Reading FC's Tim Kilpatrick on how marketing has evolved in football
Perhaps more than any other sport, football has a universal appeal that continues to withstand the test of time. In fact, in the 21st century the beautiful game seems more popular than ever, with broadcasting rights still hotly sought after each season, social media commentary always abuzz with gossip beyond matchdays and the best players in the game amongst the highest paid earners in the world.
Promoting a club and sustaining relationships with fans and commercial partners in the age of New Media, the duties that marketing and commercial professionals perform have naturally evolved in line with the changing times. We spoke to Head of Commercial at Reading FC, Tim Kilpatrick, about how his and his team’s roles have changed over time.
Sponsorship & Business Partnerships
One key change when it comes to advertisers looking to align their brand with a club is in the technology used. With advances in tech, the analogue forms of advertising - from logos on shirts to advertising hoardings in the ground - are now only part of the picture. This move to digital advertising means that instruments are already in place to gauge success.
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“Many years ago, sponsorship was seen as plastering your logo everywhere” Kilpatrick says. “Brands have become a lot more savvy in terms of what they want to achieve. The growth of digital marketing, social media and everything in that space means that everything’s so much more easily measured… When you have conversations with brands, they will say to you that they expect - whatever the metric is - a certain amount of engagement.”
The instant analytics social media and digital arenas offer to clubs mean that commercial teams are more able than ever to see what works and what doesn’t work. That means that the communication between clubs, brands and fans can be a lot more nuanced.
“There’s the opportunity through social media to build actual relationships with the fanbase of a club. You have to be very smart with your communication and the storytelling that you do.”
Because of the expanding number of digital platforms now in use by football fans, from Twitter to TikTok to Youtube and beyond, the opportunity to tell brand stories across platforms and to join up those stories is greater than ever.
“It’s still really important to drive brand awareness [with the placement of logos] and football has a really big advantage with that. But I say to a lot of partners that whilst we’re a visibility platform, probably our most powerful asset is our voice. Our reach is extremely powerful as a football club. If a brand wants to reach people in an extremely engaging way - because football fans hang on a club’s every word - we’re a great platform to tell your story and communicate with fans. You’re connecting, engaging and building a conversation with a fanbase on a regular basis.”
Advertising
Kilpatrick says traditional advertising is becoming less and less prevalent, with business partnerships forming the core of a club’s brand communications.
“You could have a pitchside advertising board at a stadium and the results are very difficult to measure. We’ve got viewership, how many times was your brand on display for, but we can’t quantify that in terms of the effect. There’s still a place for it, especially for small businesses. But it’s more important for companies we work with to be able to measure what we’re doing.”
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Kilpatrick says that this means that traditional means of placing branding have become a little old-fashioned.
“I don’t have rate cards. Everything we do is completely bespoke. I often get enquiries where I’m asked to send advertising options and I’ll refuse to do it. How are we supposed to recommend a marketing spend without knowing what a brand wants to achieve? If we sit down and learn what a brand wants to achieve - what’s the strategy, budget and what do they want this partnership to look like - we can build something accordingly. We want to be flexible and that’s why we’ve been successful in that area”
“Our best example is Select Car Leasing who are our principal partner and also our stadium naming partner for the next ten years. When our partnership started, we created a strategy for them that was right at the time. As their business has grown, our relationship has grown and evolved so that we’re a key part of their business.”
Corporate Hospitality
As we all saw, the Covid period affected football in a massive way and meant corporate hospitality had to be shut down for reasons of safety.
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“With Reading being such a strong economic town, hospitality has always been a successful part of our business pre-Covid. Once we opened doors again [once it was safe to do so], we had a really strong season with our hospitality. I think people really wanted to get back and socialise again. There was definitely apprehension there - I think some people felt that booking a box was safer for them and their family. But also as the ‘new normal’ carries on, it’s important for us to maintain our success in this area so it’s important for us to maintain that bounce.”
With fans allowed back in the stands and boxes - and with the social media conversation as lively as ever - marketing and commercial professionals can look forward to a 22/23 season that’s busier than ever.
