For the first time in more than 20 years, we're going to see playoff baseball in Toronto. It's a magical time for a fan base that hasn't enjoyed meaningful games in October since Joe Carter hit his magical home run.
Fans in Toronto and across the country have fallen in love with this team, and ever since the Jays beefed up their roster with some key player acquisitions at the trade deadline, television numbers are up, Blue Jays hats are everywhere in the city, and the Rogers Centre has been sold out almost every night.
Without question, one of the catalysts of this remarkable season was the acquisition of star pitcher David Price, who has quickly become a fan favourite, primarily because of his incredible performance on the mound, but also because of the way he interacts with the baseball fans of this city, both at the park and on social media.
In the marketing world, we constantly work with executives on their personal branding in an effort to humanize them in the eyes of their customers and position them as thought leaders within their industries.
Any executive looking to develop a personal brand would be wise to take some notes from David Price.
Be Authentic
Over the course of his terrific career, Price has developed a reputation for being a big kid and a great teammate who genuinely enjoys interacting with his fans, and his more than 624,000 followers on Twitter. Even his beloved French bulldog Astro (@Astro_DPsDog) has his own Twitter account.
Before he ever stepped on the field for the Blue Jays, Price wound up with a flat tire as he attempted to make the drive from Detroit to his new home in Toronto. He chronicled the events on Twitter, immediately making his presence felt on the Toronto sports scene with his humorous take on the experience.
While Price is by no means the first Blue Jays player to amass a dedicated online following – Jose Bautista is an active user of both Twitter and Instagram – it was the speed with which Price was able to ingratiate himself among the Toronto fans through his down-to-earth tweets which has helped to humanize him to the team's followers, and create a connection with the city seemingly overnight.
Price is comfortable letting his personality shine through, whether it's in tweets about his famous love of popcorn or his willingness to help create a great clubhouse atmosphere by buying everyone on the team matching bathrobes.
Don't be afraid of interaction
It's one thing to develop a presence on social media, but it's something else entirely to use social media as a stepping stone to have an offline impact in the lives of your followers or customers.
In Price's case, before he even made his first start for the team, he went out of his way to track down a young fan who was photographed wearing a makeshift Price jersey. After the Blue Jays tweeted the photo of a young boy with Price's name and number taped to the back of an old jersey, Price responded on Twitter with "Real jersey on me kid!! Size?"
When the parents of the child didn't immediately come forward, Price took to Twitter to help locate the boy and his friend, eventually sending both of them brand-new Price jerseys.
The story quickly became legendary among Jays fans. It was a simple gesture for Price, but likely created two lifelong fans out of those boys, and many more out of the people who saw the interaction online.
Know your audience
Shortly after arriving in Canada, Price started joking about whether he should start using the word "eh?" after he got his new Toronto phone number. Then there's the time he sent out a tweet that began with "Fellow Canadians," and which encouraged his followers to take the message "Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you" to heart.
Price has quickly learned the new vernacular and has started to refer to Toronto as "The 6ix" in many of his tweets.
There's nothing quite like buying into the unique culture of a city and adopting them as your own to endear yourself to a fan base, and Price has done so in an authentic and meaningful way.
Based solely on his pitching performance throughout the Blue Jays' magical run to the postseason, Price was going to be a fan favourite in Toronto. But thanks to some careful personal branding, Price's tenure in Toronto is quickly becoming legendary.
Mia Pearson is the co-founder of North Strategic. She has more than two decades of experience in creating and growing communications agencies, and her experience spans many sectors, including financial, technology, consumer and lifestyle.