Why Storytelling Enhances Fan Engagement
It’s no secret that Fan Engagement is the ultimate common goal for sports franchises and fans alike. Commercially speaking, engaged fans equate to increased direct revenue through ticket and merchandise sales as well as boosting the valuation of the franchise’s IP in realms of sponsorship and digital rights. On the other hand, fans benefit from an increased feeling of involvement with the team, their favourite players and the broader fan community, making them more likely to share positive experiences with their peers and help organically grow the franchise’s fan base.
Today’s sports franchises engage with fans across a diverse range of channels including social media, sponsored live events, and Fan Engagement Platforms like Tiparra, which offers a suite of digital assets that enriches the fans’ experience through dynamic interactions between fans, teams, and sponsors. Across all these channels, the common thread to Fan Engagement success is how storytelling plays a key role.
Imagine a short, punchy video where a popular player shares a brief story with fans about how they worked hard and over came obstacles as a child to master a skill that they depend on now. Or perhaps the focus of the story is a fan who recounts a nail-biting championship game, or a chance meeting with a beloved player. People react positively to those types of stories and feel a deeper connection to the player, the team, and the fan community. This kind of storytelling is effective because of how our brains work.
Professor Dr Paul Zak of the Claremont Graduate University in California is one of the world’s leading experts in neuromarketing and understanding the basis of extraordinary experiences. According to Dr Zak’s research, to trigger a lasting response a story has to first catch our attention. When it does, the neurochemical cortisol is released, which heightens our interest in the unfolding story. We want to know how it ends. If the story is character-driven, and we can empathise with the main character, then the neurochemical oxytocin is released.Oxytocin builds audience trust in the storyteller, the team, and the organisation.It feels good to be part of this communal experience.
Storytelling also leads to a greater sense of community among fans because brainwaves in the audience begin to align with the storyteller and each other. Uri Hasson, a Professor of Psychology andNeuroscience at Princeton University, has published studies that have demonstrated that once listeners engage with a story, their brainwaves start to sync, moving up and down together with the storyteller’s. Blood flows to the same regions of the brain at the same time.
So how is this research relevant to sports franchises, and what kinds of stories work best for fan engagement? Here are some critical elements to consider when you try to elicit an effective story:
- The audience needs to empathise with the storyteller’s experience.
- The story should highlight an area of common ground with the audience.
- A simple dramatic arc is present:the story introduces some kind of problem or conflict, which escalates and resolves at the end.
- With players, audiences love stories about how they got into a particular sport, struggles or obstacles they have overcome, how their personal lives affect their play, etc.
- Stories can focus on the team and fans as well. The team could share its origin story, some crucial point in the team’s history, or what the team stands for. Great fan stories include moments spent with favourite players, how fans feel on game day, what they’ve done to support their team, or what motivates them to attend every game.
Neurochemistryand the way our brains work, make storytelling an effective tool for fanengagement.
For commercial managers of sports franchises, increasing fans’ feelings of connection to their favourite team, players, and the fan community is a winning strategy.
Photo by Mike Erskine on Unsplash
