Conor McGregor: Great Fighter, Legendary Marketer
Peyton Manning, LeBron James, and Derek Jeter are some of the greatest athlete marketers of all time…but let me explain why Conor McGregor is just as good, if not better, and why every marketer should pay attention to him.
As many of you already know, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr., are set to have one of the biggest boxing matches of all time on Saturday, August 26th. But what most people don’t know, is how this fight came into fruition. How does an MMA fighter who has never had a single professional boxing bout, get arguably the greatest boxer of all time to come out of retirement and fight him for a $100 million plus payday? By implementing some of the greatest personal branding and marketing skills this world has ever seen. From being a no name fighter from the streets of Dublin, to getting into the UFC and becoming the face of it, to transcending the sport of MMA and becoming a male icon that has graced the covers of popular magazines like GQ; Conor McGregor has truly become an inspiration. Now, I’m not here to talk about the amazing journey of his career because you can google that, and you definitely should. Instead, I am here to talk about the ways the immense success of his career, can be attributed to the immense success of his personal branding and marketing skills. As a longtime fan of Conor McGregor and as a marketer myself, I believe there are 4 main strategies that helped Conor McGregor market himself so meticulously.
These 4 strategies can be applied to any marketing field, and thus, every marketer should take note:
Create a Marketing Goal Outside of Sales
Often, companies seem to think that marketing targeted at purely obtaining more immediate sales is an adequate marketing goal. Although marketing should help increase sales, immediate short-term sales should not be the primary marketing goal for a company. Short-term sales as a marketing goal is extremely nearsighted, and proves to be unproductive in pushing a company towards long term, sustainable value. Instead, companies should focus on brand value. The first step to a successful marketing strategy, is creating a goal that helps create long term value by establishing the company as a brand. Transition into becoming a positive brand for your target audience and the sales will organically come.
McGregor doesn’t sell a product, he sells himself, and he used this tactic to his advantage. From the beginning, it was evident that McGregor had a goal of establishing himself as an icon and not just another MMA fighter. Thus, he built a strategy (establishing a cocky persona in the limelight) that matched this goal and everything he engaged in (interviews, talk shows, press conferences) were in line with that goal. This approach has created, Conor McGregor, the brand, that will provide him with inevitable long term value for years to come.
Content is EVERYTHING
Technology has given people the ability to consume information at an all-time high. When content marketing is done right, it can help build great relationships with your audience, it showcases you as an expert of your field and helps humanize your company by avoiding excessive hard selling. Companies rarely take advantage of this, but McGregor definitely did. Every time McGregor has a chance, whether it is a public appearance or a social media post, McGregor produces content that is relevant for his target audience. This is huge for not only building awareness, but also establishing himself as an icon who is bigger than his sport. Although most of his content does not provide any immediate returns for McGregor, the culmination of all his consistent content marketing efforts have helped McGregor promote himself in a way that is now bringing him massive returns. This is a formula that more companies need to follow. Focus in on content that provides value for your target audience, keep your audience engaged, and there will be major returns in the long run.
Be the Voice of your Field
At the end of the day consumers often gravitate towards companies that are not only well established in their field, but are also considered leaders in their field either for the utilitarian value they provide or because of their great marketing assets. Regardless of which strategy a company chooses, establishing themselves as the voice of their respective fields is important in creating positive brand equity and standing out from the massive amounts of competition in today’s competitive business world. McGregor arguably did this better than any athlete marketer before him. McGregor took every opportunity he had to establish himself as the leader of the UFC. This was a combination of him winning almost all his fights in dominating fashion, and by telling the world that he was the greatest MMA fighter every time there was a microphone in his face. This led to Conor getting paid more than any UFC fighter before him by pulling massive amounts of viewership on his PPV events, and eventually, led to Conor transcending the sport of MMA by initiating a fight in the sport of boxing, with arguably the best to ever do it. This is no easy task, but the companies that can successfully become the voice of their fields quickly dominate their field in terms of sales and market share.
Don’t be Afraid to Take Risks
In this day and age; short term sales, quarterly profits, and total shareholder returns drive the majority of company decisions. This ultimately affects a company’s marketing decisions due to majority of companies wanting to play it safe to dodge the risk of losing short term returns. Although this strategy does decrease risks, it also limits upside. I am not saying a company should forget about all their responsibilities and take on risks for the sake of marketing that could provide upside. Instead, a company should have a more balanced approach that gives them the opportunity to take risks when the potential gain projects to be much larger than the short term gain. McGregor did exactly this. Before this mega fight became official, McGregor took a big risk by even advocating for this fight. McGregor took every chance he got a few months ago to publicly demand this fight and call out Floyd Mayweather Jr. At the time, this was a very risky move. McGregor could have damaged his reputation as the voice of MMA by angering his fans and by overstepping his boundaries. McGregor; however, took the risk, and it paid off big time. Regardless of what actually happens in the fight with Mayweather, McGregor’s risk has already paid off by providing him a payday many UFC fighters will never see and by taking his brand awareness to an all-time high and further strengthening the loyalty of his original target market.
Although many people choose to focus on McGregor’s ultra-confident demeanor and trash talking skills, this is not the only thing you should take note of. McGregor is weeks away from having his first boxing match ever, for a pay day that will more than quadruple his net worth, with arguably the greatest boxer of all time. Just let that sink in…That is the power of marketing, and that is why companies need to invest more resources into their marketing teams and strategies.
