1. Man City has its eyes on winning over America:
Big Ideas:
- * Engagement is a BS measurement.
- * SMART objectives rule.
- * Brand is the accumulation of all the touchpoints, good and bad, over time.
Last week, I said that the Everton story was a companion to this story so as promised let’s talk about branding and strategy.
Manchester City has done a great job of setting up a global network, buying teams in markets around the globe like Melbourne, New York, Mumbai, and more. From the article, you see a very conscious focus on New York City that has included them building a soccer pitch in Spanish Harlem.
What I like about Man City’s approach is that they talk about very specific behaviors, target audiences, and positions.
The Everton example, on the surface, seems a bit more tactically driven than Man City’s because there seems to be a heavy focus on “engagement”, the makeup of the current squad, and a belief that there is just a lot of opportunity in America.
In the past months I’ve spent a lot of time talking about branding because any competent marketer should know enough to point out three things to you:
- * Your brand is the accumulation of all of the good and bad impressions that your audience has had with you.
- * A strong brand is key to create price integrity and attracting folks to you.
- * Brands build over time and you have to invest in them.
Let’s look at these two brands and see how they can be successful in the United States market.
There is no doubt that Manchester City is more popular than Everton. But the key measure of where Everton is starting is brand awareness, likely unaided awareness.
The opportunity for Everton lies in behavioral segmentation of the market. The Everton story highlights a really cool question that could drive some key behavioral insights: “Why do people choose to follow Everton?”
Answer that question and you can lay out the meaningful/actionable grid to build a segmentation that helps you identify people that act in a similar way.
From there it is a matter of targeting the right audience.
This is something that Man City seems to have done pretty well with their discussion and focus on New York City, the way that they break out colleges, and a focus on kids under 13. (This part mirrors the NFL’s research that pointed out that 18 was the point where it became really tough to get someone to become a football fan.)
Lay out a good position.
In Man City’s case the position seems pretty clear: you position about who you are and what you do. They should talk about their success and giving back. These things highlight what matters about supporting them.
In Everton’s case, the opposite approach makes sense. They should position against their competition.
They could choose to build their brand around being not Liverpool or not the Big Six. If you want to see what this looks like, check out this ad by Avis:
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/8gMsusVaLng?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
From there they can lay out their strategies to create measurable signs that they are hitting their goals.
“Engagement” ain’t it.
You need these objectives to be SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Ambitious
- Realistic
- Time-Bound
Engagement is none of those things, but it gets thrown around a lot. So be careful, if it isn’t SMART, it is likely BS.
The big key after all of this is executing in the proper way using the marketing mix.
Man City’s Cityzens program is a great jumping off point for Man City fans. While Everton’s membership program requires someone to get back to you, creating friction. And, their digital offering isn’t nearly as slick and attractive as Man City’s. (Also, I had to look for it among the membership offerings. As opposed to Man City’s that sits right at the top of the home page in a banner ad.)
The thing with awareness is that it may not be the most important step.
The Premier League is as popular in the United States as MLS. And, the popularity of EPL broadcasts grew 74% between 2009-2019.
If awareness isn’t the key, what is the next step?
Just doing cool TikTok’s isn’t likely to drive people to watch your matches, buy your merchandise, or visit the club when they come to America, or get them to come to England to see a match.
Just driving awareness is meaningless without action. It is a wasted effort.
So come to America, but think about what you want people to do when they know you exist and push people towards that.
Action can help them conquer America’s sports market, but engagement most definitely won’t.