You've worn various hats across your career, how would you describe your role and what you do?

I am the bridge between fans, sponsors, media, teams and players. I am a multifaceted professional with expertise in digital marketing that have helped me create content that resonates with fans and is driven by the fans, which has made it easier to ask the right questions that resonate with fans and the ecosystem at large.

You've had the privilege of working with brands to craft sponsorship strategies that engage football fans, what were your Key Performance Indicators used to measure a successful campaign?

The biggest indicator of any campaign, is the conversation. If you're able to get the audience to have a conversation around your campaign, and try and influence the conversation, keep the conversation as authentic as possible. Do not try and drive the narrative because an honest conversation allows you to have other campaigns within it. Obviously, you have engagement metrics such as comments, shares, hashtags, reach, impressions, conversion rates, brand sentiments around it and monitoring the tone. Those layers are at the forefront of your ROI and subsequent financial impact. But if the conversation is as honest as possible, that's it. So you just put the conversation on the table and allow the people to have honest reactions.

Engagement is a 2 way conversation between brands and fans, how do brands, teams & leagues craft strategies that strike a balance between reach and depth of engagement?

I think we are in an era where fans are the most important piece of the conversation. So you need to find the balance between reach and depth of engagement, because the fan has to be the one driving the conversation. Yes, you can use social media listening tools to stay on top of the fans' conversation and trends, but you have to monitor what the fans say because, if you look at broadcasters, they craft stories and content around what the fans say, which is now the conversation that will be taken into the studio by analysts. The same applies to marketing and social media. Your listening tools should be proper, but you have to create interactive content that would have the supporter interact with you and you have to foster a sense of community. Community is important, by responding to fan comments, messages and collaborative efforts, especially with influencers, but you have to find your influencers within the community, because it's futile to have influencers that are coming outside of the community. Influencers with a lot of followers, but lacking content and understanding of the subject, it's a useless exercise. So, be more focused on reach rather than followers, because who are the followers? What is it that they engage in? What is it that they like?

There's been a rise in fan driven content platforms such as your very own Lekoko La Space and Amafans Wethu which give fans a platform to voice their opinions about their clubs, how do clubs, brands and leagues tap into these opportunities authentically?

Listen and observe. That's the first thing that you have to do. You constantly have to be in a position where you monitor, that's why in my spaces, the primary objective is to give the fan the right to choose the topic, because the fans are knowledgeable. Secondly, you look at what it is that the community is talking about, then you try and plug in the gaps. More often than not, fans would have a conversation, but lack the technical expertise and moving pieces that inform the topic. For example, let's have a conversation around the legal framework of players, player agents and clubs. So you have to bring in the experts to fill in those gaps, but it is a conversation that has to come from listening and observing. You have to partner with creators, we don't move in silos. In the past, a lot of people had this perception that creators are competing, they're not competing, it's about creating a collaborative effort and create engaging content that resonates. You also have to show appreciation by acknowledging the audience because without the ear, the mouth is useless.

How does live content, such as dressing room & training footage and player interviews, strengthen the relationship between the fans, brands & football clubs?

Live content, especially the one from the dressing room, training footage and player interviews strengthens the relationship between fans, brands and clubs. It provides exclusive access, bringing in the human element of the players and administrators running the club. So the audience gets to understand that people exactly like them hear their cries, experience the same frustration they experience when a player misses a chance, when an administrator messes up, whether it be in the form of not counting the number of yellow cards. It increases engagement, fans feel like they are part of an experience. A great example would be the Orlando Pirates documentary.

By leveraging live content and fan driven platforms, clubs, brands and leagues can create more immersive and engaging experiences for fans and get to have honest opinion in terms of the product that you put forward. Mainstream media is restricted in terms of what can be shared. By putting the fan in charge of the content, you enable honest conversations. It's twofold, sometimes you run the risk of having it too blunt to a point that it can work against the brand, so you need to tread responsibly. Collaborate with reputable voices who have a track record of engaging constructively and with respect because as much as they may be critiquing, they mean well.