How To Build A Global Brand

A few months ago, I went to an Atlanta Marketing Association (AMA) Keynote Luncheon.

The topic of the luncheon was "Creating a Championship Soccer Brand." Discussing the Atlanta United soccer team from the perspective of becoming a global brand from startup a little over three years ago.

It was a decent lunch, with the standard fare of networking and business card trading. But the keynote was impressive.

The AMA brought in Catie Griggs, VP of Business Operations of the Atlanta United FC, who described her role as being in charge of everything not related to kicking the ball.

Which is a lot.

And Ms. Griggs went through and described the level of attention and effectiveness of the marketing that has made Atlanta United FC the top sellers of merchandise in Major League Soccer. Atlanta United also has the 13th highest attendance rate of any team in the world.

Not bad for a team that didn't exist three years ago.

Here are some of the lessons I picked up on.

H^3 Hype Hope and Happiness

Sports is one of the few markets where you can't control the product. Life happens, and you don't know if you are going to win or lose. What you can do is provide the Hype Hope and Happiness to the story that your brand is selling.

Atlanta United has been lucky for winning the championship last year, and generally kicking butt. But they know they will have a dip and are prepared to keep pushing the three H's.

Even If You Set Standards High They Keep Getting Higher

The Atlanta United are owned by Arthur Blank, an entrepreneurial spirit who you might recognize as the CEO of Home Depot, a billionaire many times over, owner of the Atlanta Falcons, a leading philanthropist and more. He doesn't play for small stakes, and he sets the standards high.

Catie thinks her team has done a great job of reaching those standards, and knows one thing. They will only get higher. She wants a Atlanta United game to be the best fan experience of any sport in the world. She might get there.

Research Your Avid Fan

The United team was able to create such a good product because they did their research. They identified their core market. And then they did something remarkable, they went out and asked them their experiences and expectations of a soccer team.

They did this the old fashioned way, going to all the bars in Atlanta that showed European League soccer matches and asked the fans their what they liked about the sport. And they followed through making the team for those fans. They found their avatar.

Keep Testing

Atlanta United surveys after every game and event. And they consistently get back 2500-10k responses. So they can be sure they are statistically significant. They review these surveys and more doing After Action Reports after every game. Seeing their weaknesses and their opportunities and implementing change. If it improves they keep it, if not they keep testing.

That's right A/B testing isn't just for headlines and bullets. They use it for sporting events.

Work With Your Core

Atlanta United also responds to every question on social media. (Except for maybe, "why haven't you fired coach yet?") Especially at games. They want to ensure the fans get the best experience and they want to fix problems at their source so they can learn.

And they also let the fans decide some things as well. It needs to be an organic experience. So if the fans want to be rowdy and throw beer in the air or come up with certain chants you let them grow organically. You might nudge them into a less controversial or rowdy option. But sometimes you have to let the fans throw their beer up and back when you score. Never forward.

Stick To Your Principles

The team got a lot of flak when they came up with the name Atlanta United FC. Most people in Atlanta hated it. They didn't understand it, and they were vocal about it. But Ms. Griggs and Mr. Blank did their homework. They knew the name would work, and it made sense for Soccer. So they stuck to their guns.

And now? It's a great success.

Make Your Products a Garden

Every section of the stadium can be for different people. In the Fan Zone expect to be on your feet. Expect to be chanting. Expect a little beer thrown. Expect a rowdy fun time with lots of energy. But if you want to maybe be able to sit down or bring your kids, or someone not terribly interested in soccer. The 200 level is for you. Know what makes each of your sections unique and focus on creating the environment where those experiences can thrive. But also let the customers do a lot of the growing.

People Buy A Dream

A lot of the initial sponsors of the team signed on before the first ball was kicked. This meant that they bought on to the idea of Atlanta United years before it would pay off. They are glad they did now, but it wasn't always a guarantee. Sell the vision and let other people join you on that dream.

Prioritize Fan Experience Over Money

Atlanta United is consistently sold out at games. They average 55k people a game. The thing is though Ms. Griggs could probably sell even more tickets if she opened up the top level of the stadium and lowered the curtains. But she would rather have the stadium look and feel full, than selling an extra 10k tickets a game. Because even if she sold the extra 10k their would still be thousands of open seats. And that will lower the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd. So she has to be strategic about which games will sell out the top section.

Fan experience trumps ticket sales.

Project Lemonade

Sometimes life hands you lemons. Like when Mercedes Benz Stadium wasn't going to be available for their first game ever like they planned. This required a last minute change to Bobby Dodd Stadium of Georgia Tech.

Which offered an unexpected present. Because Bobby Dodd stadium does not have the comfy seats that Mercedes Benz does, everyone at that first game stood the whole time. Partly out of peer pressure, partly out of discomfort, and partly out of enthusiasm it became something the fans did. And now that tradition has stuck even with the comfy chairs.

Now, there is no way of knowing if everyone standing would have happened if they had been at MBS that first game. But the result is now one of the most engaged and enthusiastic group of fans in soccer.

Whew...

I think that's it. There is probably a lot more I could go into, but those I think are the most important things I picked up on.

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