Interview
Jean-François Pathy

FIFA’s long-serving Director of Marketing, Jean-François Pathy, discusses the latest marketing trends, the rise and rise of eSports, and whether data really is the Holy Grail of marketing.

Sports Marketing, as is the case for the discipline of Marketing as a whole, is rapidly evolving. What are some of the contemporary trends that define today’s sports marketing landscape?

The essence of marketing remains the same. That said, the marketing landscape is definitely changing at a rapid pace and it is no different when it comes to Sports Marketing. Technology is behind a lot of this change and while it can create challenges, it is also powering many new opportunities, which is very exciting.

Digital transformation is accelerating, even more so as a result of the COVID crisis and this is having a deep impact on the way we live our lives. In terms of marketing, whereas a brand may have worked on an 18 months cycle and longer in terms of activating a Sports partnership, now brands need to be able to respond within much shorter time frames, sometimes days or hours. This requires a different approach to planning. Those who are able to adapt and build nimble strategies will have an advantage.

Another major trend is the inclusion of personalisation in marketing strategies. Whether it is sponsorship deals, digital content, eCommerce tactics or stadium experience, they all lead to a tailored approach. According to a recent McKinsey’s study “personalisation can reduce acquisition costs by as much as 50 percent, lift revenues by 5 to 15 percent, and increase the efficiency of marketing spend by 10 to 30 percent”. So, how sport organisations can deliver personalised experiences at scale has become our “Marketing Holy Grail” and it starts with a deep understanding of our audience through technology and engagement.

In comparison to other areas of marketing, what sets sports marketing apart and what makes it special?

Emotions, passion, laughs, tears, heritage, pride: what a powerful mix! This is what makes sport so unique.  It gives football that amazing ability to immediately connect people and offers brands a chance to be part of this world. 

Using emotions as leverage is a marketer’s dream to build compelling storytelling and marketing strategies.I was told once by one of our creative agencies that “football is a social worldwide utility”.I could not agree more with that statement and we have only scratched the surface of what can be achieved.

Given your vast experience in the field, having seen marketing perspectives at agency, broadcasting, confederation and now world-governing body level, what is a (sports) marketer’s number one objective and key challenge in your opinion?

The number one objective for a marketer is to reach the right audience with the right message so as to create value, usually by generating business opportunities. The football business has always relied heavily on two key revenue drivers, Broadcasters and Sponsors. However, how that is executed nowadays is very different. Technology convergence has drastically changed the broadcasting business, Brands are eager to become content providers, Social Media has become a powerful force with limited regulation in place and Social platforms are spaces where fan communities can be cultivated and maintained.

So, the objective remains the same but strategies and tactics to reach our audience/customers in this fragmented and cluttered ecosystem are a lot more complex. More than ever, sports marketers must keep their finger on the pulse, drive innovation, take risks and build solid relationships with clients through active collaboration. Once upon a time, the sports business was about selling advertising spaces to brands. Today we need to partner with them to co-create branded experiences.

One particular area of quickly evolving sports marketing relates to eSports where FIFA has been active with the FIFA eWorld Cup. From the perspective of professional football clubs, how do you assess clubs’ approach to and involvement with this growing trend so far and how can they leverage this side of marketing more efficiently going forward?

The growth of eSport is exponential, not only in terms of game sales or downloads but also the potential to build a true culture, especially with our younger audience. We are also seeing some eSport publishers making a push to turn their game into a legitimate spectator sport – while there are challenges with the business model today, eSport has huge potential ahead. The engagement is real and the industry is maturing extremely fast with major brands such as our Licensee Louis Vuitton recently collaborating with Riot Games’ League Of Legends.

FIFA is not a newcomer to that world.  We pioneered our first game with EA Sport back in the early 1990s - David Platt was on the cover of our first FIFA game!  We have steadily grown the franchise since, both online and offline.  We made a recent announcement about our new umbrella brand, FIFAe, and an ambitious competitive gaming structure that shows our strong commitment to eFootball and the EA FIFA community.  We want the world’s best players (FIFA eWorld Cup), clubs (FIFA eClub World Cup) and nations (FIFA eNations Cup) to join and be part of this movement.  This new strategy will offer unprecedented opportunities for clubs to actively get involved with the FIFAe ecosystem.

Clubs are responding well to this trend and we are seeing a number of them setting up successful eSport teams and leagues.There is a growing demand out there not only to watch those teams play but also to see the program grow into a mature platform offering engaging content.The main challenge I currently see is how fragmented the industry still is, which can be a push back for brands to commit marketing budgets, however initiatives such as FIFAe and its clear competitive gaming structure truly make a positive difference.

What role will FIFA play in the education surrounding the image of eSports, both from an institutional point of view as well as a marketing focused perspective (also in exchange with professional football clubs)?

The future of eSport is bright, but the industry will not escape tackling some major topics such as regulating its competitions to achieve more transparency, better aligning linear and digital media to grow the audience, rethinking its marketing opportunities to attract more brands and actively fostering gender equality and diversity.

FIFA is up to the challenge and looking ahead, we want to build a sustainable environment for our FIFAe community, be it players, fans, Clubs, Member Associations, Media platforms and Marketing partners.  The new strategy is here to lay the foundations for a professional, entertaining, viable and legitimate vertical within the overall football ecosystem. 

Clubs have an important role to play as long as they are committed to the project and make a genuine contribution to the community.For those that are in the game for the long run, eFootball has the potential to offer a powerful value platform.

“Digital” and “social” are perhaps the most associated buzzwords when it comes to active modern-day marketing platforms, and indeed, FIFA has started to use its brand in a lot more dynamic and creative way. Talk us through FIFA’s evolving marketing strategy and what it means in terms of opportunities for stakeholders, sponsors and broadcasters.

Our Marketing strategy is ambitious as we want to position FIFA as a true brand. We want to communicate to a broader, more inclusive audience about our mission, which is so much more than organizing the FIFA World Cup™.  Our work is to bring to life in the heart and minds of our audience the Vision and eleven goals published by our President, which for example include accelerating the growth of women’s football, impacting society through the power of football and embracing technology and innovation in football. 

To achieve this, we will need to establish a consistent voice that builds familiarity amongst all our stakeholders.  And in so doing, we will have the ability to create branded properties that deliver value to our Commercial Partners, irrespective of the platform.

Change is coming whether you like it or not.  It’s a fool’s game to think you can control it or prevent it.  The music industry learnt this the hard way. By shutting down Napster, they created the perfect environment for piracy and nearly collapsed.  Eventually the industry embraced change and realized the opportunities for creating a new business model that massively expanded their reach.

What’s essential in times of change is to have solid foundations that anchor the essence of what you stand for.This is the value of a brand.

When you look at the landscape of professional football clubs, from a marketing point of view, what are some of the leading benchmark examples you can think of in relation to successful marketing strategies? Is there one particular marketing campaign that has stood out for you in recent times? If so, why?

Club football is a tremendous source of inspiration for us as clubs have had to quickly adapt to the changing marketing landscape.  Club football is consumed pretty much daily these days and has truly global appeal, driving high engagement and commercial interest.  As a result, leading clubs have totally transformed their commercial programs and built an impressive digital footprint to keep their audience engaged and build ancillary revenue streams.   

In recent years, Liverpool FC stands out for me in terms of marketing to drive growth and brand awareness.  On the back of their sporting success, the club has built a solid and diverse commercial program, making bold moves in the process with their new Nike kit deal, a strategic partnership with EA Sport, a long-term agreement with AXA to complete the Club’s brand new training facilities, a collaboration with Levi’s that opens new licensing and lifestyle opportunities and even a tourism deal with a ski resort, Verbier.  And that is not all.  There is also a clear digital content strategy in place to grow an engaged fan community and tailor the content to specific territories in recognition of the fact that fans in Liverpool are likely to live their passion differently than those in New York or Beijing.  And maybe more importantly, the club is deeply rooted in its heritage and tradition, maintaining a distinct identity, which is essential to build a strong brand.

There are so many others that would deserve a mention.  I think USSoccer and the MLS are doing a tremendous job at the moment.  The US market is ripe for growth and MLS franchises are setting themselves up for success.  It is definitely worth keeping an eye on those clubs in North America for innovative marketing strategies.

Back here in Europe, I am also really interested to see what will come out of the recently announced collaboration between AC Milan and RocNation. The crossover between sport and music is fascinating as it taps into the wider cultural relevance.We are big believers in those type of collaborations. In actual fact, stay tuned as FIFA will announce shortly some fairly exciting cross-cultural marketing initiatives!

What advice would you give to smaller clubs and their executives with regards to innovating and marketing their respective clubs and products to compete with more affluent teams off the pitch?

First and foremost, focus on your core and your community. Defining your club brand identity, who you are, what you stand for and how you want to be perceived, this is the most important step towards building a successful strategy and creating emotional engagement. 

Then, be creative and bold. Obviously, large budgets always help but nothing beats creative thinking, especially when coupled with effective digital marketing strategies.

Data plays a huge role in today’s marketing by helping to identify and understand followers’ preferences in order to create value by being relevant as far as a product for the consumer is concerned. In your opinion, does data really represent today’s Holy Grail of marketing, and if so, how does it relate to marketing in the sports industry, and in particular, the world of football?

The Holy Grail: yes and no. 

Yes, it is the Holy Grail.  Marketing has gone through a drastic shift lately and strategies cannot be based off assumptions anymore.  The modern (sports) marketer uses what should be the most reliable source of information, the customer data.  Generating insights has become paramount to any successful marketing campaign and targeted communication.  We have seen tremendous commercial results driven by well managed data-driven marketing, especially around ticketing and eCommerce.

But no, it is not as simple as a Holy Grail.  There are numerous challenges with data-driven marketing and the first one is to find a way to turn consumer data into actionable information.  It is easy for a club or sporting organization to bring an army of consultants and then be locked into expensive data-gathering and data-management tools, only to end up collecting so many different metrics that it becomes difficult to make sense of it all.

Clubs must be very clear about their objectives and the gaps they are trying to fill with data.Also, never lose sight of the cost of managing, maintaining and activating data.Then, data and analytics become a phenomenal weapon for meaningful creativity and effective marketing. Data is a tool, it should be used to help create a strategy, but it is not the strategy itself.

Finally, what are key lessons you have learned over the course of your marketing career which you can share with fellow marketers in the football industry and what’s the one piece of advice would you give current and future football marketers?

Listen and be curious.  The beauty of my job is that I learn every day as we have to adapt to very diverse cultures and businesses, depending on the tournaments or projects we work on.  An important part of that process is listening to what our Sponsors, our Member Associations and Host Countries need.  The ability to hear what people say and to be curious about their motivations is crucial for any successful marketer.  

Be authentic.  This applies to you as a person as well as the brand/club you work for.   Being true to who you are as a brand will lead to deeper connections with your audience.

Trust the “Human Factor”.  Even in the age of technology and digital buzzwords, knowledge and soft skills are more important than ever. The people in your team are still the most valuable resources.

As for a piece of advice, one of my mentors and one of the great CMOs, Antonio Lucio, once said that “the role of marketing is to build brands that stand the test of time through strong emotional connections”. A powerful thought that totally applies to us marketers in football.Your football marketing ”why” should always be emotions. All the rest will naturally flow from that.