Campaign - Gay Athletes Influencer Agency

About Spectrum

Spectrum is a boutique influencer agency that focuses connects LGBTQ+ personalities with brands. With a clientele base of over 250 influencers, ranging from YouTube stars, to Instagrammers, Facebook personalities and Twitter users, Spectrum aims at supporting and uplifting the influencer careers of established, up-and-coming as well as junior content creators. Spectrum’s mission is to partner influencers with sponsorships, media deals, collaborations and advertising spots in order to increase the representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the realm of influencer advertising and marketing. Currently, Spectrum is looking to broaden its the roster of influencers it currently has, with a new push towards supporting LGBTQ+ athletes in the USA.

Athletic LGBTQ+

The representation of the LGBTQ+ community in media has greatly increased in the past several years, with a significant increase in openly out LGBTQ+ athletes at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and the 2018 Pyeon Chang Winter Olympics. However, as Maggie, a producer at Mashable has posited: “LGBTQ people have a long way to go when it comes to equal representation in just about ... anything. Still, they're slowly making their way up the mountain, one summer camp, Instagram post, and one viral music video at a time” (Mashable, 2018). In 2017, the number of Americans identifying as being part of the LGBTQ+ community rose to a staggering 4.5%. With an increase of .5% in just over a year, the number now represents over 14.6 million Americans identifying as members of the queer community (Gallup, 2017).

Outsports recorded at least 49 openly gay athletes at the Rio Olympics, with a trans model at the opening ceremony, and a gay marriage proposal all occurring during the global event in Brazil (CNN, 2016). Surprisingly, there were no openly gay American male athletes present, which, according to and Isabella Cerullo, is report that it is most likely due to the toxic atmosphere surrounding sports in general, as she encountered homophobic slurs when entering the rugby pitch at the Olympics (CNN, 2016). In 2018, Peyon Chang hosted the Winter Olympics, which was the first ever Olympic event with openly gay American male athletes participating. The 2018 American Olympic team of 244 athletes, the largest ever recorded in history, comprised of only two gay male athletes. Gus Kenworthy and Adam Rippon, both openly out, became stars of the events, garnering attention for LGBTQ+ athletes around the world. However, based on the percentage of LGBTQ+ identifying individuals in the USA, the ratio is far from being representative in the US Olympic team, with only 2 openly out athletes out of 244, a step down from the expected 11 athletes.

The new Spectrum Sports initiative is inspired both by the American Olympic teams of Rio and Peyon Chang as well as two main projects in the Los Angeles area, all aiming to increase LGBTQ+ athlete representation. One of such projects is the LGBTQ LA Olympians photo exhibit, which launched in July 2018 at the Los Angeles City Hall in downtown LA. The exhibit is a celebration of the numerous LGBTQ+ American athletes who have gone to represent their country on world stages throughout history. The display of portraits attempts to honor athletes who have been brave enough to accomplish amazing feats in competitions around the globe as their authentic, openly out selves (NBC LA, 2018). The other project which inspired Spectrum to establish this new sector is the LA Dodgers Pride Night, which supports LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports. The annual Pride Night is the largest LGBTQ+ support event in all of the sports, and includes singers, artists, kiss-cams and announcements in support of the community (MLB, 2018).

The Client: Adam DeVine

For the launch of the Spectrum Sports initiative, the agency is looking to bring on Abrahm DeVine as its first client. Abrahm is a 22-year-old Stanford University student, accomplished NCAA swimmer, competing at the World Championships, as well as the Pan Pacific Championships, and is on track to qualify for the 2020 Olympic team (Swimming World, 2018). DeVine just recently came out as gay in an interview with Swimming World on September 16th, 2018. In the interview, DeVine expressed how difficult it has been to be a closeted athlete competing at such a high level, referring to the limited number amount of LGBTQ+ out athletes in sports. DeVine has garnered quite a bit of attention for his public announcement with Swimming World, with articles being written inOutSports,PRIDE,Lavender MagazineandLGBT Lifeto name a few. DeVine represents a new form of influencer, specifically in the LGBTQ+ community, as he is giving a voice to newly out and up-and-coming star athletes in the USA and around the world.

DeVine currently uses Instagram as his sole means of communication with the world. His account is verified and has garnered an audience of 2,500+5 followers to date. As a soon to be graduating Stanford student, DeVine is not currently eligible for donations or grants of any monetary value above the full cost of tuition and food (Aspen Institute, 2018). However, NCAA student-athletes are eligible to collaborate for specific sponsorships or collaborations. DeVines’ following is mostly related to Stanford University, the USA Swimming Association as well as college students across the country. He recently partnered with the USA Swimming Association, taking over their Snapchat account on June 7th, 2018 to cover the Santa Clara Pro Swim Series.

The Competitor

Basic Influencer Information

Collin Martin

📷

Subject area:midfielder for Minnesota United in Major League Soccer.

📷Social media platform

Collin Martin

Abrahm Devine

2012[1]:After joined the joined the D.C. United Academy during the 2009–12 season, Collin impressed the public by leading team in scoring tenths of goals. He began to be featured as “All-Met MF” by mainstream media in Washington area such as The Washington Post.

2013[2]: Being signed as a homegrown player with D.C. United of Major League Soccer won him some media’s attention from small websites to famous newspaper in Washington area. As he began to gain popularity, he seized the opportunity to open a Twitter account on April, 2013.

2017: He gained influence nationally as he played for Richmond Kickers and Minnesota United FC.

2018: Martin has represented the United States at U-20 levels and began to accumulate his influence internationally on Twitter and Instagram.

📷

Figure 1Mapped locations of users Collin’s followers

📷

Figure 2Figure 1 Mapped locations of users Collin’s followers[3]

The word cloud shows the relative frequency of words used in the "location" field of @martcw12’s followers. The most frequented is “Washington-DC”, whose number is approximately 10 times of that in Los Angeles, Huston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Pittsburg, Raleigh, and New York.

📷

Figure 3Gender profile

📷

Figure 4Demographic profile

From the above charts, Collin’s followers are:

· Predominately male (the undetermined gender mainly consists of organizations such as sports club and media)

· Under 18

· White

· Living in Washington and Los Angeles

· Interests: sports, LGBTQ

📷Strength and Weakness

Strength

Weakness

Collin

· High-quality engagement with target audience

· Large audience base

· Have influential followers

· Platform in both Twitter and Instagram

· Frequent appearance in traditional media and mainstream media

· The first come-out gay athlete in major men’s sports league

· Major awards in sports field

· Wrong post timing, and unmatured strategies using social media

· Few diversities of audience – predominately white

Abrahm

· Good social media strategies provided by Spectrum

· Good education background

· Small audience base

· Have no influential followers

· No Twitter account

· Few exposures in traditional media and mainstream media

📷Positioning Abrahm: Differences and Similarities

Similarities

· Male

· Under 18

· Having Interests in sports and LGBTQ

· Style: youthful

Differences

Collin

Abrahm

Region

Washington and Los Angeles

Bay area in short-term; Global in long-term

Culture

conventional

Open-minded and international

Main aim

break the ice of social norms for gay athletes as one of the first openly gay athletes

strengthen the stands for gay athletes that have already been established, and bring in more diversities

Ethnicity

White

White American, Black or African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

Education

Ordinary

High degrees in Ivy schools

Economy

Average level

Above-average

Main Platform

Twitter

Instagram

Style

Positive and kind

Classic, intelligent, critical, earthy

📷Education Background Comparison

Collin Martin Abrahm Devine

📷📷📷

📷Collin ‘s Wrong posting time

Most active hours for Collin’s followers

📷

Collin’s followers are most active during 12 p.m.-15 p.m., which accounts for 34.4% of the average day.

📷

However, according to up to 400 of Collin’s most recent actions, Collin himself is most active after his followers were active: 18 p.m.-20 p.m. During this period. Typically, he retweets 15%, mentions his others 15%-27%, and creates his own content nearly 60%.

📷Collin’s high-quality engagement with fans

By analyzing his 100 tweets, Collin has good-quality interaction with his fans. He spends 20% of his total retweets to reply his fans, including face-to-face and one-on-one interaction, as well as general interaction expressing gratitude to all the fans. His recent engagement with @_zoeystardust shows that he leaves a strong impression to her, making her “cry so much” and feel “a huge difference”.

Replies

28 / 100

Tweets with @mentions

27 / 100

Tweets with #hashtags

36 / 100

Retweets

15/ 100

Tweets with links

14 / 100

Tweets with media

13 / 100

📷

Figure 5 Collin's engagement with fans[4]

📷

Figure 6 Collin's engagement with fans

📷Collin’s top influential followers

📷[5]

*Social Authority is composed of the retweet rate of users' last few hundred tweets, the recency of those tweets, and a retweet-based model provided by Followerwork.

📷

Figure 7Collin’s top 7 followers

Among his top seven influential followers, there are TV show host, basketball player, sports newspaper, American sports writer and TV commenter, professional football club, and pop singer.

· Position: representative of young gay athletes

In the post with @_zoeystardust, he shows “love and support” towards gay athletes. He also talks about parent relationships with young out gays. He often uses #equality and #pride to advocates gay rights.

His most frequently occuring single-words and combined-words are (from the most frequent to the least frequent):

soccer – professional – player – alum – united – university – official

soccer player – professional soccer

· Positive and youthful:

Top topics of Collin:

came boys kansas goal martin support lgbtq north tough syracuse tweet meeting game thunderminneapolis team young season field governor parents soon pleasure going hope tonight lets pride inaugural startwait event poy sports feel wake let follow minnesota vote crowd awards congrats future community united forest nationalnight ill love championship guys wish received amazing said win loons having

Among his most frequent topics, he uses the word “amazing” “support”, while seldom uses negative words. When he is expressing sad feelings, he uses crying emojis 📷 📷 to leverage the negative effects. For instance, in his recent post on 18thMarch 2018, he said “they shouldn’t have been in the tournament 📷! Lets go Cuse 📷📷Boeheims done it again…Dog, that was my final📷”. As is shown, he is careful with wording and even laughs at himself to a sense of comedy. Also, he often uses words such as “boys”, “young” and exclamations, which brings a sense of youth and energy.

📷Suggestions for Abrahm

Embrace more diversities in Instagram posts

Elaborate on the open-minded culture

Resonate with Ivy students

The Collaborators

Spectrum is looking to partner Abraham with key LGBTQ+ supporting stakeholders in order to broaden his reach as an NCAA swim athlete, while increasing his representation as well as that of the LGBTQ+ community in the field of influencers and influencer partnerships.

Below, Spectrum outlines three collaborators who we believe would bring DeVine’s presence to the fore of culture and conversation, bringing to light the courageous personality of this up and coming LGBTQ+ athlete.

The influencer: Michael Phelps

The pinnacle of athletic brand integrity, the Olympian. Michael Phelps has won 28 Olympic medals.[6]When he announced retirement, the public became so discouraged, Phelps went to another Olympics, and won some more. Now, Phelps is officially retired from swimming, and looking to show a different side of himself, to bring awareness to mental health.

Aside from his stunning career achievements, Phelps has also been open about his struggles with anxiety, depression and alcohol. In a New York Timesarticle by Karen Crouse, Phelps is portrayed not only as a loving husband and father who has overcome suicidal thoughts, but as a source of encouragement for other high profile athletes and young people. Crouse describes Phelps pacing in their Paris hotel suite where the couple spent Valentines Day, concerned about his fellow Olympian teammate, Grant Hackett.

Phelps appears in the documentary, Angst[7], about the dire state of anxiety among young people in the United States. He relays this in the New York Times article to reassure fellow Olympian swimmer, Grant Hackett, who had recently spun into an alcoholic “mental breakdown” on national television.[8]In the articles Phelps is quoted saying, “I want to be able to get out in public and talk and say, ‘Yes, I’ve done these great things in the pool, but I’m also a human.’”[9]

Michael Phelps stats

● Olympic medals for swimming: 23 gold medals, 28 overall

● Verified Instagram account with 3.3 million followers

● Has appeared in articles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, TIME Magazine, and Vanity Fair (to name a few)

● Appears in new documentary, Angst, about anxiety in young people in America

● In 2018, has appeared on nationally broadcast shows, TODAY, CNBC, CBS, CNN, Access

Phelps & DeVine

Spectrum believes that both Michael Phelps and DeVine would benefit from collaborating, with Phelps’ national brand of trust, integrity and athleticism, and DeVine’s experiences of being a LGBTQ+ young person in the athletic community. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), “LGBTQ individuals are almost three times more likely than others to experience a mental health condition such as major depression or generalized anxiety disorder.”[10]The Human Rights Campaign has published research saying that LGBTQ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual counterparts.[11]

The Brand: Stay Hilton. Go Out.

Hilton launched a new initiative called Stay Hilton. Go Out., geared toward LGBTQ+ clientele by providing the community with a package meant to enable guests to explore “top gay destinations around the world.”[12]Members are offered “weekender packages” around pride events, with 50% off for three-day weekend stays.[13]

Hilton Hotels and Resorts has stated a corporate commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, not only offering the travel package but real employee benefits. Hilton has partnered with GLAAD, National Gay & Lesbian Taskforce, Business Coalition for Workplace Fairness, International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, Human Rights Campaign, National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, and Point Foundation, for the initiative which is open to Hilton Honors members.

The company went so far as to create a rainbow logo, explaining it on their website saying,

Our mission has always been to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality. And while the light can shine as any of the colors of the rainbow, the brightest lights that spread the most warmth contain the entire spectrum. There are no arbitrary borders; all colors shine as one. It is this kind of light that has inspired our #hiltonpride.[14]

Hilton Company Profile

● Hilton Worldwide brings in 9.14 billion USD in revenue.[15]

● As of 2015, the company had 4,278 hotels worldwide.[16]

● Hilton Worldwide brands include Hampton Inn, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria, and DoubleTree.[17]

● Hilton Honors, the company’s guest loyalty program, has over 60 million members, have accrued 113 million nights stayed at Hilton Hotels.[18]

Hilton & DeVine

The initiative has brought in a number of influencers as part of an advertising series, and DeVine would be a natural fit to become a part of the growing list. There isn’t currently a single face to the campaign, and as a young, travelling athlete, DeVine can not only stay at Hilton as the face of the campaign, but document his experience to let people know of the Stay Hilton. Go Out.experience first-hand. With the support of Spectrum, DeVine will be able to create an immersive audio-visual storytelling experience, a talent that he currently has yet to fully expand on his own. By partnering DeVine with Hilton, Spectrum aims at joining the values of both brands, all while supporting the LGBTQ+ agenda.

The Journalist: VICE

The VICE tagline says it all, on A mission to empower young people.[19]In its media kit, the company boasts that 1 in 3 18-35 year-olds visit VICE.[20] Who exactly are these 18-35 year-old Americans? According to the company, they are volunteers, are curious, influential, open-minded, lead healthy lifestyles, and are willing to spend.[21]

In an interview with VICE co-founder and CEO Shane Smith, the recent billionaire said, “We’re the same as Time Warner. We’re the same as Bertelsmann or Viacom. We’re just younger and weirder.”[22]In another interview with The Observer, Smith said, “I want to build the next CNN with Vice.”[23]

VICE Company Profile

● Valued at approximately $5.7 billion.[24]

● VICELAND, the company’s Emmy award-winning global television channel, has a 65/35 male to female ratio.[25]

● VICE Instagram profile has 2.2+ million followers and follows 260.[26]

○ 18 w/issues, a political show centered around the midterm elections geared toward new voters who are around the age of 18 years old. The show is broadcast on Instagram using IGTV[27]and on the VICE video webpage.[28]

● VICE YouTube channel has 9.9+ million subscribers.[29]

● Brand partners include: Nike, the Olympics, Google, Adidas, AirBnb, PlayStation, EY, Apple, Unilever, and TMobile.[30]

● The VICE homepage has a sub-page dedicated solely to LGBTQ+.[31]

VICE Journalists & DeVine

Notable journalists at VICE to cover DeVine’s story include, Beckett Mufson, who covered the 2018 Winter Olympics,[32]or Luke Ottenhof, who covers LGBTQ news.[33]However, the landscape at VICE is such that contributors submit pitches to the media company. Perhaps DeVine could even submit a piece he writes himself. Another avenue for collaboration with VICE could be its video producers, perhaps Raza Naqvi.[34]

References

Tenorio, P. (2018). Bethesda-Chevy Chase All-Met MF Collin Martin to graduate early, play for Wake Forest. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/recruiting-insider/post/bethesda-chevy-chase-all-met-mf-collin-martin-to-graduate-early-play-for-wake-forest/2012/03/28/gIQAvqJChS_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.111589869ef9

Bromley, B. (2018). Collin Martin to sign Homegrown Player contract. Retrieved from https://www.blackandredunited.com/dc-united-transfers/2013/7/10/4510172/collin-martin-homegrown-player-wake-forest-u-20-national-team

Analysis of Twitter users martcw12 follows on Twitter. (2018). Retrieved from https://followerwonk.com/analyze/martcw12

Martin, C. (2018). Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/martcw12/status/975482322626760704

Twitter Analytics by Foller.me. (2018). Retrieved from https://foller.me/martcw12

Michael Phelps: A Golden Shoulder to Lean On, September 21, 2017, Karen Crouse, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/michael-phelps-grant-hackett-tiger-woods.html

Angst, homepage, https://angstmovie.com

Michael Phelps: A Golden Shoulder to Lean On, September 21, 2017, Karen Crouse, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/michael-phelps-grant-hackett-tiger-woods.html

Michael Phelps: A Golden Shoulder to Lean On, September 21, 2017, Karen Crouse, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/michael-phelps-grant-hackett-tiger-woods.html

NAMI, LGBTQ, https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/LGBTQ

Mental Health and the LGBTQ Community report, Human Rights Watch, https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LGBTQ_MentalHealth_OnePager.pdf

Hilton Honors, Stay Hilton. Go Out., https://www3.hilton.com/en/promotions/lgbt.html

Hilton Stay Hilton Go Out homepage https://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/offers/100113069.htm?WT.mc_id=zLADA0WW1XX2PSH3DA4PPC5PPC6MULTIBR7_153675527_1003528&_vsrefdom=mca&mchxkw=c:100138830,k:43700024638283252,m:b,p:1t1,d:c,ai:4926708750,ad:176267859505,s:g

Ibid.

Statista, Hilton Worldwide - Statistics & Facts https://www.statista.com/topics/1880/hilton-worldwide/

Ibid.

Ibid.

Head for Points, February 20, 2017, https://www.headforpoints.com/2017/02/20/hilton-honors-number-of-members/

VICE Media Kit https://kit.vice.com

Ibid.

Ibid.

Interview Magazine, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/shane-smith

Tim Adams, The Observer, March 23, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/mar/23/shane-smith-vice-interview

Vice Media’s Shane Smith Is Now A Billionaire, Natalie Robehmen, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2017/06/20/vice-medias-shane-smith-is-now-a-billionaire/

VICE Media Kit https://kit.vice.com

VICE Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vice/

Ibid.

VICE video https://video.vice.com/en_us/channel/vice

VICE YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vice+news

Ibid.

VICE https://www.vice.com/en_us

Four Winter Olympic Sports City-Dwellers Do Daily, February 22, 2018, Beckett Mufson, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4377gm/four-winter-olympic-sports-city-dwellers-do-daily

Inside a Pageant for Indigenous Drag Queens, October 25, 2018, Luke Ottenhof, https://www.vice.com/en_us/topic/lgbtq

Raza Naqvi, IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7970813/6

[1]Tenorio, P. (2018). Bethesda-Chevy Chase All-Met MF Collin Martin to graduate early, play for Wake Forest. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/recruiting-insider/post/bethesda-chevy-chase-all-met-mf-collin-martin-to-graduate-early-play-for-wake-forest/2012/03/28/gIQAvqJChS_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.111589869ef9

[2]Bromley, B. (2018). Collin Martin to sign Homegrown Player contract. Retrieved from https://www.blackandredunited.com/dc-united-transfers/2013/7/10/4510172/collin-martin-homegrown-player-wake-forest-u-20-national-team

[3]Analysis of Twitter users martcw12 follows on Twitter. (2018). Retrieved from https://followerwonk.com/analyze/martcw12

[4]Martin, C. (2018). Twitter. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/martcw12/status/975482322626760704

[5]Twitter Analytics by Foller.me. (2018). Retrieved from https://foller.me/martcw12

[6]Michael Phelps: A Golden Shoulder to Lean On, September 21, 2017, Karen Crouse, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/michael-phelps-grant-hackett-tiger-woods.html

[7]Angst, homepage, https://angstmovie.com

[8]Michael Phelps: A Golden Shoulder to Lean On, September 21, 2017, Karen Crouse, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/michael-phelps-grant-hackett-tiger-woods.html

[9]Michael Phelps: A Golden Shoulder to Lean On, September 21, 2017, Karen Crouse, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/sports/michael-phelps-grant-hackett-tiger-woods.html

[10]NAMI, LGBTQ, https://www.nami.org/Find-Support/LGBTQ

[11]Mental Health and the LGBTQ Community report, Human Rights Watch, https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LGBTQ_MentalHealth_OnePager.pdf

[12]Hilton Honors, Stay Hilton. Go Out., https://www3.hilton.com/en/promotions/lgbt.html

[13] Hilton Stay Hilton Go Out homepage https://hiltonhonors3.hilton.com/en/offers/100113069.htm?WT.mc_id=zLADA0WW1XX2PSH3DA4PPC5PPC6MULTIBR7_153675527_1003528&_vsrefdom=mca&mchxkw=c:100138830,k:43700024638283252,m:b,p:1t1,d:c,ai:4926708750,ad:176267859505,s:g

[14]Ibid.

[15]Statista, Hilton Worldwide - Statistics & Facts https://www.statista.com/topics/1880/hilton-worldwide/

[16]Ibid.

[17]Ibid.

[18]Head for Points, February 20, 2017, https://www.headforpoints.com/2017/02/20/hilton-honors-number-of-members/

[19]VICE Media Kit https://kit.vice.com

[20]Ibid.

[21]Ibid.

[22]Interview Magazine, https://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/shane-smith

[23]Tim Adams, The Observer, March 23, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/mar/23/shane-smith-vice-interview

[24]Vice Media’s Shane Smith Is Now A Billionaire, Natalie Robehmen, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2017/06/20/vice-medias-shane-smith-is-now-a-billionaire/

[25]VICE Media Kit https://kit.vice.com

[26]VICE Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vice/

[27]Ibid.

[28]VICE video https://video.vice.com/en_us/channel/vice

[29]VICE YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vice+news

[30]Ibid.

[31]VICE https://www.vice.com/en_us

[32]Four Winter Olympic Sports City-Dwellers Do Daily, February 22, 2018, Beckett Mufson, https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/4377gm/four-winter-olympic-sports-city-dwellers-do-daily

[33]Inside a Pageant for Indigenous Drag Queens, October 25, 2018, Luke Ottenhof, https://www.vice.com/en_us/topic/lgbtq

[34]Raza Naqvi, IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7970813/