Lesson #5: Do Not Waste Time Marketing Outside Your Target Audience

“If you take four street corners, and on one they are playing baseball, on another they are playing basketball and on the other, street hockey,” says White. “On the fourth corner, a fight breaks out. Where does the crowd go? They all go to the fight.”

White knew that UFC could have a fighting chance in becoming a success if only he could focus on attracting the right people. From the very first day he took over operations at UFC, White has had a clear idea about who his audience was, and what kinds of people were going to be tuning in to his events. “UFC is definitely a younger guy's sport,” says White. “Our target audience is anywhere from age 17 to 35.”

While White wanted his UFC fighters to be household names, he knew that it was most likely going to be the 17-35 population to make them so – and, male. In looking for demographics to go after, White says, “Women isn’t one of them. One of the things we have always said, is we know what this is for – it’s for males 18-34. And if women watch, that's just gravy for us – that’s beautiful.”

Obviously the more people that tune into UFC events, the better it would be for White. But, he was not about to spend his time and energy on a market that he could not be sure of. “Our female fan base has grown incredibly,” says White. “But to go out and market toward women would be very expensive and not make much sense.”

White also had his reservations about targeting the older market. “I think we have tried to go after those people that are boxing fans,” he says. “I have not spent a ton of money trying to go after that market but we have definitely advertised toward them, too.”

There was a certain future for the sport, according to White, but only if he spent his time and money as efficiently as possible in marketing it – towards only those people who he was sure would take the bait. “I think there's a lot of room to grow here in the United States,” he says. “I don't think we've even scratched the surface of how big this will be. We've built this thing so big in the last six years because it's infectious.”

While White did not specifically target the older and female demographics, he did make a real effort to attract the Hispanic and urban markets. He had a strong belief that of all the world’s major sports – cricket, football – it was the UFC that would be able to cross all the borders. “If you put two guys in the Octagon and have them fight, that crosses language barriers, ethnic barriers, everything,” he says. “In the United States, they all want to see the Americans beat the Canadians or the English or whoever else. UFC is a very international brand.”



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