The document discusses how storytelling is a more powerful tool for brands than selling. It argues that brands should focus on crafting authentic stories that emotionally engage audiences rather than directly selling to them. Specifically, it says that sports provides a unique opportunity for storytelling because fans are already emotionally invested. The author believes brands could be more effective if they positioned themselves as supporting characters in larger stories that resonate with fans, rather than presenting themselves.

1. Street & Smith’s SportsBusinessJOURNAL R www.sportsbusinessjournal.com JUNE 8-14, 2015 R 21
“It has been said
that next to hunger
and thirst, our most
basic human need
is for storytelling.”
— Khalil Gibran
Coming out of
the recent new-
front/upfront season,
content in its many varied forms re-
mains the almighty king, and its influ-
ence only continues to grow, rivaled per-
haps solely by the emphasis placed on
cross-platform distribution (the prover-
bial queen) and data insights to inform
how brands maximize that content. But
it’s still all about the content.
Then why is it that the prevalent
theme in our industry continues to be
around selling vs. stories, or trying to
master the art of selling to consumers,
to clients, to properties, to each other,
rather than striving for the mastery
of content? The art of selling is funda-
mentally underpinned by something far
more lasting, far more compelling, far
more personal and ultimately far more
powerful, yet rarely given the same pri-
ority: The art of storytelling.
I’m not simply talking Don Draper
Kodak Carousel storytelling, but the im-
mense power of sports storytelling. And
I’m not just talking about the excellence
with which
linear and
digital
networks
broadcast to
us as fans,
but from
the vantage
point of
how brands,
through
their sports
invest-
ments, can
become
better sto-
rytellers
to ultimately better sell themselves to
their respective fan base.
This is not a new topic. Scores of
articles have been written about the
importance of storytelling from a more
traditional advertising standpoint.
“Story-selling” has come into our mar-
keting parlance. But are we creating
truly salient means to elevate brand
storytelling through sports?
Storytelling was once the reserved
province of the established editorial
outlets and long-standing publishers
(regardless of medium). It is now the
most powerful currency we have as
brand marketers to intrigue, engage,
inspire and ultimately sell to our target
audiences. The sale in some way, shape
or form is still the end goal, make no
mistake. But it should start with the
belief that to be most successful you
should “tell, don’t sell.”
We mentor our young emerging tal-
ent that the best way to sell-in a concept
to a client (or prospective client) is not
actually a formal presentation. It is a
wonderfully crafted, authentic story
that displays the passion, creativity and
insights you have in solving their busi-
ness challenge.
The beautiful truth of our lives is that
they are stories in and of themselves,
crafted through a constant editorial
and curation process. And there is no
generation that lives its lives as story-
tellers and expects to be engaged in a
commensurate fashion as the millen-
nial generation does. This is a group
that now represents the largest share of
the American workforce and more than
$200 billion in annual buying power.
It is here that sports stands unrivaled,
without peer, without comparison in its
ability to capture the hearts, minds and
wallets. It is the original and ultimate
social media — the ever-present drama
and comedy with both back- and front-
page potential (see any story on Deflate-
gate if you doubt it) and the commercial
magnitude to truly affect the selling
process. This is especially true when
you start by creating a captivating story
to emotionally engage the audience, not
about you, but about them.
We strive to author a compelling nar-
rative that places brands in a prominent
role but still a supporting character
role as part of a much larger and richer
story. The affinity the target has to his
or her passion, not instinctively to the
brand, is the power of the association
on which brands must focus their in-
vestment. The more successful brands
understand that and allow the story to
be the superhero and their brand to be
the trusted sidekick.
With communication technology inno-
vations putting full power in the hands
of consumers, the path to creating and
retaining brand relevancy is anchored in
crafting, curating and distributing com-
pelling stories that trade on emotional
connectivity, regardless of whether you
do it in 140 characters or six seconds
or less. Sports has long been unique
because its commercial nature has been
socially acceptable in our consciousness
and it allows (actually inspires) a brand
to create a direct and meaningful asso-
ciation with fans of that respective sport-
ing experience. We need to consistently
scrutinize where the custom, relevant
connection point is to leverage that ex-
perience and craft the story from there
and, ultimately then, the sell.
In the 1930s, soap operas were created
quite literally because they were com-
mercially funded by companies selling
cleaning products. This evolved to those
brands not just funding but actually
producing the programming. That time
has come and gone and the model has
evolved, but we can extract from that
premise putting the story first and the
brand in support of it. There remains
immense potential to keep shifting the
paradigm of brands “presenting” to
actively “authoring” — further embed-
ding themselves in the broader story-
telling arc of the respective sporting
passion to get closer to what matters
most to their target audiences.
This industry has bestowed upon each
of us an amazing gift of being part of
something much bigger than any of us
individually. It’s a story that keeps being
written. So rather than just the art of
the sale, let’s focus more of our efforts in
further extracting sports’ immense po-
tential in delivering the art of the story.
Pretty sure it’ll be a best-seller. I
Bryce G. Townsend (bryce.townsend@
espglobal.com) is CEO of ESP Brands
(formerly GroupM ESP).
Opinion
BRYCE G.
TOWNSEND
Using sports’ potential to deliver the art of the story
IT’S YOUR TURN TO
SPEAK OUT
Forfurtherinformationonguestcol-
umnsinStreet&Smith’sSportsBusi-
ness Journal, please contact Betty
Gomesat(704)973-1439orbgomes@
sportsbusinessjournal.com.
120 West Morehead Street, Suite 310
Charlotte, NC 28202
Tel: 704-973-1400 Fax: 704-973-1401
www.sportsbusinessjournal.com
Subscription Information: 1-800-829-9839
President/CEO........................ Whitney Shaw
Publisher..................................Richard Weiss
Executive Editor .............. Abraham Madkour
Chairman................Ray Shaw (1989 to 2009)
NEWS
Ross Nethery Managing Editor
Rob Knapp Assistant Managing Editor
Tom Stinson Assistant Managing Editor
Mark Mensheha Assistant Managing Editor
David Bourne Special Reports Editor
Betty Gomes, Jake Kyler Copy Editors
Corey Edwards, Brian Whelihan
Editorial Graphic Designers
Kevin Becker Senior Web Developer
Darin Philyaw Web Developer
Chris Mason Video Editor
REPORTERS:
CHARLOTTE (Phone 704-973-1400)
Bill King Senior Writer
Don Muret, Michael Smith
Staff Writers
David Broughton Research Director
Brandon McClung Research Associate
Jordan Missal Editorial Assistant
NEW YORK (Phone 212-500-0700)
Daniel Kaplan Finance Editor
Terry Lefton Editor-at-Large
Eric Fisher, John Ourand, Ian Thomas,
Ben Fischer Staff Writers
CHICAGO (Phone 312-873-2217)
John Lombardo Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES (Phone 310-322-8711)
Liz Mullen Bureau Chief
Joe Hoffecker Cartoonist
EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS:
SportsBusiness Daily
Rick Ellington Managing Editor
Drew Shull Assistant Editor/Online
Austin Karp Assistant Managing Editor
Adam Harris Assistant Editor
Joe Perez Assistant Editor
Paul Sanford Television Editor
Preston Bounds, Joshua Carpenter, Adam
Stern, Alex Silverman, Mark Bulovas,
Charlie Frankel Staff Writers
Bill Magrath Media Relations Manager
SportsBusiness Daily/Global
David Morgan Managing Editor
HJ Mai Assistant Managing Editor
Tyler Everett, Anna Hrushka Staff Writers
Resource Guide LIVE
Derick Moss Editor
Craig Williams Associate Editor
Laurie Garrison Copy Editor/Sports Business
Awards Coordinator
ADVERTISING
NEW YORK: (N.Y. FAX 212-500-0701)
Julie Tuttle Director of Advertising Sales
(Phone 212-500-0711)
Burt Cobe Northeast Advertising Manager
(Phone 212-500-0702)
Hunter Millington Northeast Advertising
Manager (Phone 212-500-0725)
Matthew Gibson Business Development
(Phone 212-500-0701)
Alex Bounds Advertising Coordinator
(Phone 212-500-0705)
CHICAGO:
Judi Bowe Midwest Advertising Manager
(Phone 312-873-2216)
JACKSONVILLE:
Chris Hixenbaugh Southeast Advertising
Manager (Phone 904-265-2215)
LOS ANGELES:
Mark B. Schwartz Western Advertising
Manager (Phone 310-322-8711, Ext. 11)
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
Beverly Padgett National Audience
Development & Circulation Director
Heather Taylor, Sam Trader, Michael
Johnson, Jordan Yourick
Sales Representatives
David Zenns, Resource Guide LIVE
Sales Representative
Jay Lenihan Marketing and Administrative
Coordinator
Amelia Farmer College & University
Program Manager
Stephanie Brown Marketing Coordinator
Bridget Ernst Circulation Associate
MARKETING
Martin Bounds Vice President, Marketing/
Business Development
Misty Berry Creative Director, Marketing
STREET & SMITH’S
CONFERENCE GROUP
Jim Sullivan Managing Director
Donna Johnson Senior Conference Director
Laura Case Senior Conference Director
Natalie Sharp Sales Director
Allison Brush Sales Director
Lorianne Lamonica Conference Director and
Senior Coordinator
STREET & SMITH’S
SPORTS GROUP
Kirk Shaw Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
Mary Baranowski Controller
MaryLou Millhauser Director of Human
Resources
Debbie Harley Accounts Receivable
Administrator
General email format for staff: firstinitiallastname@bizjournals.com
Visit our website at sportsbusinessjournal.com for complete staff email and phone numbers
GETTYIMAGES
The beautiful
truth of our lives
is that they are
stories in and
of themselves,
crafted through
a constant
editorial
and curation
process.