Going global: the internationalization of the brand as a commercial opportunity
The value of international markets is strategically essential in the modern Sport Industry scenario. Indeed, it is abroad that sports companies are looking for new visibility and investment formulas, with the aim to spread vision, mission and values of the brand to an always broader audience. The increase and the diversification of the revenue streams are the reasons why the players of the industry are eager to reach the international markets.
To encourage the investments from sponsors, the modern sport companies must — first of all — offer them a brand. A strong brand, easily recognizable and communicable. And the communication and the promotion channels are a lot, from the traditional to the most innovative ones.
One of the most effective opportunity is the one offered by the regional partnership. These deals are particularly appreciated by clubs, enabling to intervene on strategic areas directly, signing contracts in different geographic areas. In this way, the monetization possibilities increase; partnerships become even more efficient and focused, and the targets become specific and not global. Asia is for sure the area in which the majority of the efforts by the European clubs are focusing in, and it is, at the moment, the area from which the most of the regional partnerships come from.
Looking at East
Signing local sponsorships is the path undertaken by English clubs, and the Italian ones should do the same. The Chinese market has undoubtedly a strong appeal for European clubs, as many of them are entering the market to engage new fanbases and increase their loyalty.
The players of the Sport Industry are looking at Beijing: clubs — such as Manchester United and Barcelona — and national leagues as well — like LaLiga and Bundesliga.
In England, Manchester United represent a great case study. The Red Devils are forerunners in the activation of global marketing strategies, applying a corporate business model to the football industry. United have been among the first teams to launch international summer tours, as they understood — before the others — the importance to develop the brand in the global market. Recently, they planned the opening of three entertainment centres in China — where the club esteem to have about 100 million of fans — to engage the local fanbase through immersive and interactive activations, delivering the “United Experience”.
Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang: here, from 2020 and thanks to advanced technology, the visitors can enter the United universe, living the experience of a matchday at Old Trafford and learning more about the history and the tradition of the club, as well as being able to eat in United’s branded restaurants and shop from the club’s official stores on site. The vision of the Red Devils is clear: to consolidate a well established fanbase but also to earn the loyalty of new audiences, to entertain, educate and inspire the next generation of football fans.
Even more innovative is the strategy structured by Wolverhampton to enter the Eastern market. Specifically, the club signed a deal with China Weibo to set up an eSports Wolverhampton-branded team; undoubtedly a strategic choice, considered the fact that China is the country where eSports are experiencing the greatest success: indeed, according to a report by Tencent, the Chinese eSports market will grow by 1.5b $ in 2020.
To confirm the stunning growth of the Chinese market in the Sport Industry also the case of the Spanish football association, among the first to understand the importance of opening new commercial offices abroad: the latest one is in Shanghai, a connection to the Chinese market and a strategic location for events, eSports tournaments and fan engagement activities.
Also Bundesliga recently went to China, with the aim to “become the most popular European league in the country”, as stated by Robert Klein, CEO at Bundesliga International. After several openings in New York, India and Singapore, the Beijing office was opened in March, to nurture local fan engagement and stay closer to potential and existing commercial partners.
With this in mind, the German league also signed an agreement with the Industrial Bank of China, that will produce co-branded credit cards and will organize fan events during the big matches of the championship. Moreover, confirming the increasing popularity that German football is having in the local market, the agreement signed between Bundesliga and the Chinese broadcaster PPTV for the 2018–2023 TV rights: an almost 40m € per year deal for the German league.
What about Italy?
The brand internationalization and its valorization should be a priority also for Italian football. However, Italian clubs experience a huge gap as compared to the rest of European football: the problem lies in the lack of international appeal, particularly in the emerging markets where the top European clubs are intensely entering.
Juventus are trying to reduce this gap with a global visibility strategy allowing the club to grow and reach key markets: several partnerships have been signed, for example the one with the international agency IMG for the promotion of the Bianconeri products in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, the club signed a partnership with TMALL, the B2C platform part of the Alibaba group, and structured a regional partnership with Costa Cruises for the Asiatic area, laying the foundations for a collaboration with the aim to export the Made in Italy in countries where the passion for the black and white colours is extremely increasing.
But not only Juventus: Inter’s Chinese management is giving a strong push to the internationalization strategies of the club, producing targeted contents for the millions of fans across the globe. The aim of the President Zhang is to nurture the fanbase through fan engagement activities oriented to China, Indonesia and the South East Asia, without neglecting South America — and more specifically the Argentinian and Brazilian markets -, home of many legends of the club.
Moreover, a partnership with WeChat has been signed for the distribution of video contents in Asia and many original initiatives have been planned, such as the special and commemorative jerseys worn by the players for the Chinese New Year’s Eve. A successful path that has already guaranteed the first results to the club, since the commercial revenues coming from the Chinese market increased significantly, reaching almost 120M €.
Finally, AS Roma are among the virtuous examples of how a club, diversifying their communication, can talk to different audiences with different languages, cultures and interests. The Twitter’s strategy of the Giallorossi allows the fan to choose among twelve languages, from Dutch to French, from Indonesian to Persian. It is the solution to move closer the fan to the brand, in a “secondary fan” strategy with the aim to earn the loyalty of supporters of other teams, specifically outside Italy: as Paul Rogers — Head of Digital at the club — says, the goal is “to make AS Roma the Italian favourite team of a Manchester United fan”.
Therefore, the brand internationalization is a goal that sports companies must pursue, activating efficient marketing strategies to create value and to open to new commercial possibilities. Giving visibility to the brand, telling it with the proper tone and style and via the most appropriate channels represent, for the Sport Industry, the challenges of today and tomorrow; optimising the popularity and strengthening the presence into emerging markets is a priority that clubs, leagues and associations must perceive as important as the one of winning on the pitch.
Article by Fabio Lalli, CEO at IQUII and IQUII Sport.
