Kobe Bryant’s Musecage: How to Convert Passion into Valuable Content with These Video Marketing Insights

Love knows no bounds. Kobe Bryant’s illustrious 20-year career in the NBA attests to that fact. For nearly two decades, Bryant obsessed over the game, pouring his heart and soul into one of the most tumultuous marriages any artist could have with their craft. His sacrifice did not go unnoticed. To the contrary, the basketball gods rewarded him not with accolades and adulation, but immortality.

Still, father time is uncompromising, and even the brightest of stars will burn out eventually. Indeed, Bryant’s love affair with the game ended in a supernova-esque flash.

But, even the immortal can’t defy the basic laws of physics. That is, like most forms of energy, passion doesn’t simply disappear into the darkness; it must be converted.

During the proverbial third act, most elite athletes settle for farewell tours, analyst gigs or a comfortable seat in the corporate office of their beloved franchise, but Bryant was secretly building his own world. A world created in his own image. A world he named “Canvas City: Musecage”. In this imaginary world, Bryant insists that no rock be left unturned to find motivation, whether it be good or bad, for virtually any challenge in life. To clarify, he released a statement that laid out his vision for the project:

“Canvas City: Musecage helps others better their best by delivering complex basketball insights in a light-hearted, easy-to-digest way. The show helps others understand the game at a higher level and offers a new voice to sports storytelling that will hopefully captivate the whole family.”

Easy-to-digest? Maybe. Light-hearted? Well, that’s another conversation completely. Nevertheless, the central thread that tied it all together was storytelling.

“The best way to inspire is through story”, said Bryant in an interview at the Tribeca Film Festival. “It tends to sink in more.”

Indeed, Mr. Bryant. Stories tend have a lasting effect on all of us, especially when a visual component is thrown into the equation. As a matter of fact, 80 percent of customers remember a video they’ve watched recently.

Matt Bowman, owner of Thrive Internet Marketing and Forbes Contributor, believes there’s a perfectly logical explanation behind this idea.

“One of the biggest strengths of video marketing is that its highly visual and auditory”, he wrote. “When customers remember your brand video marketing content, they also remember your brand, which translates to more sales and leads for you.”

Musecage isn’t a hard sell to your wallet. Rather, Bryant sells the idea that he is legitimate storyteller with valuable content to share with his audience. Therein, lies the true beauty of content marketing.

That said, I want to share three valuable insights I learned from Musecage that might serve as sources of inspiration to help your video marketing stand out in the future.

1-Unique Perspective. Since his youth, Kobe Bryant has been a student of the game, studying countless hours of film to increase his knowledge and capacity for acquiring new skills. As he matured into a NBA superstar, he relied heavily on film analysis to pick apart opposing teams and strengthen his on-court performance. More so, Bryant’s excruciating attention to detail and an eclectic body of knowledge is what gave him the competitive advantage; that is, a nuanced understanding of NBA rules, human psychology and even business made his approach to the game more like a chess match than basketball. Thus, a unique perspective combined with an exceptional basketball IQ elevated him above his peers.

Simple as it may seem, that unique perspective convinced Kevin Wildes, Vice President of Original Content at ESPN, to take a chance on Musecage. “The guy looks at the game totally different than everybody else”, said Wildes. “It’s an inspiring project that has a strong point of view. It’s unlike anything that we’ve seen in the basketball space.”

In the same way, Musecage caught my attention because Bryant adds depth to an otherwise superficial experience; he opens the vault to his inner-most thoughts and forces us to re-imagine the game at a level beyond bells and whistles. Once inside, it’s impossible to look basketball the same again.

Lesson:
I believe perspective is the separating factor between brands that produce high-quality content and build loyal audiences. Stories are told from multiple angles. The key is finding the angle most relevant to the desired audience and putting a personal spin on it so that it shakes up an existing industry paradigm or creates a new one completely. Of course, this easier said than done, but can be achieved over time with dedication and patience.
 
2-Narration. Along similar lines, narration is instrumental to the storytelling process. In fact, I would I argue that it’s one of the most undervalued tools when it comes to video marketing. Needless to say, Musecage illustrates just how effective this strategy is in bringing a story to life.

Clearly, to get his message across in each video, Bryant must use his voice to actively help the viewer reach the story’s conclusion. To that end, he adopts several roles – teacher, coach, mentor and even guru – to add a more personalized touch to his narration style. As such, the viewer becomes more engaged with the content because Bryant is essentially wrapping his arm around them to share his wisdom, almost the same way a master imparts knowledge to his pupil.

Even more, Bryant is tasked with converting elite-level concepts into content that is palatable to his audience. “It was the hardest thing to write”, he said. “I have to communicate these very high-level schemes in a way that’s very easily digestible.” Fortunately, this problem is countered because Bryant uses layman terms that help the viewer grasp the concepts laid forth and reach a pre-defined conclusion in each lesson. By doing so, the audience isn’t pressured to understand the game, but rather feel invited to participate in lessons that expand “the conversation beyond basketball”.

Lesson:
In my opinion, narration is key to helping brands tell their stories more actively. Foremost, a unique voice and narration style color-coats content in a way that trademarks brand perspective. As Musecage shows, not only does Kobe Bryant’s all-star pedigree lend credibility to his voice, but grants him a certain privilege within the sports storytelling space to challenge or rewrite narratives in his own words. Likewise, brands that occupy respected positions in their industries or communities can leverage their influence to invert conventional wisdom and shape important conversations that pertain to their customers.
 
 3-Animation. From a production standpoint, Bryant went to great lengths to infuse his own childhood memories into the animation of Musecage. Everything from Sesame Street to Fantasia were said to have been major influences on the superstar’s creative process.

Still, Bryant mediated deeply on the question of how to bring those forces together into one singular focus. “If I had a show that my kids could watch and learn how to better their best, what would that entail?”, Bryant wondered. “It would entail songs. It would entail animation, puppetry, comedy and a lot of visual representations of things they should be learning.”

One way or another, Bryant harmonized all these elements into his production. Each video runs under a unique theme, and therefore is assigned an array of colorful graphics that embellish the story. For example, Bryant’s first video entitled “Guarding the Greats” opens with retro video game graphics to set the tone. Further into the video, Bryant psychoanalyses the scoring habits of Lebron James, which he pitches to the audience as an eighties late-night fitness commercial. While he explains each of Lebron’s signature moves, words written in psychedelic font pop out on the screen to some groovy music in the background. These elements stacked on top of one another add greater entertainment value to what would be an otherwise dry analysis. Altogether, he still manages to hit the mark while riding a delicate balance between amusement and educating the audience.

Lesson:
Obviously, animation isn’t anything new, but with the proliferation of online tools and resources, more people can learn how to use it. That said, as brands become more sophisticated, I suspect that they’ll have teams of content creators which include video assistants and designers that are adept at collaborating to create animation graphics for various projects. Even for smaller businesses, there are talented freelancers that specialize in these areas and could do the work at an affordable price. Moreover, if engagement is a top priority for these brands, then animation will surely be an indispensable part of their video marketing strategy.
 
For now, only time will tell whether Musecage sticks around or falls into the graveyard of ideas that had potential. But, one thing is for certain – Kobe Bryant has left us with a template for converting passion into valuable content for those who enjoy visual storytelling. Now, it’s up to us to determine what we do with it.
 
Well folks, that’s my cue!