SpoBiS 2016: VfL Wolfsburg identifies key markets including India
The German Bundesliga has increased its global presence with clubs and league giving more and more importance to internationalisation and global marketing strategies.
Bundesliga champions FC Bayern Munich are certainly the most popular German club on a global stage, but almost all other clubs including Borussia Dortmund, Bayer 04 Leverkusen or TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (India Tour in 2014) have done their part to promote the club and league outside the continent.
German Cup (DFB-Pokal) winners VfL Wolfsburg have identified various key markets for their internationalisation plans. Talking at the SpoBiS 2016 sports conference in Düsseldorf, Thomas Röttgermann (CEO, VfL Wolfsburg) stated that Wolfsburg have identified their key markets in China, the USA, Brazil and the Gulf region for their first step to take the club to a global stage.
But Röttgermann was also quick to underline that the Volkswagen (VW) backed club have further identified India and South Korea as the next markets on their target. "South Korea and India are the countries for our second phase of internationalisation," the club boss told during his presentation entitled '2.5 years of dual production - and the future of international marketing at VfL Wolfsburg' on Day 2 (February 2) of Europe's leading sports business conference.
VfL Wolfsburg have divided their global strategy into four sections namely "Brand Awareness", "Strategic Partnerships", "VfL Fans" and "Wolfsburg United", which should help the club to increase the fan following and international recognition.
The German club announced its first partner from India in June 2015, when Tech Mahindra joined the list of sponsors. Tech Mahindra enjoys the presence on LED advertising hoardings on match days, besides involvement in CSR programmes.