A CMO’s View: How the arena Surf League Is building Its brand One App download At A Time
delivering live declares of browsing occasions, the WSL app is foundational to the emblem’s overall success, consistent with CMO Scott Hargrove.
World Surf League CMO Scott Hargrove says his organization likes to imagine itself a forty-12 months startup.
“We’re a model new brand,” says Hargrove.
After its acquisition of the affiliation for surfing experts three years in the past, and partnering with major surf brands like QuikSilver and Billabong, the world Surf League (WSL) has grow to be the driver in the back of the sport and its athletes. As CMO, Hargrove is charged with constructing the WSL brand along with its fan-base.
“not directly, success for us is pushing individuals to our are living announces,” says Hargrove.
handing over proclaims of competitions like closing weekend’s Cascais women’s pro match in Portugal and subsequent month’s men’s QuikSilver professional competition in France is a high priority for the CMO. It’s this focal point on giving the core fan-base get right of entry to to main browsing competitions that drove the development of the WSL app.
Hargrove says offering entrance to the WSL platform and reside occasions is paramount to recruiting and protecting new lovers.
“Having both an app and a cell website is in keeping with this get admission to strategy,” says Hargrove.
on account that launching the app all the way through the first leg of the 2015 season, the world Surf League has surpassed more than half 1,000,000 downloads in less than five months. Hargrove says his workforce will proceed to prioritize the app all the way through the rest of 2015, and for all of subsequent yr.
within the interim, the WSL CMO used to be generous enough to share what his group has learned due to the fact that launching the app, and what he would suggest for any brand wanting to include an app in its cellular advertising and marketing efforts.
Scott Hargrove
CMO @ World Surf League
Takeaways:
1. Ease of use. irrespective of the content material, the app expertise must be intuitive and easy to navigate.
2. Personalization. the whole thing the consumer sees must be during the lens of their customized private preferences.
three. What’s subsequent? there is no end line in app building. it’s a must to be prepared to upgrade the app expertise on an ongoing foundation.
Amy Gesenhues: what’s your primary focal point as WSL’s CMO?
Scott Hargrove: in line with our research there are roughly a hundred and twenty million surf fans worldwide. My job as CMO is flip them into passionate fans of the phrase Surf League and active viewers of our are living digital broadcast.
I believe my success is dependent upon our potential to create better access to our live digital broadcast, making certain a novel and customised viewing expertise and creating a deep ongoing 1:1 relationship with the world Surf League brand.
Amy Gesenhues: How a lot of your efforts are invested within the WSL’s mobile advertising technique?
Scott Hargrove: “At residence” continues to be the No. 1 place for viewing our reside events, so we cannot ignore the computer. alternatively, mobile provides the greatest chance for actual time fan engagement and general smartphone usage continues to grow, so the cellular expertise is a top precedence.
Amy Gesenhues: How does the WSL app align together with your model’s overall marketing strategies?
Scott Hargrove: in addition to developing every other get right of entry to level for fans, the WSL app lets in us to create a deeper and more customized relationship with our enthusiasts.
Our event begin occasions are pushed by regularly unpredictable climate stipulations so it is vital that we be able to connect with lovers right away through their custom-made preferences to let them recognize after we are “on” and their favourite athletes are competing.
The WSL app is foundational to our success here.
Amy Gesenhues: What types of content material are you pushing out via the app?
Scott Hargrove: Our major content focal point space for the app is the live experience broadcast. Our purpose is to create a personalized viewing expertise that opponents or exceeds some other display expertise together with conventional tv.
All other content on the app is designed to deepen our fans’ connection to our athletes, our venues and the overall activity of competitive browsing.
The “myth” function is designed to increase fan funding in our athletes and power long term loyalty. similar to other fantasy sports activities structures, fans make a selection a “crew” of athletes prior to each and every event that they consider will outperform the steadiness of the athlete field.
Their fantasy staff accumulates factors for their success right through the live experience. The app lets you monitor your leads to real time, and examine and compete with other fanatics on the platform. It has proven to be a huge driver of fan retention and loyalty.
Amy Gesenhues: What engagement metrics are you tracking? What have you learned about your target audience considering that launching the app?
Scott Hargrove: It used to be clear very early on that our app customers were also our most dear fans. they have a tendency to have interaction the WSL platform on a more regular basis and tune in to our reside situations with higher frequency.
in consequence, accelerating app downloads (we are concentrated on four occasions through the top of 2016), and upgrading the user experience frequently are two of our top priorities going forward.
within the early degrees of launch we had been enthusiastic about number of app downloads and total fan pleasure. then again, long term success of the app shall be measured on its skill to drive reside adventure tune in, elevate the selection of minutes watched per reside event, and provides enthusiasts a motive to maintain coming back each day.
Amy Gesenhues: What had been one of the challenges you faced when launching the app?
Scott Hargrove: Our biggest app challenge is an instance of our greatest general marketing problem: should we construct an app that speaks to core surf fans or to informal surf fans that possible know less about professional browsing?
indirectly, we chose to focal point on building credibility with core fanatics first with the goal of evolving the experience to be welcoming to each sets of fan objectives over time.
I imagine we now have finished a nice job of establishing authenticity with the core. We are now within the means of expanding the app’s appeal and performance to a larger target market.
Amy Gesenhues: What would you suggest to a model that is taking into consideration building an app?
Scott Hargrove: I consider any marketer contemplating the launch of an app will have to be capable to answer these key questions:
- what’s the strategic role of the app and what is its useful purpose?
- How will you measure success?
- How will you monitor shopper feedback? Will you have the ability to refine the expertise real time to verify the best possible degree of pleasure?
- what’s your plan to power downloads at launch?
- Are you resourced as it should be to upgrade the app expertise on an ongoing basis?
Amy Gesenhues: As a surfer, what’s your favourite thing about the app?
Scott Hargrove: My 11 12 months outdated son is a passionate surfer and an enormous fan of John John Florence. He has personalized the WSL app to inform us actual time when John John is within the water competing in probably the most Championship Tour occasions.
i love this app characteristic as a result of it offers fans one more reason to tune in and it’s at all times enjoyable to peer my son’s excitement when he learns his favorite athlete is in the water.
(Some photography used below license from Shutterstock.com.)
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