I have permission to share the following - because while obviously the point of view is not all that favorable to Skate Canada, the thoughts therein are more comprehensive and measured than my own on the same topic (below this):
SC's coverage of HPC has caused me to wonder, what are the federation's goals for the coming season, what kind of budget are they dealing with, and what would define "success" for them? Bringing new fans to the sport is a major goal of every federation, and certainly in the past, SC has discussed that (hence, the "tough" campaign). But outside of that campaign, and the backward approach they've used to market Tessa and Scott specifically, there's very little that SC actually puts out there to the public. Even on Skatebuzz, they provide some interviews and updates on the skaters at various pre-season and seasonal events, but that's about it. In the off-season, when SC should arguably be working to facilitate interest in the sport, Skatebuzz mainly posts videos of interviews with SC famous personnel (the "where are they now?" segments) or highlights of the NCC/ACGM meeting.
What is the point of Skatebuzz, exactly? Is it simply to give existing fans a more in-depth look into the ins and outs of the Canadian skating world? Because it seems like it spends just as much time celebrating the federation itself.
If Skatebuzz isn't directed at bringing in new fans, but is instead meant to provide a more extensive look into the world of Canadian skating, than why does Skatebuzz merely give thirty second peeks into that world with bad music in the background.
And why is the site director for Skatebuzz making $95,000 to $110,000 a year running a website that for the most part, provides nothing more than a few short interviews and live-streams of certain competitions? I guess what I'm getting at is, what is Skatebuzz supposed to do for the federation as a whole? How does it help grow fans for the sport? And if that's not the point of the website, what is supposed to be growing fans for the sport? Is growing fans for the sport via public outreach even that important to SC outside of their CanSkate programs?
Skating is an expensive sport. The Canadian economy is struggling. Skate Canada can only fill half of the seats in the arenas for major competitions. Yet they have the World champion in men's singles and perhaps the greatest ice dance team to skate in several decades. And still, Patrick Chan is down to one sponsor and Tessa and Scott appear openly allergic to anything that would require them to leave their carefully crafted bubble. Something is terribly wrong with this picture. Canada is a skating nation. It can't all be about hockey (which is also expensive to play). Twitter is free to use. SC is paying its Skatebuzz director a nice salary. So the fed is hurting in ticket sales, have three amazing skaters to hang their hat on, and yet do very little to reach out to the public. In terms of simple economic analysis, this makes no sense.
And what's amazing to me is that only after being chastised on the internet for A YEAR did SC even attempt to better publicize HPC and other pre-season events to the public, and while I'm glad they've provided photos and videos, it still looks like a poor man's version of what the USFSA could do in its sleep. If there hadn't been a lot of uproar about how "SC sucks at this" on the internet, would they have changed a thing?
But again, all of this really has me thinking about "the bubble." It seems that it isn't just Tessa and Scott who live in it, but that SC exists in a much bigger one (of which Tessa and Scott exist within, along with all of it's other skaters), rendering them unable to see how badly they're botching things up. It feels very insular and elitist to me.
Scott and Tessa's allergy to going outside their bubble seems to have been addressed by the creation of a second bubble they can stay inside while in public - a bubble made up of lies about how Scott and Tessa are not together and Scott "has a girlfriend". And it's fortified by twisting reality inside-out, so that a story they "share" about being alienated from the time of Tessa's first surgery in 2008 to after the start of the Grand Prix series in 2009 is a actually a cover story for what was being planned in their personal lives during that time frame.
ReplyDelete"Elitist" is the word for how the public is treated by Skate Canada and Scott/Tessa - so I'd expect them to be better at it and not so stupid. If one creates a "bubble" to protect the skaters as they go about their public relations, maybe the public relations should consist of more than the skaters pointing at the bubble itself while saying: "See this bubble? It's the truth."
It's true that part of an elitist mentality is the belief others are less than. When one considers the apparent collective brain power of Skate Canada, they must believe the collective brain power of the Canadian public is too low to be detected by any conventional measure.
As to Debbi Wilkes and Barb MacDonald - lot of what both these SC's public relations directors do appears done mostly to be seen doing it.
"So the fed is hurting in ticket sales, have three amazing skaters to hang their hat on, and yet do very little to reach out to the public."
ReplyDeleteI guess, as the photos a few posts below indicate, Skate Canada officials are too busy mugging for the cameras, leaving them with little time to do other important things - like try and sell their product to the potential new fans.
Man, Skate Canada can really learn a thing or two from the USFSA. They have the Skate Canada and the Skate Buzz website, but they only use it for idiotic/half-assed things. I went over Tessa and Scott's book yesterday and read the line again about Roots giving her the opportunity to design bags. It's kind of ridiculous because now I'm like so where is it? Skate Canada must have put a stop to that so they can enjoy their little "bubble".
ReplyDeleteWhen Skatebuzz first went up I was excited about seeing more of my favorite Canadian skaters. Instead, it's a bunch of videos featuring SC personnel and only once in a while a little about some skaters. They don't have an interesting photo gallery and in general it's just a boring site.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression they think that having Debbie and Barbara so visible is part of their self-styled image of being one big happy family. (See Deb and Barb interact with the skaters; we're all precious.) Instead, it's parochial and unprofessional, which is evident not only in how the SC directors are always in the face of the public, but in their lost sponsors and the really horrible way they've marketed their biggest stars. Tessa and Scott need to run away from these bozos fast and soon and get qualified management.
I think the elitist feeling is very prevalent with Skate Canada. Yes, it's true that skating is an expensive sport, and because of that it tends to attract kids and families that might have more disposable income than others, but I don't think the USFSA gives off that same kind of elitist feeling. And I think its because the USFSA does not seem as insular, as "we're one big family and we like to constantly remind everyone of that so we'll broadcast our interactions with one another!" in a way. That's why I think the USFSA does a much better job reaching out to the public than Skate Canada does. It's not just because the people running the USFSA know how to run things well, stay off camera, and keep the focus on their skaters, but they also know how to reach out the public in an effective manner that celebrates the skaters and encourages people to follow the sport regardless of whether they're actively involved in skating or not. Icenetwork is great. It provides all kinds of extras for existing fans to watch and read about, but also gives new and potential fans the chance to see and get information on all the skaters they're interested in - which is what usually draws them to the sport in the first place. On Skatebuzz fans get to see...videos of the NCC/ACGM conference, where people (not the skaters the public is interested in) are filmed talking at a lectern and wearing funny hats. If I was a person newly interested in the sport, I don't think, aside from the interviews they post (and those are kind of hit and miss) the material on Skatebuzz would appeal to me much at all.
ReplyDeleteSomething else that was pointed out in a post below was about twitter. The USFSA and their skaters utilize it very well. The point of the skaters being on twitter isn't just for them to talk about upcoming competitions or engage in funny banter with other skaters. That's great, but it's not why using something like twitter is so important for marketing. Twitter, unlike facebook or any other kind of social media, is an instant worldwide megaphone that ANYONE can instantly view and use. There is no need to create an account to see stuff, you just open up a web browser and there it is - whatever is trending jumps out at you on most major search engines. When something trends, EVERYONE can see it immediately. So twitter isn't just about "oh wouldn't it be cute if those two skaters talked to each other," though that can be a fun bonus. It's about having a instant, twenty-four hour vehicle through which anyone can highlight their brand and spread it near and far, for free. And with very minimal work.
#ahashtagcanmakeahugedifferencewhenpublicizinganevent
What does Skate Canada do? Finally tells its skaters to get on twitter, but AFTER HPC, and then some of those skaters get on twitter and say "Well, Skate Canada told us to do this, that's why we're here." No, no, no. You don't SAY that, even if the point was just to get a laugh (and I'm sure that's all it was, some fun sarcasm on the part of the skaters). The problem is, it has the potential to come across sounding elitist and out of touch. The point of using twitter in the first place is to talk about skating and excitement about the upcoming season. To get that kind of stuff to trend some. It's so simple and yet so effective.
I guess I shouldn't say all Canadian skaters aren't good at using twitter. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje seem to "get it." Their twitter account is great. They post some fun stuff, talk about skating, and do it all while keeping an acceptable and understandable wall up between themselves and the fans.
Patrick Chan also utilizes his twitter account well.
ReplyDelete"but they also know how to reach out the public in an effective manner that celebrates the skaters and encourages people to follow the sport regardless of whether they're actively involved in skating or not. Icenetwork is great. It provides all kinds of extras for existing fans to watch and read about, but also gives new and potential fans the chance to see and get information on all the skaters they're interested in - which is what usually draws them to the sport in the first place. On Skatebuzz fans get to see...videos of the NCC/ACGM conference, where people (not the skaters the public is interested in) are filmed talking at a lectern and wearing funny hats. If I was a person newly interested in the sport, I don't think, aside from the interviews they post (and those are kind of hit and miss) the material on Skatebuzz would appeal to me much at all. "
ReplyDeleteI agree with this completely. As simple as the outreach was from Champs Camp, it was incredibly effective and fun. As a skating fan, at this time I'm "fans" of mostly skaters from Russia and Canada. I'm not a particular fan of any one US skater, but the USFSA, with events such as Champs Camp, effectively creates the impression of a team you want to root for as a group. There's a collegiate feeling - young, talented, good-humored, dedicated teammates comfortable in their own skin, articulate, not taking themselves too seriously but able to behave with maturity, and it all seems like something you'd want to be part of - whether that means checking out a video of Mirai Nagasu/Adam Rippon attempting "Bollywood" in front of their teammates (brilliance), or considering attending US Nationals and making a weekend of it just because it seems as if it might be a refreshing and exciting event with a cool atmosphere. Icenetwork is, as you've pointed out, a professional, consistently updated, user-friendly site that appears designed by people who actually want the public to use it and actually want to provide real content.
When Skatebuzz launched in I believe late summer 2009, it appeared promising but quickly turned into a talking head platform for Debbi Wilkes. Even Kurt Browning faded away. Where the hell were the skaters? Every time I'd check it out and click on a video, it would be Debbi Wilkes talking ABOUT the event to some other talking head, but I wouldn't see it - or the skaters. It appeared to go out of its way to keep the skaters far far away, and when they did appear, it was filtered through Wilkes. I don't want to know the talking head better than I know the skaters. Icenetwork has used Peter Caruthers and other familiar faces, but also interviewers who I don't recognize at all and don't care - I'm interested in the skaters and the competitions. What is Skate Canada's problem with Skatebuzz? They are terrified of letting their skaters off the leash around the public, letting them even appear to speak for themselves without overt prompting and cuing and framing and practically having the answers spoon fed, they are overeager to impress (that "scrum" looked awful and unnecessary with so many microphones jammed towards the skaters at once. It seemed totally for show.)
They would rather sell figure skating without skaters, period. There's a limit to how interested the public is in Skate Canada as an organization and a limit to how interested you can MAKE the public in an organization such as Skate Canada. If people want to go see skating or skaters and buy tickets and watch figure skating, THAT will help Skate Canada, so I fail to understand its obsession with itself and its personnel.
Except - as I speculated in a comment underneath a different post, they are mostly interested in making themselves seem indispensable to and synonymous with SC (and the skaters), because they're hoping for lifetime tenure.
"They would rather sell figure skating without skaters, period. There's a limit to how interested the public is in Skate Canada as an organization and a limit to how interested you can MAKE the public in an organization such as Skate Canada. If people want to go see skating or skaters and buy tickets and watch figure skating, THAT will help Skate Canada, so I fail to understand its obsession with itself and its personnel."
ReplyDeleteFrom a public perspective, what the USFSA seems to understand that Skate Canada perhaps doesn't, or won't, is that "content is king" and that revenue is, by and large, driven by exposure and branding.
The USFSA puts its skaters out front, gives them a *long* leash but keeps the leash hidden, and correctly uses them to anchor their brand and the sport of figure skating as a whole. Does that mean the USFSA is perfect? No. And does the USFSA bring in a ton of revenue every year? Who knows. We're still talking about figure skating, here. It's not the NFL or any other major mainstream sport. BUT, image matters. Nationals was very successful last year. People outside of skating know who Johnny Weir is. Meryl Davis and Charlie White use their public position to not only market skating, but to do things like participate in educational campaigns aimed at kids (a primary market group for any sports association). Alyssa Czisny made it into a Chrysler commercial during the last Super Bowl. Michelle Kwan is still a name, despite not skating at the amateur level in six years. And so on.
In the United States, something like over a quarter-million subscribers ditched cable for internet-only content in the last market quarter alone. Consumers are incredibly happy to watch things on laptops and multimedia screens that are pocket-sized. They pay attention to what is trending on twitter, because twitter is where the news now breaks first. It's where the latest fads are born, grow, and then die. It's also a prime site for exposure, all free, and available worldwide. Skating fans pay fees to icenetwork so they can watch GP events livestreamed into their homes at 3 am. Additionally, so much content is on-demand that it allows for scheduling convenience (meaning, consumers can re-watch anything whenever they'd like, right on their laptops). It's only natural that as these changes keep occurring and content becomes more internet-based, a skating federation should want to own more and more of that content (or produce it themselves and use it to bring in fans).
Skatebuzz is a part of Skate Canada's brand, just as icenetwork is a part of the USFSA's brand. Icenetwork is helping grow the brand for the USFSA and providing the right kind of exposure for US skaters. Can Skate Canada say the same about Skatebuzz? It does provide for free livestreaming of some lower level competitions, which is great, but what about the rest of its content? What is its primary focus? The skaters? Or the federation as a whole?
Skaters on twitter also grow the brand and provide exposure for the sport. Skaters who are marketed for their skating, who keep a healthy line of distinction between their professional and their private lives (which are NOT fabricated but still generally off-limits), provide needed exposure for skating. Skaters who spend all of their time being marketed for their personal story rather than their skating, and who fabricate what they tell the public, DON'T provide the right kind of exposure for skating, because after awhile, the skating remains but the public loses interest in the personal story. And then you're left with half-empty arenas while the public moves on to the next flavor-of-the-week.
Exactly.
ReplyDeleteAddendum to my post above - when I mentioned growing the brand, I should point out that in this case, I was specifically referring to the skaters *as* the brand. The skaters are the USFSA in the public's mind. They are the image of the federation. Not the federation itself (WE are Skate Canada!), and not the officials, which is what Skate Canada seems to want to sell. No, your SKATERS are Skate Canada.
When I go to Skatebuzz and click on the video about Patrick Chan earning three Guinness World Records, who is the first person I see speaking? William Thompson. Talking about *his* experience watching Patrick skate at Worlds and being questioned about his scores and whether they'd break the record. This is followed by a part of Patrick Chan's speech where he discusses how Barb was the one who came up and told him about breaking the records. It's great that Thompson was there for the ceremony, and expected, but WHY is that the stuff shown in the video? Where is the story about Patrick's season and how he built up to that record-breaking moment? Why is that not interspersed with parts of Patrick's speech? It's not really there.
ReplyDelete