Part 2: Driving A Personalized Experience with Coordinated Digital Targeting
In part one, I outlined the challenges that organizations like the NBA face in engaging the newer, younger consumer. The complexities of the changing environment require a shift from a Top-Down Media Approach to a Bottom-Up Media Approach. In Part 2, I will add visual detail and a few high-level examples to show how this type of approach would take shape.
In Exhibit 3, we can visualize the spectrum of targeting, ranging from a blanket, mass-marketing national campaign to a hyper-targeted set of micro-campaigns. A shift from the left-hand side to the right-hand side increases the personalized engagement with fans. As the approaches progress, campaigns are created with increasing customization, leveraging digital platforms to target consumers based on specific characteristics.
Note: While it will not be discussed in the three-part series, it is important to note that complexity increases as approaches shift further to the right-hand side. The cost-benefit tradeoff should always be kept in mind when assessing new micro-campaigns!
Exhibit 3 displays four variations of approaching an audience:
1. National campaign
The audience gets one generalized message.
Ex., National Linear TV ad
2. National A/B campaign
The national campaign provides two to three generalized messages distributed based on an untargeted split.
Ex., 50/50 split
3. Regionalized content
Unique messages are leveraged based on a single, unique characteristic at an aggregate level.
Ex., Region (e.g., Midwest), Channel (e.g., ESPN vs. TBS)
4. Hyper-targeted content
Campaigns leverage unique signals and profiles to provide personalized messaging to unique audiences.
Ex., Video campaign delivered on YouTube to a gamer between the ages of 21–25 in the Northeast.
Traditional media channels lacked the ability to hyper-target. As a result, national campaigns were the default. Digital platforms like Google and Facebook however, provide the ability to launch hundreds of campaigns quickly, each targeted based on specific characteristics.
In the case of the NBA, I quickly put together two rough examples of targeted campaigns in Exhibit 4.
In Example #1, a small campaign (~$10,000) could be deployed to promote a Dallas Mavericks vs. Charlotte Hornets. The campaign could target college basketball fans by leveraging a fierce college rivalry to drive NBA game interest. With geo- and channel-targeting, the audience and spend would be quick small and unique.
In Example #2, I chose a larger segment: gaming. Gaming is an exploding space. I identified three superstars that are genuine, avid gamers. In this example, the NBA could target three separate fanbases to drive engagement. In addition, the league could target games with no NBA affiliation to formulate a connection and acquire new consumers.
While hundreds of micro-campaigns increase complexity, it provides the NBA with the ability to efficiently provide personalized content to new consumers. Appealing to unique audiences at the right time and place is not just an effective way to capture consumers, but rather, it is a requirement.
Recall Exhibit 1. Digital touchpoints are increasing. Attention span is decreasing. The decrease in TV ratings is a product of the two aforementioned trends. The media landscape is expanding, and hyper-targeted campaigns are a requirement because the NBA must actively fight to win and retain consumer attention.
So, how does the NBA appeal to a complex network of unique audiences? The Marvel Strategy.
Marvel has created one of the most sophisticated character universes. Many of the concepts and strategies they use to build characters can be applied to marketing NBA players. We will discuss the specifics of their strategy and the character development flywheel in part 3.
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Originally published at https://jeffburke.substack.com.
