The marketing basic of ESPN’s body issue

Those of you who are recondite to ESPN’s body issue – at the very core it is a bunch of athletes photographed naked. But does it go way beyond that? Is it actually a genius and very effective marketing campaign? Well, it did help in achieving double the normal edition sales, greater sales than any bi-weekly issue in over two years and 35 percent more ad sales than comparable issues. So it is axiomatic that the campaign helped save the magazine during a financial crisis.

Let’s look into the basics of marketing strategies that ESPN employed in their body issue to spark a buzz amongst their audience:

• Triggers emotions

On the surface it may seem that the only emotion naked athletes in a magazine can invoke is curiosity of seeing what is under the ‘hood’ but the beauty is that the issue plays on the complex interaction of curiosity, motivation and vulnerability. ESPN did much more than put naked athletes on the cover. One can clearly see the hardships that sports inflict on human bodies. It is a celebration of the athletic form and every shape of the human body. What makes it truly empowering is the emotion it triggers amongst people, which makes them want to buy the magazine.

• Memorable and vulnerable

Coming up with campaigns that leave an impact on people’s minds is a tough task. Usually, people just look at content and then within milliseconds forget it. This is a struggle marketers have face since time immemorial. ESPN came up with a strategy that people can’t forget. Moreover, capturing athletes as their purest and vulnerable selves sparked a feeling of realism and reminded people that their idols are also just humans.

• Positive message

This is marketing at its purest. Associating an underlying positive message with a campaign makes it impactful, meaningful and most importantly, relatable. ESPN featured Chris Mosier, the first transgender athlete in their body issue to celebrate all human forms. Making people feel comfortable in their own bodies and celebrating inclusivity of all gender types was their motto; they sure were successful in doing so.

Needless to say, they also capitalized on the biggest money making entity – sensuality but you can see how it is different from just slapping nude pictures on the cover to sell a commodity.

So keep in mind these basics of marketing before coming up with your next campaign. Instead of casting blindly here and there make directed efforts towards curating a campaign that invokes emotions in your targeted audience.