Posted by Bo Muchoki, Research Assistant

Yesterday my mother couldn’t stop talking about this NBA player who’s taking the league by storm. Far from an avid basketball fan, my mom is captivated by the sensation known as Linsanity. The cause of the commotion, Jeremy Lin, is a 23-year-old Taiwanese-American NBA player who has risen from obscurity to lead the New York Knicks to seven straight victories. Within a span of two short weeks, Lin has transformed from a nobody to a household name. And he’s a public relations god-send for the New York Knicks. Linsanity, the media’s nickname for this phenomenon, is producing unprecedented amounts of sales, revenue, media coverage and social media conversations.

What Jeremy Lin has done for the Knicks is nothing short of a miracle. The Knicks are relevant again. He has revitalized the entire organization, increasing profits and turning the Knicks into a playoff caliber team. Since Linsanity began, Knicks ticket prices have gone up by 27 percent, traffic to the official Knicks website has skyrocketed, Lin’s jersey has become the top-selling jersey in the NBA, Madison Square Garden’s stock has gone up 10 percent and ratings for the MSG network have increased. Pre-Linsanity coverage of Madison Square Garden was been anything but positive, including a feud with Time Warner and plummeting profit reports. But publicity from Lin-mania has now completely overshadowed the negative press.

The Lin story is a testament to the power of social media. Inspirational and unbelievable sports stories take place often. But few ever blow up this huge in such a short matter of time. A major reason Lin was able to create this widespread surge of popularity is social media. Within the past two weeks, Lin’s score on Klout, a site that measures social media influence, has increased from 58 to 82. He has jumped from 46,000 Facebook fans to 643,000 and counting. According to Twitter Counter, Lin has gained over 300,000 Twitter followers (see graph below). Statistics from the website Topsy show that “Jeremy Lin” has been mentioned over 140,000 times. And the Twitterverse has invented countless Lin-isms such as linderella story, linferno, linning, lincredible and so on. His success isn’t limited to the US. Jeremy now has over a million followers on Weibo, a Twitter-like Chinese microblogging site. It’s clear that the social media universe is infatuated with Linsanity.



Jeremy Lin is a brand that holds tremendous potential. He’s even drawing comparisons to a pre-scandal Tiger Woods. It’s no wonder numerous companies are reportedly offering him endorsement deals. Interviews reveal that he is humble, well-spoken and genuine. His presence and influence on social media demonstrates a strong connection with his fans. He’s the perfect combination of brains and brawn. He recently received his college diploma, a rare feat for an NBA player, from Harvard University. He represents the American dream that anybody who works hard can achieve great things. Linsanity is a classic Cinderella story and everybody loves an underdog.

Linsanity is PR gold for the Knicks and anybody attached to this emerging star. PR pros should draw this conclusion from the Lin story: create a feel-good story and it will take a life of its own. Find a way to inspire people and your client’s brand might become the next Linsanity.