In the first week of November Sports Illustrated launched a Snap Original Series called ‘Americas Best Sports Videos‘ with the objective of connecting with younger audiences through ‘America’s Best Sports Videos’ fronted by the publication’s Digital Content Host Ashley Nicole Moss.
The Authentic Brands Group publication’s first initiative on Snapchat, the social series primarily revolves around snackable user-generated clips of fan-shot footage which appear in weekly instalments each Friday with the first episode debuting on 5 November.
A social-first campaign promoting the series and informing sports fans to watch the content urges users to scan the publication’s unique QR Snapcode or search its title on Snapchat’s discover page.
Episode 2 of America's Best Sports Videos is out NOW on Snapchat
Click to watch/subscribe ➡️ https://t.co/4pFLrvPCAw pic.twitter.com/NCxesJMzNE
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 12, 2021
The choice of media personality, presenter and Sports Illustrated host and concept creator Nicole Moss not only brings a familiar brand face to the series, but also offers recognition and appeal to younger viewers – not to mention her own group of around 48,000 Instagram followers.
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Given its longstanding history as a print magazine, Sports Illustrated – like so many other traditional US sporting pillars – is eying younger audiences and this new series reflects how many established sports brands are increasingly considering social media content initiatives as a must-have property in the mobile space.
America’s Best Sports Videos features the kind of easily snackable, UGC which so often engages and resonates with younger audiences who are flocking in great numbers to short-form, mobile video platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Snap’s own Originals.
Snap Originals are an increasingly popular TV alternative for Gen Z: a demographic group typically less interested in the traditional, longer-form television as an entertainment/communication medium. Indeed, Snap’s own research shows that more than 85% of US Gen Zers have watched at least one Snap Original series in the second half of last year.
This initiative follows on from a May 2020 project which saw Sports Illustrated began producing long-form video and audio projects under a partnership with its owner and 101 Studios.
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