Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson returned to theCUBE today to share his thoughts on current trends in social media as they relate to athlete branding, as well as to discuss his latest tech project, Reggie’s Garage.

Broadcasting live from SAP SE’s annual Sapphire conference, Jackson sat down with John Furrier (@furrier) and Peter Burris (@plburris), cohosts for theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team.

Balancing the unwritten rules of the social web

In a world where branding can be manufactured across digital outlets like Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc., how has the traditional world of baseball evolved for the social web’s unwritten rules where players are their own self-managed brands?

“I don’t like the idea of someone going out of their way to promote their brands,” Jackson stated outright. In his eyes, if you’re great, you deserve it.

Jackson named NBA player Stephen Curry as an example of successful branding in today’s world, noting his public adoration comes from genuine interactions, saying, “I don’t think Curry works on his brand. I think he works on being a great player, a great teammate. He’s nothing but a gentleman along the way.”

Pointing out the temptation brands face with the cost effectiveness of pushing a marketing campaign online compared to such acts of genuineness, Burris reiterated Jackson’s belief in great performance.

“If you’re not a great player, get out of the way,” Jackson replied. “I played with the Yankees … we won championships with the team. I was part of something that helped me become recognized.”

Creating a genuine experience

Applying similar principles to technology’s athletes, Jackson named SAP SE CEO Bill McDermott as another example of genuine branding, effective in today’s world of manufactured messaging. As the face of SAP, Jackson finds McDermott’s personal brand a fine representation of the company he runs.

“Bill’s a great image for [SAP],” Jackson said. “He’s about the people. He presents himself with care. That is a brand; I don’t think it’s manufactured. That’s how he is in real life.”

Going on to list a handful of other tech athletes with successful branding stories, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak (who’s also an attendee at Sapphire this week), Jackson recalled the industry’s pioneering generation as real brands. “In today’s world, you can manufacture a brand but [it will] crumble,” he said.

Looking to current technologies and partnering with the likes of SAP, Jackson hopes to create a new generation of genuine experiences in today’s digitized environment. His online retail outlet, Reggie’s Garage, utilizes 360-degree cameras to recreate an immersive shopping experience. The idea is a shopper will have the sense of walking into the store and looking around.

Such virtualized experiences also show promise for MLB broadcasts, as Jackson described a future where fans will watch games with the feeling of being at the stadium. With every iteration of new technology that brings fans closer to the game, however, players become further entrenched in a world of social scrutiny where fleeting moments can be shared in real time.

Jackson warned: “I think players will have to be sensitive with microphoning, but the more interesting you can make it for people … the views from the field will attract a new type of fan, a new type of TV.”

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of SAP Sapphire 2016.

Photo by SiliconANGLE