We're Not Users: NHL & MLB show they understand sports fans

We're Not Users: NHL & MLB show they understand sports fans: "I'm a hockey nut & a baseball fanatic. Until about 2-3 years ago, I'd be jumping from one sports site to the other trying to get my hockey ..."

NHL & MLB show they understand sports fans

I'm a hockey nut & a baseball fanatic. Until about 2-3 years ago, I'd be jumping from one sports site to the other trying to get my hockey and baseball fix subdued. Like most sports fans, I'm interested in 3 things:

1) Stats.
2) Highlights.
3) More freakin Highlights!

Thankfully, the national hockey league and major league baseball get that, and they've moved full steam ahead with their website overhauls. The NHL and MLB have effectively bested their online rivals by making the conscious decision to make video highlights the focus of their web experiences. You still have easy access to stats, team sites, articles and other goodies, but nothing makes my morning brighter than the MLB's ADHD fastcast video that summarizes 3,000 minutes of baseball into 3 minutes.

Point is: Thumbs up to these industry giants for taking the lead with their awesome content. They understand what drives the people who support their products and every design decision they've made over the past few years has clearly been supported by this mission statement. Pre-game, during game and post game - fans want to be on their sites. For the PGA and NFL sites ... not so much.

Should I torch my i-phone?

Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM) has unveiled the Blackberry Torch in the US and is supposed to make its way north of the border by October 1st. The torch has a  3.2-inch touchscreen display and a slide-out keyboard.

I saw one about 2 weeks ago and I've got to say, the experience is a nice one. You get the satisfaction of the tactile keys for typing (a big complaint from most i-phone users) and the touch activated sensation that we've come to expect from basically everything technological that we can get our hands on. (ever catch someone touching the screen of a pay terminal that isn't touch enabled? I have - and its hilarious).

I have an i-phone, and despite my 3 hour cursing session of Rogers after receiving my bill, I've never been so enamored with a product before. Its so friendly, so sleek and so reliable, I really have to struggle to find any reason to switch to a blackberry phone. In fact, I wouldn't even need to switch carriers because Telus, Bell and Rogers will all offer plans for the torch. That said, I would love to be able to BBM my friends like my wife does every 3.6 seconds, only problem is: all my friends have i-phones too.

That's it! Carriers should market to groups of 3-5 and offer them a sweet package if they switch. The only way I'd consider ditching my apps and my little piece of mobile happiness is if everyone else is doing it. (Yes - I am saying that peer pressure matters).

Here's a demo that AT&T & RIM completed. Notice the tag line about "Engaging Multimedia". Yah - that'll be a huge selling point. "Hey Tom, have you seen the new torch. Really engaging multimedia dude!"

Users make Stats and Stats are Real!

The reason that advertisers and clients refer to us as "users" is simple really: its easier. 

Lets face it - its a lot harder to communicate with people then it is to talk with targets, segments, demographics and genders. The marketing industry has long suffered from the same fundamental issue as the education industry , and that's the inability to individualize communication. 


In education, individualized educational plans are a nice fantasy, but not grounded in the 'real world". Why? 
Yup. 
You guessed it: its easier. 

Whoa! Jason! Are you saying that everyone is LAZY? 

No. 

Not lazy.

Just not motivated enough to get it right. 

More specifically: we're motivated by numbers - not people.

Advertisers care about profit. money. expenditures. media budgets. sales. fans. ratings. Numbers.

Clients care about profit. money. expenditures. media budgets. sales. fans. ratings. Numbers.

What do people really care about?

Finding purpose.

Finding love.

Loving.

Connecting.

Challenging ourselves.

Finding ourselves.

Exploring.

Imagining.

Playing.

YES! we care about money. price. budget - etc. But that's not what drives us. That's not what makes us buy stuff.

Advertising and Client know this of course. That where the manipulation game begins! But really, the game is over - or it least, its changing right before our eyes.

The days of seeing people as users is over, and you can thank the internet for that.

We're tired of being told what to feel.

We're know more about your product than you do.

We may play along with your games and toy around with the stuff you make for us, but that doesn't mean we care.

Your stats may show "engagement' - but that doesn't mean we're engaged.

Your sales may be increasing - but that's not necessarily because your commercial is funny.

Some companies get this. Digital agencies get this. But some are getting lost in the stats again. 

Analytics. CTR. Page Views. OY! Here we go again ... 

If you've got examples of agencies & client that "get it" - I'd love to know and chat about that ... 

Who are "users" and why are they here?

Thesauraus.com lists the definition of a consumer as:


A person who buys merchandise, services.


There's a whole slew of names for said merchandise buyers, such as: buyer, customer, enjoyer, purchaser, shopper and of course:


USER


The fact that we address people who use the products and services we're marketing in the same vain that we address drug addicts is telling. It tells us that something is wrong with this picture.

Fact is: we're not really talking to people. We're inventing people - or at least: we're trying to.

While trying to convince people that certain thoughts, feelings, emotions, notions, behaviors, flavors, colors and stuff matters, we're actually trying to invent the kinds of people that will be interested in a product or service.


Get the message out there.


If they perceive it - its real to them.


If its real to them. Its a part of our collective reality.

Although it is certainly powerful to understand that perception is reality, let's not forget that reality itself has limited shelf space, so it is perhaps more compelling to recognize that today's reality spawns tomorrows


In my next post, I plan on writing about why we see people as users in the first place and how that impacts the relationship between an agency and their clients.