The off-field team at Hull City are bidding to build on the club’s on-pitch success, signing up a specialist local company to drive digital sales and profile.
The club says the partnership with performance marketing business 43 Clicks North will aim to further increase revenue from memberships, merchandise and matchday ticket sales. It follows January’s takeover by Acun Ilicali, the Turkish media and entertainment entrepreneur.
Sales of memberships have climbed to 12,500 from 8,500 last season and the average attendance for the first three home games at the MKM Stadium is more than 17,000 compared with 12,000 in the final year of the Allam regime, as the impact of the transformation bears fruit. Merchandise sales have also rocketed, buoyed by with fans clamouring to buy replica kit.
Jamie Thomas, Hull City's marketing manager, said: “We have seen a huge surge in interest for memberships and match-day tickets since the end of last season and we want to push that a bit further if we can.
“The atmosphere at the first two games of this season has been so impressive with the increased attendance and new stadium layout. The membership campaign will run for most of the remainder of this calendar year and if we need extra support to sell tickets for certain matches we can do that.
“With retail, the chairman has made a big investment into the amount of stock we have ordered to avoid some of the slight issues we had last season with unexpectedly high demand for certain items.”
International markets are being explored. Mr Thomas said: “Our retail offering can have an impact globally and Acun wants to take more merchandise to Turkey so we will see what we can do with that. We already do quite well in areas such as the US, Australia, the Nordic countries and other areas of western Europe. Expanding into new markets is another target of these digital campaigns.
“Our membership subscription model is only operated by one other club in the EFL but 43 Clicks North have experience of it from their work in other sports. That’s why we chose them, along with the fact that we always try to maintain good relationships with our local community.
“We’re acutely aware of the need to balance expanding the club’s brand recognition globally with still being a cornerstone of the city that we represent. This includes continuing to work with local businesses.”
Mike Ellis, managing director of Old Town-based 43 Clicks North, said the deal strengthens the company’s expanding activities in the world of sport and will also support his efforts to develop Hull’s pool of digital talent.
It agreed a deal earlier this year to promote match ticket sales for Leeds Rhinos and he describes the move into football as significant. It will see the company use its skills in paid social and paid search to engage online audiences. He said: “The purpose is to provide digital performance marketing for businesses and it’s not just about the bottom line. It’s about trying to unblock the challenges to a business and drive real, measurable performance by creating new customers and increasing customer retention.
“Our mission statement is to put Hull on the map in a digital world by building an eco-system of digital knowledge that benefits the city itself, with more talented people to support local businesses to enter the digital foray in the right way.
“There’s still such a gulf between the top and entry level and this deal is a huge opportunity for us to address that because we’re working with a big name in the city which has undergone a change of ownership, generating a positive feeling which we can enhance.
“We already do some work in sport, which is interesting and has always been part of my life in terms of playing and following. When you look at how football portrays itself on a global scale it’s clear more sports clubs need that type of help and there is much more we can do. We are keen to be involved in more sports clubs and help to make sure they have the right talent and people on board.”
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