What your brand can learn from sport

In 2006—during our rebrand of Tottenham Hotspur—a fan yelled out through one of our consultations, “Don’t you go changing the club we love!”. It was clear that this job was not just about a ‘quick logo fix’. This is the flag they fly every week, every season, every year; for generations. And in these moments, the responsibility you bear dawns on you quickly.

Tottenham had sported a cockerel since their 1921 FA Cup final victory, but by 2006 it had aged poorly, and frequent reworks gave it something of a ‘paunch’. We carefully redrew the emblem based on the statue from Tottenham’s West Stand. Our goal: simplify the form, respect its history, and deliver a confident, forward-looking symbol that honoured tradition while embracing the future.

As we remembered this story, we were minded about how sports clubs are such a perfect demonstration of loyalty and brand retained over time. But why? What is it that makes it so? Is it unique to sport, or could another brand learn from it? Here are three great ways that sports brands foster an almost irreplicable depth of loyalty.

Emotion.

Sport leaves an indelible emotional imprint on fans. Every victory, loss, goal, miss, foul takes a fan one step closer to associated glory or failure. Sport is not entertainment—it’s personal.

For brands:
Don’t be afraid to communicate with emotions. Whether you are B2C or B2B all communications are eventually H2H (Human to human). A more real, human tone of voice will act like a lever that amplifies your cause and cuts through bland corporate chat like nothing else. In our work, we try to understand who you are, how you behave and how you want your customers to feel. Excited? Happy? Reassured? Privileged? Then, we help craft your communications to support these sentiments, and reinforce customers’ experiences.

Tribe.

Supporting a club means joining a community—a tribe, even—of people who share what you believe in. The chants, the kits, the WhatsApp group arguments. People continually show up to communicate and celebrate with each other, not just for the team. In this way, a club gives people something bigger to believe in and a sense of belonging; one of the fundamental human needs.

For brands:
How do you create that sense of belonging and ‘tribe’ for your brand? How does a small artisan coffee shop manage to build a devout following? It starts with a shared vision and values, and builds thorough community and communication. Being clear and behaving in a way that reflects what you stand for means people can easily choose to align themselves to you. This will start to build that community who might end up singing and chanting about you one day, too.

Time.

All sports clubs have ups and downs in their history which, beyond just emotional stimulation, leaves a textured story and shared experience for a group of people. Just like great friendships, which share good times and bad, sometimes there is no substitute for time spent together and the stories we build from that.

For brands:
Be consistent, be active, build community and let nature take its course. A proper communications plan will help you curate your message with all your customers over time. Of course, the timing, quantity and form of communication has to be considered carefully but, generally, all humans crave great stories.

Brand might seem like a complicated, overused or loaded word, but it can also be thought of more simply as ‘reputation’. Reputations are built on how you behave, how you perform, and what your customers’ experience throughout their journey with you—just like sports teams. Design and communications also play a critical part in the management of that reputation, since they package what you say and do, and set the tone. But every business decision you make will feed into your brand reputation with the outside world. Whether that’s trading a player, altering your pricing strategy, or re-doing your logo.