Stephanie McMahon On the Importance Of Talent Brands to WWE, Fans Connecting With Stars On Social Media

During her recent appearance on The Playbook podcast, Stephanie McMahon discussed how important individual talent brands are to WWE and how fans connect with stars in the social media age. McMahon spoke with David Meltzer (not the one you’re thinking of) about the value of individual stars’ brands and how fans may not connect with brands, but they will connect with individuals. You can see highlights and the full audio below:

On the importance of individual’s brands to the whole of WWE: “Well I think one of the things, you know, that we understood early on is, it’s star power. Right? It’s about the attraction, it’s about the draw. Whether you’re going to a live event, or you’re trying to drive television ratings, or social media engagement, or whatever it is, is you have to have the star power. So for us, we try to amplify the individual stars so that we can create the biggest moments around them. They need to have individual voices. They need to be their own personas.”

On the closer connection fans have to talent in the social media era: “I think now, in the digital and social age, the audience wants to engage with these stars on a personal level. Like, ‘I know you play this particular character. But who are you in real life?,’ you know? ‘Do you have dogs? Do you have cats? What do you like to eat?’ All this stuff, because people want to relate. I think at the end of the day, the audience might not relate to a brand, right? To the WWE or whatever other league. But they might want to relate to a team, or they might want to relate to the individual stars.

“And I think more and more you’re seeing that in the media space. Whether it’s content creators on TikTok or Twitch, you see these consumers and people really getting behind these content creators and influencers individually because they relate to them in whatever way. And I think it’s different ways for every person, but if you can create that opportunity for engagement, then the rising tide really will raise all boats. And I used that expression earlier, but it’s true.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Playbook with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.