For the first time, the Austrian Soccer League commissioned students from FHWien der WKW to develop campaigns to make stadium attendance more attractive for different target groups.
Once again, FHWien der WKW’s talent factory proved that “studying real business” is lived in all aspects of the program. This year, the Austrian Soccer League was won as a partner for the business field project in the Master’s program in Marketing & Sales Management in the summer semester of 2022. The task was to develop a concept for a new marketing strategy to attract new target groups and thus encourage new spectators to visit the ADMIRAL Bundesliga stadium.
Soccer as an experience for the whole family
First, the six student teams analyzed visitor behavior and the attitudes of potential “casual fans” by means of an online survey. Under the direction of senior researcher Ilona Pezenka, the students used the results of the empirical market research to design exciting and innovative marketing and communication concepts. Individual campaigns were created for different target groups. The focus here was on filling the stadiums of Austrian soccer clubs and bringing the overall soccer experience closer to families and children. The students’ innovative and multifaceted approaches ranged from appealing social media campaigns on TikTok and loyalty and recommendation campaigns to 360-degree communication concepts with interactive elements.
Professional pitch in front of client
In May, the six teams then competed against each other in a professional pitch in front of the client. The Bundesliga marketing team, Moritz Ehlmaier and Philipp Pfeffer, were impressed by the many different and versatile ideas:
“Working with FHWien der WKW has given us a new and fresh perspective on our current strategies and on future opportunities. The students have done an excellent job, developed interesting concepts and at the same time done exceedingly creative work. This is an ideal fit for soccer, which thrives on creative minds not only on the football field!” says Philipp Pfeffer, Marketing at the Austrian Soccer League.
Coaches Thomas Schmidt, Head of the Marketing & Sales Management study programs, and lecturer Georg Feldmann were also pleased with the results presented and the students’ existing expertise, which led to many interesting approaches to solutions:
“The cooperation of the Austrian Soccer League with FHWien der WKW is a perfect match, because we have many parallels and similarities, such as the promotion of talents. The Bundesliga trains professionals of tomorrow on the pitch and we train professionals off the pitch.”
The students summarized their impressions of this business field project in this video (in German):
Thus, a successful business field project comes to an end and we leave the creative lawn together – for the time being! This collaboration makes you want more according to the saying: After the game is before the game!
>> More information about the Master’s program in Marketing & Sales Management