The NFL made an estimated $12 billion dollars last year, ranking it as the world’s highest grossing sports league. The buzz the NFL has created around its players and their lives is all part of the NFL experience - and largely responsible for the success of the organization. Recruiters and brand managers that seek to market that which makes their company unique can learn a lot from the way the sports industry capitalizes on the star power of the players to build relationships with audiences.
How do they do this?
The NFL strategically curates content such as player stories, personalized stadium experiences, and locker room coverage in order to extend the team story outside field lines. Football fans are loyal and this stems from the personal connections they feel towards players. So how does the NFL, an organization with 1600+ players, build relationships between fans and players in a game where everyone is typically hidden under helmets?
Fred Gaudelli, the producer of Sunday Night Football, decided to introduce players in quick videos on the screen shortly after kickoff. In fewer than 10 words, players introduce themselves, their position, and alma mater. Gaudelli shares that he incorporated the introductions because “they spice up what's otherwise a ‘throwaway’ item during games.”
A video of someone introducing themselves is far more valuable and personal than a list of names or a photo accompanied by statistics. Forty-percent of people respond better to visual content than plain text and, by some measures, the information retained in 10 seconds of video is equal to about 30,000 written words. While your message remains the same, you’re able to better resonate with your audience and share content that exudes authenticity and personality.
NBC sportscaster Al Michaels shares “I've always loved this concept...It brings the players to life. Brief as it is, it gives the viewers a little insight. Is this guy smiling? Is this guy animated? Is this guy in need of anger management? If you can glance into a guy's soul in two seconds, this is as good a way as any."
The recruiter takeaway
Your employees are your most valuable assets, they are the people who bring your company’s mission and values to life, they’re your star players. Consider it your job to make candidates feel toward your company’s employees the same way NFL fans feel toward NFL players.
Within the realm of sports marketing, fan identification is when an individual identifies so strongly with a team and its players that he/she feels apart of that team. Sports marketers curate content promoting the players and their lives to heighten identification and build a group of loyal brand ambassadors that extends across generations. If your goal is to get top talent to see themselves working at your organization - and it should be - you need to create stories that are relatable. And the best stories revolve around people.
Fortunately, wIth visual media, a little goes a long way. If you consider body language, facial cues, and the 36,000 visual messages per hour that can be registered by the human eye, it’s not hard to see why humans are hardwired to process visual concepts more efficiently than textual information.
Your highest-performing employees are also your most busy employees, so look for easy ways to feature them with videos or photos - a quick video introduction recorded with your smartphone or a set of photos with descriptions from your hiring managers - a little goes a long way. See for example how much personality shines through in this 2 second clip of Tony Gonzalez. Your small request will have a big impact on your recruiting efforts.
You don’t need a lot of time on camera, extensive editing, or a big budget to make an impact with visuals. Take a page out of the NFL's playbook; try getting your hiring managers, leadership or brand ambassadors to introduce themselves with no more than a name.
