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🎧 The micro-influencer takeover · Open Tabs

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to today's episode of Open Tabs,
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: where we talk about the stories taking up space in our tabs.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Megan.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Melissa.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Hello.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: So very busy, as always.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to jump straight into it.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: First topic for today.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Nearly 80% of Gen Z goes to live sports for celebrities and brand activations,
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: a new study finds.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: So USC Annenberg did a study.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We find that most Gen Z's are only going to live sporting events.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: For performances, celebrity sightings, etc.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And another stat that was really interesting was 49% of Gen Z first got into sports
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: in the first place through athlete, fan, or viral video content.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's really interesting.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like sports is just as rough.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: The pipeline has significantly changed with Gen Z and social media.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I wanted to get Ural's thoughts on this.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And Megan, I know you've been digging into sports in the past year.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, longer ever.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: I've been forced into it.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Not by my choice, but because Post-pandemic.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel like as people were coming back to live events,
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: sports really recognized that they had a youth problem and really started investing
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: in the spaces that youth are and what they're doing.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: And they really like saw right away they had to pivot.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: And in my research into this,
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: one of the things that is really important What's unique to the sports fan today,
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: like you said,
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: about how they get into the sport,
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: is it's not as inherited, I feel like, as it used to be.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: It was very much like, my dad was a fan of this, so I'm a fan of this.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like now the discovery is becoming more of a personalized thing that happens
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: through your own channels, whether that's your friends or online.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I feel like that's the big societal shift that's taking place here.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Even it might be cool to choose the opposite of Like your dad so
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: that it's like there's something to root for or something like that.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that that's the big societal shift that's taking place.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then the rest is just like,
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: you know, Gen Z discovers everything differently than other people.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And it makes sense that they would say that they're going for the brand activation
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: and the celebrities because to them,
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: you could get the game itself and the information of what happened at the game.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: As well as you, at home, as well as you could if you were there.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like,
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: what is the value of being in person,
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like would be a better question and exploration to ask here.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what do they value about the in-person experiences going to a game, you know?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm curious,
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: does it talk at all about,
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: like, Gen Z, like, To Megan's point, is it specific to Gen Z physically attending?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so are they still watching and, like, consuming?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Does it talk about that at all?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: The consuming is mostly happening via social media.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: They're still, like...
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: They're still participating in fandom.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're participating in fandom.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's not specifically about live events.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Interestingly,
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: with fandom,
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: and to your point, Megan,
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: it's largely being driven by the athletes' personal stories, which is interesting.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Not so much like, oh, I'm a Jets fan.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, no, I am this specific athlete's fan, and my fandom will follow him.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: As he moves to different teams, which I thought was really interesting.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so 32% said they support individual athletes over specific teams.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And 48% of them are calling themselves bandwagon fans.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: I also think this is another reflection of culture where it's like sports is all
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: about narratives.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And basically football,
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: my favorite fact about football is that it wasn't popular until Like the rise of TV
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: and the figuring out of like,
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: if you add narratives of like rivalries and underdog stories,
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: that is what actually gets people interested.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: They were just so team based.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so like this team versus this team,
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: but as we've moved towards It's a more individualistic, personal-branded society.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: It makes sense that the draw of the narratives would also be tied
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: to individuals versus a whole team or a whole group.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: But we also see with our piece that we're moving back towards the group dynamic
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: of social media and wanting to see how a group So I could see that being even more
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: of a shift.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's something we see,
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: especially in basketball, where it's like they want to see dream teams.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: They want to see LeBron play with this person,
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: and not just because of the chemistry on the court,
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: but also off the court being an important thing, and what that will look like.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, this is surprisingly interesting for sports, I guess.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Good pick, Emma.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it's funny, I feel like...
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: These sub-efforts around the micro markets that are tied
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: to live sporting events has really evolved and has been sort of interesting.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: It feels like people in boardrooms who are strategizing are like,
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: What can we do to make the in-person experience like enhanced, you know?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And again,
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: you guys know I always talk about Savannah Bananas,
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: but like they just had this like big moment where they sold out Wrigley,
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: which was like, you know, something that they've been working toward.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: And like, that's insane.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's really cool.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that having attended a Savannah Bananas game, like,
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: Those micro things that I was talking about are like so,
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: like it's like the things,
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: it's like while,
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Major League Sports is looking here and they're focused to,
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: as Megan said,
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: like on the game itself,
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: it's like Savannah Bananas are like, what about everything else?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so it is one, all about the performance there.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: It is an experience to attend it.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is not like being at home.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it is a very different experience.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so it does feel like you are paying for
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: experience that you cannot have
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: behind your phone.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think, too, clearly the amount of effort.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's like every player is a fan, has their own fandoms.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that is a huge component of that because Literally, it's almost like the polar opposite.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if you're going to do a case study, it's the polar opposite of caring about the teams.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, the teams are made up.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, they, like, yes, like, you know, the coconuts, like, the firefighters.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, like,
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: I think maybe over time,
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: the team dynamic and that, like,
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: deep feeling that happens of being, like,
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: a Steelers fan or,
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: like, a Red Sox fan or, like, a, you know, a Warriors fan, like, that will...
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: That takes time, I think.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that the way,
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: right now with the way social media is,
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: the way things are so fragmented, it's like lean into the players.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's also that emotional connection.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's that whole other layer of like,
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: you know,
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's that sports-ish angle of what are those narratives of the team dynamic,
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: the drama,
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: the families,
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: the friendships, all the relationships, almost like the feminine gaze at sports.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Love that.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like Netflix is doing the
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: best job of that.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: We talked about that in our reality TV curve that we published,
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think,
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: this month,
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: last month,
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: and how in the emergent space,
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: it's very much about sports and reality TV intermingling.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: And we see like Netflix is really doing a good job of deep diving into like
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: the personality and the person and like the individuals,
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: like their quarterback series where each time it's like different quarterbacks.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I don't care about football, but I had to watch it for a project I was working on.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: And like, I was like, oh, I love Joe Burrow now.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: I see why everybody thinks he's so great.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like this guy's hilarious.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so I feel like it does endear you more
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: to the sport and the players when you get
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: that personal backstory.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: All you need is like one little personal thing and then you feel like invested, you know?
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, the other day someone was like, oh, you know, LeBron is going to go to the 76ers.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, oh, I care.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I know we have to move on,
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: but we just had to talk about Braxton Berrios is playing on the New York Jets now.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And the social media team had him do a,
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: they had the whole team do a video where they had a bunch of like girly items
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: and they were like, can you say what these things are?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: And he knew all of them.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: And like, everyone was like, trained
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: by Alex Earle.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it was like that.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I've never watched Braxton Berrios play football,
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: but I watched that whole video and it was like in the comments.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: So like you're so right.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: The feminine gaze on sports I think is so important.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: How fun would it be to,
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: this is the first time I feel like in my whole life like I would love
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: to help do strategy for a sports team.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think it would be
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: so fun and creative and like it has all of the fun elements right now.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: And like
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like the doors and possibilities are open, especially with that.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's a perfect example.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: If Jets could do that, what can't we do?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Emma, you're right.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Something to watch out for.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Our second topic we're going to talk about right now,
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: but it will be behind our paywall tomorrow.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: The Wall Street Journal released this really interesting article the other day,
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: the latest starlings of social media marketing, regular people with 500 followers.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something