Two photos have been paired together, taken at two NBA games, 25 years apart, raising the question ‘if it’s not on social, were you even there?’

• One from Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. Michael Jordan’s last appearance for the Chicago Bulls, as he scored with 5.2 seconds remaining to claim their sixth Championship in eight years against the Utah Jazz

• The second this week, as LeBron James became the sport’s all-time record scorer, surpassing Abdul-Jabbar who had held this accolade with 38,387 points since 1989

Randy Cruz didn’t Tweet these two images to debate basketball’s GOAT, but to show how in 2023, fans and attendees want to capture big moments on their phones (with the exception of Nike’s co-founder, former chair and CEO Phil Knight - who can be seen courtside, hands held together between his knees, sucking in another live moment of magic his illustrious career has afforded him to witness). 

A quarter of a century has seen massive technological progression, with 4k smartphones in most people’s pockets, ready to be grabbed at any (and every) moment of possible excitement. 

This has informed cultural and behavioural change - and means event producers can no longer afford to just put on a good show, but they must also create moments everyone’s going to share.

This isn’t exclusive to sport - in music for example, DJs in particular have had to up the production of their shows to create moments like this from Anyma to create a sea of phones at Printworks London. In stark contrast to rave footage from the decade of the Bulls’ dominance and their Last Dance where the last thing people wanted (or expected) was to be captured on camera…

Most people now know professional content is being captured by the organisers and their crowd shots will have a thumb over the bottom right corner, or someone’s shoulder blocking the action. Perhaps their video will have a random fan screaming adoration just as the track drops - but it doesn’t matter.

Because the social kudos one gets from showing everyone else who follows them they were there and seeing the likes roll in, is almost as important as the joy and pleasure they have from the experience itself. 

This isn’t exclusive to experiential - products need to be packaged and designed in such a way that they look as good on a feed as they do when they’re being worn/driven/consumed etc. 

Because showing off ownership - whether it’s the classic trope of Instagramming your boujee breakfast to Valentine’s Day gifts from Michael Kors or Pandora - is as significant as its functional benefit.

How can you take a single customer and convert them into a brand ambassador who influences a further 500 potential purchasers with positive product sentiment? Or maximise your 5,000 cap event so it’s consumed and enjoyed by 500,000?

Granted, you can’t count on LeBron breaking records at every NBA game, but you can actively build a shareable moment into your events, products and beyond. This should be done as early as possible during the ideation stage, so whatever it is can be built into set designs or packaging as well as overall comms and marketing strategies. 

It’s no longer good enough to appoint a videographer a week before to capture a 60 second clip for your own channels, or photographers to distribute traditional images to press - because this won’t get you the explosion of posts across a network of accounts you’re after for impactful organic reach; or even close to answering the infamous question on every marketing manager’s lips: ‘have we gone viral yet’.

Whether you sit with Phil Knight and want to live for the moment or seemingly the other 19,000 spectators in the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening who wanted to capture the moment for themselves on their phone - there’s no escaping the fact if your consumer hasn’t shared on social, is your event or brand even there?

If you’d like to discuss any of these ideas, or find out Something About Us please get in contact.

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And, there are of course exceptions to every rule - in this case a pioneer of fan-captured digital content; as well as videos gathered from the stands which are arguably as impactful as the expensive host broadcasters who’ve rigged cameras around the world’s stadia - as Thomas Coxhead’s father proved almost exactly a year after Jordan’s game-winner. 

He’d snuck in a video recorder, and before YouTube or vlogging was a concept, captured Manchester United’s own history makers beating Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League Final inside Barcelona’s Nou Camp with extraordinary results.