Marketing Happy Hour - Capture and Keep Audience Attention | Nidhi Bhagat of ESPN

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey there, welcome to the Marketing Happy Hour podcast, where each week we're learning career-defining advice, powerful social media strategies, unique creative tips, groundbreaking influencer marketing tactics, and more from marketing experts that represent some of the world's leading brands. Let's dive in. Grab a drink and join your hosts hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode. Hello, Marketing Happy Hour listeners. We are so excited to introduce you to this week's guest. Nidhi Bhagat, Marketing Coordinator at ESPN shares her career journey thus far, including her shift from the film and production space

Starting point is 00:00:51 into marketing, her best tips on how to stand out in your role, how to keep your audience engaged in your content, and how to plan ahead for upcoming events or launches effectively. Grab your favorite drink and listen in with me to this week's conversation. Hey, Needy, how are you? Good. How are you? I am doing well. I'm so excited to have you on. I was telling you a little bit before we started recording. I love all things sports, and I've been following ESPN for a very long time. I grew up with a household of boys and so I've watched it pretty frequently. And so I'm so excited to hear

Starting point is 00:01:31 from you about kind of the other side of it, the marketing behind the company and just your journey and your career overall. But before we get started, I do have a very important question for you that we ask all of our guests. What is in your glass tonight? Um, in my glass is a big jug of water that I keep myself hydrated with. It is right here. Just like, Oh my gosh, getting to the end. Um, just being better about keeping myself hydrated, especially with work from home since I forget to drink water a lot. Yes. I I'm the same way. I do not have a glass quite as big as that, but I've wanted one for a long time. So for you listening, she just showed me the most massive glass of water ever, which is amazing. I love that. Um, I usually keep multiple drinks on my desk at a time. So right now I have water and I was hitting kind of

Starting point is 00:02:26 a three o'clock slump. So I got a half of a Celsius. And so I'm drinking that to kind of recharge a little bit. Um, but love, love that love water, love a hydrated girl. It's amazing. So you've had a very exciting career in sports marketing. Can you give us a little backstory on how you got to where you are today? Yeah, totally. And also need to confirm, what was your NFL team growing up? Like, who did you watch? Who did you and your family watch? Yeah, so that's so funny. I was born in Ohio, so I started as a Bengals fan for the longest time. Oh, good. Yeah, exactly. So I kind of, I mostly follow them there. I would say my number two team, but I don't want to say I'm a band Wagoner, but I grew up mostly in Tampa. And so the Buccaneers are my team right now. And we've

Starting point is 00:03:19 had an exciting couple of years and so very stoked to see what's going on but what about you what's your team I wish um I'm a big Patriots fan so when Tom Brady was a little sad but you know like we're still like we love Tom Brady big fan of him love seeing him do his thing so never gonna be against the guy or the Bucs so I actually consider the Bucs my like second team now. There you go. Yeah. So it's still nice to win in some aspects. Absolutely. That's awesome. But yeah, with my career in sports, similar just like how you said, you grew up watching sports in your household. I grew up watching sports in my household. My dad and my brother were a huge Patriots fan, grew up watching the Patriots and obviously being from the Boston area, pretty lucky, like upbringing with sports.

Starting point is 00:04:08 Like we had a, almost like a parade, like every year for some team. So I think that kind of shaped my career in sports and what I wanted to do. And I actually didn't even know you could really have a career in sports. Like my major was film and television and I was focusing more on like the TV side and being a screenwriter but then when I got to college I was like wait I could merge like documentary and sports into one and that's kind of how like my career in sports took off and then now I'm at ESPN so kind of just worked my way there and really happy with what I'm doing right now and learning a lot so along for the ride. That. Yeah. I'm very curious to ask you about

Starting point is 00:04:46 your background in production and film. That's another thing I was interested in pursuing as well. Cause I just love the production side of TV and film and stuff. So we'll get into that in a minute, but your current role as a marketing coordinator, what does that entail? What do you do on a regular basis in that role yeah so as a marketing coordinator I work in the live sports sector and the properties I work on are NFL UFC and top rank so those three properties are kind of on different timelines and with marketing those it's looking at each season like each property and like when their games are, when their events are and like how much we're supporting. And in this role, it's interesting because it's more so not just TV.

Starting point is 00:05:30 It's like all around. How are we marketing? Like what are we doing for static? What are we doing for TV and video and digital assets? So like kind of looking at every angle of the marketing plan and getting that together. And with a marketing coordinator, you're doing all the execution work. And like you're looking up to like your team and just being like, hey, what is this strategy? What's the best way? What's the best storyline to get into this fight or game or whatever it is? And it's kind of cool because this role you learn all around, like I didn't even know all the marketing assets possible. And like one example is like, how are we reaching people with out of home, which is like a billboard that we have, or how are we reaching people on social? So we do a lot of different like tactics and it's really cool to learn in this role.

Starting point is 00:06:17 That's amazing. Yeah. It's, it's so crazy how even at a big company, people always say, oh, working for a smaller business, you wear a lot of hats, but the same thing could be true for a larger company. And that's kind of helpful in your career to shape and figure out exactly the direction you want to go in. So within all the different tasks that you do, do you have a favorite avenue of your, your current role, or do you kind of like having a hand on all the different things that you guys are working on? I definitely like having a hand on all the different things we're working on since even though it's like different assets we also do like a lot of cool partnerships like with music

Starting point is 00:06:54 that's one of my favorite partnerships since for UFC sometimes like an artist wants to partner with us for a big pay-per-view event. And it's really cool working with them. Like, how are we working with them? Like, how are we amplifying their reach like with us? So I would say like that music avenue for those assets is really cool. And like, you kind of get to create something new. You're merging like music, a music audience and their reach as long as like your property. So like, what can we come up with to merge those two? So I would definitely say like, that's the most like unique cultural angle. That's awesome. So you'd say kind of a creative touch is a big part of your role too, not just the tactical

Starting point is 00:07:32 and managing projects and things like that. So I'm sure with a film and production background, that's something you enjoy too, right? Oh, a hundred percent. I think coming into this role, I kind of said that like the creative side is my favorite. So as I've been in this marketing coordinator role for like a year, strategizing is definitely something that I'm just like, okay, like I love doing this, like love coming up with ideas and just like pausing to think being like, Hey, what's something new we could do? Or what would work best for this property given like the timing and stuff. So definitely like that, that creative side comes in when we're strategizing for like campaigns. That's amazing. Yeah. And so you did an internship

Starting point is 00:08:11 with ESPN first and kind of shifted over to NFL films, then went back to ESPN where you are now. Do you have any tips for professionals, maybe leaving a company on a positive note, leaving that door open for a potential future with that company. Again, I know it's something that, um, people don't always think about leaving a company thinking about coming back to it later down the road, but any tips there for just keeping that door open for a potential future opportunity? Yeah, definitely. And, um, I also like came back to NFL filmsms like two different times and I think keeping that door for with ESPN when I left I was an intern and it was during the

Starting point is 00:08:52 pandemic so it was a very weird time and like definitely unique but I think the biggest thing was and same thing I did with NFL Films is like having those one-on-ones with people just like making those relationships not just like kind of just talking to them and being like, Hey, like I'm leaving and just kind of leaving it off as that, like those people that we create like a connection with, like continue to like follow up being like, Hey, this is what I'm doing right now. Like if there's any sort of update, just like send it their way. Even if they don't respond, they know it's like on their radar and something that comes up. So that's kind of how I found myself back at ESPN

Starting point is 00:09:25 in a different department, which was really cool. And even the relationships that I had as an intern are still like helping me now in this role. So I think it's important to just like keep in touch with those people since you really never know where people are going to be. And it's always great, like making those relationships and learning about people and what they do. And like, more so like, what are they like, just building relationships, like more so like what are they like just building relationships like not just like work but like as a person as well yeah absolutely 100 that seems to be a common thread with a lot of our guests recently they are putting such a huge emphasis on relationships and it's so true I mean you can stand out in the work that you do and and do all the things right check

Starting point is 00:10:02 all the boxes but at the end of the day what is going to keep that door open is who you maintain contact with and relationship with. So I'm so glad you mentioned that. And one question I do have for you too, is, you know, interviewing with a company you've already been in sometimes is a little bit easier because you already have that connection there. Right. But any tips just overall for interviewing, especially for an aspirational company like ESPN, where there's a lot of competition, I'm sure to get a role, what have you done or what do you recommend for others to stand out in the interview process? I think definitely like if you are able to like get the person, usually they do give you the names of people you're going to be interviewing with. it's always good to like look into their background like look at their LinkedIn see what they did

Starting point is 00:10:48 since like there's a lot of good nuggets and like you might find yourself with those like connections like maybe that person studied abroad at the same location you did and that's a good way to like bring that into the conversation since that's something you could relate about so I think it's important to like stop and find those nuggets even if it's like a similar job you guys had in the past, like simple as like, oh, something that a job I had in college was a teacher's assistant for like a first grade teacher, like random job. But then a lot of times, like that's a job that I keep bringing up in like interviews because sometimes they ask like, what was the most rewarding job you've had? And like, that's an easy answer for me. So just making sure you find those nuggets and like those relatable points. Yeah, absolutely. Making it personal is huge. And then same thing too, once you actually get into the company, I know ESPN is such a large organization. How have you worked to make an impact in such a large company where there's a lot of people involved in a lot

Starting point is 00:11:45 of different projects you're looking to stand out what have you done in the past or any recommendations that you have for others looking to stand out as well I think with the thing with like looking to stand out for me it's always been like you bring your own ideas to the table versus like kind of looking at other people what they're doing doing. It's like, Hey, I need to be better than them. Or just like, just focus on yourself and like what your strengths are. Since I think that's where you're going to excel and just everyone has their own like strong points. And like, I think it's, you have to take the time to just focus on what you're strong on. So I like strategizing and coming up with new ideas. Like I take that as my strong suit and seeing like, Hey, what could I do to different properties? And like, where can we just make something new? And a lot of times it's

Starting point is 00:12:29 going to be maybe a bad idea or people are going to say no, but it's like the fact that you're just kind of continuing to try your best. Like it shows. Yeah, absolutely. It's so funny. We had someone on recently on the podcast and she has this quote with her business and it goes, uh, I would rather hear a no than never know. And I thought that's so impactful. It's so simple, but it's so true. Unless you actually speak up and share that idea with your team, you're really never going to know what's going to come out of that. It could either be a flop and that's fine. And at least you tried, but you never know. I mean, you could completely create this brand new idea or concept within a company that makes a huge impact. So yeah, that's so good. I love that. That's a great quote. Like, I think I'm always someone

Starting point is 00:13:15 who asks questions and like could very easily be, I know, I probably know it's going to be, I know a lot of the times, but you know, you never know, like if you, unless you ask, like it's important to like take that time. Yeah, absolutely. I know. I think about early in my career, I was really quiet, uh, growing up and there were times where I just wouldn't share my opinion. And then it's the worst feeling when someone else shares the same idea and everyone's like, oh my gosh, amazing. Like, why didn't I think of that? And you're just like, oh boy, like if I would have just raised my hand and actually presented that idea, um, you know, not to just take the claim to fame, but still, I mean, it just makes you feel good. It feels, it makes you feel

Starting point is 00:13:53 empowered in your position to continue speaking up. And so again, you never know until you just bring it up. That's a great point you made. Yeah. That's, that was totally me too. Like I definitely opened up since like I got to college and stuff. So, that's, that was totally me too. Like I definitely opened up since like I got to college and stuff. So, um, I was definitely a very shy person, like quiet, like really like would send my ideas like secretly to one person. So it's like, I'm definitely still learning to be better at that, but like much better at like speaking up. Yeah. That's awesome. It's so huge. It's huge for yourself and for the company, just making change and creating an impact as well. But I want to talk with you about your start in production. Again, super intrigued by that whole side of things.

Starting point is 00:14:37 How did your career in production benefit your current role in marketing? I think with the career in production, I learned almost like the nuts and bolts of like how something is put together, like how the story is coming together throughout a game. I had an internship at CBS Sports and it was like remote production. So I was it was really cool since I was like on site for a game like it would mainly be like the New York game since I was local here and focusing in on a game, like how like that works and understanding how like how we market. It's really cool to see.

Starting point is 00:15:13 And I think a good example of this is like something I worked on at NFL Films was Hard Knocks. So I knew like behind the scenes, I was like, wow, this is really cool. This is how it comes together. And like now working with the NFL on ESPN, I'm just like, how are we hard knocks comes up a lot. So I'm just like, I know how the process goes for hard knocks, like what storylines we focus on, like how they kind of just think of that. So it's cool to be like, oh, like, how are we integrating? Like, maybe something we could do is like work with hard knocks or something. Just so just so like,

Starting point is 00:15:43 I think, understanding like like behind the scenes about it helps a lot in my role with marketing. Yeah, absolutely. I know it's so good to have a touch on all different areas of a company because that brings ideas to the table for you to present. And so that's so huge. And I'm sure it's been so beneficial, especially because marketing is so storytelling driven and there's so many different production pieces with social media. Everything's video based, everything's storytelling based now. So I'm sure that's been widely beneficial for you as well. For sure.

Starting point is 00:16:15 Yeah. And we had a question the other day, actually on social media, someone asked about pivoting within your industry. So production nowadays with marketing kind of go hand in hand in a way, especially in given projects. How was that process for you to kind of pivot from the production side of things more into the marketing side? What was that process like for you? That process was, it was, it's definitely like different workflows. I would say, like, I think production is like, you're leaning on specific shows or games. So it's definitely like different workflows I would say like I think production

Starting point is 00:16:45 is like you're leaning on specific shows or games so it's like the timing is different with marketing you have to think ahead like hey how are we supporting all of these events like way ahead of time so definitely different like workflows and timing but I think at the end of the day like the core of storytelling like that translates into this role so it's bringing it in a different way but with marketing it's like shorter times like timelines like a 60 second spot a 15 second spot so definitely something that translates and that's a key element that's like with that with transferring into like different departments it's like finding those like key elements of like hey how does this transfer here but but in a different way. So I think like all in all, it's almost similar, but just like the pace is different as well.

Starting point is 00:17:30 Yeah, for sure. And do you have any tips or recommendations just for storytelling in general, whether it's long form or short from content? I think a lot of people, they know that storytelling is important, but a lot of times there's questions on how to make it engaging, how to make it compelling. Um, if you have a 15 second spot, but super quick, how do you keep the audience engaged in that time versus an hour long documentary that you're creating any tips just in general for storytelling overall? Yeah. And I think it's really different for like a 15 second spot to like an hour long like show um for a spot just

Starting point is 00:18:08 because that's what I've been working on for like the last year definitely like that beginning time is so important to like engage someone to the audience to the like what's going on on the screen but also like what are the sound bites what are they hearing like what is the music so it's all about like having someone being like hey like wait what's on the screen right there. And like getting their attention and keeping that attention for like those 15 seconds. So I think like that beginning portion is like very big. Yeah, for sure. I know the number keeps changing for a while. I think it was three seconds or something that you have to keep someone's attention. And now I think it's 0.5 seconds or even shorter. And so I've heard

Starting point is 00:18:46 that a lot too, just making sure that you have that hook at the beginning of what you're sharing to reel the audience in and keep them engaged throughout. So that's a really great tip. I appreciate that. Currently in your role in marketing at ESPN, do you all have any current strategies that you're focusing on? Any tips that you can share right now based off of trends happening in the market and just any recommendations for other brands looking to really make an impact with their marketing strategies? Yeah, I think something we do with ESPN

Starting point is 00:19:15 that I think I've learned and I think is a really good tactic is like really just focusing on like, when can you really go big on certain moments like of a brand um just looking at like nfl and ufc it's like where what are the moments where we're really going big since like you have to make sure like it's easy to go big on like all i mean it's hard to go big on all moments because like that's a lot and like you don't want to just like keep producing so much that you're

Starting point is 00:19:41 kind of like overwhelming people so it's like choosing which moments like which months do you want to go big? Or like, Hey, if you have like something new coming out, like, and this is going to be like, you feel like this is really special. Like, what are we doing to make it big versus like, kind of just like hitting all the, almost, I say tentpole since that's like my verbiage I use, but just like, when are you going big versus when do you want to make sure like you're taking your time, like just kind of giving the regular, you could say. Yeah, definitely. And how does brainstorming sessions or planning in advance come into play for you guys? Because I know a lot of times there's questions on how much do we plan in advance? What's kind of that process? How far in advance

Starting point is 00:20:22 do we look? So any tips for that just making sure that your campaigns and your content that you're creating is really well thought out yeah I think it's different um for everyone given depending on like what they're working on but for what I'm particularly working on like the properties are definitely things you have to look ahead on with UFC there is fights constantly so you can't look too ahead you have to look ahead on. With UFC, there's fights constantly, so you can't look too ahead. You have to like kind of focus on what's coming up. But with NFL, it's a little different given that there's like a season. So you have the time to look ahead. You know what big moments are. There's a schedule set. So thinking ahead on strategy there is like pretty big for us and something we do constantly throughout the year.

Starting point is 00:21:03 For sure. Yeah. Planning is certainly important, but we are unfortunately coming to the end of our discussion here, which is so sad. I have a couple last questions for you. So one of them that we love to ask all of our guests is what do you know now that you wish you knew early on in your career? Something that I wish I knew early on in my career. I feel like I am someone that chose to just like plan what I want. And I think in college, especially like, I feel like I almost like stress a lot of being like, Hey, I need to be at this place at this time, like in my career, like this company is what I'm aiming for. Like, I feel, I felt like I panned it out. And then when the pandemic happened, like things obviously changed overall like I think my mentality changed since

Starting point is 00:21:49 I was graduating I graduated in May 2020 so after that I originally I had the hopes of like being in the city like having a job like wherever I was working like had this perfect plan I was like this is what I want in my career at this point. But I think a big thing is, and I wish I was more like open-minded back then. And like, I feel like now I am, and I still think about a plan, but just making sure that like, I'm on this journey, like I'm meant to be on this journey. I want to focus on the now versus kind of getting stressed about like, oh, I need to make this spot. I need to make like this position at this point in my life. Like I need to do this at this, like stop stressing and like focus on, focus on what you're doing on and like kind of making

Starting point is 00:22:29 these moments right now big, because I think it's not in college, you're still learning and growing and you have so much more to do. So just taking the time and like being in the present. For sure. Yeah. That's such a awesome tip and something that took me way too long to learn. So I'm so glad you got it early on in your career because it's so true. It can be so debilitating just to feel like you didn't get what you want, essentially, especially in your career, because you have this vision for what you want your life to look like. And if it doesn't come to fruition, um, one thing I tell people is maybe it's just a no, not right now, not

Starting point is 00:23:05 necessarily a no altogether. And so keep that kind of in your back pocket, continue to maybe work towards that if that's still a dream of yours. But yeah, I think there's so much that can happen in your current position or your current industry that you're in. And so just seeing where that goes and then you can always pursue that dream later on too. Definitely. Um, there's time there's a lot of time. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And on that note too, do you have any future goals, anything that you want to do down the road, especially with your time to production? Do you want to be a director? Like what, what does your future look like for you or want to look like for you? I don't know. I, I,

Starting point is 00:23:43 I don't think I ever wanted to be a director, but I do love long form. It's kind of where my love of sports came about with like the documentary side. So who knows maybe going back to like sports documentaries, since I know that's very big now compared to what it was when I started college. So maybe finding that way back there, but as of right now, I would say I'm pretty happy at where I'm at and like what I'm learning. That's amazing. That's such a good feeling too. So, so happy for you. Thank you so much for sharing everything today. We'll have to bring you on down in the future, check in with where you're at and everything that you've done since this interview. But as we close out, can you share with us where we can stay in touch with you online?

Starting point is 00:24:23 Yeah, for sure. My Instagram is at needybagot. And then actually that's like the only like form of social media I really use. So I think that's the best one. I love it. I love it. Thank you so much. It's been so wonderful chatting with you and hearing about everything you're up to at ESPN. And thank you for just sharing your story and encouragement with all of us. Really appreciate having you. No, thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun. All right. That's it for this week's episode. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to rate and leave a review. You can also check out the show notes

Starting point is 00:25:01 for more ways to connect with us, including our LinkedIn newsletter and Marketing Happy Hour Insiders community. And as always, follow us on Instagram at Marketing Happy Hour. That's at Marketing Happy HR.

Marketing Happy Hour - Capture and Keep Audience Attention | Nidhi Bhagat of ESPN

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