With the new age of media, companies have the chance to go well beyond traditional print ads, billboards and television commercials to get their message out.

Social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) gives companies the chance to more directly reach their customers and engage them with timely offers and relevant information.

Businesses should be on the lookout for these social media opportunities and understand how they might play a role, along with traditional media.

For example, the University of Minnesota Duluth men’s hockey team will be ushering in a new generation of hockey in Duluth on December 30, 2010. The state-of-the-art Duluth Entertainment Convention Center will be completed and the University of North Dakota will be coming to town for the US Hockey Hall of Fame game against the Bulldogs.

This facility will allow for an additional 1,500 seats, 15 luxury boxes, an NHL regulation sheet of ice, and a four-panel video board to showcase game highlights. This means a plethora of new ways for advertisers to step out of the traditional norms of advertising.

Businesses can go beyond the traditional program ad and interact with Bulldog fans right on their mobile devices, driving traffic to their stores and generating buzz for their business. Well beyond hanging a banner in the arena, businesses can take advantage of the UMD Athletics’ Facebook and Twitter channels to interact with fans online and direct traffic to their websites.

Opportunities like these are growing exponentially. Take time to learn about them and how they could fit with your business.

WestmorelandFlint has the privilege of being in charge of the advertising sales for the University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Department. It is an exciting time to be a Bulldog right now with the major success of UMD’s fall sports and the construction of the new DECC that will be home to the Bulldog men’s and women’s hockey teams. The below video is an exclusive look at the progress of the construction as representatives from the DECC give UMD Athletics and WestmorelandFlint are a tour.

The tour takes us through all three of the levels of the DECC, including the new suite level and the players locker rooms. It was a great opportunity to see some of the different areas that we will be able incorporate advertisements into the facility to showcase the great business sponsors that UMD Athletics has.

Sit back, make sure to put on your hard hat and safety glasses, and enjoy the ride.