“Seeing what a difference sport can make in people’s lives and using digital channels to connect them to that can be a really powerful thing.”
In this episode we talk to Brad Paton, Head of Digital at AFL club Richmond. We catch Brad in the middle of one of Richmond’s most successful seasons for many years. He talks to us about the impact the team’s on-field success has on his ability to connect with and grow the club’s fan base.
Brad has a team of 7 people who focus on content production, social media and web production. The team has two key areas of focus: driving membership sales through digital and supporting commercial partnerships. Brad talks about the example of the commercial partnership they have with Bang & Olufsen, for whom they developed an integrated marketing campaign called Jungle Beats that allowed players to curate their own playlists and share with fans.
Brad talks about the balance between running an internal digital marketing agency as well as an always-on, internal news agency. He talks about his career, whether he is really an Essendon or a Richmond supporter, the Telstra online rights deal, the role of Facebook in connecting with fans and how virtual reality could be the next big thing for sport.