DON'T CARE about the return
of the  Premier League?

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION

The Premiere League is back!  Football football, lads lads lads, but content creators, marketers out there…what can we learn about the Premier League, and more specifically, the reasons why a lot of people don’t care that it’s back. 

And I’m not just talking about Covid reasons - you know, there wasn’t much of a break, and there’s no crowds so it’s a bit weird. 

To get more specific, this is the question I’m going to ask  Why is it that a lot of people who don’t follow the Premier League, do follow the international tournaments, the World Cup, the European Championships, and get swept up in the excitement of it all?

There are, of course, many reasons for that. But the angle I’m going to take isn’t about sports, it’s about storytelling.

 And because of that, there’s going to be pointers in here you content creators out there can pull out; principles you can apply to your own output that will take it to the next level. 

So let’s list some of the factors that make it tough to buy into, as a story in and of itself. 

First up: it’s long. It’s an endurance test that goes on for the better part of a year before you see the overall winners crowned as champions. That means it takes a lot of effort to follow. 

Second: It feels like it’s ever-present, even with the break. It’s year after year….it’s kind of always going on, and always going on in the same places, the same grounds. Can be a bit of a grind. 

Third: It’s structurally a bit shapeless, everyone plays everyone else twice, what happens game-to-game doesn’t really matter until you get to the closing stages, months down the line. 

If you’re a mid-table club, the amount of games that really matter, are kind of few and far between. 

Fourth. It’s not quite like it was in the old days where everyone in your area would definitely support the local team. Lots of kids wearing Barcelona tops these days rather than Yeovil town, if you get what I mean. 

So if you’re not in one of the major cities, it can feel like the good stuff is happening elsewhere, or you’re not quite connected to the bigger picture. 

Fifth: tough to watch. No I’m not talking about watching Burnley play, I’m talking about the matches being hidden away behind Sky, BT, etc etc. You’re talking about paying a lot of money to watch this stuff, or going out to pubs, or whatever. Not the simplest thing. 

Now: let’s compare and contrast those factors, with an international tournament.

First. Premiere leage is long. A tournament is short, usually about a month. It’s focused, and it’s easily digestible. 

Second, your major tournaments are scarce;  some happen once every four years, so you can build to them; there’s scarcity there which makes them feel special.

Add to that the local flavour of each host nation, and each tournament has a noticeably different vibe. Think the Vuvuzelas in South Africa, the Brazilian Samba style, or the human rights abuses of Quatar. 

Third: Where the Premiere league is a bit wobbly and shapless, a tournament is lazer focused, certainly after the group stages; pure knockout football, which is perfectly set up as episodic content in the same way as a Netflix series. 

Episode one has a clear problem in the way of our heroes, the outcome of that episode leads directly to the next stage, and the stakes get higher and higher as you go. 

Villains will appear, and our brave boys will either be vanquished or victorious at a neatly scheduled time. 

Fourth: Obviously, everyone’s on the same team. ENGER LANND, That focuses things. Means you can talk to pretty much anyone about it, and they’ll know what you’re going on about. 

You can just go on a street and go ‘It’s coming home’, and you’ll get a positive reaction fro whoever’s there.

Fifth. Easy to watch. All the matches are usually on terrestrial TV

So how can we take those attributes, and get some pointers for your video content. let’s go through them. 

First: Brevity. If you can get something done in 2 minutes rather than five, or ten, do it. That said, if you need more time to go into some depth, that’s fine; just be sure you’re doing it for the right reasons, for the right audiences. 

Second: Scarcity. This probably applies to the selling of a product or offer than content itself.  Basically,  the less of something there is, the more valuable it is, as long as it’s built up in the right way. 

 That’s where content comes in. Using video content to articulate and promote the scarcity of a product and build anticipation, is one of the best things you can do. 

Third: Structure. The Episodic nature of a tournamenet is well worth stealing. If you’ve got a story that you can split into pieces and have each episode end with a hook for the next one, you’ll give people a reason to keep coming back, and start training their minds that you’re a brand that’s worth following. 

Fourth: Everyone’s on the same team. That’s a community. That’s a feeling of belonging, and it’s all the rage these days. You can use your content to draw people to your brand, then create a place where they can interact with you and other customers. Creates a feeling of togetherness, of social proof. Well worth doing. 

Fifth: Easy to watch. Getting the right content in front of the right people at the right time in the right way is the eternal marketing trick. It’s an ever-evolving process that, much like the premier league, will never end, but should be fore-front in your mind at all times. 

So there you go! That’s what content-creators can take from the Premier leage, and sporting tournaments!

If you want more stuff like this, sign up to the mailing list at Capture Captain .app, and see how we direct, collect and perfect smartphone video content that builds trust and enhances your brand. 

I’ll see you next time!