How Brands can recreate the emotional loyalty we see in Sports

[00:00:00] Welcome to this episode of loyalty discussions with white label loyalty, where we'll be exploring how brands can recreate the emotional loyalty that we see in sports. [00:00:13] Loyalty is one of the most powerful forces in the world, but also one of the hardest things to cultivate. [00:00:20] In most instances, loyalty isn't about a brand or product, it's about an experience. [00:00:27] And there's so much that we can learn from the world of sports. [00:00:33] Think about football fans through good seasons and bad ones. They're unwavering in their loyalty to their favourite club. [00:00:42] They wear their team's colours with pride, attend games in any weather and even travel across the world to show their support. [00:00:50] This kind of loyalty doesn't fade over time either. [00:00:54] In fact, the more time that passes, the more loyal people become to their favourite team. [00:01:02] Businesses strive to achieve this kind of loyalty, but few have succeeded. [00:01:07] Brands need customers who are as loyal as football fans, customers who will stick with them through ups and downs. [00:01:16] But what makes sports funds so devoted? And how can brands recreate that loyalty? [00:01:23] Let's uncover the lessons in loyalty that businesses can learn from sports. [00:01:30] What is it about sports, particularly football, that makes fans so loyal? [00:01:36] Well, sports is an emotional experience. [00:01:40] The emotional loyalty that you see in sports is something that we've based our ideas on at white label loyalty. [00:01:47] Its about understanding that loyalty goes beyond transactions. [00:01:52] You dont support a team just because their season tickets are cheaper, you support them because of the passion that you feel when they play. [00:02:01] You support them because of the experience you get by being a fan. [00:02:06] People even go as far as identifying themselves with a sports team. Its the strongest form of loyalty you can get. [00:02:16] But heres the most sports clubs dont do enough to reward their fans. [00:02:22] Theres a lot of opportunities for clubs to create a rewarding experience. [00:02:27] However, football clubs usually dont see completely eye to eye with fans. Fans have different opinions which can cause friction. [00:02:37] But fans also have an unconditional love for their club. [00:02:41] So it's important for clubs to connect with fans by making sure they're part of the conversation. [00:02:48] Fans need to feel like it's their club. [00:02:51] While it's not possible to take on everyone's opinion, of course clubs must make their fans feel valued. [00:03:00] To make fans feel valued, clubs need to understand them. You'd be surprised to know how many sports clubs don't have the data join ups to truly know their fans. [00:03:13] Many clubs don't even know if a season ticket holder has this season's merchandise for example. [00:03:20] It makes it really hard for clubs to pinpoint who their super funds are. [00:03:26] And when you don't know the fans, you don't know how to deliver valuable experiences to them. [00:03:35] Additionally, football clubs could do more to nurture a sense of community. [00:03:40] Many businesses try to create communities because they last longer and are more likely to stay loyal in turbulent times. [00:03:50] Both football clubs and businesses face similar challenges like fragmented data. [00:03:56] In retail, you might have different CRMs and Pos systems that don't talk to each other, making it very difficult to get a 360 degree view of customers. [00:04:08] The same applies to professional sports clubs. The ticketing system is different from the merchandise, website and so on. [00:04:16] That's why loyalty solutions are so important, especially ones that are event based, because you can take any type of interaction and feed it into a unified database. [00:04:29] That way you know exactly who your customers are, what they are doing and how they interact with you across any channel. [00:04:37] The key difference between sports and businesses is that sports clubs benefit from unconditional love, passion and support. [00:04:47] Brands don't have that luxury, they have to work a lot harder. [00:04:53] So how exactly can sports clubs and businesses nurture loyalty? [00:04:59] Rewards are the way to do this in the sports world. Fans can be rewarded with club related perks when they perform certain interactions. [00:05:09] This allows clubs to gamify the fan experience and offer more value. [00:05:15] And this is where it gets really exciting. [00:05:18] Football merchandise is accessible to anyone, but only the top tier. Loyal fans could get the opportunity to earn money. Can't buy experiences, experiences like meeting players, being part of a warm up session or getting to give out the man of the match trophy. [00:05:39] Clubs and businesses need to create these kind of experiences, ones that are unique and highly valuable for a sports fan. You can't put a value on getting involved with your favourite team in some way. That's where football creates an emotional experience for businesses, creating this kind of emotional experience is key. A great example of this is Coca Cola share a Coke campaign. [00:06:05] By personalizing bottles with people's names, they created a personal connection with customers. [00:06:12] And it wasnt just about drinking soda, it was about finding your name or a friend's name and sharing the experience. [00:06:20] This simple act of personalization created a massive emotional connection and drove customer engagement for Coca Cola in a unique way. [00:06:31] So what can brands learn from this? First off, sport proves that loyalty doesnt have anything to do with winning games or being good at something. It has everything to do with emotion. [00:06:44] Football fandom reminds us that the best way to get people to be loyal to your brand is to make them feel like they're part of something. [00:06:53] But what if your product doesn't have anything attached to it. What if it's just a thing and not an experience? [00:06:59] Well, you have to make it an experience. [00:07:03] To recreate the emotional loyalty we see in sports, brands need to deliver rewarding experiences to customers. [00:07:11] First, understand your customers at each touch point and then offer personalised rewards. [00:07:19] Personalised experiences tap into emotional loyalty and its emotions that ultimately shape consumer behaviour. [00:07:28] Just like the beautiful game, your business needs loyal fans too. [00:07:32] Rewards can help incentivise customers to support your brand through good times and bad. [00:07:39] If you're interested in offering rewards in your business, get in touch with us today. [00:07:44] Thank you for listening to this episode of loyalty discussions with white label loyalty. [00:07:49] Until next time, keep cultivating loyalty and creating memorable experiences for your customers.