CPL Marketing & Strategy Notes (Transcript)

League context and match update

• Forge is on an undefeated streak in the CPL; they’ve been undefeated this season with draws only (notably a draw against Vancouver), and they're only a point behind the leaders, keeping the title race tight with about ten weeks left in the season.
• Upcoming weekend: Forge vs Ottawa, a top-of-the-table matchup that could impact the standings; if Ottawa overturns the lead, Forge’s season-long momentum could be affected, adding drama to the race.
• Mueller was in Vancouver (arrived yesterday) but did not play in the match; he did a live press conference on YouTube and visited a local bar where fans were excited.
• General mood: discussions reflect anticipation for the weekend match and the implications for the league standings.

SOW and contract timeline

• A forwarded email with the SOW (sent around 12:39) prompted a quick check for the correct recipient; a short misrouting moment is noted, then confirmed and forwarded to the team.
• Key SOW details:
  • The upfront capital investment will be blended across the rest of the year rather than paid in full upfront.
  • This structure is intended to ease cash flow by spreading payments and aligning them with revenue realization from the initiative.
  • Objective: avoid a large upfront payment and give the client time to realize revenue from the investment.
• Action items:
  • Review the highlighted sections in the SOW; provide edits or questions if needed.
  • Target decision timing: aiming for next week, though it may not be realistic; that’s the current desired timeline.
• Operational note: kickoff is set for September 2 (right after the weekend), but a sooner start is possible if everyone is ready.

Performance snapshot and campaign performance

• Good news on performance:
  • Momentum and week-over-week improvement in CPM (cost per thousand impressions) with a decrease of 2¢ from the prior week.
  • CPC (cost per click) has fallen to $0.42$ from $0.54$, a 12¢ improvement.
  • Demand gen is delivering around $0.13$ per click (joked about as “magic number” and “stringflation”).
• Observations about pacing and goals:
  • The current messaging isn’t driving people to watch live matches; it’s more aligned with the league and a brand manifesto page; the video content is recognized as strong.
  • Demand gen is labeled as YouTube to reflect the channel; plan is to switch the label from Demand Gen to YouTube for clarity.
• Creative and channel notes:
  • The team is using video assets and static assets across Meta and Google Ads for the BW Canada “game changers” initiative.
  • Creative assets are positioned to support both broad reach and lookalike/ prospecting audiences with first-party data and Meta’s in-platform data.

Creative assets and slide set for BW Canada – Game Changers

• Slide set structure and assets being used:
  • Three video assets included: “The game starts here” (5,000 CAD for grassroots) and “Not on the score sheet” (additional video content). These assets are being used to target grassroots and broader audiences.
  • Slide for static assets (Slide 8): “First coach,” “Believer,” and “Motivator.”
  • These assets run across lookalike audiences and prospecting audiences using both first-party data and Meta’s in-house/third-party data.
  • Slide for IAB standard sizes (Slide 9): all standard IAB sizes used for display retargeting across Google Ads.
• Action items around slides:
  • The team asked for a clean copy of the slides on a blank page (no squiggles) and delivered as PDF to Michael.
  • The slides should be sanitized and shared with the client for easier presentation preparation.

Slide 10 metrics and revenue performance

• Ticket and revenue performance:
  • Tickets sold: over $2{,}200$ purchase transactions tracked via ad platforms.
  • Revenue: just over $174{,}000$.
  • ROAS: 99.8 ext{%} (observed as a high return on ad spend).
  • The campaigns emphasized reach and impressions to promote the broadcast, while still driving revenue through ticket purchases.
  • Average Order Value (AOV): $77.79$.
  • Observed consumer behavior: most buyers purchase doubles rather than singles, aligning with prior season patterns.
• Impressions and reach context:
  • The team reports that impressions were crushed across channels.
  • Reach across trackable platforms: just over $14{,}000{,}000$ (approximately fourteen million).
  • Average frequency: $4.3 imes$ (4.3 exposures per user on average).
  • Readout nuance: Google Ads does not provide a reach metric, so reach is aggregated across platforms that do report it; a composite reach value is used for the KPI.
• Dashboard commentary and next steps:
  • The team wants the dashboard to clearly separate Reach and Frequency with a straightforward calculation, e.g.
  • Frequency: $ext{Frequency} = \frac{ ext{Total Impressions}}{ ext{Reach}}$.
  • There is a need to clarify a metric that appeared as “Impressions target 80; actual 80.6” and confirm the units (likely thousands).
  • A plan to present Reach and Frequency as distinct line items, possibly on separate slides for clarity.
  • A commitment to deliver a revised slide that explicitly shows Reach, Frequency, and Impressions in a simple, interpretable way.

Channel strategy and streaming expansion discussion

• YouTube demand-gen performance:
  • YouTube is recognized as an effective demand-gen channel; there is interest in expanding streaming beyond YouTube to additional platforms.
• Spotify and streaming expansion ideas:
  • Consider adding Spotify (audio and video) as a net-new streaming channel for playoffs; there is a history of using Spotify for finals in prior seasons.
  • Practical considerations: can we reuse or repurpose the YouTube asset for Spotify? Could we rip audio from YouTube and run audio ads on Spotify with a companion banner? Spotify supports video in some formats; last season’s finals included Spotify activity.
  • Suggested approach if a Spotify asset is ready tomorrow: reallocate a portion of the Meta budget to Spotify. A proposed budget split suggested was to move some funds from Meta (which currently has a larger share) to Spotify, with a rec for a more specific plan.
  • Proposed timing: launch Spotify on Thursdays and run through Saturday afternoon to align with match recency.
  • Budget guidance (initial): Meta budget around $1{,}000$ per week total; consider $500$ per week for Meta (with dayparting for three days before the match) and allocate Spotify within the remaining budget. If the weekly budget cannot cover all channels, propose a phased approach and a Tuesday recommendation for a formal plan.
• Other streaming and net-new channels to consider:
  • Expand streaming reach beyond YouTube to other platforms (e.g., Spotify, Reddit, and digital-out-of-home, as used in finals last year).
  • The team suggests testing Spotify as a net-new channel and potentially ripping audio from the primary creative to use across Spotify and other audio platforms.
• SportsNet app discussion and playoffs plan:
  • Archive status of the Score app (SportsNet Score) discussion; consider including Score app in playoffs if feasible.
  • With incremental budget, determine how much to carve for playoffs and how to preserve a portion for finals (the conversation mentions a “60.40” split and reserving funds for finals).
  • A concrete note: consider reserving $60{,}400$ for finals as a dedicated reserve and allocate incremental funds to playoffs accordingly.

Playoffs planning, Score app, and budget allocation

• Playoffs budget strategy:
  • Explore adding Score app as a playoff channel; evaluate incremental spend and what to remove from existing allocations if needed.
  • Decide how much to carve from the current budget to support playoffs while preserving finals funding (the team mentions preserving some balance for finals; the exact split discussed is a 60/40 reference and a dedicated finals reserve).
  • The plan is to test new channels (e.g., Score app) and broader streaming channels as a net-new push for playoffs.
• Finals reserve and incremental testing:
  • Acknowledgment that the finals budget and the playoffs budget should be accounted for separately to avoid over-committing to channels too early.
  • The team suggests keeping a portion of the overall budget reserved for finals and using incremental dollars for playoffs to maximize seasonal performance.

Action items, owners, and next steps

• Immediate actions:
  • Bianca to deliver cleaned-up screen grabs and a PDF version of the slide deck without annotations to Michael.
  • An email will be sent within ~30–60 minutes detailing next week’s CPL and TSM ads champion; team to review and prepare.
• Data and dashboard follow-ups:
  • Confirm reach and frequency labeling on the dashboard; provide a revised slide with explicit Reach and Frequency sections, including a clear KPI such as 7x impression target.
  • Provide a simple, user-friendly calculation for Frequency and a breakdown of impression sources by platform (including a note on Google Ads’ lack of a direct reach metric).
• Scheduling and decision timeline:
  • The team is aiming to make a decision on the SOW by next week, though there is some uncertainty about whether that can be met.
  • The kickoff date remains September 2, with potential acceleration if all teams are ready.
• Creative and capability planning:
  • Plan to create playoff-specific creatives to refresh the campaign and avoid fatigue on the primary grand spot; consider a second version for playoff campaigns.
  • Prepare for an expanded streaming plan during playoffs (YouTube, Spotify, Reddit, DHO) with a potential audio vs. video test on Spotify.

Closing notes and context

• The group emphasized the value of testing and learning from historical data from last season to inform the playoffs strategy.
• There is optimism about expanding streaming channels and cross-channel opportunities (Spotify, Score app, Reddit, etc.) to reach more fans and optimize the playoff push.
• The team will regroup after this call to integrate feedback and finalize the next week’s CPL and TSM ads plan, followed by a review of AdSense feedback.
• Final exchanges included a commitment to share cleaned visuals and keep everyone aligned on timelines, budgets, and KPIs.

Quick glossary of key metrics and concepts mentioned

• Reach: Number of unique individuals exposed to the campaign. Across platforms, the total reach reported is ext{Reach}
  ightarrow ext{approx. } 14{,}000{,}000.
• Frequency: Average number of exposures per person. Reported as ext{Frequency}
  ightarrow 4.3\times on average.
• Impressions: Total number of times ads were shown (across all platforms). KPI referenced as a target of 7x impressions per user.
• Impressions Target vs Actual (example from call): Target $80.0$, Actual $80.6$ (units implied by context; confirm exact unit in final dashboard).
• Cost per Click (CPC): Current $0.42$ vs prior $0.54$.
• Cost per Mille (CPM): Down by 2¢ week over week (exact dollar value not specified).
• Revenue and ticket metrics (CPL/BW Canada):
  • Tickets sold: $2{,}200$+ transactions.
  • Revenue: $174{,}000$+.
  • AOV: $77.79$.
  • ROAS: $99.8\%$.
• Channel references:
  • Demand Gen = YouTube (preferred labeling change).
  • Meta and Google Ads for display and retargeting; IAB standard sizes used on Google Ads for display.
• Budget references:
  • Meta weekly budget target around $1{,}000$ total; consider $500$ per week per channel with dayparting; explore Spotify within available budget.
  • Finals reserve reference around $60{,}400$ with a plan to carve incremental funds for playoffs while preserving finals funding.

Notes on formatting and calculations used in this summary

• All mathematical expressions are shown in LaTeX syntax as requested, enclosed in double dollar signs, e.g. $ext{ROAS} = \frac{ ext{Revenue}}{ ext{Ad Spend}}$.
• Where numeric values appear, they are preserved from the transcript with thousands separators as appropriate (e.g., $2{,}200$, $174{,}000$).
• Explanations use plain language for context, followed by the relevant formula where applicable (e.g., Frequency = Total Impressions ÷ Reach).