With the acceleration of all things digital and AI, humans are losing their grip on reality, and brands are losing their grip on customers. Sport could be the answer.
At the end of 2024, the Oxford English Dictionary announced that their word of the year – as voted by 37 000 people – was “brain rot”. To clarify, the annual word of the year is chosen to reflect the “mood and conversations that have helped shape the past year”, so not a great time for humanity.
‘Brain rot’ is not a new word, but it’s been making a comeback – used to describe banal content on social media and online generally, as well as the mental deterioration that results from consuming it.
Interestingly, it’s primarily Generations Z and Alpha who are bringing it back – on TikTok no less. It would seem that even digital natives are becoming disillusioned with the doom scroll.
This sentiment was echoed in VML’s latest Future 100 trends report, which surveyed more than 13 000 people in 14 global markets, including South Africa. Seventy-one percent of South African respondents under 30 agreed either strongly or somewhat that, overall, social media is having a negative impact on society and only 17% trust influencers.
Something else to emerge from this year’s report is that under-30s are straight-up lonely. Seventy percent of South African respondents under 30 say there’s no community anymore and 82% believe technology gets in the way of human connection.
They want to feel part of a community and believe community is key for personal development.
Sport for the TikTok Generation
If there’s one arena that does the whole community thing well, it’s sport. Through the us-vs-them psychology of rivalry, sport has long been a way for people to find a sense of belonging. So, the kids love sport, right? Not exactly.
In fact, some research suggests interest in live sport is waning among younger audiences. Even the Super Bowl seems to have lost ground – in one survey, only 44% of respondents aged 18-24 said they were planning to watch this year’s game, compared with 85% of those in the 35-44 age group.
Is this indicative that younger people aren’t interested in sport? Or are we simply asking the wrong question? Instead of asking if young people want to watch sport, perhaps a better question is, how young people want to watch sport.
1. Live action experiences
While there’s a lot of tradition and pageantry around the Super Bowl, one thing it fails to deliver for nearly all fans is the visceral experience of being at the stadium. Meanwhile, research shows that young people are gravitating towards real-world experiences.
In this year’s Future 100 study, 79% of South African respondents under 30 indicated they’d be interested in going on a “digital diet” that involved spending less time online. For a generation that has grown up in front of screens and spends most of its time online, television is mundane. On the other hand, the physical world is a place to be enchanted.
By making live sport physically accessible through affordable ticket prices, well-timed matches and convenient locations, it can become an exciting real-world break from a perpetually online existence.
2. Enter the brandoms
As disillusioned as young people appear to be with influencers, when it comes to brands, 77% of South African F100 respondents under 30 said they want to engage with brands and 76% want to join a “brandom” experience. Sport is a way for brands to connect with their fans and vice versa.
Whether it’s an exclusive meet-and-greet with the players, a members-only area in the stands, merch, or an interactive marketing pop-up at the stadium, there are so many ways for brands to create exciting experience for their fans through sport.
3. Beyond the game
Generations who have grown up with devices in their hands are accustomed to multiplatform experiences. For these fans, sport can no longer just be about the on-field action – the game must exist within an ecosystem of entertainment that has many opportunities for fans to engage in real-time and beyond.
Shows like Formula 1’s Drive to Survive have demonstrated the value of behind-the-scenes action in creating excitement around the sport. The Super Bowl has shown how in-game advertising, and the half-time show can become attractions in their own right if executed well.
Interactive elements like spectator polls and live discussion threads appeal to audiences who are double-screening and used to engaging with online content. Esports like FIFA allow fans to insert themselves into the game. Sport and even team-specific apps become spaces for micro-communities to engage outside of traditional social media.
Sport is not just recreation. It’s the gateway to community, belonging, and identity. When brands start to look at sport through the role that it plays in the lives of fans, it becomes clear that sport is the offline, community-building experience that young people are longing for.
We just need to rethink how it’s packaged.
Dono White is strategy director at VML South Africa.
