WWE ( World wrestling entertainment) had traditionally been a closed book when it came to the business of revealing its inner-workings and backstage process. This was partly to do with keeping up the front of kayfabe ( reflecting scripted rivalries and storyline's in real-life) and partly to keep un-welcome eyes on what was really happening behind the scenes. Tales of back-stabbing, relentless politicking and even drug abuse are all topics that the WWE prefers to keep separate from its increasingly more family friendly demographic centred content.
Of course there have always been "dirt-sheets" and trade magazines willing to share their insider knowledge but in these days of instantly sharing information with each other how does a industry like WWE that has always kept its cards close to its chest allow its product to evolve? How does it keep up with other industry leaders who have embraced soical media marketing? How to compromise between increasing the bond between viewers and product without giving up the details?.
Simple really. Break the fourth wall, acknowledge your consumers in a more direct personal fashion. Have the characters we watch on TV every week tweet in character and out of it. Let the talent speak out for themselves and suddenly your not being given a scripted promo but an couple of lines straight from the horse's mouth. Let the talent post videos on youtube of what they have been up to or what they are planning to do....and that's exactly what the WWE did. The athletes that comprise the roster were suddenly let of a verbal leash and could ( within reason ) say whatever they wanted and how they felt. If what was said promoted a storyline or a upcoming pay-per-view even better. Case in point, next years Wrestlemania (the companies première event of the year). The headline match between massively popular wrestlers, and merchandise selling juggernauts, Dwayne " The Rock" Johnson and John Cena is being hyped over a year in advance. The hype however was not started on TV but rather through a war of words on twitter. Fans were excited to see the next blow in an increasing verbal joust.
WWE television shows such as Raw or Smackdown are not the first shows to let fabricated characters tweet and even have conversations with each other but it is the first to do the same thing while distinguishing that these athletes are real people too. The tweets cross the line between real and storyline while getting your more involved with their weekly actions and just like any good episodic television show, the more you care the more you watch!
One superstar who has used the web to increase his own self worth and importance to the company is Zack Ryder. The self proclaimed " Internet champion" has amassed a loyal twitter following while his youtube show " Z! true long island story" is hugely popular. Zack Ryder has found a way to promote himself, his character and sell-out his range of merchandise online in a way that was initially unlikely to have been sanctioned by the WWE. Mr Ryder has proved that even if your not in the spotlight on TV, thanks to websites like youtube, you can create your own spotlight. Internet champion indeed!.
Recently WWE has relied more and more of real life knowledge that would only previously be known by half of its audience. The more hardcore or " smart" fans of wrestling will be informed more on the insider business due to the popularity of the "IWC" (internet wrestling community). The IWC will use insider terms when commentating on the WWE'S output and second guess upcoming story lines or predicted matches. This insider knowledge and terminology has been much alluded to during recent weeks on television by wrestlers and has brought a sense of the "real" to the story lines. Wrestlers being referred to by their real names and acknowledging real life events or happening's ( such as the commercial cinematic flops of certain WWE films ) were actions previously thought of as unthinkable and not for broadcast. Suddenly the line between fake and real gets a tiny little blurrier as fans see a crossover between a TV show and their online worlds.
All this work promoting the product through social media and generating buzz on the internet has brought the WWE back into the mainstream. Superstars interviewed in G.Q US magazine? yep. Superstars appearing on massively popular late night talk shows such as Conan O'Brien or Jimmy Kimmel? you betcha.
The WWE by embracing the internet is holding the fans attention for longer and bringing in new ones too. It's changing to keep up with its fans primary way of communicating and its brought a sense of realism to a sport that can sometimes be anything but.
And that's the bottom line, because I said so.
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