Are Premier League Football Clubs really brands?
Legendary Liverpool boss Bill Shankly famously said, “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”
English fans of the beautiful game are among the most fervent and passionate in sport. Believe me, I speak as one who knows! As a massive fan of both footie and brands, I’ve spent many a half of Leeds frustration pondering one question: Are Premier League Clubs really brands? To which I’ve concluded the answer is yes, up to a point.
Context is crucial, and for the Premier League context means cash. Since its 1992 launch, the tsunami of money that’s hit the game is quite astounding. For just one example, when Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Juventus to Manchester United this summer, he had to accept a paycut to just £20 million a year. Given such stakes, and brands’ importance in the overall money game, how well are Premier League clubs playing the game?
Four points worth considering:
Super-loyalty
Football is tribal, and few products enjoy the loyalty most teams can expect from their ‘consumers’. Even during their brief spells in the 2nd tier, Newcastle United were still attracting crowds of 50,000. The relationship between club and die-hard supporter is truly quasi-marital: fans ‘mate for life’; for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Poor performance can see attendance fall, and may even test club engagement, but few fans will jump ship altogether, and a strong enough brand will swat aside any temporary travails. Just ask any Manchester United fan post-Alex Ferguson. Notwithstanding mixed fortunes on the field, their global fan base just grows and grows.
Promise and values
Visit a Premier League club’s website and you’ll be hard pressed to find anything brand-related - even implicitly, let alone in so many words. There’s clear differentiating imagery of course, from club colours and kit to the badge, iconic star players, the manager, the ground. But most fans would, I suspect, struggle to envision any club other than their own in terms of anything we might think of as branding. What’s the difference between, say, Aston Villa and Everton beyond the colours? In the vast majority of cases, it would be pretty much impossible to say.
Brand or sales?
Clubs have become well-oiled money machines, skilled at revenue generation through merchandise, tickets, corporate hospitality, sponsorship and the use of social media to build fan engagement. But how many have a Chief Brand Officer dedicated to building the brand culture and experience with all internal and external audiences, safeguarding and building brand positioning across all touch points?
Extraordinary fluidity
The dynamics of the modern day game mean perceptions can change overnight. A new Head Coach or star player can transform a club’s image or reputation. In 2015/16, when Claudio Ranieri took Leicester City to the title, he transformed them from also-rans to contenders in a season. When Ronaldo returned to Manchester United this year, he brought not only his jaw-dropping skills (and superhuman arrogance!) but his 369 million Instagram followers, dwarfing Man U’s paltry 53 million. Who’s the really big brand here? And what conclusions might the Red Devils profitably draw from that question? Never mind the owners of West Ham, Norwich or - God help me - Leeds United.
Tony Lorenz
Strategy & Planning Director