ESPN, Pizza Hut engage second screens in a play for younger audiences during March Madness

With the NCAA Women’s and Men’s March Madness tournaments currently underway — until March 26 — brands are looking to engage with college basketball fans through social media and connected TV.

Click here to read the story at digiday.com.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is fandom?
2. How might the NCAA Tournament illustrate the concept of fandom?
3. Why might marketers be interested in tapping into the fandom surrounding March Madness?
4. How might they connect with those fans?
5. What is fan engagement?
6. Why is engagement important to marketers?
7. What are some different ways marketers might measure engagement?
8. What is a “second screen” (as referenced in this news story)?
9. How might a second screen boost levels of engagement?
10. What is a target audience?
11. What are demographics?
12. What demographic are ESPN and Pizza Hut targeting with the integration of second screens as part of their March Madness marketing?
13. How might a second screen help brands reach a younger audience?
14. What are industry trends?
15. Why do you think nostalgia marketing is such a popular marketing trend right now?
16. Describe how ESPN and Pizza Hut have tapped into nostalgia marketing as part of their March Madness campaigns.
17. What is NIL?
18. Why do you think Continental Tires leaned into its NIL program as part of its March Madness campaign?
19. What might that tell you about who they are targeting with their March Madness marketing?
20. What is social media marketing?
21. How might different social platforms be used for different purposes from a marketing perspective?
22. According to this story, how might a brand benefit from a TikTok campaign during March Madness?
23. Alternatively, how might a brand use Twitter?
24. If you were running a March Madness marketing campaign for your favorite brand, which social platforms would you use and how?