Fans are an Extension of a Brand?

Talent management is a broad term that includes various talents, including sports.  A hot topic in the sports arena is how to grow and retain the fan base and collect data that can forecast tickets sales and generate revenue for a franchise.

Fan loyalty has been given a second look over the years.  Prior to recent years, it took a major ordeal for a fan to meet a sports figure and now because of social media and technology fans and sports figures can communicate regularly through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. 

Sport organizations have created sport fans websites and have made fans an integral part of the team and the organization.  This is a brilliant move, why?  Without the fans, would a team exist?  Of course, not, the fans purchase paraphernalia, tickets and spend money at the arenas. The fans advertise the sport organizations, as they wear the teams’ logos, slogans and teams’athletes on thier jerseys or t-shirts.

Joseph Yi states, “loyal fans help make up the brand of a sports team. These loyal fans not only support their teams on game day, but they extend the reach and personify the brand that their teams represent.”

Sports team not only recruit players, they also recruit fans.  Through loyalty programs such as, Row27 and Paciolan Oklahoma,Maryland and Boston College are able to keep track of their fans and reward them.  They have integrated a fans loyalty program where they reward their fans for their participation in activities.  Activities could be showing up at least one hour prior to game day or how often a fan may tweet about the team or how often they show up to a game.  Sponsors have chimed in to give prizes as rewards, Mitchell’s Jewelry is a sponsor located in Oklahoma who sponsors a fan to be recognized on the field and win a gift card to the jewelry store.

CrowdTwist allows the Dolphin franchise to monitor spending and social media influence in the FinClub loyalty program where fans are able to redeem point for rewards.

TheWashington Redskins uses Foursquare to reward loyal fans.  Foursquare allow the Redskins to promote rallies and galvanise their fans along with offering many rewards for their participation.  As a result, the Redskins have seen growth on social media.

There are other ways to get connected to fans aside from social media. The ChicagoBlackhawks use traditional media outlets (i.e., WGN, Comcast, WGN radio) to display team players profiles, where the fans get a chance to see the lighter side of their athletes.  It is policy for the players to be accessible to the fans and media for every game.  The Blackhawks, without increasing the ticket prices, have ticket season holders but also allow for same day purchase of tickets before the game at the ticket booths.  The Blackhawk’s management team is fan conscience, where the fans are valued and treated as part of the franchise family.

Then there is NBA Cares program for community outreach, giving back to the community and their fans.

Fan growth and retention is prevalent in the sports world, where building fan base is the number 2 focus behind winning.  The bottom line is fans generate revenue.

Get on the Digital Media Bandwagon or Lose!

Digital media and marketing have left the door wide open.  The endless opportunities that digital media has offered to the consumer have nerves bundled with excitement, confusion, and with great anticipation of what the future holds. 

Big data collection of what consumers want and how to market via the second screens (tablets, smartphones), particularly in real-time is the challenge. 

“Free” was the selling point for consumers that frequent YouTube and Hulu, which was the basis for their popularity.  According to Accenture, consumers are now willing to pay more for quality digital TV.  Consumers’ interest in digital TV opens up avenues for essentially everyone in the market (i.e., broadcasters, advertisers, producers, filmmakers, actors and the list goes on).

Let’s look at numbers

According to Gigaom, digital media will rule.

•    Globally, digital media will account for 37 percent of advertising revenues by 2017, up from 26 percent in 2012.”

•    Internet advertising will be the fastest-growing segment, at a 13.1 percent CAGR

•    Video gaming at a 6.5% CAGR and TV advertising at a 5.3 percent CAGR will also show strong growth.

•    Segments traditionally related to print—newspapers, magazines and books—which will grow by an average of less than one percentage point

•    By 2017, physical purchases will represent just 53 percent of consumer spending.

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Nielson Ratings of Websites Top 3 out of 10   since March 2014

1.    YouTube              154,528,000  viewers

2.    Facebook             127,815,000  viewers

3.    VEVO                   65,591,000  viewers

Who started it all?

YouTube with amateur video showing and Hulu with premium video content streaming of movies and television shows changed the way viewers watch television.  Viewers watch movies and T.V. series via Netflix other Web channels.  The attraction of the "on demand" feature of these shows lure viewers. The consumer can watch their favorite shows whenever they want and as many times as they want, it's called "have-it-your-way TV".

Consumer interests in and demands for sites like YouTube and Hulu have given them the shield of protection from Hollywood’s vehement attack on digital media with costly lawsuits.  Hollywood lost the legal battle with YouTube and has jumped on the digital bandwagon by entering sharing agreements with YouTube to place their branded content on YouTube’s website (Kidane, B.).  

What does this mean for actors, other talent, agents, and managers?

Actors and other talent promote themselves through social media (Facebook, twitter, websites, blog).  They have access to casting directors, well-known actors, big name agents, etc., literally at their fingertips.  They no longer rely solely on talent agents and managers for exposure.  Casting directors and agents have separate divisions/sections within their companies to surf the web for new talent.  

Although, digital media has offered talent a platform to promote to the masses, agents and managers continue to have a role to play in the entertainment field.  Guidance and advocacy are needed for talent as they spend time perfecting their craft.

Social Strategy1 highlights the importance of jumping on the bandwagon.

Evolution is rapid in the world of technology.  It is highly recommended to stay abreast of the current trends in this fast pace business, embrace it or get left behind.

Kidane, Blane. (n.d.). Digital Media – Shifting Entertainment Landscape.  Retrieved 06/07/2014 from http://www-bcf.usc.edu/~ebayrak/teaching/599F10/PR/blanep1.pdf

The Legal Aspect of the Entertainment Industry

Having a good grasp of the legal boundaries pertaining to the entertainment industry is the most important aspect of the business.  To cover you is the name of the game.  Thus, knowing about Intellectual Property protection (trademark, copyright, trade secrets, and patents) avoids another from stealing ideas and material that originated from you and your company.  On the flip side understanding the legal parameters of IP affords you the comfort of not being blind-sided or being on the brunt of a costly lawsuit.  The following cases: Rights of Publicity, Trademark and Copyright Infringement, Trade Secrets, misrepresentation, and a lawsuit against Justin Bieber, give examples of IP violations and lawsuits summarized by Gordon P. Firemark, Esq. and Tamara Bennet, Esq. of entertainlawupdate.com from episodes 33 and 47.

Rights of Publicity – The right to control the commercial use of one’s identity.   Facebook faced a class action suit with three individuals, one being a minor.  Whenever someone likes (selects the thumbs up sign) his or her picture appears next to it as an endorsement of the brand.  Facebook did not have mechanisms in place to ask for permission prior to publishing the photos.  Facebook settled for millions most of which went to the attorneys. 

Denver Post reported that a conservative political party claimed fair use, when the group used a copy of a gay couple kissing at their wedding.  The political party made a copy of the picture changed the background printed it on flyers and mailed out to recipients in Colorado to make a political statement.  The fair use presents a defense against violations for the use of others’ copyrighted material without asking permission because of their belief of fair use.  There has not been a lawsuit filed.

Trademark – An artist filed an infringement suit against the Baltimore Ravens football team for their use of a design of a bee logo.  The artist designed a very similar logo for the Maryland Stadium Authority.  The 4^th Circuit Court concluded the Ravens use the logo for factual content and not expressive content.  According to entertainmentlaw.com, had the artist used the logo as a trademark perhaps he would have the right to claim copyright infringement.  The court ruled in favor of the Baltimore Ravens.

Copyright – Jack Daniels the liquor company sent a Cease and Desist letter to an author for copyright infringement of their label.  The author’s book cover closely resembled the Jack Daniels label.  The company offered partial cost to replace the book cover.  The civility of the Cease and Desist letter of Jack Daniels company is unprecedented, a normal Cease and Desist letter is scary and nasty.

Trade Secrets – A very important lesson learned for the creator of the famous Tommy Lee, of the Motley Crew band, drum loop coaster.  The creator of this design wanted compensation, however, there were no documents in place stating that he was to receive compensation for the design, therefore, he could not claim that the idea was a trade secret that had been violated.  No compensation was awarded to designer.

Misrepresentation – In Blancarte vs. Solis, according to the Talent Agency Act of California only a licensed talent agent can negotiate talent contracts.  An entertainment lawyer, Blancarte negotiated a contract of a sportscaster, Solis claimed that the lawyer misrepresented himself and, therefore, not entitled to the fee.  The Labor Commission concurred based on the Talent Agency Act policy.  Blancarte continues to pursue the lawsuit in a higher court.  This poses the question, if lawyers are able to negotiate contracts of talent without being a licensed talent agent where does that leave the talent agents in the negotiation process?  Or what about the states that do not require that a talent agent be licensed, would the Talent Agency Act policy apply in those states?

Justin Bieber – A woman filed a lawsuit against Justin Bieber for hearing impairments caused by the elevation of decibels exacerbated by loud music and crowd yelling cued by Bieber throughout the concert.  The woman is seeking $9 million in damages.  It is common practice for the venue to take assumption of risks in consideration; for instance, having earplugs on site or sound checks to ensure the sound does not exceed unhealthy limits.

In talent management, the above cases have the potential to be commonplace against a company with the talent that they represent if proper and thorough contracts are not in place.  This includes all contracts with talent, venders, independent contractors, employees, etc.  It is imperative that one should not leave anything for assumptions; a well-structured contract has no room for ambiguity.

Liabilities in The Entertainment Business

There are many liabilities that can occur in the entertainment business.  I will discuss three:  infringement, not obtaining permission, and not honoring the terms of a contract.

In the Arnold M. Preston, petitioner v. Alex E. Ferrer case.  Preston petitioned lawsuit to obtain fees owed to him by Ferrer.  Ferrer stated that Preston should have performed the duties of a Personal Manager (PM), instead of a Talent Agent.  Ferrer, television character “Judge Alex”, brought the case to the California Labor Commissioner for judgment of the contract being unenforceable and void due to Preston being an unlicensed talent agent, therefore, should not be owed fees.  The case was remanded to Arbitration.

No. 06-1463

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

552 U.S. 346; 128 S. Ct. 978; 169 L. Ed. 2d 917; 2008 U.S. LEXIS 2011; 76 U.S.L.W. 4097; 28 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 681; 27 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 257; 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 77

Already, LLC, dba YUMS v. Nike, Inc

Nike sued YUMS in federal district court alleging trademark infringement based on a “colorable imitation" of its product.  YUMS filed a covenant and made changes that no longer infringed the Nike trademark.  Decision:  Covenant not to enforce trademark against competitor’s existing products and any future “colorable imitation” held to moot competitor’s action to have trademark declared invalid.

No. 11-982

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

133 S. Ct. 721; 184 L. Ed. 2d 553; 2013 U.S. LEXIS 602; 105 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1169; 23 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 549

The French appears to be very serious in upholding the antipiracy law.  Disney, Warner Bros., 20^th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, the Civil Society of Phonographic Producers, and the Society of Authors, Composers and Music Editors (SACEM) were awarded $1.6 million in an illegal downloading case in France.  The 21- year old programmer and creator of the illegal sharing site Forum DDL, do not have the funds to pay the millions of dollars in damages.  The programmer was convicted under 2004’s Code of Intellectual Property and will spend three years in jail.  The French government goes after the consumers in the form of warnings to those who participate on the illegal downloading site, enforcing the Hadopi law (three-strikes law).

Chipotle Sues Frank Ocean For Backing Out of Ad Campaign

Chipotle alleges that they paid Frank Ocean $212,500 to produce a song in an ad campaign and promised to pay another $212,500 after the song was delivered.  Chipotle says Mr. Ocean agreed and backed out of the deal.

It is apparent that contracts need to be explicit and detailed, not leaving anything to chance.  A business plan should be structured in the same fashion.  To "cover yourself" is the name of the game in the entertainment business.