As a society, we love to witness a well developed conflict for the entertainment value it provides. Donald Trump knows this is true and so he ensures the contestants on his show, The Apprentice, experience constant unrest. In the first episode of his new season this week, Trump reminds the contestants that they are not friends, but competing against everyone with whom they are on a team. He knows the success of his show depends upon the entertainment value provided by verbal battles stemming from antagonism among the hopeful apprentices. This season looks promising due to the presence of a vicious district attorney on the women’s team who battles with words for a living.
Similarly, highly developed conflict is at the root of one of my biggest passions, hyped UFC events. Sure the company can put the most beloved man in the sport and Canadian hero, George St. Pierre, on the line to defend his title and approach one million Pay Per View buys, but how will the non-title fights fair? The key to success, as UFC head, Dana White, understands is in the promotion. However, million-dollar marketing campaigns are not going to do anything without the cooperation of the fighters. The fighters who know how to promote themselves and realize the true value of entertainment build-up their fights by creating controversy between themselves their opponent in pre-fight interviews, at the weigh-in (generally watched by the hardcore UFC fans who will enthusiastically tell their friends), and v-logs posted for their fan-bases, etc. In effect, these fighters create a story for fans to follow, the climax of which is their upcoming fight. Personally, when I become engaged in such an intense story, I HAVE to watch the fight. If I miss such an event, the only thoughts running through my head for days to come are: Who won? Who won? Who won? And How? (I can’t just know I need to experience it visually for myself).
A demonstration of the true VALUE of entertainment is provided by Brock Lesnar who came to the UFC from the WWE where he was a professional entertainer. In his cross-over to mixed martial arts as a professional athlete he was quickly able to generate a huge fan-base among MMA fans. Headlining UFC 100, in merely his fourth fight in the UFC and rematch against Frank Mir, Lesnar was able to generate a record-breaking 1,600,000 Pay Per View purchases for the UFC. Following his fight which he helped to strongly hype by trash talking the man who had submitted him in their previous encounter, Mir, Lesnar flipped off the booing crowd, bashed the event’s main sponsor, and shared more information than necessary about what he was going to do with his wife after the event. Although this may be common in some associations such as the WWE, this behavior is extremely unorthodox in the UFC which is more focussed on the actual sport taking place. In effect, Lesnar made himself infamous and continues to draw in enormous revenues for the UFC after his rapid ascent.
Other UFC related examples of the value of conflict in entertainment are demonstrated by the infamous ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy,’ Tito Ortiz. Ortiz is not only a great athlete, but a very smart entrepreneur and you can see it in almost all of his fights. From wearing his own clothing line, Punishment Athletics, after all of his fights to the repeated controversy surrounding his actions, Ortiz knows exactly how to gain publicity. Looking at his fight record, it is clear that he is not the greatest fighter. However, he has still managed to headline some of some of the highest grossing UFC events in the past. Another note about his fight record is that he has fought MMA pioneer, Ken Shamrock, three times as well as ex-light heavyweight champion, Chuck Liddell, twice. Were these rematches necessary? Were the outcomes of these events that close? The answer is simply, no. The reason all of these rematches occurred is because the fans demanded them. Why? Because Tito Ortiz has created bitter rivals in these two opponents. I don’t think he really dislikes or even cares about the other two so much. The comments he has made about these two men appear merely to be an attempt at provoking them in order to stir up controversy. Tito Ortiz has succeeded and become much more than a UFC fighter. He is a worldwide celebrity, though he is no longer even in the top ten light-heavyweight fighters in the world. Furthermore, his marriage to porn star, Jenna Jameson, propelled him even further into his celebrity status.
One of the UFC’s most recent advertising campaigns which was for UFC 117 involved the use of one of the most outspoken but relatively unknown fighters up to this point, Chael Sonnen who was to match the reigning middle weight champion, Anderson Silva. Although a rip-off of an established Dos Equis beer commercial, it still seemed to be quite effective under the circumstances. The commercial was not a complete success in contributing to the bottom line likely due to Sonnen being relatively unknown up to this point and Silva severely tarnishing his own image during his last several performances. However, this full utilization of fighters to create conflict (and a story) in promoting events is exactly what the UFC should continue to do in the future in order to generate hype.
Here are a couple of interesting blogs that offer some more insight into the world of marketing:
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