SVG Sit-Down: IMG Digital’s Francois Westcombe on Personalization and Understanding Global Trends

SVG Sit-Down: IMG Digitals Francois Westcombe on Personalization and Understanding Global Trends Within IMG we have a team of about 200 digital specialists that do everything from above-the-surface level things that all the fans can see, whether its content, channels, whether it be experience that youre putting off, but below the surface level of the water, there are things that you dont see.

Things like the CRM, the technology, the infrastructure, the underlying plumbing as to how the entire dish strategy comes together.

Our team covers all of that, both in an advisory mode and a consultancy mode.

So sometimes we run channels, and sometimes we create content, whether thats streaming, social media platforms, whether its the underlying infrastructure, the CRM platforms, the digital asset management platforms, we have teams there that do that.

Were primarily based out of the UK but also have digital teams in China, Singapore, Latin America, and the U.S.

The sports industry is becoming far more sophisticated around the meaning and the value of what digital can bring to them.

Sometimes organizations put digital as a standalone vertical in their organizations when actually its the glue that connects everything together.

And I think having a holistic view in any organization, whether youre a brand, a rights holder, or an event is really important.

Our digital function started in 2012 when we saw how other industries had to change their business models because of the impact of digital.

If you look at film, music, or print journalism they were compelled to change their business models.

And I think were at a bit of an inflection point where organizations and the commercial directors, marketing directors, CEOs, and presidents are understanding the value that digital can play in their organization.

One thing that were seeing is that I sports rights holders are wanting to have a better connection with their audiences.

The landscape is changing from the rights sponsorship perspective.

and they want partners that can help them reach audiences far more effectively and in more meaningful ways.

And that could be reaching their domestic ceiling, reaching their international ceiling, and identifying how to reach audiences in new markets and valuable markets.

And were able to offer that holistic view that straddles the digital function as well as having platform specialists that know how to optimize those channels along with the rights team, the production team, and the partnership and commercial team.

Its all about helping properties understand what the consumer trends are, how theyre looking to consume content and how to drive revenue.

I think there are some essential factors for rights holders to any platform, whether youre a team, a league, or a federation.

There are some essential pieces which you need like having a frictionless experience, easy onboarding, and easy discovery of content that they want to consume.

But then there are ways you can tailor the experience towards each of those audiences that you outsource.

For example, that could be additional elements on the top of the coverage, like graphics, animations or different versions of commentary.

It something we are seeing a lot of is the overlay of data like stats and insights to better inform and educate the audiences of whats happening on the field of play.

But equally, there are some immersive experiences via VR and AR or headsets.

Those experiences are still in their relatively early stages, but you can start to target audiences and tailor the content to consumers.

I think you have to look at the return on investment for any organization.

And if youre in an organization that has the bandwidth and the resource and the capability to explore some of these more innovative solutions then its great to dip your toe in and test, learn and iterate a strategy.

Some organizations have done a really good job positioning themselves in that space and theyre leaders and driving the industry forward.

But I do think a lot of organizations could benefit from not being distracted by all the bells and whistles and instead focus on their core business and shoring up what they currently have rather than chasing some of those big initiatives.

Personalization is the destination everyone wants to get to, but it requires a sophisticated backend, and you need to have the right setup.

First, you have to collect the right type of data, then you need to organize that data in the right way, and then you need to segment your audiences and understand those audiences and their behaviors.

You really need to understand how they behave around certain content and experiences.

It is the right thing to do as you will be able to target and tailor your content according to those audiences but theres a lot of work that you need to put in place first.

I think the R&A is a good example as the Open golf championship has had a a longstanding relationship with IMG that has lasted many years.

It covers rights, TV production, and there is a dedicated digital team that we advise and support.

They have a membership offering, the One Club, which has been relaunched and weve been helping them with content creation and channel management, particularly around the Open.

Thats a good example of us putting a dedicated team into an organization and letting them optimize the entire tech stack as well as the channels and the experiences.

And then on the international front weve been working with the NHL and the NFL across different markets.

We run the international channels for the NHL across seven different European markets, building the brand and making it relevant and localizing the content.

We also identify points of relevance like if an athlete is from a certain country.

Its then that we can target content.

And we are doing that a lot more with a team in China, APAC, Latin America, and the Middle East.

The goal is supporting those brands and their international rights as well as sponsorships because if you can demonstrate that youve got an audience that is following your sport and returning to your platform, youre in a much stronger position for rights deals.

Yes, I think its really important that you tailor your proposition to the targeted market.

Weve done some work recently, particularly in the U.S.

alongside our Endeavor streaming colleagues around price points, churn rates at certain price points, and how to optimize a strategy.

And then you also have to tailor the platform for different markets rather than just having a blanket approach.

And that means local market expertise and were very fortunate because we have boots on the ground that can tell us the consumption habits in a market.

And its not platform dynamics: its trends in terms of the type of content like whether its long form, short form, vertical or horizontal.

Its critical to understand that if you want a successful strategy for a market.

And then you also need to select the right markets in the first place, and we help our clients pinpoint the markets that offer an opportunity build reach and find valuable audiences at scale.

Its not just reach for the sake of reach..

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