RNS Reach announcement (non-regulatory)
24 February 2020
Brave Bison Group plc
("Brave Bison" or "the Group")
Brave Bison leads World Chase Tag to success on social media
From an unknown sport to national broadcast in one year: Launching a niche sport through social media
London, 24 February 2020: World Chase Tag, a challenger niche sport that announced itself to the world on YouTube in 2014, enlisted the help of social video experts Brave Bison (AIM: BBSN) to attract a growing digital-first modern sports audience. Through a curated social strategy on YouTube by Brave Bison, World Chase Tag's audience grew exponentially - with one video boasting over 36m views.
In order for World Chase Tag to expand its audience, they had to flip the traditional sports broadcasting model on its head. Rather than securing a lucrative deal and interest from a traditional broadcaster first, this burgeoning sport had to qualify through other means, capitalising on the changing sports consumption of a young audience and focusing on platforms such as YouTube and Snapchat. As a result of their hugely successful social strategy, guided by Brave Bison, the sport has since appeared on Channel 4, NBC, Sky Sports and ESPN. It is evident that through a quality social strategy and engaging in a digital-first audience, World Chase Tag was able to secure coverage with traditional broadcasters and immerse itself in British pop culture, notably having been featured on Channel 4's 'Gogglebox'.
Formed in 2011, World Chase Tag is the brainchild of the Devaux brothers, Christian and Damien, after a game of tag took place in their garden. The sport is now the world's leading competitive tag organisation, however, back in 2016, it consisted of casual meetups in Hyde Park. Through its work on YouTube, Brave Bison helped grow its subscriber number by helping viewers to organically discover World Chase Tag for the first time - optimising content and implementing best practice channel management to attract new viewers and convert them into subscribers. The YouTube channel had 26k subscribers in August 2018 and, as of January 2020, it has a following of 700k.
As a Snapchat Discover partner, Brave Bison also successfully launched a dedicated World Chase Tag Show repurposing existing content to optimise for vertical viewing. After just 12 episodes, the channel has over 600k subscribers.
World Chase Tag's digital success has subsequently caught the attention of traditional broadcasters who have noticed the lucrative market potential in attracting a growing social-first audience. Sports providers need to calibrate with tech-savvy fan behaviour and social media in order to offset falling revenues and retain their audiences, as well as grow them. Many rights holders have already begun to pave the way in migrating to digital - the sports streaming service DAZN landed one of the largest ever sports deals worth £278m with world boxing champion Canelo Álvarez, and the Premier League was aired exclusively on Amazon Prime last Christmas. It is evident that sport is migrating to digital to stay relevant and in touch with younger audiences.
Kate Burns, CEO at Brave Bison said "Traditional sports are generally broadcast on television, then split into highlights and uploaded online afterwards, but World Chase Tag has done the reverse. It organically established itself through stellar online content, which then led to the sport being picked up by Channel 4 as a by-product. 2020 is going to be an even bigger year, and it'll be interesting to see the opportunities that present themselves because of World Chase Tag's online presence - particularly the new series with Snapchat. World Chase Tag is a perfect example of how the viewership landscape is changing - it's imperative that traditional sports broadcasters move with the times and realise the value of online."
Christian Devaux added: "It sounds cheesy, but because of the internet and Brave Bison's incredible work through YouTube and Snapchat, we've been able to share our sport with audiences all around the world."
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Rebecca Abigail ltd
Sebastian Aristizabal-Oviedo, Director
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +44 207 849 4513
Notes to Editors:
About Brave Bison
Brave Bison is a social video company, specialising in cross-platform video content, connecting global audiences through social media. Its online communities reach over 135 million followers and the Brave Bison Studio provides expertise across strategy, research, data-driven insights, creative and production. Brave Bison is one of the largest YouTube channel partners, with over 700 channels offering targeted inventory opportunities, alongside in-house specialists that deliver exceptional audience development and optimisation. Brave Bison's cultural connections and extensive networks have built long-standing client relationships with brands including P&G, Land Rover and Lego. With over 70 members of staff across London, Singapore, Japan and Korea, the 12-year-old business continues to stay at the forefront of this fast-moving digital age.
About World Chase Tag
World Chase Tag is the first and only global league for professional competitive tag. It was formed in 2011 by brothers Christian and Damien Devaux, after a game of Tag between Christian and his son in their back garden.
World Chase Tag is the original founding body of competitive tag. The sport combines the dynamic athleticism of Parkour with the age-old game of tag. Two teams of up to five athletes battle it out in a series of 20-second 1v1 chases inside a competitive arena laden with obstacles. The name of the game: Don't get caught!
The organization was responsible for creating a standardized competitive playing arena & set of rules formats which has allowed Chase Tag™ athletes from around the world to train & compete in international tournaments. The most recent of these was WCT4, held in August 2019 in London featuring teams from Japan, Germany, France, USA and the UK.
The events have gained enormous interest from around the globe via social media platforms and WORLD CHASE TAG™ has supported the evolution & experimentations being developed via parkour gyms & clubs in each region to grow the game.
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