Lessons in product management from Aguerooooooooooooo.

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Product managers are a strange breed. The flock from all sorts with every possible overused cliché for a backstory you can think of. If the ever expanding digital landscape can be likened to an unending ocean then these ‘Product Folks’ are the pirates of these high seas. Like the social rejects that were the ‘scallywags’ of old, this creed of men all flock under a common banner with no nation to call their own; they don't belong in tech, not with design and are shunned by business. They are the homeless and the loveless, always searching for their next big booty; armed with cannons of redundant KPIs and bullshit jargon they sail. But of all the treasures they pursue, the once most prized of all, the one all seek but few ever achieve, the one that really gets their dicks hard in the morning : What makes a product truly Great?


So look no further for I have the answer. Well not really, that would be way too presumptuous of me. What I do have is a product I really like and a fairly good understanding of why I like it. So maybe take the learnings from it and see what you can apply? 


So as master Yoda would say-

'I have not the booty you seek, but the map for that booty to achieve. DM slides you must do on your own'


Enter stage left: The English Premier League. 


That’s right, it’s not a social media app, a ride hailing platform or some bullshit 10 minute grocery delivery service that's the king of digital products. It’s the top tier league of English football and here's the two main lessons we can take from it: (in my veeeeeeeryyy humble and ill informed opinion)

Become a part of your customer’s life: Across the world, fans become indoctrinated with the clubs they support and the league as a whole. Some make it their entire personality and go FKW* during match day, purchasing merchandise and pushing up viewership numbers. All of sports is capable of this, to generate primal instincts of loyalty and tribalism but the Prem were able to expand beyond home towns and do it on a global level. Through a mixture of inclusion, target TV viewership and global outreach they are the perfect case study on taking a great product and expanding it to new geographies.

Make the product exciting as f**k: We are all junkies when it comes to that sweet dopamine and what football does so well is manage your hits. Hyping up match days and rivalries, everything from relegation dog fights to title deciding 6 pointers raises the stakes and excitement of your product. And here again, the Prem does it better than anyone else, by a combination of clever management and regulating, they have kept the league much more competitive than European counterparts and made their product the most exciting and unpredictable. As a result, gratification is more managed even for the supporters of a top team and the dopamine hits when they do come are that much stronger. And it doesn't stop there, even in the off season the brilliant dramatization of the transfer windows keeps the excitement levels up. The league understood this very well and through the clever positing of agents, journalists and tabloids( while also being assisted by the clowns that make up Manchester United’s boardroom) have taken another feature of their product and pushed engagement levels to the absolute max.




So in conclusion, make an addictive product that takes up your customer's entire life and personality.

The premier league does this really well. So do drugs.
*FKW(Full kit wanker). An annoying douche who comes up fully kitted in team merchandise. Looks like the team's mascot, will always try to challenge your level of fandom. Don't be a FKW.


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