Bleacher Report Touts Heartbeats for 'Socially, Culturally Relevant Insights'

In recent years, data has come to dominate the world of professional sports. Now, it's coming for the world of sports advertising. Heartbeats, an audience research platform from the WarnerMedia-owned sports publisher Bleacher Report, embodies this analytics-based ethos. Originally developed as an internal project in 2018, Heartbeats has evolved into a database of white papers that Bleacher Report uses as a tool to attract and retain advertising partners. Although the publisher is unable to attribute sales exclusively to its use of Heartbeats, the trend is positive. Since 2017, 51% of Bleacher Report clients have run repeat business with the publisher, and 12% of its clients have worked with the publisher for at least five consecutive years, according to chief revenue officer Stefanie Rapp. In total, the Bleacher Report sales team has used Heartbeats in 50 successful pitch meetings. “We have very specific first-party data that we can provide clients,” Rapp said, “but the more socially, culturally relevant insights we can offer on what’s happening in the marketplace, to fandom overall, that's why they keep coming back to us.” As the digital advertising landscape moves away from third-party tracking, the importance of first-party data from publishers has risen, meaning publishers that can act as experts on their audiences are becoming increasingly valuable. Using Heartbeats, Bleacher Report has been able to serve both as an advertising partner and a consultant, using its blend of in-house expertise to secure and retain clients. The publisher experienced double-digit revenue growth in 2019 and was on pace for similar gains in 2020, prior to the pandemic. This year, Bleacher Report projects double-digit growth from its 2019 figures, though it declined to share specific numbers. Charting the contours of culture Led by a team of 10 dedicated research scientists, Heartbeats studies the Bleacher Report audience and produces roughly four studies per year, with one subject revisited and revised annually: the youth culture report. Each study dives into a specific, sports-centric phenomenon, such as sneaker culture, sports betting or the next generation of soccer fans. The reports use a blend of statistical and behavioral analysis to help potential marketers understand the contours of the culture they want to reach. For example, in an effort to create a marketing campaign that appealed to female sports fans, the Heartbeats team used data it had collected to create four different personas: forever fans, satisfied supporters, equality engagers and fitness followers. They then divided those categories further, sorting female fandom into two macro groups: general sports fans and those who specifically support female sports. From this research came a new portfolio brand focused on female athletes and teams called Highlight Her, which attracted Nike as its sponsor. Centered around the NBA All-Star Weekend, the campaign used proprietary insights to bring together a panel of influential women, both athletes and sports enthusiasts, to discuss female fandom and empowerment. B/R uses Heartbeats in preplanning to drive purchase intent Bleacher Report reaches more than 200 million monthly users across its website, social media and app, and last year the publisher generated 26 billion total video views, according to Rapp. Its audience is particularly active. Three of the five most-followed sports accounts on Instagram belong to Bleacher Report, and its Twitter account was the leading U.S. brand on Twitter, based on user engagement, in 2020, according to Statista. Using Heartbeats, Bleacher Report has been able to translate that following into profit, as advertising represents roughly 90% of the publisher's total revenue. In one case, State Farm, a multiyear advertising partner with Bleacher Report, wanted to be more culturally relevant to a younger audience. To accommodate, the publisher cited a Heartbeats report that detailed the roller-coaster emotional relationship fans have with their favorite teams. The proprietary data suggested that fans respond to brands whose messaging appears at emotionally crucial junctures, so State Farm and Bleacher Report partnered to deliver the most sought-after highlights in real time. The insurance brand has advertised with Bleacher Report for multiple years, making a precise cause-and-effect difficult to pinpoint, but State Farm saw a 27-point lift in purchase consideration and 16-point lift in preference in 2018-19, according to Ed Romaine, Bleacher Report’s head of marketplace image and monetization. When the pandemic struck and sports ground to a halt, Heartbeats commissioned a report to determine how the absence of sports was affecting both athletes and fans. It discovered that athletes, in their isolation, had taken to social media to share their newly disrupted personal lives with fans. Heartbeats then crafted a campaign called "Stay In. Play On.," which showcased how athletes were staying active while homebound. Heartbeats is used in the precampaign part of the planning process, applying data-led intelligence on audiences to ensure the branding is integrated while the messaging remains subtle but effective, Romaine said. "If a brand was interested in soccer, we’d say, 'Here’s what we know about what messages work best,'" Romaine said. "Now let’s collaborate on campaign creative." How Bleacher Report Wins in Video

Media News

Bleacher Report Touts Heartbeats for 'Socially, Culturally Relevant Insights'

Audience intelligence helps B/R win repeat business with 51% of its clients

Mark Stenberg

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Mark Stenberg