16 ADRENALIN | FALL 2016 ADRENALINMAG.CA 16 ADRENALIN | FALL 2016 ADRENALINMAG.CA In today’s fragmented market, making personal connections with sports fans, and keeping them engaged, is an ongoing concern. To kickoff its very first editorial roundtable discussion, ADRENALIN invited a group of industry leaders to share how their organizations are addressing the fan engagement challenge. Angela Kryhul: Why is it important to gain a really deep understanding of how fans feel about their favourite sports? Gord Hendren: We do ongoing tracking studies for several corporate clients and properties, includ- ing the Raptors, Blue Jays, NHL, NFL and Olympics, and we’ve found that having the right emotional connection is the essence of what makes a really good activation. THE FAN ENGAGEMENT PARTICIPANTS TAPPING INTO EMOTIONAL CONNECTORS GAVIN ZIV Vice-President, Professional & National Events, Tennis Canada ANDREW GREENLAW Senior Director, Sponsorship Marketing & Strategy, CIBC GORD HENDREN President & CEO, Charlton Strategic Research Inc. RICK TRAER CEO, Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance THE BIG PICTURE Canada is respected internationally as a sport event host because it delivers positive and memorable experiences at every level. While Canada is consistently ranked among the top sport hosting nations by the SportCal Sports Market Intelligence agency, “Overall, the objective isn’t necessarily to host more events in this country… it’s for communities to host better events and to really make a connection with their residents and the visitors to the region,” says Rick Traer. To that end, CSTA recently developed a new Pageantry template which suggests high profile, effective and measurable ways for communities to promote the sport events they are hosting, including the use of airport, street and venue signage. The new tool’s Festivalization component identifies a number of activities designed to enhance fan engagement, inside and outside of the arena. canadiansporttourism.com 5 KEY EMOTIONAL CONNECTORS 1. Socialization 2. Culture/Heritage 3. Nationalism 4. Tradition 5. Experience Source: Charlton Strategic Research Inc. A property could have 20 or 30 different ways that fans might emotionally connect with them. For example, socialization works for the Toronto Blue Jays and the Maple Leafs because people like hanging out together to watch an event. Debbie van der Beek: Jurassic Park is all about socialization. Gord: Exactly! It’s about community, being together and sharing the experience. The Raptors have “We the North,” and the in- building experience is all about excitement, fun, engagement, yelling and cheering. That’s an emotional driver and that can have a big impact on how people like to be part of the experience. Every property has its own set of emotional drivers, but you need to figure out what that DNA is, and you have to figure out how to leverage it. INDUSTRY ROUNDTABLE
