Uni4m began work with Fighters Inc, a professional management and marketing agency working exclusively in combat and strength sports.
With the ambition of Fighters Inc to showcase the brand and its achievements as they approached the quarter-century mark, the client wanted to launch a brand-new podcast. With Uni4m having experience in this regard, recording and producing two in-house shows of our own, the chance to use our knowledge of the industry to help such an exciting and reputable client was one that we just couldn’t wait to get to work on.
The Client
Fighters Inc are at the heart of a long list of global combat sports events and experiences. A wide range of clientele and a reputation for delivering ground-breaking events has earned the respect of an entire industry. Formed and titled because of the careers and passions of founders Paul Alderson and Joe Long, their services and connections have been utilised by many of the fighting world’s most well-known brands throughout the company’s 25 illustrious years.
Always innovative and forward-thinking, as Fighters Inc approached such a significant milestone, they looked for ways in which they could use their connections to elevate the brand in a completely new fashion. They settled on what would become ‘The FightMad Podcast’.
The Objective
The intention of the show was to provide an exclusive insight into the industry that would appease hardcore fight fans, whilst also making it appealing to a wider audience. Thanks to the connections of Fighters Inc, the show would feature a star-studded guest lineup from the world of combat sports and beyond. Whilst renown fighters and coaches would dominate the lineup, key appearances from celebrity combat sports fans would prove vital in attracting a variety of different listeners.
For Uni4m, the project was a chance to use our existing knowledge of the podcast industry to help the client achieve their goals. The podcast had all of the necessary ingredients to be a success: an invested and engaging host, world-famous guests and a renowned brand to provide reputability. It was our job to combine them into a holistic product that would become an audio success.
The Plan
As producers of the show, Uni4m were responsible for not just the bi-weekly releases of the episodes, but for the creation of the branding and all necessary digital assets that would accompany the full podcasts and any micro content posted on social media.
The objective was to create a stylish, reserved, yet striking design that would feature several references to the world of combat sports. The logo itself is a perfect example of this. Comprising of a vector combination of three fighting ‘rings’ - a square to represent boxing, an octagon for mixed martial arts and a circle for karate - overlaid to create an efficient and simple design, the logo is a subtle nod to the industry that Fighters Inc heralded from themselves.
For the podcast artwork itself, the colour palette was carefully chosen. Black was to be the primary colour, as it is widely-transferrable and suited to a wide variety of secondary tones. White and yellow were the colours selected to compliment it, with yellow able to stand out and demand a viewer’s attention. The typeface (Statewide) was chosen as it is synonymous with wider sport, but elegant enough to ensure that it remained aesthetically pleasing. Finally, additional design elements, such as the tape that features across many of the assets, is a stark reference to the world of combat sports.
The Outcome
From a design perspective, the outcome was a complete and stylised set of graphics and templates that would assist FightMad in its appearance on a variety of platforms, from podcast-hosting sites like Spotify, to key social media domains such as Instagram.
Complimentary quote graphics, frames for videos (such as those posted on IGTV), micro-content in a range of formats and lengths, along with all necessary copy for social media is provided to Fighters Inc upon the successful upload of a new episode.
The podcasts themselves are of an ideal length - between 30-50 minutes - and have received many positive reviews since the pilot episode (featuring former UFC champion Michael Bisping) was released in July 2021. Thanks to podcast-recording platform Riverside, all episodes are recorded efficiently and at an optimal quality. The guests continue to make producing The FightMad Podcast an engaging - and often hilarious - experience, that we here at Uni4m Media love working on.
The Metrics
At the time of writing, the FightMad Podcast is well into its first season and is establishing itself as a true up-and-comer within the realm of combat sports audio content. As we approach episode 10, the show has accumulated almost 42,000 views and listens across a multitude of platforms.
Superstars from the fighting world, such as Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Marc Goddard have joined Joe Long and helped create particularly successful episodes, but comedian Dapper Laughs attracted hundreds of his own fans to FightMad to see him declare his love for boxing and MMA. This has been the show’s most popular episode to date.
With plenty more superstar names lined up as FightMad’s episode count heads into double figures, we can’t wait to see the numbers continue to climb.