[Case study] How to create powerful brand experiences for a club and its 30 million fans

Definition: A strong, consistent brand adds value to any company that wants to remain relevant. A strong brand is always relevant, with its stakeholders recognising, appreciating and developing a lasting attachment to it without necessarily even realising it.

At Frontify, we are constantly reminding our clients of the importance of having a strong brand and how it is perceived by its consumers. This is especially true for Borussia Dortmund (BVB) fans. After all, BVB is much more than just a football team, but a brand that unites the passion of almost 30 million fans worldwide.

In this case study, we look at how Frontify was able to help BVB develop their brand image.

Borussia Dortmund in a nutshell

Borussia Dortmund is one of Europe's biggest football clubs, a successful club steeped in tradition. Founded in 1909, the club has enjoyed a string of victories in recent years, contributing significantly to its growth and popularity.

But beyond the pitch, maintaining a club that is relevant and at the cutting edge of innovation is essential for lasting commercial stability and sporting success.

A new challenge: moving from the field to the digital world

In 2005, a new era began with the introduction of a new concept, proposing a commercial approach less linked to results on the pitch, but prioritising the brand's progression in the digital world by establishing solid and lasting foundations.

The club's new challenges were as follows:

1. Working in silos that were increasingly complex to manage for the different departments and a growing number of stakeholders
2. Restricted access to digital resources of all kinds
3. Increased dependence on the marketing team at all times.

A brand platform to continue to shine

Developing and harmonising the brand...

A large part of this effort has involved investing in brand development and the implementation of a brand management platform to better share and make easily accessible :

• all brand elements
• campaigns
• and current projects.

With a stronger brand identity and visual guidelines in line with the core values - intensity, cohesive strength, ambition and authenticity - a more powerful brand has emerged and sporting results have followed.

... to increase its reach

In the decade that followed, BVB enjoyed a massive increase in results. But the strategy also paid off outside the stadium.

From a brand and marketing perspective, BVB has experienced significant international growth, which has led to the reincorporation, in 2019, of a department for the management of after-sales and partnerships, which was previously managed by an external agency.

This has strengthened brand recognition, rewarding a global brand design strategy.

Convincing results: growth ensured by the brand universe

The Frontify platform has enabled BVB to:

• Optimise stakeholder alignment and consolidation;
• Increase brand consistency and usage;
• facilitate collaboration and access to the brand.

Frontify has made it easier to open up the brand to everyone, something that prior to implementation was not possible and managed by a small team. The implementation of the platform quickly enabled an increasingly complex set of touch points to work together more effectively and sponsor new brand champions in an efficient and sustainable way.

With internationalisation, a considerable increase in requests of all kinds has led to rapid growth, greater consistency and recognition, and more regular traffic around the brand.

Frontify allows anyone - with or without design skills - to quickly access our brand world, download logos, typefaces and brand assets and create brand visuals themselves.

Dennis Thom, responsable du marketing et du sponsoring

This is how the BVB brand portal came into being. Since the introduction of Frontify in 2019, interdisciplinary departments such as marketing, communications, the international offices in Shanghai and Singapore and their external merchandising company all work within the same platform.

With their new fully integrated brand and corporate design guidelines, BVB can easily manage approvals and create marketing materials very quickly and effortlessly.

For external partners, the feedback and approval processes for marketing projects have improved significantly in terms of efficiency and accuracy, thanks in part to clear and easily accessible brand guidelines.

A strong, dynamic brand, ready to win new battles

We are now able to discuss resources and campaigns faster and more granularly than ever before, both internally and with external partners.

Dennis Thom, responsable du marketing et du sponsoring

The BVB brand portal facilitates coordination between graphic designers and agencies. It reduces the number of emails thanks to a clear structure and centralised resources that are now easily accessible and integrated into efficient workflows.

Going forward, BVB's stronger, more dynamic brand will enable it to continue to grow its brand in new markets, gain greater visibility and refine its brand image through clearer messaging. This will help it to strengthen its links with its fans around the world and provide the best conditions for continued success on the pitch.

With the BVB brand portal in place, the future looks bright for Borussia Dortmund both on and off the pitch.

Sponsored article. Expert contributors are authors who are independent of the Appvizer editorial team. Their comments and positions are their own.