{"id":55227,"date":"2018-02-09T14:59:15","date_gmt":"2018-02-09T20:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=55227"},"modified":"2018-02-09T14:59:15","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T20:59:15","slug":"just-business-wwes-mixed-match-challenge-faltering-wwes-fault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/02\/09\/just-business-wwes-mixed-match-challenge-faltering-wwes-fault\/","title":{"rendered":"IT&#8217;S JUST BUSINESS: Why WWE&#8217;s Mixed Match Challenge faltering is WWE&#8217;s fault"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2429584373\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the WWE isn\u2019t happy with the performance of their Mixed Match Challenge then they have no one to blame but themselves. According to a report from Wrestling Observer, there are key people in the company who feel like the investment hasn\u2019t been worth the payoff. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of writing this, WWE is averaging roughly 1.7 million views each week, but has been on a steady decline from 1.9 million in week one to 1.6 million this past Tuesday. To WWE\u2019s credit, they have pushed big names into the mix with Sasha Banks, Finn Balor, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, and Braun Strowman all competing. They\u2019ve also given the concept reasonable promotion time on WWE\u2019s Raw and Smackdown Live programming. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If WWE is considering looking at this as a loss, it\u2019s only because they failed to market the product effectively and they\u2019ve failed to see the bigger picture in this experiment. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Who is the Mixed Match Challenge For? <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Any content company should be clear on two things when they release them to the public: Why are we doing this and who are we doing this for? With MMC, it\u2019s a little hard to answer either question. The content itself should have been marketed with the intent of reaching an audience not currently captured on TV or the WWE Network (otherwise why ask your hardcore fan base to have to give you another 25 minutes a week). The idea is that you\u2019re bringing in new eyeballs that might be interested in watching your weekly shows and eventually becoming a subscriber (which puts them in the most loyal audience and whose lifetime value is the greatest). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WWE released a product without a real appeal to the current fan base and without a hook for the casual or completely new user. The hook of a mixed tag team match for charity is only interesting to a very small section of people and those people are likely the ones who cared in the first place. If the goal is to reach new users, then the WWE has to create content that will get the non-fan interested. Where\u2019s the hook in it\u2019s current format? (It should also be pointed out that hardcore fans of the product are likely to believe that Asuka or Braun Strowman are going to win MMC making it even less interesting to watch). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Facebook Should Be A Marketing Tool<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It appears that WWE has fallen into a trap that so many content creators and media companies have over the last few years. There\u2019s an instinct to treat Facebook like a destination or another arm of your business. The flawed thinking is that since Facebook has some potential for virality, and an algorithm that likely can be manipulated by the company itself, that all WWE has to do is color within the lines and the reach they want will be there. <\/span><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1808814210\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook is, at its most helpful, a marketing tool. Rather than assume it will push your content viral or create the buzz you hope to create, more and more companies are going to have to accept the fact it\u2019s simply a place where you can reach the most people possible in a hyper-targeted way. If WWE wanted to be smart about the MMC, they would have pushed paid promotion behind it. It\u2019s a crowded market so WWE needs to be proactive about pushing their content if they feel like the value is high for the average user. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I do believe at some point Facebook will figure out how to leverage their audience through promotions for the programming they distribute, but we\u2019re still in the early stages with the Watch tab so companies have to be willing to push themselves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The Reaction from WWE Is Not Unique<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fans of the WWE will notice that the company goes hot and cold on a product quickly. If they weren\u2019t contractually obligated to produce this show, would it shock a single fan if they abandoned it completely? WWE has never seemingly valued the long game. In their weekly product they have often valued the big moment and the one night payoff over telling a story over time. But, if WWE is going to make a successful go at building a bigger audience and driving audience engagement over the long haul, they have to be willing to be patient and invest money in exposing their product for new audiences. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summary: <\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">WWE should focus their Facebook Watch efforts on converting casual users into loyal users. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The product they market to a wider audience needs more mass appeal (see &#8220;Total Divas&#8221;) and they should be open to paying for that exposure. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Building a quality business takes patience and persistence. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/02\/04\/just-business-pros-cons-wwe-moving-raw-smackdown-either-facebook-amazon-instead-cable-network\/\">IT\u2019S JUST BUSINESS: The pros and cons of WWE moving Raw and Smackdown to either Facebook or Amazon instead of a cable network<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-16474942\"><div id=\"pwtor-2412128612\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>If the WWE isn\u2019t happy with the performance of their Mixed Match Challenge then they have no one to blame but themselves. According to a report from Wrestling Observer, there are key people in the <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/02\/09\/just-business-wwes-mixed-match-challenge-faltering-wwes-fault\/\" title=\"IT&#8217;S JUST BUSINESS: Why WWE&#8217;s Mixed Match Challenge faltering is WWE&#8217;s fault\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,5905,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-its-just-business","category-specialists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/12\/WWELogo_MixedMatchChallenge_3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55227"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55229,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55227\/revisions\/55229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}