I)Problem Definition:

The case given discusses about two teams, namely Bangalore United (BU) and Bengaluru City(BC), both
of which are football clubs representing the Bangalore. It has been mentioned that BU is a consistent
team, with its brand value increasing every year. BU has its fan base in Bangalore as well as across the
state borders due to multiple factors. On the other hand, BC is relatively new and has to come up with a
a branding strategy to increase its market share (Fans)

Approach:
Our primary focus is to first increase the market share of BC, for which the steps are as follows;

Month 1: Conducting market research and profile targets (fan segmentation)

The first step in this is collecting data of existing fan base profiles so as to ensure precise fan targeting.
The data could include factors such as age, occupation, gender, whether he/she is a member of a sports
club or not, match day experience, click-rates on club page, etc. In order to collect fan data, having a
captivating content on social media is fundamental. Approaches such as membership-only exclusive
content, quizzes and surveys can be used to gather and generate insights from data. It is important to
get the fans feedback on the club( here,BC) to understand what fans think about them. Data can be
scraped from social media such as Twitter and Facebook and analytics can be employed to understand
the sentiments of fans towards BC (sentiment analysis using text mining).

Month 2: Analyzing the collected data, generate insights and direct marketing efforts

The historical data collected on the existing fan base can help drive strategies to retain existing fan base
such as repeat ticket purchases with targeted promotion for BC. Personalized discounts can also be
offered for fans who had previously attended a match with BC. For acquiring a new fan base, frequent
sports app users can be identified or local sports bar patrons who have not bought a match ticket for a
long time can be targeted. Perhaps these users would be motivated to make a purchase of a ticket to
watch a BC match with tailored promotions. Other ways to improve fan engagement and fan base is to
give a human touch to the social media pages (preferably Facebook/ Twitter), perhaps by publishing a
motivating history of a player or maybe a fun side of a player. Engaging in conversations between fans in
the stadiums keeps the rest of the people enthralled in the match. Insights from the data can also help
in scheduling matches which involve BC based on fan preferences.

Month 3: Monitor and Review

Once marketing efforts have been directed towards the precise fan segment for BC, we must ensure
that average numbers of fans retained/engaged are improving for the next few time periods
(months/years). Real time data monitoring of changing fan preferences will allow a shift in strategies
and also help ensure that there is enough fund to cater to requirements to improve fan share for BC.
Strategies may have to be changed based on real time data, for example, if somebody who has been an
active fan of BC is missing on a series of matches, it is important to look at the reasons, say, if something
had happened to fans during that season. The marketing team can then reform their strategies
accordingly.

II) Problem Definition:

The data on the last 4 years reveals that although the total number of official fans for Bangalore United
has been increasing every year, the increase in revenues has only been incremental in the last 2 years.
Therefore, the first step is to find out why the average ticket sales have gone down despite the increase
in the number of official fans. This could happen due to a combination of demographic factors,
macroeconomic factors and so on. We need to devise a marketing campaign to identify sources from
which BU can generate revenue. Some of the ways are as follows:

1) Merchandizing : This creates a feeling of enhancing the belonging of fans with sports products
and thus generating revenue. Merchandizing sports products or equipment carrying the name,
logo or symbol for a team or player will be helpful. These products are sold in the market to
attract and retain fans.
2) Gate attendance: This is based on constantly upgrading stadium facilities to attract fans to
stadiums. In India, most stadiums lack basic amenities and therefore fail to attract fans. Analytics
can be employed to advance the sports fans’ experience, it will help to cater better to the fans.
For example, IoT solutions, such as connecting devices to internet on click of a button, can help
fans connect to other fans. It also helps fans get information on essential information such as
closest pizza discount,shortest bathroom line,etc.
3) Create consistent calls to action on social media: Posting valuable content related to BU , such
as interesting articles and videos related to its niche and accompanying this content with simple
calls to action such as ‘click this’ /’watch this’ will add to click rates and also show fans that BU
consistently post good stuff. Also, low investment calls to action, such as offering discounts and
specials or asking fans to signup for the BU newsletter will build trust and affinity over time.
4) Commercial Sponsorships: The importance of sponsorship is evident from the fact that most of
the sporting entities arrange sponsors for their survival. This willingness of the advertisers lures
the broadcasters to purchase the broadcasting rights of such leagues. The broadcasters, on the
other hand, earn revenue from ad sales and subscriptions.