99SYN14528_SocialSportsFanDoc-V2

Some
inconvenient truths
Our findings are presented
across two territories:
Our research into what motivates Millennial sports fans to use social media
has exposed some inconvenient truths for an industry more easily seduced
by creativity than consumer behaviour:
- It is not interactivity and rich content experiences that Millennials want
from social. It’s real-time content, immediately and easily accessed.
- It is not the most official and trustworthy content that Millennials want
from social. It’s a rich breadth of perspectives – they don’t care where it
comes from.
1. The social love triangle
Brands craving ownership are muscling
themselves out of the perfect threesome.
- Sports fans are insatiable social animals
- Social grows fanship… Fanship grows social
- Sports fans are creatures of social habit
2. The great content crisis
Brands prioritising creativity over effectiveness
are missing the easy win.
- I want it all and I want it now
- Authenticity is the real deal
- The future is opinionated
- It is not recognition and reinforcement of their identity that Millennials
want from social. It’s much more ‘to me’ than ‘from me’.
However, our findings do reinforce the often-ignored reality that Millennials are not
one homogeneous group. The younger end does express a desire to interact,
to share, to express their opinion.
All this has great implications for how brands and rights holders think about social
media and the point at which creativity kills effectiveness.
Our findings are based on
over 500 Millennial respondents
(relatively even male/female split) and have been broken out across three groups:
1. Massive Sports Fans
2. Average Sports Fans
3. Small Sports Fans