Great sports moments have always inspired generations.
Thousands of kids started kicking the ball from the desire to retrace the footsteps of their football idol and every week, among the myriad of passionate football fans, there are those who for just 60 minutes identify themselves in his favorite footballer. They transform, with fantasy, a match between friends into a Champions League final, determining the passage from identification to the resemblance.
In recent years the 5 a side soccer market has evolved and the link between fans and players has become increasingly tight. This is mainly due to two reasons: players have become more like celebrities and new forms of communication have evolved.
While in the past fans could only “see” their idols exclusively during the game, today thanks to social media there is direct and continuous interaction.
The fan perceives his idol ever closer and feels the need to emulate them not only on the pitch but in every aspect of everyday life. That is why we are witnessing the growing presence of people looking for the greatest resemblance – even physically – with their idol imitating their clothing, hairstyles, tattoos, etc.
This need to resemble their favorite player is inherent in the psyche of a modern soccer fan and is one of those levers the wise club manager has to take into account in setting up an effective marketing strategy (in the sense of “going to market”).
What business opportunities come from these dynamics, and how can the modern 5 a side club take advantage of it?
The axis on which to move is that:
RESEMBLANCE -> REPETITION -> EMOTION
in order to create a true relationship between the client and the 5 a side soccer market club and foster the passage from identification to resemblance.
The technique is that of the “staged scene”, for which the client feels immersed in the same context in which his idol moves (in the case of his membership club, or a hypothetical “Best Team” created to art).
*In collaboration with Luca De Angelis