Havas S&e Decodes Logics Of Engagement

Just a few days into the FIFA World Cup, new research from Havas Sports & Entertainment is looking into the ways fans around the world engage in their passion for sport, with a specific focus on football fans, defining a framework to understand and interpret fan attitudes and behaviours. 

At the core of this global research lies a survey conducted in 15 countries decrypting the passions of 21,000 people.   

The agency, the brand engagement network of the Havas Group, in partnership with the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab, unveiled the FANS.PASSIONS.BRANDS research to give a new approach to fan identities – expanding on behaviours, attitudes and perceptions to create the Logics of Engagement. 

The study applies Eight Logics of Engagement to fans: 

1.        The Logic of Entertainment – enjoyment of the overall experience & atmosphere.   

For example, a fan who enjoys watching a game even if his/her favourite team isn’t playing, just for the enjoyment of the show. 

2.        The Logic of Immersion – will to lose oneself in the emotion of the game/plot. 

For example, a fan who thinks of nothing but the game while the game is going on. Wins and losses may greatly affect his/her mood. 

3.        The Logic of Social Connection – desire to create or deepen relationships with other fans. 

For example, a fan who supports a team because it is the team his/her family supports. He/she enjoys conversing with other fans while watching games in a public place and enjoys making posts/tweets about the match/show. 

4.        The Logic of Play – virtual or real life participation in activities related to one’s passion. 

For example, a fan who has grown up playing the game, and may still play. He/she enjoys playing video games related to his/her passion at home or by mobile. 

5.        The Logic of Identification – self-association with the team, players/characters and their emotions. 

For example, a fan whose moods are tied directly to a team’s successes and failures.  He/she feels guilty about not watching games, possibly for superstitious reasons. 

6.        The Logic of Pride – reflection of the action/results in one’s attitude and outward appearance. 

For example, a fan who wears a jersey or hat of their team, or names his/her pets after a player. He/she might burn his/her team scarf after a loss or buy a new one after a win. 

7.        The Logic of Mastery – interest in learning and understanding the details behind strategies and stories. 

For example, a fan who plays fantasy sport games or who reads most pages of the sport pages and listens to post-game TV shows. He/she knows the rules of the game, as well as the history of the team and players. 

8.        The Logic of Advocacy – championing on behalf of one’s passion. 

For example, a fan who yells at referees and isn’t afraid to stand up to fans of rival teams to defend his/her team at all costs. He/she may own a small stake in the team. 

Globally, seven out of these eight logics were strongly cited by global sport fans as the logics they use most to engage in their passion, with nearly one third of all fans finding Social Connection to play a strong role in why and how they engage in their passion for sport, making the relationship with other fans their priority, followed by the logics of Entertainment, Identification, and Pride. 

While the logic of Advocacy is the one that comes up the least frequently, fans who engage through this logic do so twice as intensely as fans who engage with other logics. 

For fans who identified football as their top passion, the logics of Social Connection and Pride are tied as the most applicable logics. Interestingly, Entertainment comes out as one of the least used logics among football fans, in contrast to sport fans overall.

Lucien Boyer, Global CEO & President, Havas Sports & Entertainment, added: ‘Everyone has passions, be it music, sport, entertainment, art, food… inside every person lies a fan. This is why at HS&E, we have always looked at people through the lens of fanship and fan communities, in order to help our clients develop meaningful experiences that resonate with the fan inside everyone.’ 

‘For the 2014 FIFA World Cup, we are proud to be working with three of the six FIFA Partners (The Coca-Cola Company, Hyundai-Kia and adidas), FIFA World Cup commercial affiliate Louis Vuitton, as well as over five national team partners in 10 countries to engage fans in creative and innovative ways around the biggest global celebration of football.’ 

‘During the FIFA World Cup we will be on the ground in Brazil to connect with fans directly, observing and interviewing them, as well as tracking twitter conversations globally during matches as online conversations are firmly linked to how we experience the event. The additional smart data and qualitative learnings that we will gather, together with a deeper analysis of the global survey will, we believe, result in interesting new insights that will be available for all our clients and partners in the Fall of 2014.’