Over the past week, Coldplay and Nickelback provided lessons in creating and cultivating your brands in social media.  The main idea is, by combining what Michael Wagner and the Ad Mavericks gang have written, that if you continue to create and cultivate your brand, the more people will gravitate towards it, via traditional or social media. 

I don’t listen to Nickelback or Coldplay.  The only facts I know about both groups is that Tiger Woods listen to Nickelback, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow is married to Chris Martin, Coldplay’s lead singer. 

While I don’t know much about these two muscial groups, I do know about sports.  And in the world of sports, there is one person who comes awfully close to what Coldplay and Nickelback are doing to stay creative, getting their brand out, and using social media to gain traction. 

And that man is Gus Johnson. 

Johnson is a sports announcer for CBS, the Big Ten Network, and Showtime.  If you haven’t seen or heard his work, I call attention to this clip…

…and this one…

What does Gus Johnson have to do with Coldplay, Nickelback, branding, marketing, and social media? 

• Presence:  Gus is blowing up virally and on social media.  When someone finds out what game Johnson is calling next, everyone on Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms will know it within minutes. 
• Popularity:  though he isn’t in the elite class of announcers like Jim Nantz, Al Michaels, or Joe Buck, Gus is the one announcer fans want doing the Final Four, the Super Bowl, or all of the big games. 
• Marketing:  Johnson is taking advantage of his notoriety in a big way.  The Big Ten Network has made him their #1 guy for their marquee conference games.  He has his own clothing line, appropriately titled “Rise and Fire”, and he’s the voiceover for the Buffalo Wild Wings commercials. Also, he will be the voice of the new EA Sports‘ Madden ’11 NFL video games.

 Johnson, for all intensive purposes, has become a phenomenon, as well as a trending topic in sports, as it relates to social media.