What place does sports marketing have in national football?
We rarely mention the marketing and communication actions that professional clubs develop during football seasons. Rare are those who refer to them in their statements. How many have a communication and marketing cell? The concern of each and everyone is none other than how to get a place among the frontrunners of the new season which is coming and how to find a sponsor.
Supporter reviews
Aresky. B, medical school student: “It’s up to the club to find a sponsor, it’s up to the staff to promote the club’s performance and above all its seriousness. It is up to the club to sit around a table to decide on an action plan which would aim to highlight the club and above all to improve its image, its notoriety, how to give more visibility. Everything is based on a communication strategy, which would concern the players in the way they communicate. We have yet to read or hear a club leader tell us; this season, we will make each of our matches a sporting, even family event that can convince and seduce, or even announce the creation of a space where you can discover the history of the club…”.
S. Ourida, a medical student, also wonders about “the non-existence of a shop where everyone can buy a jersey or equipment in the colors of the club, a way of creating a real image of the club”. Another marketing manager of a national company asks himself a question to which he hopes to find an answer. A company that sponsors a club, there are supporters who don’t know all the logos. Is putting your logo on the player’s shirt enough?
But what about stadiums? Unfortunately, the boundary between products intended exclusively for sports practice and others is becoming increasingly blurred.”
Sports marketing, “the misunderstood”
A logo is not enough on a jersey. Should we remember that sports marketing as it is taught is a strategy that seeks to attract customers and enhance the brand image through advertising actions in the world of sport.
It is a strategy used more and more, because the consumer feels identified with a team or a sport and it is easier to sell a product. But today, this communication tool would benefit from being “respected” and taught at club level and imposed by sponsors.
The contribution of marketing
“A supporter who practices sport prefers to buy a bag with the logo of the team he supports instead of buying a bag from a well-known sports brand”. In a day devoted to professional football, organized by the association of Former International Players in October 2017, an expert rightly said that professional football: “It is training sports managers in the following areas: business management, financial management, marketing, communication, image rights”.
The supporter is also a consumer
All the studies show and demonstrate that the potential customer sees himself as close to all the companies that support his team or promote the sport that he is passionate about. In the sports world, experts, authors of several books and studies, show that “professional clubs, which are also businesses, have a crying need for exploitable marketing data. The challenge for sports managers is to be able to identify and know the fans who attend and follow their favorite team to offer them a better experience in the stadiums”. But they also and above all want to exploit fan data for marketing purposes, in particular to satisfy the needs of sponsors and to maximize.
Summary by H. Hichem
nBein sports 1: Atalanta Bergamo – AC Milan at 6:45 p.m.
nBein sports 2: Atlético Madrid – Villarreal at 5:30 p.m.