On the sporting level, the Pumas are concentrated in the Liguilla, but in the commercial aspect, the club has its sights set on USA and in Generation Z. The marketing department of the National University club plans to strengthen brand positioning Pumas in the second most important market of Mexican soccer, the North American, in order to establish new commercial agreements. In addition, a focus in 2022 will also be to improve the experiences and ways of connecting with fans between the ages of 12 and 24.
The Pumas They have an estimated fan base in the United States of three million people, but Alejandro Carmona, the club’s commercial and marketing director, is sure that the relationship will grow, since expanding the portfolio of international strategic allies is one of the main commercial objectives of the club. institution. In 2021 the club began to detonate its presence in the United States with friendly matches in California against America for a soldout, against San Antonio and against Everton in the Florida Cup. The Pumas also participated in the Leagues Cup, held between clubs in the League. MX and Major League Soccer (MLS).
The international marketing plan of the National University club includes business development through agreements, alliances and joint ventures and working to increase its participation in international competitions.
For next year we have planned tours, not only with national teams, but also international ones, even doing the preseason in June to precisely get closer to this fan base that we have detected there and that is linked to the part of sponsorship, looking for brands in the United States that they associate with Pumas, ”Carmona explained, adding that the club is already in talks with potential North American business partners.
According to data provided by the club, the main areas where the Pumas fans are located in North America are Seattle, Charlotte, New York, Chicago, San Antonio (in the latter two the UNAM has campuses) and where the presence of fans is stronger is in California, although in this region it is still below the levels that America and Chivas summon.
It is product development that also allows the institution to reach out to new audiences. The club was a pioneer in the launch of NFTs within the Mexican soccer market, this has generated a new type of international target in continents such as Europe or Asia, who are not necessarily fans of Pumas but who have an affinity with these products.
With the NFTs, the club was looking for innovation in the development of new businesses, “I really believe that the clubs in Mexico are two years late to these new technologies since we are just adopting it in Mexico and we have to adopt a culture around this. It is a five-year project where 2021 helped us to launch the first collections ”.
These collectibles range from $ 7 to $ 10 and are tied to the ethereum cryptocurrency. According to Carmona, the results of this launch show that “in Mexico we still lack a lot of culture of adoption of these new technologies, we must explain more what it is, how it works, what you have access to”, as well as the adoption of new audiences .
Mexico, fight for third place in popularity and Generation Z
In Mexico, Pumas’ estimated fan base is 11 million, according to Alejandro Carmona, competing for third place in popularity with Blue Cross. The fans are divided into 60% men and 40% women and the bulk of the age is between 24 and 35 years old. Although, “by belonging to the National Autonomous University of Mexico, we have a very strong segment between 18 and 24 years old that are students.”
One of the focuses for next year is to take root in Generation Z. Carmona explained that 2022 will be a better year for Pumas in its commercial relations, where alliances will be launched with innovation brands that attack said segment and with platforms that help them to expand the exposure that the club has to continue growing the positioning of the brand.
“Today our main objective is Generation Z, from 12 to 24 years old, who grew up in a world where the entertainment offer is much broader. We do not only compete with the other Liga MX clubs, but against other sports, with other industries such as music, such as gaming and even against youtubers. We are creating alliances with different platforms to be able to connect with this new generation in different ways, especially in a digitized world ”.
The Covid-19 pandemic was an impulse to strengthen its digital structure with new communication content such as Auriazoom and the opening of new social media accounts to differentiate their different categories, branches and divisions: Pumas MX female, Pumas MX quarry, Pumas Tabasco, Pumas MX sports.
In addition, “new marketing properties such as esports were innovated and the foray into other categories is being planned, not only in FIFA, but League of Legends, as they make sense with the values of the club and the National University. Everything was changed to virtual experiences with meet & greet and talks with the players. And in the end we were not so far away with the launch of the metaverse, where all that part is going, we are with little steps of this entire virtual universe in how we connect through it with our fans ”.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx