SUCCESS FACTORS IN ENGAGING CUSTOMERS LOYALTY IN SPORTS INDUSTRY How to gain brand loyalty by engaging the customers in sports industry Bachelor’s thesis Hämeen Ammattikorkeakoulu, Valkeakoski Campus, International Business Autumn 2020 Arttu Niskanen International Business, Valkeakoski Campus Abstract Author Arttu Niskanen Year 2020 Subject How to gain brand loyalty by engaging the customers in sports industry Supervisors Merja Helin Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää kuinka suurta brändiuskollisuus sekä kannattajien osallistaminen on näissä seuraavissa suomalaisissa urheiluseuroissa: JYP Jyväskylä (jääkiekko) ja Kuopion Palloseura (jalkapallo). Tutkimukseen on päätetty valita kyseiset joukkueet, koska nämä lajit kuuluvat viiden suosituimman urheilulajin joukkoon. Kyseisten joukkueiden välimatka ei ole kovinkaan pitkä. Jyväskylä ja Kuopio kuuluvat kymmenen suurimman kaupungin joukkoon, ja tutkitut seurat ovat olleet viime vuosina lajeissaan varsin menestyviä. Opinnäytetyössä on menetelmiä kvalitatiivisesta ja kvantitatiivisesta tutkimuksesta. Tutkimus selvittää etenkin seurojen toimintaa sosiaalisessa mediassa. Tutkimuksen on myös tarkoitus selvittää, ketkä voivat olla uusia mahdollisia asiakkaita, tai asiakkaita joiden markkinointia voisi parantaa. Tässä tutkimuksessa käydään läpi millaisia sosiaalisen median päivityksiä seurat julkaisevat. Tutkimuksessa selvitetään myös millaista viestintää he käyvät kannattajien kanssa jotka ovat asiakkaita. Tutkimuksessa katsotaan miten osallistaminen ja brändiuskollisuus toimii seurassa. Nämä aiheet tutkitaan erilaisen datan ja indeksien avulla. Esimerkkinä toimii sosiaalisen median julkaisuiden sitoutuneisuusaste. Tämän opinnäytetyön tulosten avulla saadaan tieto siitä, mitkä ovat pääideat uusien kannattajien sekä urheilujoukkueiden osallistamisessa. Opinnäytetyössä kerrotaan myös pääasioita brändiuskollisuudesta, ja kuinka se toimii urheilujoukkueissa. Tulosten mukaan kannattajien sitoutuneisuutta seuraan muun muassa auttaisi tutkimuksen mukaan heidän segmentointi. Kannattajia voi saada sitoutuneemmaksi seuraan, mikäli heidät saa kiinnostumaan myös saman organisaation muista joukkueista. Organisaation muiden joukkueiden markkinoinnin tärkeys on myös muistettava. Sosiaalisessa mediassa joukkueiden olisi hyvä markkinoida pelejä tunteiden kautta, sekä aikaisemmistä peleistä dataa esille. Opinnäytetyössä saatiin selville, että kannattajien osallistamisessa Kuopion Palloseura toimii paremmin kuin JYP Jyväskylä. JYP Jyväkylän kannattajien osallistaminen toimii parhaiten niissä julkaisuissa, joissa kannattajille on tarjolla palkinto. Avainsanat brändiuskollisuus, osallistaminen, sosiaalinen media, urheilujoukkue Sivut 64 sivua, joista liitteitä 0 sivua International Business, Valkeakoski Campus Abstract Author Arttu Niskanen Year 2020 Subject How to gain brand loyalty by engaging the customers in sports industry Supervisors Merja Helin The aim of this study is to identify how well brand loyalty and fan engagement is functioning in Finnish sports teams, which are JYP Jyväskylä (ice hockey) and Kuopion Palloseura (football). The teams decided for this thesis were chosen because both teams have been very successful at their own sport during the past years. One reason for the decision is those teams being popular in sports which are the top 5 of sports with regards to popularity in Finland. Another reason for team decision-making is that the distance between teams is tolerable. Cities of both teams belong, population-wise to the largest cities of Finland. This thesis holds a mix of qualitative and quantitative studies. Thesis looks at the sports teams decision-making in the social media. This thesis holds a mix of qualitative and quantitative studies. The author points out the values that sports team need to have for building trust or loyalty towards new supporters. Furthermore, the author notes a couple of reasons, that some sports teams in Finland are superior to others, with regards to customer engagement in social media. This thesis describes what kind of content these sports clubs have released on their social media platforms, how sports clubs interact with supporters on social media, and what are the benefits and drawbacks compared to other teams. This research discovers how loyalty and engagement are conduct in teams. These topics are researched via different data and indexes. The engagement rate is the indexes to research. Engagement rate is shortened as (ER). According to the results, segmenting the fans would increase the brand loyalty. The supporters brand loyalty can increase, if they become interested in the other teams inside the organization. It is important to market other teams inside the organization. The teams should market the games on social media via the feelings, and also to bring data behind from previous games. The author found out in the thesis, that Kuopion Palloseura works better in fan engagement than JYP Jyväskylä. JYP Jyväskylä's fan engagement works well with those releases, where supporters can win the prize. Keywords brand loyalty, fan engagement, social media, sports club Pages 64 pages, which appendices 0 pages Contents 1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................1 1.1 Finding the subject.......................................................................................1 1.2 Research Questions......................................................................................1 1.2.1 Research Objectives..........................................................................1 1.3 Methodology................................................................................................2 1.4 Thesis structure............................................................................................2 2. ENGAGEMENT AND BRAND LOYALTY.....................................................................4 2.1 Introductions of clubs...................................................................................4 2.2 Fan engagement...........................................................................................5 2.3 Building brand loyalty...................................................................................7 2.4 Adapting brand loyalty.................................................................................8 2.5 Customer loyalty building.............................................................................9 2.6 Customer loyalty in sports..........................................................................11 3. SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING.................................................................................12 3.1 Purpose and benefits of the social media marketing.................................12 3.2 Social media channels and engagement....................................................13 3.3 Engagement in Facebook...........................................................................14 3.3.1 Engagement in Twitter....................................................................14 3.4 Engagement in visible networks.................................................................15 3.5 Any other channels used............................................................................15 4. RESEARCH............................................................................................................16 4.1 Research method........................................................................................16 4.2 Current situation analysis...........................................................................16 4.3 Problems and challenges for engaging the customers in the sports clubs 53 5. CONCLUSION........................................................................................................54 6. LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................57 References...................................................................................................................58 1 1. INTRODUCTION This bachelor thesis aims to discover how professional sport teams from Finland can improve the supporter's engagement. The author want to solve, how it can be possible to gain new supporters, and find out who the new supporters could be. This thesis makes an effort to find a solution for promoting brand loyalty among the new supporters and sustaining the loyalty with the long-time supporters. According to Sponsor Insight (2020), both ice hockey and football are in the top 5 of sports popularity. This bachelor thesis gives insight into Kuopion Palloseura's and JYP Jyväskylä's social media marketing. The author examines how Kuopion Palloseura's and JYP Jyväskylä's social media marketing differentiates for other teams in the same sports leagues. 1.1 Finding the subject Finding the subject for this thesis was not an easy task. Before starting the observation, the author tried to find a commissioner from numerous sports teams from the Pirkanmaa area in Finland. Unfortunately, the sports teams in the Pirkanmaa were unable to make a deal with the author due to the COVID-19 situation. A couple of teams were interested in being a commissioner, but during the unpredicted times, the teams could not make an agreement. Due to the sudden termination of the sports season, teams could not provide a research subject to the author. The thesis subject remained similar around sports and as the author decided not to choose teams from the Pirkanmaa region. It was quite easy to find a subject concerning