Supporters clubs are only as good as how they market themselves and how they benefit the individual supporter.

exactly…

surely if one club consistently sells a lot more apparel, and such, than other clubs and additionally has high attendance figures then one could make a claim around them being a ‘big’ club?

also, perhaps one could also guage the relative popularity of a team by the number of supporters fan clubs it has affiliated to it in different geographies and population groups?

thanks bud… yeah… always known about how we support and the crowd attendance… that’s something tangible and finite… easy for me to get my mind around and not so easy for others to dispute…

@mvk-103:

thanks too.. one year… 2009 i think… we had over 500 000 fans pitch up at newlands over all comps… helluva figure…

and it’s not just about the size of the stadium… newlands isn’t sa’s biggest stadium… it’s about how many supporters are willing to pitch up and pay week in week out…

and we do this despite not winning any trophy for 10 years…

so i reckon we can claim to be the most loyal supporters that’s for sure…

Marketing success is intangible. Can be achieved through market research but only a small section of the population is used which dosen’t equate to all rugby lovers perceptions.
What is tangible is crowd attendence and Newlands has consistently been the front runner in SA compared to the other venues.

That just means that people love their team and rugby IN THE CAPE.

That stil doesnt explain how they are the most marketable in the COUNTRY….

ie: St James Park in England home to Newcastle United is the 2nd/3rd biggest stadium in Britain after Wembley & Old Trafford I think.It has over the last decade had higher attendance rates than clubs like Arsenal,Chelsea,Liverpool etc Aout 80% of the time the stadium is packed/sold out.regardless of where Newcastle lie in table or league level.

Do you think Newcastle is the 2nd most “marketable soccer brand” in UK???

interesting stuff mvk…

are you personally involved…

look forward to the sharks and other fans counter…

didn’t mean to speak on your behalf or put you ion the firing line… just knew you’d get a reaction to that statement…

mshini bud… i’m not saying it’s fact… i have no idea about how anyone quantifies or qualifies which is a more marketable brand…

i was just saying to JJ that sharks fans will tell him otherwise…

and i was right… so i guess that at least was fact…!!

as i said to mr B… please debate the issue with JJ… he’s a professional in the marketing industry and obviously knows a helluva lot more than those of us who aren’t…

would sincerely be interested in seeing how such things are rated…

all i know is that the stormers consistently record the highest crowd attendances… that’s something i can understand and is easy to measure…

would love the pro’s views on the marketing stuff…

fact that the sharks fans will tell us that…??? yes… i know…

debate the issue with JJ when he’s back online…

will be an interesting one…

The Stormers revolutionized rugby marketing in South Africa. They pioneered brand building in the sport, using strong and striking imagery, relevant and topical ideas, clever creative concepts and much more. For the first time ever they used non-rugby imagery to sell the game. While others still used action photos to promote their team or event, the Stormers took a new lead by developing campaigns that featured the players in battle gear, as human wrecking balls and as cyborgs!

The core objective was to use the Stormers as a “gateway” brand to attract new supporters to the game and in turn grow the supporter base. The players were used to attract non traditional audiences, such as women and children, and strong emphasis was placed on the brand offering the fans more than just rugby. They were given numerous reasons to support the team and keep the terraces packed.

The first season of marketing the Stormers was one of exploration and, most importantly, learning. The “Storm Warning” campaign made use of weather analogies, hinting that “stormy weather” may be looming. Whilst the campaign was successful, the lessons of 1998 confirmed that a new look, feel and brand centred approach was necessary to take the Stormers forward.

This sparked the ground-breaking “Men-in-Black” campaign that carried the Stormers all the way to the Super 12 semi-finals in 1999 and realised average home crowds of 49 000 for six weeks in a row – a Super 12 record.

The “Men in Black” campaign introduced a military theme with the players portrayed as Navy Seals. The hugely successful “Wear Black” campaign got the fans involved and made them feel part of the team’s success – the players and the fans were living the magic of rugby.

Sponsors Fedsure bought into the concept 100% and, through various partnerships the merchandising programme was expanded to include a plethora of items, even Stormers Cola and beer! Fedsure, which had bought previous sponsors Norwich, did not have a strong brand presence in the Western Cape at the time and it cleverly used the Stormers sponsorship to create a name for itself in the market.

The sponsorship remains one of the most successful ever undertaken by a Corporate with results evident within the space of just six months.

The military theme was evolved in 2000. The team went on a Boot Camp in Saldanha and later the “Commandos” marketing campaign was launched, featuring players in black battle gear. The slogan “Who Dares Wins” was used. The 2001 campaign continued with a military theme, with imagery bearing a closer link to the game, and the “Who Dares Wins” slogan maintained.

Events in the US on September 11, 2001, prompted the Stormers to move away from their military theme in 2002 and beyond. A new campaign, with the slogan “Whatever It Takes” was successfully implemented in 2002 and 2003 with the players shown running on hot coals and smashing through concrete blocks.

2004 heralded an exciting new campaign with the tagline “Don’t Blink”. Drawing on the trends of the day, the players were depicted as Cyborgs, similar to those in movies such as The Matrix and others. A superbly illustrated poster that formed part of the campaign won a Gold Loerie Award. Tattoos, making a comeback, were also amongst the many creative executions.

2005 saw a return to more rugby orientated imagery of the team in their playing kit and surrounded by popular landmarks in the Western Cape. Another element featured stylish, sexy black and white portrait photographs of the players. The “Don’t Blink” tagline was retained.

In 2006, “Don’t Blink” was continued with the creative featuring a combination of photography and modern art. Frenetic brush strokes were used to evoke the speed of the game and emphasise the artistry of rugby. The campaign featured a lot of white in anticipation of the imminent change in colour from black to blue in 2007. Once again, the campaign broke new ground and kept the Stormers a step ahead of the pack as they approached the dawn of a new era in the life of the brand

2007 heralded an evolution – and revolution – in Stormers’ marketing activity. A bold new step featured the changing of the team’s kit from black to blue, which was a defining feature of the campaign. There was also a return to “grassroots” with a closer affinity created between the new generation Stormers and long-standing Western Province rugby tradition. The core focus was on the fans in the exciting “I am a Stormer” campaign, which featured, amongst other things, an interactive website blog for fans to share their views and receive feedback from the players.

The “I am a Stormer” campaign was continued in 2008 with great success. A change in team management, a reversal of fortune on the field and a highly visible marketing effort combined to attract the fans back to Newlands in their thousands. As the team put together a superb run of results at home, the terraces swelled close to the capacity 48 000 mark, a figure that had not been reached since 1999.

Under the “I am a Stormer” banner the 2009 campaign asked fans to sign a white jersey in blue ink online. As more fans signed up pledging their support, the jersey colour started changing into blue. The symbolism clearly being that the Stormers blue match kit was made up of fans’ signatures. The data captured was utilised to provide supporters with the online magazine and invites to events and activities with the team.

The successful “I Am A Stormer” signature campaign continued in 2010 with the Stormers brand using the signature jersey during the inaugural Neo-Africa Tri Series, a pre-season tournament hosted at Newlands. Fans were once again given the unique opportunity to put their signatures on the Stormers jersey, this time in the version of a massive Stormers jersey that was made available to all fans who attended matches at Newlands games to sign their name.

In 2010 the Stormers brand also opened new frontiers into the world of social networking with the launch of both a Facebook and Twitter pages. Over 95,000 fans have since rallied behind the boys in Blue on Facebook, showing the huge popularity the team enjoys both at Newlands and on the world wide web.

2011 saw a major shift for the Stormers brand. A new sponsor in DHL, a new 15-team Super Rugby format and a new jersey were all part of the change to the side. The Stormers continued to move back towards its roots and introduced the famous blue and white stripes of Western Province onto their jersey for the very first time.

The marketing campaign reviews are but the tip of the iceberg in relation to the building and growth of the Stormers brand. Many other elements such as the launch of the Club Newlands Supporters Club, the Stormers magazine/match programme, public relations, social responsibility and charity activities, media activities and much more have been designed with the fans at their core.

2.2 The team of the people

The Stormers are undoubtedly the best supported franchise over the duration of the Super 12/Super 14 tournament, with the most loyal fans.

In 2010, the franchise achieved its highest ever total attendance figure in Super Rugby history, an amazing 344500 for the eight matches played at Newlands, at an average of 43063. The crowd of 8639 that attended the Bulls game on 15 May 2010 was the highest individual match attendance since the 1999 semi-final against the Highlanders that was watched by the then capacity crowd of 50 000.

The average crowd that has attended Stormers matches at Newlands since the inception of the Stormers brand in 1998 is 37531.

This popularity and passionate support was confirmed in a report released to SA Rugby in October 2006 that concluded that the Stormers were easily the best supported Super Rugby team between 2000 and 2010.

The report stated that the Stormers had maintained strong attendance figures and TV viewership despite not performing as well in some seasons, a factor attributed to strong brand loyalty amongst a fiercely passionate and partisan crowd.

Even after below par performances in 2006 and 2007, the fans have continued to flock to Newlands to support the Stormers. The reasons for this are many. The performance of the team was a key factor in the very successful years – 1999 and 2004 – when the Stormers reached the semi-finals. 2008 too was a successful year with the team narrowly missing out on the playoffs.

But, what other factors make the Stormers the team of the people. The brand’s strength and appeal – Built on in times when the team is performing well, in turn carries the brand in times when the team is not performing well. The supporter diversity – The brand has appeal across a very diverse audience – male and female, young and old, affluent and needy, as well as all the different cultural groupings. The players – Their icon status within communities and the fact that the Stormers have always fielded colourful, charismatic and trendy individuals. The diversity in the team line-up and at all age group level teams has allowed a broad fan base to identify the players. The culture – the Cape is known for it’s rich rugby heritage and culture, and the knowledgeable support base that is nurtured via a thriving schools and club rugby foundation The loyalty – the Stormers fan base is extremely passionate and brand loyal and does not easily change allegiance. This has been clearly evident in the lean years. The Venue – Newlands Rugby Stadium is a brand in its own right and is still proudly viewed as the home of rugby by many. Being at this famous, character-filled stadium is integral to the match-day experience.

The Stormers status as the team of the people was further reinforced in April of 2008 when, in the midst of its successful run of results at home, the Western Cape government issued a call for the people of the Province to embrace the Stormers.

The statement read: “Our provincial sports teams across codes – cricket, football and rugby – are excelling on the domestic and international stage. The ANC calls on the people of the province to celebrate these successes. But we also call on all our communities to embrace our teams, including the Stormers poised as they are on the log to contest the semi-finals of the Super 14.

“We say this not only because our teams are doing so well but because much progress has been made towards creating the conditions where all communities can embrace our teams. The Stormers have African and Coloured players who are in the forefront of the success. Of course there is still much more to be done with respect to transformation of all sporting codes and we must not shy away from tackling this issue. But the success of a Stormers team which is representative of our people demonstrates that transformation of sport is correct and that it can be done. Most importantly a team representing all our communities can and must be embraced as a symbol of our success”.

“WP JOU LEKKER DING”

FACT!!!

FACT?? Please elaborate

Because that statment is as ambiguous as they come. A few years ago there was a poll taken across the country’s rugby fan’s which atributed the Bulls brans(2010) to being the most “marketable”,biggest fanbase in SA etc And for a few years the Sharks brand was also said to the same and have the most fan clubs abroad and in greater South Africa to illustrate that largely “intangible” yet highly sought “most marketable rugby brand” heavyweight title.

So it would be interesting to what do you attribute WP rugby to having this title at this current juncture.

shhhhh…

don’t let the sharks fans hear you saying that…??? they’ll tell you the sharks are the most marketable brand in world rugby…

Good luck with that and the business mate. Chat again.

Got to get some work done for a change.