The One Thing Sports, Music and Gaming Have In Common: Passion

In the cold air of a seemingly ordinary Tuesday morning, industry leaders were lining up on Macquarie St to get their free coffee and breakfast provided by M&C Saatchi Sports and Entertainment… and to get the inside scoop on what Australians are most passionate about, of course. 

M&C Saatchi S&E’s managing director, Krystyna Frassetto hosted a panel with Natalie Fagg, executive general manager at the Sydney Swans, Mark Muggeridge, head of touring at Chugg Music, and Jon Satterley, CEO and founder of Fortress.

Here were three panellists that couldn’t be more different in terms of the passions they represent, and yet, their answers followed a similar theme: passions are essential to engaging audiences. With the recent resurgence into the ‘normal’ world after covid and the cost-of-living constantly rising, people's passions have changed accordingly.

With the understanding that most people will seek out “people like me”, M&C Saatchi S&E have found that Australians can be roughly broken down into three categories: 

A rise in passions that surround family, friends, faith and personal growth/self care was also noted by the panel and can be attributed to the lasting effects of covid and the cost-of-living crisis. A full report of M&C Saatchi S&E’s findings will be released on Friday. 

Natalie Fagg touched on the diversity of the audiences that the Sydney Swans attract and how those audiences differ between the mens and womens teams. She noted that the thing that binds the huge range of audience members together is the intense interest in the players and their multi-dimensional lives. She has found that when the Sydney Swans “showcase that human side of the person running on the field,” it adds value to the experience in the games. She encourages brands to sit in the grandstand and experience the energy of the fans in order to cater to them and what they enjoy most about being a sports fan. 

Mark Muggeridge has found that artists can no longer be marketed towards just one blanket demographic. Music spans across thousands of different types of fans, trying to shoehorn a band or an artist isn’t effective in creating a relationship with brands or most importantly, their fans. He noted that the fans are the people who create the success of the artists, they are the ones to organise meet ups, and formulate expressions of admiration in the crowds through a collective idea. They are the team leaders in creating an artists identity, just as much as it is the responsibility of the artists themselves. Brands that see the artist and their fans and understand what they are passionate about, for example an artist will partner with a shoe brand because that's what they wear on stage but would never partner with a fast food brand because that isn’t part of their image, are the ones that will be successful.

Jon Satterly talked about a whole new ballgame, one that many brands struggle to find their footing in due to the nature of the industry: Gaming. Sometimes mischaracterised as nerdy, childish and uncool by those who aren’t involved within this particular subculture, those that are passionate about gaming span over generations. Jon has found that people who love games want to meet in a physical space to talk and connect despite the online nature of gaming. Jon stated that brands can’t just insert themselves into a game, it’s not how they operate and if brands would like to involve themselves in the community, they need to be proactive in creating activations and events.  

M&C Saatchi S&E have curated data that allows brands to find their niche and which passion they are also passionate about. The energy in the room was high, with ideas running from one group to the other and questions about how best to incorporate certain passions over others were being thrown around.  

All in all the panel re-opened these industry professionals to the world of possibilities that may have gotten lost in the chaos of the first six months of this year. For the rest of us, it’s exciting to see where these conversations will lead.