Ronaldo returns to the “Theatre of Dreams” — a story that, when The Fool first heard it, felt like nothing more than a dream. But after watching with my own eyes the runs and touches this 36-year-old pulled off over his last two matches, all The Fool could do was gasp “oh!” in admiration of his brilliance.
But that’s not all — what impressed The Fool even more were the extremely sharp decisions often called “customer touchpoints in marketing,” made by Manchester United’s board together with Adidas in this whole deal to bring Ronaldo home.
What is a customer touchpoint in marketing, and how important is it for a business?
What is a customer touchpoint in marketing?
A customer touchpoint in marketing is a space (which can be rational or emotional, online or offline) where interaction between a customer and a business takes place.
A classic example of a touchpoint: a woman is walking through a supermarket, planning to buy cleaning supplies and soap for her house. As she passes through the entrance of the supermarket, she happens to see a stall offering instant-noodle samples. She stops…
- In the example above, this noodle brand’s physical touchpoint is the entrance/exit area (which every customer must walk through) where they set up their sampling booth.
- At the same time, the second touchpoint targets the customer’s psychology of getting a good deal, thinking they’re receiving a free gift from the brand.
- The third touchpoint also targets the customer’s psychology through the appearance and manner of the promo staff advising them — leaving an impression, and who knows, this customer might remember the brand when they look at the staff’s shirt and go on to recommend it to their family.
Handing out samples to customers in a supermarket is a classic example of applying a customer touchpoint.
The customer touchpoint in the deal bringing CR7 home
a) How did the club’s board seize the customer touchpoint?
By jumping into negotiations right after Ronaldo turned down Manchester City, the Manchester Reds’ board satisfied their “customers” — the club’s loyal fans, who would have been deeply shocked and turned their frustration onto the club itself…
Moreover, it’s the fans themselves who had been longing, day after day, to see Ronaldo’s boot marks on the Old Trafford turf once again after 12 years away — and the club’s current situation isn’t exactly rosy either, given that 5 years have passed since the 2016–2017 season without a title…
Understanding that, MU’s board published every piece of news about the deal, both during and after signing Ronaldo, and kept using his image in PR across every newspaper and social channel — Instagram, their Facebook Page — in the following weeks…
Ronaldo’s images flooding the club’s Instagram and Facebook Page.
b) How did the sportswear brand Adidas seize the customer touchpoint?
Also understanding the shared psychology of Red Devils fans, Adidas pushed ManUtd’s board and supported the club in bringing “Brother Seven” home to Old Trafford.
Furthermore, this brand also paid attention to a rational touchpoint when its leadership recently met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Minh Vũ to help resolve difficulties for the business. Along with that, Adidas committed to long-term operations in Vietnam and expressed hope that the Government would…
It’s worth restating that Vietnam supplies nearly 30% of Adidas’s global output. So factory shutdowns seriously affected this brand’s supply chain, and jerseys bearing the name CR7 could have had a much harder time reaching customers.
The business lesson on seizing opportunity from both Manchester United and Adidas
a) How did Manchester United seize business opportunity?
- Before Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford
An article in Lao Động newspaper dated March 6, 2021, wrote about Manchester United’s financial situation with the following line:
When Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward released the 2020 financial report, many people were stunned. It turned out Man United wasn’t fine at all, and was buried in debt just like most other clubs.
It’s worth noting that before Ronaldo arrived, the club’s board had long been troubled by its financial situation. That’s easy to see: despite having one of the largest fan bases in the world, this club had disappointed fans for years with signings that…
Recently, signs that Ronaldo might join Man City only made fans angrier and somewhat hurt the club further.
- After sealing the Ronaldo deal
Thanks to analyzing that customer touchpoint, the board decided to go through with the Ronaldo deal despite having to pay 28 million Euros, with the Portuguese superstar earning £400,000 a week (the highest in the Premier League).
The price this brought Manchester United was many times that figure — limited-edition No. 7 jersey sales alone reached 45 million USD (equivalent to £32.5 million, a Premier League record).
What’s more, right after the deal was announced, Manchester United’s share price on the stock market jumped over 8% from the previous close, to 18.47 USD/share. This brought the Red Devils 250 million USD (on the exchange). This rise also boosted the club’s market cap…
Manchester United’s share price surged after Ronaldo’s arrival at Old Trafford.
At the same time, with Ronaldo’s presence, tickets to Old Trafford sold out instantly, and thanks to his drawing power, the club stood to earn a massive sum from broadcast rights as Man United’s viewership, already high, climbed even further.
b) How did Adidas seize business opportunity?
Not just once — if you look back at every club Ronaldo has played for, it’s no coincidence that all three were sponsored by Adidas for their kits. This matters a lot to the company, given that Ronaldo himself has a permanent exclusive deal with Nike.
Think about it: for a footballer, which moment do you remember him by most — when he’s at the gym, when he’s playing football, or when he’s out jogging? Even though Ronaldo is a major player and every bit of his physical activity draws attention online, it’s worth remembering which activity people actually…
Although Nike made a similar countermove by sponsoring Messi’s Barça kit from 2016 (for a massive 155 million/season over 10 years), and coincidentally, the PSG jersey — the club M10 plays for this season — is also sponsored by Nike’s sub-brand Jordan. However, in terms of media…
In terms of media presence and earning from social platforms, Messi, while strong, still trails far behind Ronaldo (2020 figures).
On top of that, let’s look at how Adidas has seized business opportunities by researching and applying marketing touchpoints to compete with its formidable rival Nike:
- In 2014–2015, when most of the US sneaker market share had fallen into rival Nike/Jordan’s hands, Adidas made a bold move by teaming up with Kanye West, sparking a sneaker craze in the US with the Adidas Yeezy Boost 750.
- Not only that — during the same period, Adidas pushed harder into women’s sportswear and achieved more success than Nike after officially bringing on Selena Gomez (then prominent thanks to her relationship with Justin Bieber) to appear in campaigns…
- From 2001–2005, Nike and Adidas were considered evenly matched in the sportswear market. But Adidas gained the upper hand after successfully signing Yohji Yamamoto, turning the brand into the No. 1 “giant” in sportswear. It’s said Yohji Yamamoto also intended to…
How to identify a customer touchpoint in marketing and seize business opportunity
To identify a customer touchpoint and seize business opportunities, you need to analyze your business’s SWOT, so you can find ways to leverage strengths and limit weaknesses (or even use a weakness itself, as in the case of Ronaldo’s contract and his club jersey…).
At the same time, you can use your business’s own core values to attract customers and seize business opportunities in the best way.
So how do you execute an SO and WO strategy after a SWOT analysis to seize business opportunities and reach customers in the best way?
The answer will be shared by the Easy Knowledge Channel team through the handbook “Market or Get Stuck” — Episode 2, Parts 1 and 2. Tap the book cover to sign up for the ebook now.
Sign up to receive the book for a chance to get an offer worth up to 3 million VND on digital marketing services and the Digital Growth Solution for businesses.
THE FOOL — EASY KNOWLEDGE CHANNEL