Haddon and Kavanagh: Women Showing Football Some Game

Another fun fact Jen Kavanagh senior vice president marketing and media for the Philadelphia Eagles used to quotflyquot amp8212 her preferred swim stroke for her teen swim club amp8212 well before her current job marketing the NFL club39s mantra quotFly Eagles FlyquotHear how these two women ended up in football amp8212 and how they39re advancing the league and the club respectively in Episode 49 of the Insider InSites podcastHaddon pictured below right is charged with bringing the brand to life across all touchpoints amp8212 from mustsee Super Bowl ads and consumer activations to the mobile app That means they support monetization and revenue goals promoting everything from Thursday Night Football The NFL Network and films and all the marketing for commerce properties such as NFL shops to the expression of the brand via the creativeKavanagh39s pictured below left media and marketing team is also quotresponsible for every single fan touchpoint that39s out there our brand how it lives and breathes how it grows and maintains relevance beyond just 16 football games a year and then how we create compelling experiences that are good for the fan the brand and our corporate partners Because at the end of the day we are a businessquotThese women have to navigate linebacker and quarterback style moves to get their jobs done on any given day The following is an edited topline of how they do that from a conversation conducted during last week39s LA TV ampamp Innovation Week But there was so much discussed you39ll want to listen right through to the end zone here or where ever you download your podcasts Apple GooglePodcasts iHeartRadio Pandora Spotify Stitcher TuneIn and YouTubeMoss Julie what was your path to knowing how to wear all of those hatsHaddon The NFL is like the culmination of the first two chapters of my career I started out in sports and entertainment amp8212 working for the Dodgers then for Bobby Knight in Indiana I went into product marketing actually writing the back of baseball football and hockey trading cards and got deep into contentamp8230 Then I moved into entertainment for DreamWorksChapter two was the digital side I wrote Meg Whitman who I did not know and said quotI want to work at eBay because I need to learn about the internetquot After a few years at eBay I went on to be in charge of the mobile marketing unit for PayPal when we were just getting into mobile payments then had roles early in Twitter and SoFiIn 2016 the former chief marketing officer of the NFL Dawn Hudson said quotWe need someone who knows sports who39s entrepreneurial and can get stuff done fast for the Super Bowl Women39s Summitquot And I39ve been at the NFL about three and a half years nowMoss Jen you had a lot of entertainment experience but little in the sports world rightKavanagh Right I started out developing websites and got one of the first SEO certificates that ever existed From there I worked for a small agency looking at the Internet as an efficient way to drive subscribership Then at NBCUniversal I headed up all of their digital strategy So when this opportunity at the Eagles came up it was not that difficult for me to understand the relationship between working in mostly unscripted programming designed to engage on all platforms with talent and storylines that needed to attract fansMoss Brands today need to communicate their purpose let39s talk about what the league and the Eagles are doingKavanagh I think it39s two parts what39s your responsibility as a brand in the world today and what39s important to your fans so you can align on your values to deepen that relationshipThe Eagles have been committed for years to Go Green and our stadium is LEEDcertified The Eagles Autism Foundation is also a big area of focus It39s a new brand that we created this year to basically capture everything we do in that space which is primarily dedicated to bringing awareness to actionHaddon On the League side we create platforms that the clubs often participate in and initiatives that do really well with our younger fans who love to get behind brands that show that they care In November there39s a program called quotSalute to Servicequot focused on military for example and December is quotMy Cause My Cleatsquot which is one of my favorites where the players design their favorite cleats tied to causes We have about 655 players that are very active with us and as stewards of our brand with helmets off as leaders and heroes in society What they bring to their local community is something that is a very important part of our marketing strategyMoss Are we seeing attrition in terms of the youth fan base with the concerns around health and kids getting into the game And how are you marketing to counteract any of that perceptionKavanagh Kids today have mobile egaming social amp8212 all sorts of consumption choices And we want to be where all our fans are So as we look at it from a standpoint of ushering in the next generation of fans we have our linear games on ESPN CBS NBC and Fox and we have games on mobile live streaming games like a Thursday night franchise where we39re on Amazon and we39re on TwitchHaddon We think about futureproofing our brand We think about how to continue to bring in younger fans and make the game cool and authentic and open up the players as advocates amp8212 like recently putting Ninja a Fortnight gaming influencer in the Super Bowl spot amp8212 and get influencers in the genres of fashion music gaming and other stuff that young kids care aboutThe game needs to be consumed a different way than previous generations How do we find touchpoints that are relevant to pop culture that make the kids engage with our game and how to bridge generations We kicked off part of that strategy with our Super Bowl spot where you saw people like Mean Joe Greene alongside players like Saquon Barkley So while my dad39s favorite player might be Jim Brown my kid39s favorite player is Juju SmithSchusterMoss Jen what are you doing that39s innovative to appeal to a new fan baseKavanagh We look at new and emerging platforms as ones that create a new opportunity to connect via original content that brings people closer to the game the players and the brand We39ve got a mission to entertain Eagles fans 365 days a year And we39re doing that on social platforms and on our owned platforms We39re creating original streaming content and we have seven original podcasts now that are doing really well We recently created a TikTok account and really leaned into it not just repurpose content from Instagram We39ve generated over 30 million viewsHaddon We all think about how to engage our fans the whole year It39s not just about September until February it39s about the Bowl games these incredible athletes are coming right out of the draft in April training camps preseason starts and then the whole season starts again So our job is to help showcase these athletes and their journey such as with our campaign called quotKnow My NamequotMoss Conviva39s Q3 report shows that NFL streaming scored a 77 percent increase in plays last quarter up 50 percent year over year led by streaming on mobile devices streaming on PCs actually went down a little bit Philadelphia by the way was a topfour Metro of all the teams for streaming consumption How do you approach marketing the product differently thereKavanagh Sports is one category that really punches above its weight in terms of mobile The fact that people are consuming more video is likely a secret to no one The league just recently launched their connected TV app which gives us amp8212 by extension amp8212 the ability to offer more streamed programming inside of those SVOD environments that we know are keyIn terms of how we market them it39s about not just plastering the same thing everywhere but really about being as personalized and thoughtful about what people want on which platform at which time It39s making sure that you have clear definitions of what good looks like in each of those cases and not measuring a mobile initiative using a linear KPIHaddon And I think it39s what younger fans want amp8212 to be able to access whatever content on whatever platforms When you look at the fact that something like nine of the top 10 television shows are NFL 38 of the top 40 are NFL live games there39s still an incredible demand for our product It39s the ultimate ground zero of reality TVMoss To come full circle Julie it39s the 100th Anniversary of the NFL and women comprise 46 percent of the fan base and growing especially in the younger set of women How do you account for that and what are you feeling great about for the futureHaddon I39m feeling great that our fastestgrowing segment is women and that as with everything we do we39re making sure that we39re inclusive as a brandTake a look at A Lifetime of Sundays Haddon was the executive producer of the documentary It39s a story of the matriarchs of the Chicago Bears the Lions the Kansas City Chiefsamp8230 and the Steelers It chronicles football through the lens of these remarkable women I mean Virginia McCaskey talks about how she bought the Bears for 100 Her father named the National Football League She39s 96 years old and here we are in our hundredth season It39s just an incredible and informative story when you think about the plight that we have now as women executives and think about what these women did in the 1940s a true lifetime agoPhoto above Chicago Bears39 McCaskey Detroit Lions39 Ford Pittsburgh Steelers39 Rooney and Kansas City Chiefs39 Hunt Click the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Haddon and Kavanagh: Women Showing Football Some Game

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