Last week we brought you a new music video themed around the UFC from world-renowned dance act Deadmau5 and in a new interview the promotion’s Chief Marketing Officer Bryan Johnson explained it was all part of a drive to raise awareness of their brand.
“Being here in Las Vegas, Deadmau5 is an artist-in-residence at Wynn Las Vegas’ nightclubs,” Johnson tells USAToday. “He came to us and said he was a fan of the UFC. We started talking to him, and his creative team started rolling out ideas and basically said, ‘We want to do this with you because we’re fans.’ Over a six-month period, we just kind of worked with them.
“They created the concept. We made it real.”
Part of the reason Deadmau5 was an attraction from the UFC’s stand-point was that they both operate within a similar key demographic.
“The thing we loved about Deadmau5 is that he’s one of the most significant artists touring this summer, and his core demographic is males 17-21,” Johnston said. “We own 18-34, but it just shows you that even though we’re already young, we’re focused on going one step younger.
“Honestly, I could spend $10 million and come up with a massive strategy, but this one simple execution – creating an adjacency with Deadmau5 – is 10-times more powerful than some long-term marketing strategy to 18-year-old males.”
And Johnson says we should get used to seeing this kind of thing as this collaboration is just the start of their plans to broaden their marketing horizons in the world of entertainment.
“I think it’s the kick off of a new strategy, but it’s probably more of an evolution of strategy,” Johnston said. “You’ll see us do more and more music integration with big-time artists. We’ll also put a whole emphasis on creating relevance in other elements of culture, whether it’s entertainment, music or other athletes in other sports. That will be part of our continued strategy going forward to grow the business.”
