The Development of Tech, Social Media and Athletes in Sports
Utilizing Strava. TikTok. and MLS Next Pro.
On Today’s Agenda:
Getting Creative with Technology
What We’ve Learned from Diving Into Short-Form Content
MLS Next Pro - Our Thoughts
Utilizing Wearable Tech Like Strava For Sports Marketing
Getting Creative with Technology
Anthony Hoyte / bicycling.com
Wearable fitness technology brand Strava has reached a great milestone this past year in the fitness market. The number of activities recorded by Strava rose by 38% in 2021, indicating that this collected fitness market will continue to grow and grow as pandemic restrictions are easing up across the globe.
Exercise application Strava, recorded 37 million activity uploads per week in 2021, resulting in over 1.8 billion activities being recorded across the year. Now, Strava adds two million new users each month, with its users running, walking, and cycling a combined 20.9 billion km (that’s the equivalent distance to the moon 50,000 times).
Strava gained massive popularity during 2020 as COVID spread across the world and forced people to remain at home due to the closure of group fitness activities and fitness centers. But the pandemic did not disrupt people’s fitness lives even throughout 2021 as people continued to stay active and record their activities.
In 2021, users collectively ran 3.8 billion km, cycled 16 billion km, and walked 1.1 billion km. However, it’s not only the activity stats we care about but it’s the idea of collective fitness. During the pandemic, in order to keep the competitive edge and the value of community and fitness, more than 189,000 fitness clubs were created through Strava in addition to an increase in challenges and social interactions on the Strava app.
Now it may just seem like a bunch of people running and cycling and walking and then recording it on an app but to us here at white whale mktg it’s much more than that.
The opportunities are endless. With these billions of recorded activities, it appears that the world of fitness is growing more and more each day. With group sports being canceled for close to 18 months worldwide, the people turned to individual sports but in a collective community.
This may present an opportunity for many brands to get involved and join the fitness mania through Strava. Companies like Adidas can partner with Strava on products or apps to increase their brand awareness and even help people get healthier.
Maybe once restrictions ease across the world we will see Strava x London Marathon event marketing to bring people together for one common goal: health and fitness.
Why Use TikTok for Marketing
Hears What We Learned
Juventus TikTok
white whale mktg just turned one at the beginning of December 2021. With that, it means the company has been around for the emergence of new social trends - short-form content. The issue? We weren’t utilizing this tool enough and from our meetings, there’s still a lot of athletes and brands that were in the same boat.
Everyone sees the advantages of taking part in short-form content but there’s a learning curve. How do you make efficient short videos that align with your brand and help reach organizational objectives, and that’s where you get stuck. With our brand turning one, we wanted to increase exposure so we can reach the next generation of athletes and brands.
Let’s discuss why more sporting brands need to hop on the short-form train, ways to utilize these social platforms, and what the findings have been after 10 days and counting of posting.
Why do athletes and sporting brands need to hop on the TikTok/ Reels train? Simple. Growth. Currently, social media algorithms are set to prioritize short-form content over everything else. Therefore, if you want to grow you need to be creating TikToks and Reels. Think of it in this sense, you aren’t substituting your current platforms for the new ones, but they’re being added within your ecosystem of social media. Use short-form platforms to get exposure and bring people to your brand, validate your brand via your Instagram and Twitter profiles, and finally, own their attention by having them join a group or subscribe to the content you have. Now you’ve taken someone who knew nothing about your brand to having them as a dedicated follower. All stemming from short-form content
Ways to utilize TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. One of the biggest hurdles you’ll have to get over is - what would we even post? Very fair. It’s a daunting question and something you may feel that you aren’t qualified to answer. So let’s say you’re an athlete or someone running a sporting brand - what value can you provide to a viewer? Share your knowledge. If you’re a hockey player, share skating tips or what meals you cook for yourself pregame. If you’re a brand in sports, like a golf course, share the different intricacies of your course or tips on how to best play different circumstances in golf. Once you start with one, a snowball effect will take place. For example, your first video can be your top 3 favourite pre-game meals. The next three videos? How to make each meal. Another 3 videos? How you played in each of those games… what you wore, how you scored that goal, your routine, what things you like to do post-game, day-offs, summer, etc…. Now you’re in the flow state.
What white whale mktg’s findings have been after 10 days and content creating short-form content.
It works. We’ve been gaining followers that are directly involved within the sporting space and are receiving DMs from people interested in working with our brand.
Practice. Practice. Practice. Nothing will be great the first time. That’s why Nike has said it best Just Do It. Your 1st will never be better than your 100th.
Try things out. Short-form content requires less investment from both a time and production standpoint. Meaning you can post more frequently and learn what works vs what does not, sooner rather than later.
If you haven’t already checked us out on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts @whitewhalemktg, if you haven’t already and let us know what you think.
MLS Next Pro - The Good and the Bad
What’s Next for MLS
MLS
On Monday, the MLS announced the creation of a new league - the MLS Next Pro - which will begin their first season in 2022. The league plans to debut with 21 teams, in a 24 game season. The league plans to expand quickly, and have every MLS team with an affiliated MLS Next Pro franchise. The MLS Next Pro is a league designed for players who have outgrown the MLS Next league (the academy division) but are unable to secure a roster spot in the highest division in North America.
The hope for the league is to help grow the development system and ecosystem of North American soccer, and to create a model that is similar to the European system. Most readers will be familiar with the English Championship, the 2nd division of English Football.
The graphic above outlines the MLS development pathway that the league is trying to implement. One thing that Chris mentioned on the podcast that I completely agreed with was, the MLS Next and MLS Next Pro sound more like iPhone models and not league names. The NBA, NHL, and MLB affiliate leagues have a standalone product, and their names are recognized without attachment to their major league. Although the MLS Pro and MLS Next Pro leagues are intentionally tied to the MLS, the pathway is still confusing to most casual fans - and when trying to grow the popularity of the league will take some hand-holding and fan education.
Another interesting point to note - one of the 21 inaugural teams is independently owned. Rochester NY FC (formerly the Rhinos), is co-owned by Jamie Vardy, who is excited to have his team in a competitive league.
Jamie Vardy’s affiliation with the team and the league is a very interesting prospect for the MLS to consider. Vardy was cut by the Sheffield Wednesday academy at 16 and found his footing with lower-tier English teams in Halifax and Fleetwood. He found himself on Leicester City in 2012, and the rest is history. As someone who found success in the lower tiers before making the jump to England’s highest stage, the MLS is hoping Vardy’s story can create a similar narrative for players in the MLS Next Pro.
Any investment into the growth of the game in North America is welcome for fans of the sport, and this step was the expected next step for the league. As the continent looks to the 2026 World Cup, infrastructure for the growth of the game is necessary, and steps need to be taken now in order to have a flourishing pool of talent for the national squads, and also a dedicated base of fans.