by Eddie Pipkin

Well, if you’ve been watching the Olympics on NBC and affiliated networks, you’ve been front and center as they bring in a new generation of commentators and reporters.  The ratings from the last Olympics, delayed by the pandemic and devoid of crowd energy, were a ratings disaster, so the network programmers decided they needed to expand the range of featured celebrities who are helping us experience these games.  Not just younger people for a younger demographic, but people from different cultural contexts.  Hello, Snoop Dogg!  Rap musician, frequent television guest, cultural touchstone, and highly successful entrepreneur!  These aren’t your grandma’s Olympic games!  Maybe we ministry leaders could learn a little from NBC’s outreach strategy.

Coverage of the Olympics, the biggest sports gathering on the planet, has traditionally been anchored by newscasters, sports reporters, and retired athletes.  The biggest faces with the most experience have always shared the inspirational stories of the competitors, but with changing viewership habits and the rise of streaming options, as well as the demand for ‘viral’ moments, times are changing.  After all, the Peacock network has shelled out some $7.65 billion for broadcast rights through 2032, and those anemic ratings from three years ago were cause for panic (and not to be overly mercenary, but that’s an emotion that ministry leaders readily identify with, panic when people’s engagement declines).  A new strategy was initiated, including an embrace of streaming possibilities to widen the pool for viewership by creating lots of new options for curating enjoyment of the games.  Also, a bevy of new celebrity commentators and social media influencers were added to the mix to promote fresh perspectives and fun new ways to experience the events.

The result is that NBC is already reporting a 79% increase in viewership numbers over the last Olympics.  Bold tactics and calculated reinventions can pay transformative dividends.

None of these celebrity commentators has broken through the noise like Snoop Dogg.  He’s popular.  He’s everywhere.  And capturing the spirit of the modern media ecosystem, he has repeatedly vaulted to ‘meme’ status and forward-to-all-your-friends viral impact.  For the network, he’s worth his weight in gold chains.  If you haven’t sampled his work yet, you must check out this now infamous play-by-play of badminton by way of example.  His energy and enthusiasm, his slang and his style, have deliriously shattered the mold of buttoned-up, scripted narration.

He is an unlikely choice.  As noted, he differs greatly from the traditional figures who have headlined sports reporting.  He started out as a rapper with a fierce style and combative reputation, but he’s mellowed with the years, branching out into fashion, food, and other branches of entertainment, most prominently as a frequent guest star on game shows.  (He’s also a promoter and investor in various recreational substances, which is understood by fans but not promoted by NBC.  That’s evidence of cultural change over the decades.  What once might have been a disqualifier is no longer.)

He did not, however, appear out of nowhere to nab this premier Olympic gig.  He has been putting in appearances at various sporting events for the last several years.  He’s cultivated his commentary persona by dropping in for short stretches to broadcasts and podcasts and giving his unique spin on multiple big sporting events. By doing so, over time, he’s taken his carefully crafted public personality – as a prudent guardian of his own brand – and leaned into it for the demands of humorous, brief analysis.  I’ll come back to that point in a moment.

For ministry leaders, our commitment to communications, live and online, can feel like the poor, underappreciated Tokyo games: lacking in viewer and audience excitement.  We are slow to change the ways we have done things in the past and tend to stick to our buttoned-up, scripted announcements and event previews, usually featuring the same old familiar faces of our tried-and-true ‘newscasters.’  This is, of course, the easiest path.

I’ve been writing about the topics of announcements and social media for going on a decade, and still most congregations are doing what they’ve always done.  And what we’ve always done, let’s face it, is perfunctory, boring, and easy to ignore: “Here is a list of facts about a thing that is upcoming; it is your obligation to attend the thing; and bring friends.”  Yawn.

I’ve written other blogs in this space about the need to build strong, meaningful narratives through announcements and social media, to tell stories, and allow people to have interactive opportunities, as well as to make things interesting and fun.

But thinking about the Snoop Dogg effect, wouldn’t it be kinda awesome if we worked in some unexpected, lovable characters to be featured in doing some of this work of announcing and previewing events?

Instead of always using the same folks, who inevitably are staff who may or may not be gifted in the art of engaging, entertaining announcing and promotion, what if we brought in some real characters, people with distinctive personalities and attitudes.  If people are entertained, they are engaged, and if people are engaged, they are paying more attention to what we have to say, and if they’re paying more attention, they might just get enthused about what it is that we are offering.

This does not mean that we have to turn over the communications opportunity to the first quirky rapper who says they’ll show up and do the job.  Supporting cast are supporting cast, and it’s good, once we have found potential announcing talent, to use them sparingly.  That keeps the idea fresh and people tuning in and showing up to see when this special character will next make an appearance.  This is also a great strategy for focusing on one particular event or programming opportunity, sort of a providing a living mascot for that thing.  Don’t be afraid to use young people (adorable), old people (also adorable, in a completely different way), people playing a character, people who would never normally take on such a role, special guest stars, and whatever other exciting or provocative idea you can think of.

This also does not mean you have to gamble an entire communications strategy on one wild card presenter.  If you think someone is a likely candidate for this gig, start them off slowly with what all agree is a test to try things out.  This emulates the process by which Snoop Dogg made it to his featured spot on the Olympics.  Once you’ve seen that person establish their comfort with the format, one of the keys is to allow them to be true to the spirit of who they are.  Anything else will be forced or inauthentic, but when it’s heartfelt, when it clicks, it can really connect with people in a way that is exciting.

How do you and your team do at recruiting special talent to help you with communications?  Do you spread the wealth by inviting in unique and beloved characters to get people on board with your message, or do you put the same faces up front and online every single week and then wonder why people are disengaged?  Share your stories of local media stars who broke through in unexpected ways, or, if you need to, communication experiments gone awry.  We’re here for it all in the comments section!