Opinion: From Storytelling To Storydoing
Duncan McMonagle, SVP strategy & partnerships at Minute Media, on the rise of citizen journalism and its place in sports content…
‘Social storytelling’ has been a phrase bandied around the industry for some time now, both within the world of sports and beyond. Publishers and brands are clamoring to deliver authentic stories to their audiences at the speed of social. But why ‘tell’ stories at all, when we can enable users to experience real, engaging content that puts them smack in the middle of the story itself?
What is more valuable to a sports fan? Polished, insightful post-game analysis by experts on linear broadcast platforms, or live authentic fan reaction on the ground and available on your phone wherever you may be? The answer is that there is now an appetite and audience for both, and perhaps the future value is in integrating the two propositions together.
90min on the ground, live, immediately after England vs Slovakia at EURO2016
Sports, unlike many other industries, has the power to deliver intimate, visceral experiences, like the moment you first enter the stadium or hear the roar of the crowd – those goose-bump moments that simply need to be experienced to capture the magic.
The rise of citizen journalism has given fans a voice to share their passion and excitement for the game, while at the same time, helping to build communities of like-minded fans. Taking this a step further, anyone can now create semi-professional video content with just a smart phone that brings fans into the sports experience and the closest thing to ‘being there’ that most football fans will get. Not only does this drive engagement, but these real, authentic experiences are what younger users now demand.
As an example of this, and in collaboration with Paramount who were promoting the release of the film Star Trek Beyond, 90min sent ‘Captains’ from 6 countries to EURO2016 to create ‘Captain’s Vlogs’ to report from the cafes, fan zones, training camps and stadiums where their national teams were competing. This gave fans an incredibly intimate view of what it was like to be on the ground and travel with their national team, but also provided an alternative reporting point of view to EURO2016 that complemented the more traditional broadcast coverage.
The success of this campaign and clear appetite for authentic fan-driven content has enabled us to commit to sending fans to cover every Premier League match this season under our FanVoice banner.
The advances in video streaming technology and virtual reality means we can now provide experiences for fans in a way that hasn’t been possible before. It is a natural evolution of storytelling, which gives users a more immersive experience and the opportunity to engage with the moment. Google Zoo refers to this as “hypertelling” and it is at the heart of the transition from storyteller to storydoer, giving the user the control to customize the experience.
We are all aware that the coveted under 30 demographic expects content when they want, in the manner they want it. The delivery vehicles for traditional scores, highlights and player news are becoming redundant, a “Match of the Day Syndrome” of sorts. Millennnials are no longer prepared to wait until 10:30pm on a Saturday to watch 10 minutes of highlights. They demand immediate, authentic experiences and will find ways of accessing them no matter how we choose to provide them as publishers and broadcasters.
As an industry, it is up to us to continue innovating on the experiences provided to sports fans in line with their consumption demands. This will help people engage more with the content, share their own experiences, and help create a two-way dialogue that sports fans thrive on and help ensure the future growth of the sports industry.
