New Era of Sports Marketing & Media📱

Sports media is changing right in front of our eyes, and the Creator Classic with the PGA Tour was a great example of this. I want to highlight two marketing principles and one branding principle that made it so amazing:

1. Context Switching

2. The Both-And Era

3. Affinity Building for Branding

Context Switching

I saw a great quote from a Brand Strategist recently that said, ‘[Media] currently rewards originality within familiar formats,’ and the Creator Classic is a perfect example of that. The creator’s job is originality—that’s how they stand out so well.

The familiar format here is a PGA Tour-like broadcast at a PGA Tour venue. Seeing these creators, who we usually see through social media lenses like a phone or on YouTube, in that broadcast format was really novel and hooked a lot of people.
They currently have 1.7 million views on the Creator Classic. Compare that to the BMW Championship last weekend, where the ratings were a very low 2.4 million views. That’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but it shows you the power of the creators to bring in an audience.

It’s beneficial for both the PGA Tour and the creators, which leads me to the both-and era that we’re living in…

Both+And Era

The old era of advertising forced you to be either-or. It put people in a one-dimensional box. It said, if you like the PGA Tour, then you’re a 55-year-old male who needs life insurance and blood pressure medication.
But, this new era of algorithm-based advertising is smarter and can see that you have dual interests. That intelligence can bring in different audiences to the same event…fans of the PGA Tour AND creators on YouTube. And that was on display with the Creator Classic.

Affinity Building for Branding

Lastly, one of the most powerful principles in branding is affinity. The reason Nike signs the best athletes in the world is that they want you to associate greatness with their brand.

In this case, the PGA Tour could desperately use positive affinity after a long and tumultuous two years where they’ve lost half their stars to LIV Golf. Partnering with creators who have a deep relationship with their audience (& the audience that has eluded them for a long time-young people) leads to that positive association.

When I saw Bradford Wilson and Hallu Ledbetter doing the broadcast during the round and post-game, I felt positive affinity because I feel like I know them well. When I saw Roger Steele sink a 50-foot putt, I fist-pumped like it was Tiger Woods because I’ve gotten to know Roger over the last couple of years.

Perhaps the most poetic justice moment of them all was when Mac Boucher stood on the first tee and realized he wasn’t going to be able to compete at his usual level due to a really bad thumb injury. He did what he does best: he created and entertained. That is the beautiful marriage we have here. Their game is not completely dependent on always playing well, like the pros, so we got entertainment and creation.

The Creator Classic is a great concept. I would expect golf, and many other sports, to build upon this concept to pull in cord cutting youth back to the TV broadcasts of yesteryear.

Education & Resources:
The aforementioned Brand Strategist and professor gives us a breakdown on the “Death of the Millenial Brand Era” below. This whole series is really good. Enjoy!

@eugbrandstrat

The Millennial brand era is over. A few thoughts on what defined the aesthetic, and why the approach of even successful millennial brands ... See more

The Brand Brothers go LIVE every Friday at 9a PST, but you can catch last week’s episode below!

Blessings:
What struggle can you use to serve those around you?
I wrote a piece for the Washington Speaker’s Bureau last month about this concept. Read it if you’d like!