There was a time not too long ago when the idea of using data to better help and understand the needs of consumers, especially tied to something like sports, involved a hastily filled out questionnaire and a coupon for a free hot dog on game day. We saw these thousands of people in the stands, we knew they were watching in droves and buying our merchandise, but the engagement was very limited.
Customer Service reps would reach out to renew tickets or answer some questions, but that was really it. Even with all the opportunities we had to connect, teams, leagues, and even the brands we work with, were fishing in the dark, hoping to keep consumers interested and engaged, even when their biggest reason for support sometimes…a winning product…was out of our control. It was as inexact a science as you could find, and both sides probably suffered from the lack of real understanding.
Even recently when you asked teams about who is actually in the stands, they weren’t sure, as data that was collected outside of the building ended up with a league department that was hesitant to share. You had your small circle of input because you knew whose name may have been on a ticket transaction, but beyond your walls was a guessing game.
Thankfully in the past few years much of that opportunity for engagement has changed as measurement improves, especially in areas like consumer sentiment and share of voice on a topic. There is better use of data for an integrated customer journey in a positive and proactive manner to make all those touchpoints around the fan experience better. Teams, media companies, brands, now have a refined, responsive and very detailed snapshot of fandom that is always improving, and that snapshot makes all more responsive and better partners.
What is the key? Listening. Listening via data, listening via social media, listening to conversations and reactions at games…and being curious learners about the fan experience. I was reminded about the power of listening to Fandom by a New York Times piece by Annalee Newitz that looked at recent renewals of shows like Brooklyn Nine Nine that were not critical or ratings hits, but who had a loud, passionate core audience that engaged in very public forums about their reasons for loving the characters of the shows, and with that, helped networks and production companies to re-engage and extend the life of the shows. We saw that with Arrested Development in recent years, and wayyy back in the old days before cable TV, with Star Trek, which was saved from a seven episode one season disaster by the power of loud and active fans.
How does this translate to sports? Several years ago NASCAR helped raise its coverage in USA Today by having seniors who were very supportive of racing, write letters…remember letter writing campaigns? To Gannett saying that they wanted to see more coverage. That large scale approach, combined with some brands that said they would spend money with USA Today IF they could be adjacent to NASCAR coverage, helped the disruptive circuit to expand its storytelling on a national level. Often times in the past, media execs have pointed to silence as a reason for lack of coverage of a topic. “We don’t cover hockey because no one asks for it…or college sports isn’t important to our readers or viewers,” you would hear. Passivity was a killer. However when media execs did hear from niche groups, they would act, or at least respond.
Listening, even forced listening from a vocal audience, drives engagement.
Another example of listening and engagement with fandom recently has been The Fan Controlled Football League, which played its first season last year in Atlanta. The concept of the FCFL is simple…take data, collect and engage with fans in real time, and let the fans choose plays, lineups etc. Give them the power by listening to them. Novel concept that generated some solid buzz, and although getting it to scale to the highest levels of sport isn’t realistic, what is realistic is listening to fans about what they like, what they want to see, and using that data to drive decisions, maybe not on the field, but in how presentation should look and feel. If you listen, and are accepting, you will have a much clearer path to success.
Now that’s not to say that every business decision should be driven by large scale listening to fan sentiment. After all, fandom is built on emotion over business, and business, in sport and anywhere where large amounts of dollars are investment, is hard.
However what is even harder is to make decisions in a silo or a vacuum without listening to the community around you. The beauty of the business world we have today is we have the tools for measurement that can show predictably what a fan journey and what sentiment is all about. It can help plot decisions well if we listen. Taking all the pieces we have at hand to build the best pie we can is not easy, but taking all the ingredients just from one batch, one which we THINK we know without listening or asking or learning, doesn’t make for the best product.
Homogenous learning via listening on all levels…makes teams, leagues better partners, and that is how fandom grows.
Everyone wins.
