Highlights from the Sportbiz conference 2023

In October 2023, Joe Hale, our London CEO, sat on a panel at SportBiz Europe; Barcelona ‘23 alongside Vanessa Basora, Global Brand & Digital Director at Sevilla FC; Stefano Capellini, Project Manager at Inter Campus, Internazionale Milano; Ignacio Soriano, Head of Events & Partnerships at FIBA and Reem Abdalazem Bossaty, Sports Writer at Diario AS and 2X Olympian.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the speakers focusing on how to futureproof a brand while building towards sustainable growth.

Even before considering the weight that a brand holds, Joe told the audience about the importance of knowing who you are as a Club and what you stand for. It is vital to have a purpose beyond winning on the pitch in order to grow emotional engagement with the audience.

Vanessa highlighted the importance of the brand meaning & purpose combined with a clear and consistent approach when going to market. To be an ‘attractive brand’ you must be able to convey your positioning effectively.

For a brand to grow its audience, it must have a strong purpose to build loyalty with local fans as well as raise greater awareness in the wider, global market. Players and assets should be used to humanize the sports club: allowing them to be more accessible and draw a closer connection with all fans.

A key role of sub-brands is to allow the club to “open more doors to more markets” as described in the words of Joe. Having different brand identities & positioning (within the master architecture) can make them more appealing to more diverse audiences. This will give the brand more channels to market, and ultimately more visibility across business categories.

A club’s brand value and identity can be seen through its commitment to CSR as explained by Stefano. Not only does it represent a great tool in relation to Culture and Education, but it is also a way to bring the fan’s and player’s attitudes in line with that of the Club’s. Above all, the aim for a brand is to be aspirational to its audience and CSR and Sustainability are great tools to emotionally connect with the audience in that sense.

You can see the whole panel discussion here

If you would like to find out more about Dragon Rouge’s sport capabilities, please contact z.brown@dragonrouge.com