Combate Channel Case
In October 2020, VX started the interactions with Combate Channel. And we already started this mission on full speed: our first challenge was the retirement fight of the champion Anderson Silva. The expectation was great and we worked hard to be ready for the fight. We were focused on answering as many questions as possible from the Channel’s audience, as well as on creating conversations during the live broadcast of the fight. After all, our debut on responding was connected to this great event for those who love fighting!
Keeping up the pace of MMA’s first big round, in November we had a surprise and a new challenge: the fight that marked Mike Tyson’s return to the ring alongside another international boxing legend: Ron Jones Jr.
With these two major fights and many other struggles, we got off with the right foot with our journey to strengthen ties with the audience. The first two months of work were intense and brought some spectacular results! See below our case study.
REAL TIME
To serve a channel with live fights, we are connected in real time during the broadcasts to interact with the audience, to monitor what is going on in their social networks to report to the teams concerned and also to give the maximum attention to those who follow and interact with the pages.
In the first two months, there have already been 22 live fights and a growth of +92.7% interactions with a focus on getting closer to the Combatants (as the Combate Channel’s viewers are affectionately called).
In the Anderson Silva retirement fight, we grew by +44% in the number of interactions compared to the previous period, all filled with much affection for the fighter and, despite the loss to Uriah Hall, the Combatants praised Anderson Silva’s performance and trajectory in his last fight.
Less than a month later, it was legend Mike Tyson’s turn to return to the ring in an exhibition fight against Ron Jones Jr., another big name in international boxing. The audience shared nostalgia-filled stories of watching Mike Tyson fight in the 1990s and the joy of seeing him back in action. The event had +41% in total interactions compared to the previous period in October.
BRAZILIAN SQUAD
Other big highlights in the octagon were Brazilian fighters Deiveson Figueiredo, Raoni Barcelos, Glover Teixeira and Charles do Bronx, who raised a large number of interactions in their fights. The Santos vs. Teixeira clash divided the audience that admires both Glover Teixeira and Thiago “Marreta” dos Santos and, on the same night, Raoni Barcelos was highly praised after defeating Khalid Taha in the preliminary card.
WOMEN'S SQUAD
Highly praised and requested throughout these months of social listening work at Combate Channel, the fighters made their cards look good and made history in the UFC. Besides Claudia Gadêlha, Jéssica Bate-Estaca and Amanda Ribas, Norma Dumont and Taila Santos stood out in the interactions and affection of the martial arts fans, always a success when it comes to engagement.
MONITORING AND HIGHLIGHTS
The Combate Channel’s official networks continue to grow and had an increase of +32% in overall interactions in the month of December compared to November. Subscribers to the official Combate YouTube channel rose to +18.6% to follow the live broadcasts showed before the UFC cards start on Combate Channel. With this growth, interactions intensified on the video portal and reached the +21.4% mark for comments and likes. On Instagram, engagement grew by +39%, mainly on days of UFC fights and on posts about the winning fighters of the cards. The number of Twitter followers grew (38.1% more than the period before VX’s social listening began), which also resulted in an increase in engagement (73% more, highlighting the Hall vs. Silva and Tyson vs. Jones fights) that follows the network’s growth. Facebook is one of the networks where audience interacted the most before VX’s arrival and continues to constantly increase interactions (+53.8% from October to December 2020).
It is a challenge to grow together with the only martial arts channel in Brazil and the complicity of the brand’s fans is essential to make sure that we have more and more positive results to show! We are with Combate, ready for the fight!
