"Our sports heroes are our warriors. This is not some light diversion to be enjoyed for its inherent grace and harmony. The self is centrally involved in the outcome of the event. Whoever you root for represents you."Those words were spoken by Arizona State University Professor of Marketing and Psychology Robert Cialdini, a research pioneer in the field of sports fandom. You can read the entire New York Times article here.
Spectating is a discretionary activity that fans elect to do in lieu of many other entertainment alternatives. Consumers are permitted to indulge all of their biases, prejudices, insecurities, and fantasies when they choose to become fans. They can choose the sports, teams, competitors, and events that appeal to them. In other words, fans are permitted to have their reasons and to keep them to themselves.
Those reasons are what we call Core Benefits. I have adapted the prospective Core Benefits below from definitions provided by Dictionary.com. I believe that these are the kinds of "Jobs" that IndyCar must empower its customers to get done.
Prospective IndyCar Jobs
Aggrandize - to make the individual feel greater in power, wealth, rank or honor
Intrigue - to arouse curiosity or interest of the individual via unusual, new, or otherwise fascinating or compelling qualities; appeal strongly to; captivate
Thrill - to cause a sudden wave of heightened emotion or excitement, as to produce a tremor or tingling sensation through the body
Affirm or Validate - to substantiate or confirm an individual's belief that something is true, good, important, and morally right
Participate and/or Belong - to take part or share, as with other like-minded individuals
I believe that these words encompass most if not all of our previous suggestions. I have intentionally chosen words that are deeply personal. Choosing one activity rather than another is, after all, a personal choice. Again, people have their reasons. Frequently, they have something to do with at least one of the definitions above.
As always, I invite and encourage you to submit your thoughts, opinions and constructive criticisms.
Roggespierre
Wow. Post de force, here. I like these generalized job categories. I can see all of the specific jobs I and others suggested fitting in under these.
ReplyDeleteWell, as long as something like "increase knowledge of product" falls under "Aggrandize" and something like "be entertained by variables like different car and engine types" can fall under "Intrigue."
I especially like the Intrigue/Thrill categories, because in my race-watching experience the jobs most immediately fulfilled tend to fit into these. Getting excited about passing, high speeds, cars on edge: Thrill. Digging into different strategies, different engines/chassis (in a perfect world), red and black tires (in a very imperfect world): Intrigue.
Ok, one possibly constructive comment: It really seems like this discussion is heading toward a place where a spreadsheet will be very beneficial: we've got multiple kinds of customers (fans, sponsors), multiple product elements, multiple job types, and a vast array of specific jobs that have and could be named. A good spreadsheet might help visually link specific customer jobs to core elements in a way that is difficult in paragraph form, and perhaps make it easier to get the product element<-->benefit/job<-->customer profile relationships all mapped out.
Anyway, if this is a premature idea just pay no mind. It's late, there were some beers earlier...Rogue Old Crustacean...others...yeah.
Ok: It looks like I get to start this off again...
ReplyDeleteIndyCar must provide racers(cars) that test the driver's skills, courses that also test those skills, and the fans in the seats and watching off-site must be able see these skills being tested.
Further, the consumers should anticipate seeing drivers "dancing on the edge of disaster" with the occasional foray past the edge and hopefully a masterful recovery from the brink.
It is also important that the small teams are perceived to have a chance at "sticking it to the big boys" on any given occasion. This can be facilitated by rules and economics.
At the end of the race the consumers must have a sense that their driver/team won fair and square and that the other guys (enemies) have been vanquished once again.
Quite a laundry list, but I think in there is some of what we are searching for.
"R"
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with only "Aggrandize".
I prefer "Accommodate"
To bring into harmony; adjust; reconcile: to accommodate differences.
Isn't that what IndyCar must do to succeed?
Every fan is not as intense as we may be, but we desperately need fans of all levels of interest, and to accommodate them is an "IndyCar Job".
osca
Osca,
ReplyDeleteI think you're getting at something important that should be added, but I have difficulty with "accommodate". Specifically, it is a verb that, to me, requires an object.
To wit: accommodate their pursuit of what?
Let me see if I'm thinking along the same lines as you. If you go to a big-time college football game - let's say the Buckeyes in the Horseshoe - you'll see a broad range of fans. Some will travel to road games or at least watch every game on TV. Others are "event" fans. They're there to tailgate, socialize, and participate in the culture that surrounds the game.
Is that what you mean by accommodate? If so, then I think we might be able to stick with aggrandize. IndyCar fans of all stripes need to know that it's cool to be here.
Is that what you're talking about? If not, then I need more explanation because I don't understand.
In addition, I admit that I have focused on core psychological and sociological benefits. Reviewing my list, I realize now that I left out sensory benefits - sights, sounds, and the like. Those, too, are important. "Thrill" comes close, but it isn't sufficient. There are other core sensory benefits that are pleasing but not necessarily thrilling.
"Stimulate", perhaps? Maybe, but that would seem to be yet another verb that requires an object. Stimulate what?
Then again, maybe I'm just splitting hairs in an effort to provide specificity.
I like this discussion very much because I think it gets to the roots of consumer behavior. That is what we must manipulate because it determines market acceptance and rejection.
That is why I have not yet focused on the supply chain. That is coming soon.
Best Regards,
Roggespierre
BC,
ReplyDeleteYour examples are exactly what I have in mind. "Intrigue" would certainly apply with regards to Customer Benefit arising from competition among various suppliers and their technologies, for example.
I also like your spreadsheet and mapping ideas. I'm not sure how to execute it so that everyone can see it, but I'll try to figure it out. We need to see "Core Benefits", "Core Product" (attributes), and the resulting activities in a causal matrix.
Massaging a spreadsheet is a job that I can get done efficiently. Publishing that spreadsheet so that everyone can see it is another matter entirely. Let me see what I can do.
Thanks for the constructive suggestions.
Best Regards,
Roggespierre
"R"
ReplyDeleteI went to Webster, and if you mean by using "aggrandize", that it is, "to increase", or "to make greater", I'll agree.
osca
Osca,
ReplyDeleteThat is what I mean with regards to the benefit that accrues to the customer. We want customers to feel as if they are made greater for having either attended an IndyCar race or watched one on TV.
When I was in college, I often told my friends from other locales that Indianapolis was the only place to be on Memorial Day Weekend. Being there and being from there gave me a sense of self-aggrandizement. It made me feel more important.
Is that rational? I think not. But that does not make it any less of a benefit that accrued to me, a customer of the Indianapolis 500.
In my view, this is an essential benefit for customers of any sport that does not feature teams that are identified with either a place or an institution. Think of an Ali fight in Vegas in the 70s or the U.S. Open Tennis Championship in New York today. The are events that attract not only the hard core fans, but also those who want to be part of something that is undeniably BIG.
That is what I mean by "aggrandize". The Core Benefit to the customer is that he or she is made to feel greater for having been there.
Incidentally, I plan to draft individual posts for each of these words. My goal is to tweak and clarify the definitions with regards to Core Benefits.
The model that I envision might appear as such.
Core Benefit to Customer: Aggrandizement
Job: Aggrandize those who attend and watch on TV
We will then be ready to consider HOW we might construct the IndyCar product to feature attributes that will get that Job done.
What do you think?
Best,
Roggespierre
"R"
ReplyDeleteI begin to get your use of the word; I attended my first race at Indy in 1946, and I was proud as punch to have been there. Then in 1958 I was there with Smokey and Goldie, and when Paul qualified after never having been in an open wheel race car---ever, I was proud as a peacock.
So "Aggrandize" it is!
Best regards,
osca
I really like where this exchange is headed. Hats off to BC, I think he (she?) hit the nail on the head by making it clear which elements fall under the general labels "R" has suggested. My chief concern with those high level labels is that they moved us to far from the attributes of the product/service we are attempting to revitalize.
ReplyDeleteI also agree the spreadsheet - or some other way to capture this information and demonstrate how it interrelates - would be a terrific device at this juncture.
Otherwise, I confess there are a lot of great inputs kind of flying around in my head and while I could individually sit down, study it and draw my own conclusions about how to organize it, I am concerned that if we all did that we would lose a shared understanding critical to collaboration.
Pulling together such a data capture document would be a very constructive snapshot. Once we have a look at that, we can better decide if further discussion is necessary or if we are ready to proceed to the next step.
TC
Oh yes...
ReplyDeleteGreat article from The Times, "R." Excellent discussion point for why IndyCar needs to double-up a push to get competitive Americans in competitive cars. From my interactions with people that I know have been fans for years, even decades, even those people are losing their sense of emotional involvement with the sport.
That captures the core benefits well. Not to argue semantics, but the definitions that resonate in my mind, along with one addition:
ReplyDeleteAggrandize - larger-than-life
Intrigue - captivate
Thrill - thrill
Affirm - best choice
Participate - participate in
Enjoy - take pleasure in, from something; to gain the benefit of…
With enjoy, I'm trying to capture the idea of participation or belonging that is pleasurable; to enjoy in.
Maybe phrased:
IndyCar is the auto racing fan's best choice to enjoy and participate in a captivating, thrilling, larger-than-life experience.
-John
Okay...the more I think about it, "Community" should be added to the list. A sense of community is critical to satisfaction in just about anything we do in this networked world. This is an augmentation, in general, I think we have something solid here.
ReplyDeleteTC
TC,
ReplyDeleteCould sense of "community" fit under "Participate and/or Belong"? I mean, in my mind it does, but...
Anyway, we seem to be thinking the same way -
"My chief concern with those high level labels is that they moved us to far from the attributes of the product/service we are attempting to revitalize."
That's exactly what I would have said. Connecting relatively specified jobs with
a) the product elements that can facilitate them and b) the customer types that want to get them done definitely strikes me as the thing that will ultimately prove revelatory.
But I have to say that I think Roggespierre's category list is a darn good way to start and I'm not feeling at all concerned about the list's ability to encompass and organize the specific jobs that we come up with.
Oh, and the American driver thing:
I was talking to a female friend (I'm a guy, by the way) who is also an "avid" NASCAR fan (watches races, going to Homestead in a couple of weeks) , and without any prompting she mentioned something about the IndyCar series being a "foreign" thing, and thus not something she really pays attention to. She just LOVES rooting for Kasey Kahne to pass all those other American dudes that other people are rooting for, you see.
So she finds a benefit in NASCAR that allows her to get the job of "rooting for a [good-lookin'] competitor" done - and does not consider IndyCar a place that could even potentially provide this benefit. And as there remain few compelling benefits that allow IndyCar to fulfill jobs that are not being directly competed for by NASCAR, she really sees no good reason to even check IndyCar out.
John,
ReplyDeleteDoesn't "enjoy" (and something like "be entertained") fit as sort of a blanket over the categories Roggespierre posted?
I mean, if I look into my sense enjoyment while watching a sporting event, and remove all feelings of "aggrandizement, intrigue, thrill, affirmation/validation, and participation/belonging", does something remain that stands to be classified?
If something does (I can't think of it, but that doesn't mean anything), then I would definitely agree with the need for another category.
But "enjoyment" seems to me to be a step below R's categories on the specificity ladder. Or do you not agree?
Hi BC.
ReplyDeleteWe're on the exact same page at this point.
BC,
ReplyDeleteThe first time I saw Kasey Kahne race, he blew away the USAC Sprint Car field at Winchester Speedway. He was an unknown 17 year-old from Washington, but he already drove like Ryan Newman.
I turned to my girlfriend (now my wife) and said, "The IRL needs to get this kid right now."
Regards,
Roggespierre
The list of jobs is excellent. If I were to add anything it would be:
ReplyDeleteRelaxation-to provide much needed relaxation for the fan.
Escape-To allow our fans to get away from the everyday
What does everyone think the current series is lacking from our list? Certainly the Intrigue is gone, but what else?
-indyian
Indyian:
ReplyDeleteFor the most part, the elements are in place, they are just muted to the point of hardly registering. The one thing that is completely lacking is technical innovation and relevance. I'm losing track of what general job category that falls under, but wherever it fits it is both important and just about nonexistent.
TC