{"id":114485,"date":"2015-09-22T14:41:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T19:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/what-has-football-taught-me-about-digital-marketing\/"},"modified":"2024-12-23T00:36:31","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T05:36:31","slug":"what-has-football-taught-me-about-digital-marketing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/paid-media\/what-has-football-taught-me-about-digital-marketing\/","title":{"rendered":"What has football taught me about digital marketing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing an article about digital marketing<\/a> and basing it around football might seem like a strange choice. Well, let me make it stranger still by invoking the words of a Nobel Prize-winning French author, journalist and philosopher to explain my thinking:<\/p>\n

“After many years during which I saw many things, what I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to sport and learned it in the RUA.”
\n– Albert Camus<\/p>\n

The RUA that Camus referred to was the Racing Universitaire Algerios (Junior) football team, where he played in goal. If using football to inform wider aspects of his life was good enough for Camus, then it\u2019s more than good enough for me.<\/p>\n

So, what has football taught me about digital marketing?<\/p>\n

1. Tone of voice means clarity not imitation<\/h3>\n

Many brands struggle to achieve the right tone of voice when they\u2019re trying to reach their customers. The mistake they make is that, while it\u2019s important to speak in a way that\u2019s clear, engaging and resonates with the intended audience, they simply try to imitate how the audience speaks. I\u2019m talking to you, brands that use the word \u201cbae\u201d in your tweets.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the footballing equivalent of this?<\/p>\n

Step forward Steve McLaren. While managing Twente Enschede in the Netherlands, the former England boss gave an interview in English to English-speaking Dutch journalists. It would have been appropriate for him to speak clearly and avoid colloquialisms, that\u2019s just common sense and common courtesy. Unfortunately, Shteeve had to take things that one step too far:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s not about the long ball or the short ball, it’s about the right ball.\u201d Bill Shankly<\/p>\n

2. You need to get results<\/h3>\n

In marketing, people don\u2019t judge you on what you\u2019ve done, they judge you on what you\u2019re doing. Something well known to the only Chelsea manager to have won the Champions League with the club – Roberto di Matteo. In May 2012 he was lifting the trophy. In November 2012 he was lifting his p45 off the desk after the club had been eliminated from the same tournament.<\/p>\n

3. …but quality content will be remembered<\/h3>\n

Some campaigns will live long in the memory through their sheer creativity and skill. So a nod to Bodyform\u2019s inspired response to a comment (which may or may not have been real) on their Facebook page.<\/p>\n

The footballing equivalent? In 1982, the Brazil World Cup squad managed something that few teams have. They became iconic despite failing to win the actual tournament. Why? Because they did beautiful things. Creating quality content is never a waste. It can live on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe imprint you make in the spirit of the people is more important than the result.\u201d Arsene Wenger<\/p>\n

4. You want the media on your side<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s important to foster positive and engaged relations across the most relevant platforms. Not only will increased visibility boost your brand (consider the way in which Sky\u2019s Goals on Sunday has become an established path to be trod by sacked bosses looking to remind other clubs of their talents), you can see it as laying the groundwork for more easily handling any future crisis management situations.<\/p>\n

Let me put it this way. After Joe Kinnear decided to offer up various expletives to journalists in his first press conference as Newcastle United boss, did he receive a goodwill-packed easy ride from the media when he later returned to the club?<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I walked on water, my accusers would say it is because I can\u2019t swim.\u201d Berti Vogts<\/p>\n

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