Tag: contributors

No matter the sport, fans’ love for the game—and for their favorite team—runs deep. That love fuels family traditions, community rivalries and hours of tune-in time. It’s also a love that’s central to American culture. But what happens when that sense of connection comes at the expense of a culture or heritage that has endured centuries of harm in the name of Americana? For many Native Americans, the appropriation of sacred symbols and propagation of stereotypes have been par for the course in American sports at professional, collegiate and K-12 levels. But many of today’s fans are saying it doesn’t have to stay that way. 

Fans applaud the shift away from the appropriation of Native American culture as mascots. In fact, a recent Nielsen Fan Insights survey in collaboration with IllumiNative found that 46% of respondents believe teams are doing the right thing by changing their names and stopping the use of culturally insensitive mascots. For example, after years of pressure, the Washington Football Team finally retired the use of its former name and logo in 2020. The Cleveland Indians made a similar move at the start of the 2019 baseball season when it stopped using its former mascot, Chief Wahoo.

But 45% of fans want sports teams to do more than just stop using culturally insensitive mascots and names. They want them to end the appropriation of Native American culture as well, citing the harm it does to the community and the damaging emotional effects on Native Americans. And much of the appropriation starts in school sports, which the American Psychological Association says establishes an unwelcome and oftentimes hostile learning environment for American Indian students that affirms negative images/stereotypes that are then promoted in mainstream society.

The response to evolving consumer sentiment is also evolving, as the Cleveland Indians took their stance a step beyond retiring its old mascot when it announced in December of last year that it will change its name, which is perceived as more neutral in nature than its former mascot. The phased evolution of the team’s persona reflects how consumers have shifted from intolerance about offensive mascots to intolerance about any cultural appropriation at all.

In some instances, sports organizations and teams had good intentions, using Native American culture and mascots to honor the community. Crystal Echo Hawk (Pawnee), founder and CEO of IllumiNative, explains that what is intended as an honor can often have a demoralizing effect. “Native Americans are the only group being used as sports mascots, depicting our Native American communities not as people, but as ‘other’. It’s dehumanizing and objectifying.”

Not only do fans recognize that sports mascots are the primary means by which Native American cultures are represented on television, 50% of respondents in our recent survey acknowledged that options to see Native American culture or people are represented on TV were limited—especially in contemporary roles and not just historical context. Outside of team names and logos, Native peoples’ share of screen stands at just 0.27%—a figure about one-sixth the presence of Native Americans in the U.S. population today. Increased news coverage has broadened awareness of ongoing policy issues such as voting access and land rights, but when audiences seek out scripted content on TV that includes Native Americans, representation of Native American talent in lead roles is less than 1% in multiple TV genres: 

More needs to be done to expand representation of Native Americans on their terms. And when it comes to championing social issues, sports are leading the way.  Nielsen Sports Managing Director Jon Stainer says the changing tide is another opportunity for pro sports teams: “Sports fans want more from the teams they love—beyond watching their favorite teams play their best, fans want their teams to represent their values. The racial reckoning in the U.S. has created a greater awareness, and sports fans expect their favorite teams to stand up for underrepresented communities and take a stand against cultural appropriation of Native Americans.” 
Trading cultural appropriation in sports for the visibility that Native Americans deserve—representation that is defined by and not dictated to Native peoples—is a long overdue way to truly honor this underrepresented population.

The streaming wars were underway well before the arrival of COVID-19, but the global health crisis dramatically accelerated video streaming adoption and has forever altered our media diets. Once the domain of a handful of high-profile startups, the streaming market is now rife with hundreds of services to choose from, and the content they offer has become a staple part of our video viewing habits.

With new streaming options readily entering the space as consumers gravitate to options that meet their on-demand lifestyles, content creators and streaming platforms will need more than just great TV shows and movies to attract and retain customers. Yes, high-profile releases and beloved library content will attract entertainment-seeking visitors, but what happens when consumers want something fresh? How will they choose what to watch next?

Given that humans are visual creatures, user experience is largely driven by what we see—not what we read. As we scroll through content options, our eyes help us hone in on what appeals to us amid the hundreds of titles we’re exposed to. There is no shortage of great content for consumers to choose from, but future success in the streaming space will hinge on more than just great content—it will need directions to great content. And the effectiveness of those directions will determine whether viewers find it.

Recommendations and suggestions can certainly play a role in content discovery, but they don’t do enough to make video content—which is very visual—stand out. They’re also not connected to a viewer’s mood. Comparatively, a picture is worth a thousand words. And when a picture is personalized, the impact increases exponentially.

The overabundance of content, our “always connected” lifestyles and the impulse to constantly multitask have all taken a toll on our attention spans, and we’re all guilty of tuning out when nothing catches our eyes. This poses big challenges for streaming services and entertainment platforms—vying for our attention. In 2019, we conducted a study that found that U.S. adults would spend about 7 minutes looking for something to watch on their streaming platforms before simply giving up. With the growth in the streaming market over the past year, I wonder if people will still spend 7 minutes before looking elsewhere. My gut says it’s more like 2 or 3.

The video carousel is the storefront for any video content platform. Visitors aren’t logging in to read. They’re logging in for visual experiences. And that’s where personalized images can enhance a platform’s visual merchandising. Let’s say a new release becomes available and a platform does its best to push it to viewers, but it only uses one representative image. That image may not appeal to every potential audience member. For one viewer, the attraction to the content might center on a key theme, while the show’s primary location may draw in another. So if the platform uses different images to appeal to different viewers, the video carousel quickly becomes a personalized storefront that elevates the customer experience. 

“Can this actually make a difference?” you might ask. In a word, yes. User experience personalization is the next opportunity for entertainment providers looking to maximize user satisfaction while simultaneously driving key business metrics. In the increasingly crowded streaming space, content and engagement with available programs are paramount. And when users are presented with an image that resonates with them, they’re going to engage with the program. In fact, a recent pilot by a top-five U.S. streaming service with Gracenote found that personalized imagery contributed to increased hours watched, increased titles watched and increased click-through rates leading to video plays.

In the U.S., Nielsen data tells us that 77% of U.S. homes have at least one connected device, and the time we spend with streaming content is rising. U.S. viewers streamed more than 132 billion minutes of video in December 2020, accounting for nearly one-quarter of total television time in homes that are able to stream video. With that level of engagement, streaming providers have all the incentive to focus on ensuring that they’re doing all that they can to ensure that engaged viewers stay engaged—and on their platforms. 

Smart visual merchandising of video content represents a new opportunity to drive increased engagement and satisfaction. While not all content will appeal to everyone, personalizing the images that illustrate programming will help viewers find shows and movies that align with what they’re looking for.