The Evolution Of Athletics Communications With Iowa State’s Nick Joos & Arkansas’ Kevin Trainor

Guest Nick Joos, Iowa State; Kevin Trainor, Arkansas

28:38 min watch

Summary

Iowa State Senior Associate AD Nick Joos and Arkansas Chief Public Relations Officer Kevin Trainor sit down with ADU’s Tai M. Brown at the 2024 NACDA Convention to reflect on the evolution of athletics communications. Trainor: “The vehicles have changed but the mission is still the same.” Joos and Trainor discuss the shift in storytelling power from traditional media outlets to a department’s own communications staff, which can build out a team of content creators to produce efficient and engaging stories across a variety of channels. The duo also shares insight into the role a Communications staff can play in expanding NIL opportunities for student-athletes, the challenges of segmenting an audience for marketing purposes, and the importance of internal communication. Trainor: “College sports communicators are the heartbeat of an athletics department.”

The conversation is indexed below for efficient viewing (click the time stamp to jump to a specific question/topic).

- Based on your years of experience in the industry, how would you define communications?
- How have you navigated the changes going on over the past 20-30 years for both the college athletics industry and the communications industry? How do you ensure that you stay nimble, relevant and valued by your department?
- So the storytelling is not just for everybody on the outside; it’s also for people on the inside.
- Was there a time on a personal level when you looked up and realized that the things you were doing for the last three years wouldn’t be the same things you’d be doing in the next three years? Can you recall a time when you had to lean in and learn something new to ensure you were staying relevant?
- Where is the historical aspect of communications today? How do you weave in stories from program history into when everything is digital and fans don’t always page through an entire media guide in one sitting?
- Let’s talk about marketing to fans with the specific intent of getting them to come to an event that best aligns with their interest. Do you lose the possibility of them becoming fans of other sports on campus if we’re always marketing only to their interest? Talk about that in the context of storytelling, PR and communications.
- Tell me about the branding and fan engagement aspect of your role.
- Do we assume that everyone is interested in that type of branding?
- Kevin, tell me about the “Former Student-Athlete Engagement” aspect of your role.
- At times, student-athletes only spend one or two seasons at an institutions. Tell me about the aspect of needing to tell a story faster in today’s landscape.
- Is there a position on your team whose sole responsibility is to look for “interesting” stories within each program?
- How have you and do you decide that you need to learn a new skill and when do you decide that instead of you learning a new skill, it’s time to bring someone new in?
- What skillsets have you leaned into recently?
- What about you Kevin?

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