
The ideas are generated mainly from the club's media team, but occasionally players also bring their own. That was the case when Sam Frost made an announcement to the team as a faux retirement speech before letting them know his partner was pregnant.
Others, such as Day pulling a reverse Uno card from his sock and giving it to a fan asking for his boots pre-game, or the post-win team 'selfie' on the ground come from within the team and some, like 'Meek Monday' celebrating the career-best season of ruckman Lloyd Meek, become fan-driven.
Some are also location appropriate: every away trip the Hawks' social team gets busy filming in the Virgin Australia lounge, catching players in a relaxed environment. Recently while there waiting for their flight, they got their players to take selfies using a Nintendo DS.
Other times it has been as simple as finding who had the lowest phone battery or worst travel 'icks', giving players a platform to show some personality in a low-risk way. The videos are then added to the platforms with Mr.Beast-like headlines and graphics to garner casual fans' attention.
The Hawks are importantly finding the balance. In a cut-throat football landscape where performance is paramount, clubs straddle the line between showing their players enjoying themselves against them working hard. The online world is never short of feedback and all clubs are conscious of this tightrope.
Hawthorn has been aware of not just being reel happy. Their long-form YouTube 'I spent a day with…' videos following the likes of Dylan Moore, James Sicily, Jack Scrimshaw, Jai Newcombe and Connor MacDonald have clocked in usually at longer than 25 minutes of inner sanctum access, often including coach and player meetings. It is hard-core football content for fans who want more.
Their Indigenous Round guernsey reveal video also went for 26 minutes and tracked trailblazer and premiership Hawk Chance Bateman as the jumper's inspiration.
We got 787 words into this story before even mentioning Jack Ginnivan and Nick Watson.
Before selecting Watson with pick No.5 at last year's draft, the Hawks discussed whether they'd embrace 'The Wizard' nickname that had originated on AFL.com.au and stuck with the teenage talent. Like the mercurial small forward, they took it on, with their introductory draft post welcoming 'The Wizard of Waverley' and photoshopping Watson with a magic cape and wand.
Watson and Ginnivan have been central to the hordes of Hawthorn goal celebrations this season, with Ginnivan's star factor and career-best season heightening the focus on the club. The pair are among Hawthorn's most 'clickable' and searched players, but even that will come with considerations on when to use their profiles for best cut-through (their video asking teammates what time Ginnivan would arrive at the airport ahead of their clash against St Kilda rated strongly).
Just as Mitchell is calling the shots, the Hawks are cracking the algorithm. On-field performance is in sync with the youthful, vibrant off-field brand. This article should really finish with a handshake emoji.
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