The UFC Looks To Reinvent…

The smartest brands are always trying to reinvent themselves in the marketplace. In toda.s economy staying fluid and satisfying your audience while looking to engage new partners or customers is key for success. One brand which seems to constantly be looking for new is the UFC.

While the UFC followers remain a loyal and concentrated lot, the movement of casual followers remains in flux, and the brand is constantly looking for a balance between sated its core and engaging new followers. Case in point is this past weekend, where a UFC event in Boston drew a record gate and new interest in a State relatively new to the sport, while at the same time the brand forged ahead with expansion into Asia, an area which has enjoyed success in various forms of the Martial Arts but has not quite accepted the UFC experience as a whole. The following day came word that UFC head Dana White is going to engage the Oxford debate team in another move of showmanship and a further step outside of the hard core.

All the movement is good, very noteworthy and smart for the UFC, the biggest question the brand will have is answering to its core fans when enough outside of the core following is enough. While the UFC as a brand continues to do well as an event and a TV product, the move into the mainstream seems to have stalled a bit. The core followers are loyal and engage every time there is a show, but the churn on casual fans has not yet produced more mainstream sponsors or dollars. There also remains the issue with MMA as a whole, vs. the UFC as its leader. Other than the UFC no other promotion has emerged as a national, or international, viable option for fans and brands. Now it does.t mean there has to be an alternative, as there is no real professional alternative to the NFL nor is one needed. It could be that the experiential marketplace is just enough for a leader of one, the UFC, and their senior leadership is playing every card possible to make that case. If that is healthy for a sport remains to be seen.

So what does all the churn mean for the success of the UFC and for other brands which are still a step below major sports in terms of dollars and brand activatio. For those above UFC, the company sets a great example of how to stay fluid and reinvent oneself in the marketplace by trying many new venues, markets and tactics to draw the casual fan. It also shows how to continue to engage your most loyal fans and supporters and give them exactly what they want in an entertainment experience. For those others struggling to survive in a challenged economy it also shows that you must build with your most loyal fans and supporters and grow from there. The NHL, like the UFC, has done a good job of servicing its core. Many can say that NASCAR in its growth has gone the opposite way..trying to be more.mainstrea. at the expense of its most loyal fan. interest, and the results for auto racing have been tough.

Will the new markets, the debate challenges, the glitz, combined with the gore, mean that the UFC will challenge the NF. No. What it does mean is that the brand knows how to keep itself at least in the mix constantly, and by staying in that brand conversation, there may be new dollars for engagement that a brand will try and potentially like when looking for a new way to spend its dollars and engage a young fan base.

Call the UFC whatever you want, they are certainly smart in the ways they stay engaged.