#79 The Ballketing Letter
Fitness in the Metaverse & the "Move-to-Earn" concept, NFT projects from sports legends, marketing masterclasses, a webinar about climate change in sports, & more!
Hey there Ballketers,
Welcome to post #79! This week:
Our takes on some of the most relevant sports business stories of the week
A tribute to Coach K, one of the greatest leaders in sports.
Learn how “fitness” will play in the metaverse, the “move-to-earn” concept, Iniesta´s NFT project, marketing resources, and much more.
A webinar that will help sports brands why and how to reduce their impact on climate change.
Let´s get down to business!
"You win championships, but the relationships you win, they will last forever”
Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K)
It was only fair that this week's quote pays tribute to one of the best coaches and leaders in sport.
The video below says it all but, if you think about it, it is another awesome lesson that demonstrates that the best brands go to where the best people take them.
In fact, Kevin Durant shared a story in which, during a USA basketball training camp, Coach K urged them “to bring the best version of themselves to the court and they would figure it out from there.”
I am trying something different for this week’s brief. I have highlighted some of the most relevant stories across the industry which I believe those of us working in it should know about to try and stay updated with the latest dynamics. Hopefully, you can take something of value back to your organization:
The “Move-to-Earn” concept in fitness: A few weeks ago Mark Zuckerberg explained on The Tim Ferriss show how reality actually has two components, a virtual and a physical; rather than considering them two separate realities they are one reality with two realms.
This is made evident in the world of fitness in Vanessa´s Severiano podcast (check more details below) but in essence, users will be able to earn tokens in the Metaverse for working out virtually and then cash them in (for cash or other tokens for example) in the physical world.
This episode of Marketing against the Grain covers another example of “Move-to-Earn” as they describe StepN, which gives out cash prizes to users who exercise for a given amount of time. In essence, web3 enables the development of “incentive-based” programs to keep users engaged over time.
Tiger Woods & the PGA Impact Fund: About a year ago, the PGA launched an “Impact Fund” aimed at rewarding the players that drove more audiences to the game. In the BBC it is described as follows:
“A $40m (£28.8m) kitty will be split by 10 golfers to "recognize and reward players who positively move the needle" by generating coverage for the sport. The biggest share, $8m, will go to the individual deemed most valuable.”
Ahead of this year´s Masters at the Augusta National Tiger Woods announced his official participation. Based on the crowds he was able to gather for a practice round, it seems fair to conclude he is in the pole position for the fund.
One question though, would he still be eligible for the fund even if he did not end up playing?
Iniesta and his “utility-based” NFT: Soccer legend Andrés Iniesta has launched his own NFT project and he is exemplifying what “utility-based” NFTs should be about.
Holders of one of the 28 minted moments of his career will not only be able to own a piece of soccer history, but they will also have further benefits such as “meet & greets” with the player, a personalized video from Andrés describing the moment or what is even more interesting, the chance to invest in his other businesses with better conditions.
Luca Netz, an 18-year-old soccer player from Germany, has bought his own NFT project for $2.5 million The Milk Road newsletter shares this story along with the fact that assuming current market conditions, it will take him a little less than 4 months to recover from the investment...
The future of the fitness industry in web3
How does fitness fit into the Metaverse?
Insightful interview on Vanessa Severiano´s podcast where they discuss how the Metaverse impacts the fitness industry. Three main ideas to take away:
For the moment, the Metaverse is more an acquisition channel than anything else for fitness brands.
Make sure you educate yourself on the token economy and the value of “utility-based” NFTs.
The “Move-to-Earn” concept we described above.
The future of fitness relies on incentives
As we shared above, this episode of Marketing against the Grain shares the example of StepN, and they then describe the concept of being paid to exercise, the importance of tracking “community acquisition costs” in web3, and, why “incentive-based” programs are a must for marketers.
Business writing crash course
An overall writing masterclass
Last week we brought you a storytelling framework from Julian Shapiro. This week, he publishes a “writing” masterclass on his “Brains” podcast with 3 main takeaways:
Embrace your weird when writing; there are others like you who you can reach through the web.
The best content challenges you in terms of topic, research, and making people resemble the story you are sharing.
Be authentic, it will help you win in the long term.
Take your copywriting skills to the next level
Then, you can check out this episode of My First Million which focuses specifically on copywriting best practices:
Write as you speak, and avoid being too formal
Good copywriting is about understanding your audience and communicating with them in a way that is relevant to them (channel, language, etc.).
It is not only about mastering the “short-form” written content…
Don't overestimate the value of long-form content. Quality is better than length.
Raise the bar on your marketing game
The two questions to remember as a CMO
Dave Gerhardt relaunched his podcast as “Exit Five” and in this episode, they share two key questions every CMO should keep in mind when defining their strategy:
What is the goal?
Why does the customer care?
The basics of advertising on Tik Tok
This episode of Social Media Examiner is a must for anybody looking into getting started with Tok Tok ads. It goes deep into details about the design, distribution, and, tactical elements to consider...
How sports organizations can help mitigate the impact on the climate
Sportechie organized a webinar focused on the impact that climate change can have on revenues and the operations of any sports organization. It provides examples from the lens of managing a stadium, an event, or even athlete empowerment.
Check it out as they cover real examples from the industry you can learn from.
5 billion users in the Metaverse
This is Citi's prediction along with an economy of $13 trillion.
“Today, the most popular way to experience the metaverse is via a video game played on a virtual reality (VR) headset, but.. [there is the] possibility that the metaverse is moving towards becoming the next iteration of the internet, or Web3. This ‘Open Metaverse’ would be community-owned, community-governed, and a freely interoperable version that ensures privacy by design.”
How Peloton increases conversions by using video & AR
eMarketer publishes this short interview with Peloton´s Senior Vice President of eCommerce in which he discusses a few interesting topics:
Why they have decided to become a content platform for 3rd part creators
The fact that they need 5 to 7 touchpoints to convert customers
The role that AR and video play in overcoming the price barrier.
What sports brands can learn from World Athletics in the use of Tik Tok
Red Torch publishes this interview with World Athletic's responsible for social media. Two main lessons:
They do not plan content ahead of time. On the contrary, they react to the daily trends.
Give yourself permission to be less formal. This is actually key to adapting to the context of the platform
The Content Performance Matrix
High traffic, high engagement - Pursue
Low traffic, high engagement - Promote
High traffic, low engagement - Polish
Low traffic, low engagement - Pass
Not only that, he shares how to identify these pieces using the Google product stack and, more importantly, how to tackle each segment.
And that does it for The Ballketing Letter #79! Thank you if you made it to the end of the post and, if you have any feedback, please reach out.
In case you want to keep learning, be sure to check out our resource center, a table full of pieces of content that will help you take your business to the next level!
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Keep safe