On the Gridiron: Tennessee Titans' Behind-the-Scenes Video Efforts Embodied by Tennessee Tough' Campaign Digital video projects centered on fans and Nashville community have Titans soaring in unbeaten start to season By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital Friday, October 23, 2020 - 3:04 pm
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Many professional sports have opted for a return to play inside a sanitized bubble. Not the NFL. Without skipping a beat, the league is soldiering on with regular-season games in all 32 stadiums across the country. Similar to our At the Ballpark series, On the Gridiron examines the new routines, habits, and production philosophies of in-venue personnel on any given Thursday, Sunday, or Monday.
Tennessee Tough.
In Nashville, the slogan has outgrown its status as simply a marketing campaign. It's a mantra that not only has become a rallying cry for an NFL team that has emerged as an early favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. It's a rallying cry for an entire region in what has been a year that has tried us all.
Whether it has been COVID-19, battles for social justice, or (and you'd be forgiven if you have forgotten) a devastating tornado that ripped through the city in early March, it has been a year chock-full of challenges. But, with the NFL franchise fresh off a surprise appearance in last year's AFC Championship Game and a 5-0 start to the current campaign, the big, bruising, underdog Titans have become the darlings of the area. And the video team behind the scenes at the Titans has been more than happy to take the fans along for the ride.
It became apparent we should focus on the toughness of our city in what we're going through, says David Schindler, senior director/executive producer, event presentation and production, Tennessee Titans. Tennessee Tough' seemed to fit in with this year and the makeup of our team.
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Content Plans Put the Focus on the City and Its People With all the hype surrounding this year's Tennessee Titans squad, its video team has been blessed with one of the more exciting periods in the history of the franchise's time in the Volunteer State. However, with very limited ability to directly engage with its fanbase, Schindler and his crew have gotten very aggressive in creating unique content built for digital and social audiences.
The Titans most notably went viral in recent weeks with a hype video embracing that Tennessee Tough mantra, celebrating not just the current team and the franchise's history but its home in the Heartland.
The Tennessee Tough piece, driven by Creative Director Surf Melendez, was emblematic of a theme that runs through all the content that the Titans video squad has been producing this calendar year: even during a time of tremendous success on the field, the fans remain the heartbeat of the club.
We are built for this. We are Tennessee Tough. pic.twitter.com/pLZXzHNUUW
Tennessee Titans (@Titans) October 13, 2020
That theme dates back to offseason feature pieces spotlighting the community's response to the tornado, the initial coronavirus outbreak, and social-justice movements. It was highlighted by an impressive live Virtual Draft Party on the first night of the NFL Draft in April, which deeply integrated fans as part of the show. In-game host Lance Smith and Titans legend Eddie George hosted fully virtual interviews with celebrity fans, current and former Titans players, and current fans through Zoom video chat. The team also worked with social partner Tagboard to integrate live fan pictures and commentary throughout the Draft.
These were all things that you have to learn, says Schindler, who joined the Titans in 2017 after stints with the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers in the days of Phillips Arena. You're putting in a couple of weeks putting a whole show together and learning skill sets you never really had before. It's exciting, it's nerve-wracking, but sometimes it brings out the best in you. The [Virtual Draft Party] was pretty cool.
Even when the team got back to producing team-centered content over the summer as Training Camp heated up, fans remained at its heart. In weekly television show Titans All-Access, Titans Senior Director, Broadcasting, Mike Keith and Broadcasting Manager Amie Wells hosted segments in a virtual format (the team has since shifted to a studio it has set up in a space inside Nissan Stadium; the video cre
