by Fabs Fabon
To a lot of Millennials, pro wrestling (specifically, the WWE) has become an indelible part of pop culture. It has shaped their childhoods and created pop references that are still used to this day. It is, after all, one of the greatest spectacles known to man.
And that spectacle didn’t get there by the sheer power of wrestling. There’s a lot more behind it, there are bits and pieces behind pro wrestling that makes the magic work. Often it’s so in our faces that we forget it’s there, but that’s what we’re going to do today. We will take a look at the true magic behind pro wrestling- the magic of marketing.
But first, let me introduce myself. I’m Fabio Makisig from the Manila Wrestling Federation. We’re a really small start-up pro wrestling promotion- most of us would consider what we do as a hobby during our spare time rather than a job. And that’s not to say that we’re not taking this seriously. The simple truth is the industry here is so small that pro wrestling often means spending more than you earn. And that’s why I’m here: a writer for 14:59 by day, MWF’s Pinoy Wrestling Champion by night.
Now this entire thing might come as a surprise but yes, we do have pro wrestling here in the Philippines. And yes, that surprise is no surprise to me, because we lack that magic that bigger productions have.
The major problem of Philippine pro wrestling is that we simply lack the marketing mastery to properly get our product to the eyes of Filipinos everywhere. It doesn’t matter how many shows we do, how great our pro wrestling is, or how amazing the entire product is- with a sore lack of an audience, growth isn’t going to happen.
Interestingly enough, that growth is predicated on marketing. The magic that made WWE work. From the Golden Era of Hulk Hogan to Stone Cold Steve Austin’s Attitude Era, WWE’s marketing machine has been amazingly tight. They knew how to reach their audience, pique the attention of tangentially-interested people, enough to convert them into paying fans, and grow their business. And growth is something the WWE has in spades. From a small family business to an international mass media company, WWE has seen almost impossible growth. Growth that MWF is hoping to start traversing.
This is where my day job and my spare time coincide. You see, I’m not just a pro wrestler for MWF. I also handle operations and make critical business decisions. Our entire team understands the sheer importance of marketing and has unanimously decided to put most of our efforts there. We recognize that without effective marketing, our potential audience will remain untapped, limiting our growth and impact on the local pro wrestling scene.
One of the key principles I learned in my day job is the power of branding. Building a strong and recognizable brand identity is crucial in the world of pro wrestling- or any business, for that matter. With this in mind, we focused on creating a unique and compelling brand for MWF that would resonate with the Filipino audience. We carefully crafted our logo, merchandise, and visual design elements, even our story beats, to reflect the energy, excitement, and cultural nuances of the Philippines. Whether it’s deemed ‘baduy’ or not, we infused local flavor into our brand, aiming to establish a deep connection with our target audience and differentiate ourselves from other wrestling promotions.
Of course, wrestling is not just about physicality and athleticism; it's about creating captivating narratives that emotionally connect with the audience. To achieve this, we developed our own storylines, characters, and feuds that would captivate the imagination of Filipino fans. We incorporated elements of Filipino culture and history to make our narratives relatable and unique. We’ve featured Tondo vs. Cavite in our programming, we have a masked wrestler calling himself a Katipunero running around, our cast of characters take inspiration from common folk in everyday Filipino life- we’ve committed to the branding of being Filipino to the point that we’re entering kitsch. And it is through this kitsch mixed with well-crafted promos, backstage segments, and social media content, that we are able to engage fans and keep them invested in the ongoing drama of MWF. All of these we try to capture in our marketing materials so unconvinced fans can see what we can offer.
Fortunately, my day job of having to write copy, staring at marketing assets (or pub mats as we call them in MWF), and understanding briefs and mechanics for companies bigger than us has become a boon to what I do in MWF. Armed with the knowledge that simple words can make a large difference, I try to urge our team towards creating more engaging marketing materials, including bits and pieces that will get people talking, and to just generally draw more. Having the insight into how visuals and words can be used together brought a new level of professionalism to our wee product, and as a result, we’ve seen significant and continuous growth.
This growth is slow, and it’s a constant uphill climb. But much like how a wrestling match and a marketing campaign is like, it usually starts with a bang and then a slow crawl to the goal. We’re in the slow crawl phase now. All that’s left for us to do is be consistent.
Got a question, a comment, or maybe looking for advice on digital? Drop me a line at fabs@1459dsi.com!
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