Translation Founder & CEO Steve Stoute, who recently began working with the Knicks as a brand consultant, said his primary concern right now is working with the NBA’s marketing team on “how we get fans engaged again to watch the game when we go back on air.” Stoute: "When the time is right to start playing games again, certainly we’ll have a seat at the table on how to market that and get fans in." However, Stoute said one potential benefit to sports being played without fans initially is that we could possibly “see a lot of innovation around camera angles” in TV broadcasts and change in the “way the game is displayed.” Stoute: “The live experience will suffer, but the viewing experience could possibly be better.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: In regard to the Knicks, Stoute said there is “a lot of work to be done, and a lot of uncertainty around what can be done and can’t be done.” Stoute: “We have a season to finish. We have a draft coming up. We have a new president in Leon Rose. We got to go back in the market and launch. You got to sell season tickets for next season and get people inspired to come to the games and engage with the team again.” Asked if organizations can take the same level of fan affinity for granted, Stoute said he does not “approach it like we just come on and everybody comes back and gets engaged at the same level.” But he added there is an “opportunity for more fandom and to get more fans that become casual fans and become lean in fans.”
TREAD CAREFULLY: Stoute during a live Q&A following his interview said social messaging from brands and companies “done in a way that feels supportive, provides calm, provides assurance in the midst of this chaos, goes a long way.” Stoute: “But if you can’t do it well because of production issues or the ideas aren’t there, I would say sit it out because if you get it wrong and it’s misconstrued, it can come off as predatory.”
