A big challenge confronting nearly every
team or sports property is that of expanding the fan base and driving a
deeper level of engagement among those who are already doing so at
various levels.
We've recently worked with a number of
properties to confront this challenge, particularly in an environment
where onsite amenities and the live sports experience must evolve in
order to differentiate itself from high definition TV aided, stay at
home options. There is no singular silver bullet. Rather, we have
found that often a segmented approach can reap bigger dividends in
better assessing and understanding the context of the live sports
experience for different audiences.
For example, families' compared to
young professionals, versus long time fans, all consider the live sports
experience relative to different alternative options for their
entertainment dollars. One way that SLRG has sought to uncover these
insights in a qualitative framework, is to use a variety of projective
techniques
where respondents are segmented
accordingly and then interviewed with exposure to a variety of
archetypal photo cards that are intentionally designed to be somewhat
ambiguous to the type of fan that each photo represents. The respondent
is then presented with a series of additional stimuli that is
representative of a variety of competitive sports and entertainment
options. Based upon the fans' subjective description of who is depicted
in each fan photo, and the resulting rationale for why a respondent
associates that person with a specific entertainment option, we gain
valuable insights. Specifically, we've often uncovered deeply
embedded emotional connections or disconnections about the perceived
venue specific experience and its "appropriateness" and ROI relative to
substitutes for different audiences.
From
these learnings we can further probe to ascertain what might constitute
an ideal experience for each segment and can then often, when
available, test the potential impact and efficacy of prototype
advertising and communications. This research has also helped us better
understand media utilization and other aspects of the marketing mix that
will be most appealing and relevant to each fan segment. While much of
our recent work has been geared towards specific properties, we have
also found it to be impactful for activating sponsors who are looking to
optimize their presence on site. Contact us today, to see how we can do this for you.