When Gregg Sauter, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, Saskatchewan Roughriders Football Club, told the story of this professional football team in the Canadian Football League at the 7th Annual Loyalty Expo, presented by Loyalty360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association, two words stood high above any others: fans and pride.
The story of the Saskatchewan Roughriders is a compelling one that any marketer who holds dear to customer-centric business models should hear.
Sauter’s session, co-presented with Ruby Newell-Legner, Fan Experience Expert, 7 Star Service, was titled, “Enhancing Loyalty and Retention by Turning Every Customer Into a Fan.”
“The unique selling proposition is SASKATCHEWAN PRIDE,” Sauter told attendees. “Our fans are our brands. They have pride in their team, pride in their province. We’re inclusive, inviting, witty, always the underdog, and always united. We sell emotion. We sell experiences. We celebrate our fans. We create memories.”
If Saskatchewan was a state, it would be the third-largest in the U.S., Sauter said.
In the past decade, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have transformed themselves from a struggling CFL franchise into an iconic brand in Canadian professional sports. As the most successful CFL franchise, the Roughriders now sell more branded merchandise than all other CFL teams combined and more than four of Canada’s six National Hockey League franchises. Despite being the smallest professional sports market in Canada, the Roughriders lead the CFL in game day attendance and national TV ratings.
“We are a real force and a real brand and we’re doing this despite the fact we’re the smallest CFL market and smallest professional sports market in North America,” Sauter said, noting the Green Bay Packers comprise the second-smallest sports market in North America.
But, as Sauter said, it hasn’t always been the case for the Roughriders.
In 2000 the team’s record was 5-12-1, the franchise in debt to the tune of $2.6 million, and its fan base was roughly 10,000-12,000.
“We had no money for marketing and we didn’t know who our customers were,” Sauter said. “Things were very bleak. The organization said something’s got to change here or this thing is over.”
In an attempt to stem the tide and inject new enthusiasm and loyalty in to the franchise, Sauter said the Roughriders modeled themselves after the Green Bay Packers, which is a community-owned team.
“We realized that players come and go, especially in Canada, so there is a lot of risk having your identity tied to a couple players and or your win/loss record,” Sauter said. “The decision was made to make the fan the star of the show. In branding we talk a lot about emotion, and one of the key emotions that we were, and still are, selling is love and belonging. The club began shifting focus to our fan base and made our stadium experience the place to be.”
Sauter said the franchise invested significant resources (human and financial) into giving back to its fan base and community (our owners) and recognizing them, perhaps, the team’s most effective marketing initiative.
Loyalty and retention start on the frontline, Sauter said.
“Make experience part of your culture,” he said. “Have a clear vision. Create one team. Build positive partnerships. Value and reward.”
So Sauter and his colleagues had to answer two important questions: What exactly are we selling? What can be the essence of our brand?
Historically, he said, Saskatchewan has been populated by many people of Ukrainian descent. The winters are cold and brutal, but through it all, people maintain immense pride in the province.
“The team decided to hang its hat on pride and make the fans the stars of the show,” Sauter said. “When people think of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, they think of our fans. Our brand is identified by the fans.”
Sauter noted some of the key words/phrases that define the franchise’s loyal approach: Inclusive, witty, the little guy that could, always united.
“We are a nonprofit organization,” Sauter said. “Our fans own our team. You can buy shares in our team. It definitely changes your business if the person coming through the door all of a sudden is your owner. That’s the mentality in our organization. Ultimately, they own the team.”
Two key leaders−a president & CEO, Jim Hopson; and VP of Sales–Steve Mazurak−held a vision to transform the culture, building a “major league” way of operating, Sauter said.
“There was a time when there were pockets of fan behavior in the stands that wasn’t necessarily something to be proud of,” Sauter said. “The club made a deliberate effort to remove that behavior and celebrate and encourage good sportsmanship and community. This continues to be a big emphasis for us today. Part of this was accomplished by reinforcing pride in our/your own house and in your team. Part of it was accomplished by upgrading our facilities to a more major league standard and educating our game day staff and volunteers, which is an ongoing process. We also simply removed fans that did not support our vision of what we wanted for our game day experience. We began treating our fans as owners and conveyed a sense of professionalism. The team also started winning and, over time, this began changing behavior and how fans felt about the team, our brand and themselves.”
Sauter also cited a positive shift in the Saskatchewan economy.
“At the moment, the Saskatchewan economy is booming, but over the past 20 years Saskatchewan had some tough economic times and thousands of people left the province, but they still had a sense of pride in their home,” he said. “As success started coming back, and the team began gaining respect, these fans that now live all over Canada began getting on board and wearing their Rider colors with pride to support their team. We put considerable amount of effort into recognizing and rewarding that loyalty regardless of where they live. This is evident in away games where we have tens of thousands of Rider fans attend games at stadiums across the country.”
A word that permeated Sauter’s session, and the entire Loyalty Expo as a whole, was emotion.
“We sell emotion,” Sauter said. “We sell experiences. We celebrate and reward our fans and we create memories. Emotional attachment is worth so much more. It’s the emotional attachment people have to our team as much as winning on the field. It’s the joy, the togetherness, the religion, the family atmosphere we’re selling.”
Newell-Legner, a renowned speaker in fan experience, travel, and leisure, has worked with more than 27 sports teams.
“It’s about the fans connecting with each other through the brand,” she said. “When I went to Saskatchewan, they were diehard fans. Everywhere I went was green and you could feel the energy. When we engaged with each of the employees, they were proud to receive that name tag. If you make experiences part of your culture, you have to wear it for fans and have employees feel that same experience.”
When an employee starts working for the Roughriders, Newell-Legner said, everything is ready on their desk the day he or she arrives.
“The more you know about the company, the more you buy in,” she said. “We want to have experiences that create memories. We want to have a community that lives and breathes Rider-ville.”
Sauter said the organization looks at every touch point, always striving to engage, reward, and connect with a Roughriders’ fans.
“The more we give, the more we give back,” he said. “We look at lifetime engagement by engaging children and engaging parents. We have a kids’ club tied to our CRM platform. And of course, we have the physical engagement on game day.”
Being relevant to fans is incredibly important, Sauter said.
“We spend a lot of time reaching out to fans all over the world,” Sauter explained. We have parties in Edmonton and Ottawa. It’s cool when you can engage your fans and let them do the selling for you. We put the fan first in everything we do. We recognize and reward them.”