Digital Fandomonium Part III: Brand Building For a New Content Ecosystem
Part I and Part II of this blog series explored the psychology behind sport fan identification and developing audience engagement strategies using The 3Es (emotion, engagement, and experience). Now that we have all that established, we can put it in context for building brands and exploring how content distribution has expanded into a new tech-based, socially conscious ecosystem.
The aim of all this new communication technology is to give fans the tools to extend the narrative and emotional value of events.
Here are 3 simple points all publishers (corporate or individual) should consider when creating content. First is discovery. Why bother making something if no one can find it. Significant content and regular updates with the same intention of relevancy should be a priority. Also consider using an anchor site or hub of information accompanying everything so consumers can dive deeper if they so choose. The second is use. This speaks to the engagement part of the 3Es where your audience should be inclined to share, like, RT, comment, and even in some instances produce their own content as a direct response. The third is retention, as in, remembering the experiences you gave them with the added ability to store that memory both emotionally and digitally within their own personal social feeds.
Social listening and being data driven are equally important when considering the methods of content creation and distribution. For example, the WWE excels in both and has made the adoption of digital an industry standard. They understood early on that social media is a tool to grow the brand. With that insight now built into their business model as a key initiative, the WWE continues to roll out a relentless promotional structure that engages fans and builds excitement. They thought ahead about how social sharing can help secure your next customer for the future.
More than 21 million people subscribe to their YouTube channel to watch highlights, nearly three times more than any other sports league. In 2017 they had an insane 20 billion views on across their social and digital platforms. And online, the WWE Network is currently ranked #2 in sports OTT networks (behind MLB). To elaborate on their decision to incorporate OTT into their content distribution strategy, it was a risk that paid off. For them it came down to one question — “Where do we think our fans are going to want to watch our content?” The data showed digital consumption and subscription services were the future, so they made the investment. And to date, they have over 2 million subscribers to the network and the business overall has been better than ever ($800+ million made in 2017, highest in company history).
To ride that concept of tech-based, socially conscious content, there are several ways that brands (corporate or athlete/individual) can capitalize on different forms of distribution. Consider the head and shoulder programming model. The live event should be thought of as the head. This is the centerpiece and what you’re driving tune-in for. Now consider everything else you see that is created to promote that game/event. Pre-game, post-game, feature stories, fantasy leagues, highlight reels, promos, social media content, etc. — this is shoulder programming and works to sustain the value of the game. Think about it — ESPN transitioned into covering sports 24/7 in 1979. (…but there’s not THAT many games on…so what are they showing?) All of this is complimentary content. It’s produced daily and now has the benefit of being seen on second (and sometimes third) screens.
A pre-game “tale of the tape” introducing the competitors talking trash…or maybe a post-event podcast or live Twitch stream with some analyst commentary — shoulder programming gives the sport hype and commonly integrates new distribution outlets with real-time fan interaction.
By supporting the actual event, shoulder programming is emotionally anchored in the sport experience and often contains fan favorite material.
It is important to remember however, that just because you have more options in distribution doesn’t mean you get to copy and paste the same content on a bunch of different platforms. This is not a copy and paste environment. There are varying levels of affiliation on different networks and platforms, so you should do your due diligence to study the analytics and see where your audience is spending most of their time and with what kind of content. What’s the average view duration? The drop off point? The retention? Are your fans engaging? How? Those are the areas you should be concerned with.
On the subject of athlete and brand partnerships, the relationship should deliver in 3 ways: for the athlete, the brand, and the fan. Long-term success is determined by creating authentic connections between those 3 individual parties. Each should be benefitting from an awareness perspective and feel that their reach is being expanded. Because they’re showcasing their personality and letting fans get a glimpse behind the curtain so to speak, athletes are today’s hottest, most sought after partner.
Athletes transcend trends, shape our culture, and impact communities around the globe.
Ultimately, when you invest in the right talent that authentically fits within your brand, you’ve got the recipe for success — so long as you harvest a narrative that will drive fans to participate and potentially influence their decision making or purchase patterns.
As for the major takeaways in brand building and content strategy:
- Brand strength is about the person–not the stat sheet.
- Say something. It’s that simple. But make sure that what you say is authentic and speaks to who you are.
- Aim to create a narrative — not a product. Creating a narrative means that you’re looking for an ongoing dialog or conversation, and not just a one off.
