WWE kicks, punches, slams advertising and marketing efforts into excessive gear forward of WrestleMania, its large occasion
This yr’s WrestleMania is simply days away, however the WWE’s advertising and marketing marketing campaign for its greatest premium stay occasion of the yr was kicked into overdrive months in the past.
In February, three days earlier than the Tremendous Bowl, with all eyes on Las Vegas, WWE tried to grab among the NFL’s highlight for itself.
The sports activities leisure firm held a press convention in Las Vegas on the T-Cell Enviornment, simply down the street from the stadium the place the Tremendous Bowl was being performed, to advertise WrestleMania XL, a two day occasion in Philadelphia that begins Saturday. It plugged appearances by prime stars together with Cody Rhodes and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who just lately grew to become a board member for WWE’s father or mother firm, TKO Group. The free occasion, which was stay streamed on Peacock, was a bid to seize the eye of the 1000’s of followers on the town, and potential viewers nationwide.
Hundreds confirmed up for the occasion which didn’t embrace any wrestling, however The Rock did slap Rhodes throughout the face, garnering 15.7 million views throughout all of WWE’s social media platforms in lower than 12 hours. Greater than 4.7 million folks watched the occasion stay, making it the most-viewed exterior the ring occasion in WWE historical past, in accordance with the corporate. The press convention had greater than 100 million views in lower than 12 hours.
WWE launched its WrestleMania XL video on the day of the Tremendous Bowl. That video has amassed greater than 5 million views and relying on WWE’s account on X, previously often called Twitter.
Jason Cielsak, president, Pacific Rim, at model expertise agency Siegel+Gale, says that the way in which the WWE crafts its WrestleMania messaging makes followers anticipating an occasion the place lots of the storylines which have been evolving over the yr are resolved within the ring.
“It’s a grasp class in advertising and marketing steeped closely in storytelling and drama that lots of the main sports activities leagues and even tv writers might be taught from,” Cielsak mentioned.
The Rock’s participation in WrestleMania XL, given his longstanding ties to WWE and his film star standing, is a substantial asset.
“The advantages to WWE are quite a few and assist place the group as a reputable leisure entity, luring “future Rocks” searching for international stardom,” Cielsak mentioned.
WWE has additionally been utilizing its skilled relationship with two of the corporate’s greatest social media personalities, Logan Paul and Pat McAfee, to advertise WrestleMania XL. Paul, WWE’s present United States champion, a co-founder of Prime beverage firm, podcaster and YouTuber, uploaded a video on X along with his response to the WrestleMania XL press convention. Paul presently has 23.5 million subscribers on YouTube and 6.8 million followers on X.
McAfee, who rejoined WWE’s Uncooked commentary workforce and co-hosted the WrestleMania XL press convention, just lately interviewed The Rock on his self-titled tv present on ESPN. A clip of the video posted to McAfee’s X account has greater than 3 million views.
The promotional buildup to WrestleMania advantages not solely the corporate, but additionally localities the place the occasion is being held. Final yr, WrestleMania 39, which was held at SoFi Stadium, generated $215 million for the Los Angeles area, in accordance with a research completed by Utilized Evaluation. WWE mentioned that broke its prior report from a yr earlier, when WrestleMania 38 had a $206.5 million financial influence for the Dallas/Arlington area.
WWE says that since 2016, WrestleMania has generated greater than $1.2 billion in cumulative financial influence for the cities which have hosted the occasion.
Shares of TKO Group Holdings, Inc., based mostly in based mostly in Stamford, Connecticut, are up virtually 7% this yr.
