We got to the point that it's needless to say that marketing can be used in all sort of campaigns. Football is no exception. In it’s own way, a football match is a product that must be sold – the tickets are one of the most important sources of profit and, if the team is not popular enough, there are also no sponsors. Getting fans to go to the stadium, buy the tickets and enjoy the match it’s a double profit: not only because more tickets are sold, but also because the team gets enough popularity to get the attention of sponsors.
Sporting Clube de Portugal (or, in English, something like Sporting Team of Portugal) is one of the three most important football teams in Portugal. Being one of the most important, it has a large amount of supporters in the whole country and it’s also one of the teams most talked about. During this year, the team has been out of shape, the results are not the expected ones and the supporters are not happy. Last month, the administration hired a new coach, but the supporters continued unsatisfied: the new coach is an old player with no relevant experience in coaching and better results were needed.
This was the administration’s move: (you can check the translation bellow the video)
When a friend calls for help, what do you do?
When there’s a tear in someone’s face, can you make him smile?
Or do you choose night if the day turns out wrong?
Have you forgotten the day Alvalade (Sporting’s stadium) received you for the first time, next to the one who taught how to love and to be loved?
Have you forgotten the goals that made you jump, that stole your voice, that made you dream… Have you already forgotten who taught you what it is to be distinctive or you forgot what it is to honour a history that taught you, that to win, you need to fight? Or maybe you’re forgetting that there is the Jamor’s battle (a Portuguese football competition) to win, and that it’s not only in the past that Europe has your name carved on.
Or do you rather quit, forget that there is an honour to defend because this is our time to discover who is loyal, to remember that only Sporting has Portugal in its name?
Because this is the moment to give a sense to loyalty, to accept the honour for which you were chosen, so today we can believe that there is no biggest strength than the heart that makes you scream, the far roar that remembers you that, if you’re a lion, you don’t cry if you’re losing but you fight until death!
And you, do you have a lion’s heart?
First of all, I’m sorry for the Portuguese ad. The fact is that I found interesting how all we learnt can be applied, even in such a thing as football and this video is an example of that.
As you can see though the video and the narrative, the main target of this ad are the fans, the ones who truly support Sporting. With this video, the administration wants to reach to the supporters who really are there to help the team to go further, to create the need to believe in the team again because it already gave to the fans so many good moments. The ad was shoot in tones of green, not just because it’s the team’s colour, but because it’s also the colour of hope and hope is what they need; they the support of the true fans, who fight strongly with the team, not only when it’s up, but mainly when it’s down.
We can say that the Sporting’s administration is selling the brand with an emotional link to the fans – it’s the team to gives us all the good moments and feelings we can remember, who taught us what it is true support. In a way, you can see how the message goes against the critics that the team has been receiving: you’re only a true fan if you still believe in what we can achieve as a team and, if you don’t, if you don’t remember, you’re not a true supporter. Even the fact of choosing the new coach to say the last words, to ask to the fans if they are true supporters, it’s a way of maintaining that position of “you can say whatever you want about our decisions and our performance, but if you were a true fan, you would not criticize us as much”. It’s not only about selling the brand, but also about giving a perspective of what the brand thinks of itself and what it stands for.
To complete the message that the big victories are not just in the past but also in the future, the administration promoted a single game against Manchester City with a new video (you can see it here, but it’s in Portuguese, again). It talks about past victories when no one believed that the team could win and asks fans if they still believe in victory, again speaking to the supporters and if asking if they continue to believe in their team.
Concluding, marketing can also be a way of responding to the critics and give a new image of a brand. After all the criticisms and bad choices, Sporting shows itself with a new message - that the future can be as bright as the past, that fights against adversities without quitting and its true fans do the same. It creates a connection between team and supporters, leaving players aside - the important thing is the support, the soul, the heart.
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