Text/ Liu Jintao Guo Yang
Edwards 36 points, Morant 32 points, Maxi 21 points in the single quarter, Poole 30 points rushed to the top of the outer net hot search... On the first game day of the playoffs, four players under the age of 23 scored 30+ points, setting a new record in NBA history. With the rise of the new generation, the NBA playoffs to catch and kill the battle song has also officially sounded.
This season is arguably the most confusing season since "Ride the Horse". The rising new generation of players has grown into a playoff protagonist, MVP top three Jokic, "Alphabet Brother" and Embiid led the team, Tatum, Morant, Trae Young, Doncic and other young kings also rushed forward, opening a new era of NBA playoff pattern.
In addition to the new competitive landscape of the game, CCTV rebroadcasting and official media resuming reports have made the national popularity of the NBA rise again, and the commercial value of the NBA is also returning to the top. At the same time, athletes have been commended by the state, the sports industry has been promoted by policies, and the subsequent sports competitions have also made the track of the sports industry hot again. With the resumption of broadcasting and coverage of the NBA on the official platform, coupled with the government's continuous promotion of the development of the sports industry, the NBA has also shown a new commercial value.
For brands, if they want to be proud of the super sports year of 2022, the NBA is definitely a marketing arena worth exploring. At this time, Tencent Sports, which has cooperated with it for many years and carried out all-round cooperation, is the most mature in live broadcasting and reporting, self-made programs, interactive gameplay, social networking and other formats, representing the highest level of domestic operation of top events, and is undoubtedly the best target for our observation and in-depth analysis.
01
Professionalism: The internal strength of the platform to serve the fans
Nowadays, sports users have more choices, but core sports fans still prefer platforms that can provide professional services. In sports, a track with thresholds, "content is king" is still the main theme.
On the one hand, timely, accurate and comprehensive event content is the demand of core fans, which is also seen as the embodiment of platform professionalism. On the other hand, the platform should also exert its ability in technology, operational experience, interaction and content matrix to bring a richer viewing experience to core fans and bring more diversified sports content.
The same is true of the NBA stage. ESPN and other media have launched a series of programs around the core fans, and the exclusive services of digital platforms such as ESPN+ are also reaping results, helping the popularity of the event to return to pre-epidemic levels. The data shows that the average ratings of the NBA regular season this year are up 19% compared to last year and 3% higher than the previous year. Behind the data recovery is the continuous upgrading of the platform's services for core users.
The same is true at home. As the sports copyright war enters a new chapter, how to ensure the viewing experience of professional fans through the upgrading of technical "hard power" and guest "soft power", and meet professional fans with the help of supporting programs and operations, has also become an important proposition for the sports platform in the new opportunity period of the NBA's development in China.
Krypton noted that Tencent Sports, which has maintained in-depth cooperation with the NBA since 2015, still starts from the content level to further build platform professionalism and enhance core fan stickiness.
During the NBA playoff games, Tencent Sports carried out a series of production upgrades to the studios most directly related to the viewing experience, adding AR entry animations and playoff battle map AR, combining hot spots to create a distinct theme AR, making the overall live broadcast more topical and youthful.
Studio upgrades provide specialized "hardware", and specialized "software" relies on professional commentators based on retired athletes. We can see from the Tencent Sports warm-up film that Zhu Fangyu, Ding Yanyuhang, Abdul Salam, Xi Relijiang, Huo Nan, Liu Xiaoyu and others will give professional-level explanations in the live broadcast of key scenes.
It is worth mentioning that the focus topic discussion program "Bing with Ball Midweek Edition" has also ushered in a new and upgraded "playoff version". The show will summarize weekly hot topics during the playoffs, analyze the focus players and teams, and adjust the broadcast time every Thursday. In addition to the resident guests, the show also invited industry leaders to participate in in-depth discussions, share insights, and bring professional content and insights to the fan community through light and humorous discussions.
In addition, in the face of the important time point of pre-game momentum, Tencent Sports launched the playoff preview program "Battle to the End", which summarizes multi-dimensional content such as field information, player data and voice in front, conducts forward analysis of the game, and broadcasts and sets off the heat before the start of each series.
For professional fans with different needs, Tencent Sports has brought two membership models of Sports VIP and Sports Super VIP, providing content, functions, identities and welfare privileges such as full-time game viewing, Blu-ray 1080P, live multi-view and other content, functions, identities and welfare privileges through product layering, while the price of Super VIP members during the playoffs is 78 yuan / quarter, and the continuous monthly subscription price of 30 yuan / month for new users in the first six months shows a very high cost performance.
No matter how the platform and sports event IP change, watching the game is the core link. Tencent Sports' upgrade of content and reports is expected to help the platform better serve its core fans and consolidate the core user groups of the platform.
After all, the biggest demand of core fans is still to watch the game, and what they are most looking forward to is undoubtedly the professionalism of the platform.
02
Rejuvenation: The platform embraces the secrets of Gen Z
A generation has a generational way of entertainment. In today's world of all parties competing for "national total time", whoever can better grasp the young people can seize the future of the business world.
In recent years, in sports broadcasting, entertainment, interactive games and even offline activities have become an important way to embrace young people. As one of the four major leagues in North America, the NBA has the lowest average age of the audience, in addition to competitive charm, youth and trend are also its natural attributes, and it is also a method for the NBA to continuously expand user boundaries.
"All The Smoke sees the real chapter" - At the beginning of the NBA playoffs, Tencent Sports also came up with such a theme slogan that is quite Z generation style, and is gradually growing into a gathering place for young sports fans.
We noticed that Tencent Sports has opened up a different live broadcast program "BOOM SPACE", inviting the host to participate in the live broadcast commentary with entertainment stars and basketball masters, introducing and analyzing the event in the language of young people, and watching and chatting with young people during laughter.
"BOOM SPACE" studio adopts the style of the trend shop, using the means of watching the bullet screen, red envelope rain, etc., showing the trend of wearing and selling cool goods, and its cool live special effects and pictures undoubtedly make young audiences more involved.
During the playoffs, Tencent Sports also opened up a wealth of copyright event resources to create a new viewing mode of "anchor-fan" chatting on the same screen, providing a variety of viewing options.
In addition, Tencent Sports has also launched live interactive programs such as "Guess The God" and "Playoff Big Prophet II", and provided interactive participation and prize incentives in "Super Match Day". It is worth mentioning that Tencent Sports launched the dunk program "Dunk Player", this reality show with different themes of PK and the wonderful dunk performance of the masters, staged a combination of strength and beauty of the strength of the competition, with young people like to hear the way to bring full visual enjoyment, so that more people realize the charm of basketball.
In the era of mobility, everyone is the director of their own mobile phone. In addition to content, how to attract Generation Z with products and activities is undoubtedly the final question that platforms need to answer. In this era of "two-way travel", only by allowing young people to participate in the activities spontaneously can we achieve the effect of doing more with less.
For the student group, Tencent Sports has specially brought the "520 Theme" and "June Campus Graduation Season" planning, and for sports creator users, it has brought platform distribution and prize creation activities. In addition, Tencent Sports has launched a "Youth V Card" as low as 12 yuan / month and a "Super Youth V Card" of 20 yuan / month for users aged 18-24, and student users can enjoy the event for a whole year with a conscience price.
Sports is an excellent social currency, and the way a new generation of fans are deeply involved in games and play with the NBA is constantly transitioning in the era of mobile viewing. With the multi-terminal linkage of Tencent's ecology, in addition to Tencent Sports, fans can now also watch NBA events on various platforms such as Tencent Video, Tencent News, WeChat Video Account, Aurora TV, etc., and obtain a 360-degree immersive viewing experience through multi-screen linkage.
A generation of superstars is getting old, but the NBA is forever young. The core stars can be constantly changed, the slogan and event packaging will change, and the platform also needs to communicate with Generation Z with a new language system in order to truly get favored and become a young position trusted by the brand.
Around the NBA playoffs, on the basis of content specialization, Tencent Sports has made efforts to rejuvenate at multiple levels such as product and operation, and conquered the discerning hardcore fans and Z generation users with a wide range of interests with a set of combination punches.
03
Hundreds of millions of fans returned to the spectator life, and the commercial value of the NBA continued to rise
Sports are becoming a must for brands.
In the unprecedented double Olympic cycle, athletes have received national recognition and national attention, and sports stars have won one endorsement after another, fully demonstrating the commercial value of sports.
At the same time, in recent years, official policies have frequently introduced policies to promote the development of sports, which is driving more people to participate in sports, and has given a shot to the sports track.
Sports is just in time, in 2022, a super sports year with the Winter Olympics, Asian Games, Universiade and World Cup, who can play sports marketing, who can seize the opportunity in this brand war.
At such a time node, the NBA, as the head sports event IP, has finally ushered in a new pattern in China. CCTV rebroadcast and official media resume reports reflect the official recognition of the NBA, from the rising playoff discussion heat, is the return of the NBA market value, and the associated marketing activities have also had the opportunity to recover.
This official recognition has released a long-term positive signal, which is undoubtedly a long-term guarantee for the commercial value of the NBA. It is foreseeable that another big era of basketball is breaking the ice, and all kinds of benefits continue to strengthen the connection between the NBA and fans, enhance the commercial value of the NBA, and also bring a warmth and reward to a long-term platform such as Tencent Sports.
In the past few years, the sports copyright market has been up and down, and the industry platform and sports event IP have been continuously arranged and combined, but the leading platform has always adhered to it, handing over an excellent answer sheet in the operation and dissemination of the top competition, setting an industry benchmark.
In terms of data, from the Tokyo Olympic Games to the Beijing Winter Olympics, Tencent, as the official broadcaster, has achieved the first place in the volume of double Olympic reports on the whole network and the first in the whole network, and also leads the industry in many lists such as user advertising memory, double Olympic content marketing, and double Olympic information acquisition. It can be said that while Providing a marketing position for brands, Tencent also demonstrates the rich experience of the leading platform in the IP operation of head sports events.
Not to mention, whenever people talk about the NBA, Tencent Sports is with it. Whether it is a classic moment on the field or a famous commentary scene, or even some familiar advertising slogans, it has become the common memory of fans in the Internet era.
We also see that for this year's NBA playoffs, Tencent Sports is using more attentive viewing services, interactive experience and membership system to seize the opportunity period of the return of NBA marketing value, this series of actions can better serve users and brands, and will also bring more reference and inspiration to the industry.
In this super sports year, with the recovery of NBA popularity and commercial value, Tencent Sports, which has rich experience in the communication and operation of sports competitions, will bring the experience of past competitions to daily life, continue to play with the IP operation of sports events, and lead the industry forward.
"All The Smoke Sees the True Chapter", the NBA playoffs are competing for the deer, and the new king is standing. This feast for fans is being staged in Tencent Sports and constitutes an important part of the 2022 sports war.
Looking to the future, this burning sports boom will continue, sweeping generations of young people, bringing better choices to brands and more development opportunities to the platform. Fans are looking forward to the finale of the NBA this season, and the industry is also looking forward to the cooperation between Tencent Sports and the NBA to collide with more sparks, providing more successful cases and future models for the cooperation between the Internet platform and the IP of the head sports event.