Musings from The Marketing Democracy: What "Dads, Brads and Chads" Can Teach Us About Customer Segmentation
This year's Super Bowl was the highest rated in Super Bowl history. But was everyone happy about it?
As reported by Nielsen, Super Bowl LVIII drew 123.7MM viewers two weeks ago on Sunday February 11th, and 120.3 MM viewers on CBS, alone—making it the largest audience for a single network telecast to-date. Was everyone happy about it? The advertisers certainly were, but what about the “Dads, Brads, and Chads?”
For those of you who may not know who I am referring to, I am talking about the core of NFL enthusiasts who have been worked up over the invasion of “Swifties” (the name for Taylor Swift fans) who have embraced the game since Taylor Swift began dating Kansas City Chiefs star tight end, Travis Kelce.
In Taylor Swift’s Time “Person of the Year” Profile Swift was asked about the air time she received when she showed up to NFL games to cheer on her new Beau. Her response was epic, “I have no awareness of if I am being shown too much and pissing off a few Dads, Brads, and Chads.”
Who are the “Dads, Brads and Chads?” Why are they so pissed off? Why does it matter? And how in the world can I turn this into a lesson on customer segmentation? Read on!
First, the “Dads, Brads and Chads” are a segment of hardcore NFL fans whose passion for the sport leads them to believe that football is for them and no one else. The hardcore fandom of any franchise— whether it’s football or Star Wars or Outlander or (insert franchise IP name here) is ravenous, highly protective and somewhat insular. They may not be overly welcoming to outsiders who have only a casual interest. Passion is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it translates into loyalty and lifetime value. On the other, it can lead to a “tight crowd” phenomenon with restrictive codes of conduct and high barriers to entry.
Why were the “Dads, Brads, and Chads” so worked up? When a hardcore fan cares deeply about something, they don’t take kindly to casual participants who do not share the same passion as they do. It’s as if these casual fans who are joining in for the spectacle of the romance between a single player and Taylor Swift are disrespecting what is considered a “religion” to these hard core fans.
So what is a business of any size to do? How can you grow without alienating your most loyal core of customers? First and foremost, it’s important to make your most loyal customers feel like the most important customers in the world. You don’t want to lose them. I’m not saying that in this instance the NFL should have sided with the fans who did not welcome the Swifties into the fray. Yet, these fans need to feel the love. They need to be rewarded for their passion and for their loyalty. This is Marketing 101. This is what loyalty programs are all about. However, when businesses invest more effort in messages and incentives to attract new customers, how does that make the most loyal customer feel? A new or a casual customer should not receive a greater incentive than the customer who has devoted their time and their share of wallet to the brand. Loyalty matters.
So how do businesses grow beyond their current core of loyal customers? It’s easy to do in four key steps:
Step One: Start with your existing core of customers and make them feel like the most important customers in the world. Sorry Byron Sharp, but I do believe that brand loyalty matters. Brands should avoid the “leaky bucket” syndrome and nurture existing customer relationships.
Step Two: Reach out to customers who look just like the customers you already have. For those of you who are waiting for your weekly dose of jargon, here you go! These people are referred to as “lookalike audiences.” These audiences will likely respond to the messages and appeals that built your existing core.
Step Three: Expand your reach to customers who share something in common with your core. They may not be lookalikes, but they’re close cousins who resemble each other on a specific characteristic that is meaningful to your business. You can use that common connection to ensure that your messaging to this growth target does not alienate your core.
Step Four: Grow beyond your current boundaries to reach wholly new segments. But do so with caution. You can’t be all things to all people. And, you have to be careful that when appealing to wholly new customers that you don’t send out the signal that you are no longer relevant to the customers that you already have.
So let’s go back to the Swifties and their relationship to the NFL. We can use the four steps outlined above to see the disconnect. The Swifties are, at best, “distant cousins” that are loosely bound by one week tie: a connection between their idol and a single NFL player. This connection isn’t something for the NFL to hang its hat on. But it sure is fun while it lasts.
So, to the “Dads, Brads and Chads” who are freaking out? Chill! The NFL has some work to do before they will be able to turn these distant cousins into true fans of the sport. And if they do? Then, they will likely follow the norms and conventions of the fandom. The massive exposure is good for everyone for a host of reasons. In my humble opinion, we don’t have enough truly “mass” media that crosses the boundaries of all kinds of demographics. If the NFL can fill the void, that’s fine by me.
And, now is a great time for the NFL to show the love to its die hard fans. With the appropriate loyalty marketing, the “Dads, Brads and Chads” won’t feel so threatened.