How the NFL Built 8.8 Million Fans in One of the World's Most Competitive Sports Markets
What does it take to grow one of America's biggest sporting brands in a market already obsessed with sport?
In this episode of The CMO Show, Mark Jones sits down with Charlotte Offord, General Manager of NFL Australia, to explore how the league is building fandom, relevance and cultural impact far beyond its home market. From launching the NFL's first regular season game in Australia to growing the local fan base from 5.7 million to 8.8 million fans in just over three seasons, Charlotte shares the strategy behind one of sport's most ambitious international expansion stories.
Charlotte explains why the NFL sees itself as more than a sports league, positioning the brand at the intersection of entertainment, fashion, music, lifestyle and culture to reach new audiences. She discusses the importance of listening before entering a new market, creating locally relevant experiences, and finding the passion points that turn curious consumers into lifelong fans.
The conversation also explores how the NFL has transformed itself from a seasonal sports property into a 365-day-a-year engagement engine through content, live events, participation programs, digital experiences and community initiatives. Along the way, Charlotte shares practical lessons on audience growth, customer engagement, innovation, and why marketers should never dismiss a bold idea too quickly.
For marketing leaders looking to grow brands across new markets, build stronger communities and create lasting customer loyalty, this episode offers a masterclass in fandom, experience design and cultural relevance.
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This episode of The CMO Show was brought to you by host Mark Jones, producers Niall Hughes, Kirsten Bables, Syd Le, and audio engineer Ed Cheng. This is an edited excerpt of the podcast transcript.
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Mark Jones:
Let's say that you are the boss or a marketer of the NFL in the US and you want to expand to international markets. How would you do that? And what lessons would you be able to teach other people from that expansion? We hear it all the time in corporate land, but in sports, what makes it really tick?
My name's Mark Jones. Thanks for joining us again on the CMO show, brought to you by Impact Institute in partnership with Adobe. Now today this is a bit of fun, the NFL. Not the NRL, not any other code. This of course is the great American contact sport, those big blokes in helmets. And it's coming to Australia. In fact, by the time you see this episode, it will be after the very first season game of the NFL in Australia with the LA Rams and the San Francisco Forty Niners, which of course, having spent time in San Francisco, I'm a big Forty Niners fan. The thing is, we're most used to companies from an American corporate perspective coming into Australia. That's a very normal thing, but sports, it's a whole different kettle of fish. So what does it take to make it work?
I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlotte Offord. She is the general manager for the NFL in Australia. And we spoke about the process she's been going through over the past four years, building up a team here on the ground and getting ready for a hundred thousand people at the MCG. What does it take to make it work? How is the Australian audience different to the US audience? What do they like about the game? And what does it take to get this sort of early groundswell going? How hard is it? And what are the tools, the techniques, the approaches that really work? It's a really great conversation. Even if you don't like sports, there's a lot in here that you can apply to any industry or any sector. So let's jump in and have a listen to Charlotte.
Mark Jones:
Charlotte, thank you so much for joining us.
Charlotte Offord:
Thanks, Mark. Thanks so much for having me.
Mark Jones:
I got a simple question, a kind of a fun one. When you introduce yourself at networking events or in business and you say you work for the NFL in Australia, what kind of reaction do you get? Imagine the eyebrows shoot up, right?
Charlotte Offord:
yeah, a little bit, a little bit. I think certainly probably not the answer people expect me to say when asking what I do for a job. you get a mixed reaction. If if someone's a you know, a diehard NFL fan, they certainly, you know, kind of jolt back a little bit and then they wanna talk to you for the rest of the evening. but but but some and sometimes people are just, you know, very curious. They may not be an NFL fan, but they're like, that's really cool. you know, what do you do for them? And they're kind of very curious about what the role entails, which which is great.
Mark Jones:
Now I'm speaking to you ahead of a big game at the MCG on September eleventh. We're gonna talk about some marketing stuff first, but we should probably get to the big stuff straight away. So tell me about this game and why it matters.
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah, so next Friday, which sounds scary to say in itself, we will be hosting the first regular season game for the NFL in Australia. so really kind of history in the making, which is which is exceptionally exciting. it's been a lot of long time planning and a lot of hard work that's gone into building to this moment. and it so it matters a lot, obviously from a from a local fan base perspective over the last four years.
Me and my team have you know really built the fan base from the ground up. We started at about 5.7 million fans in Australia and grew that to 8.8 in in over just over three seasons. So seeing that growth and then being able to have you know a huge tangible asset for our fans locally with a real game coming to market, a game that matters for points, is is a huge you know is a huge piece of our puzzle and driving fandom for the sport in this market.
Mark Jones:
And I note you got a couple of Californian teams, so the LA Rams and the San Francisco Forty Niners. So the Californians maybe didn't have so far to fly as the the rest of the country. Is that behind it or something else?
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah, a little bit. Look, I think, you know, with every new with every new feat, with every new kind of game that you bring to a a new market, there's always gonna be logistical challenges that you need to work through in order to make sure that you can bring everything to the scale that you want it to be at. You can give the teams the the optimal kind of experience and you all and you don't know what you don't know.
Until you're really doing it. And so you're working through those challenges day by day to make sure. So, you know, for the first game having two C Californian teams participate obviously was a I wouldn't say easier set of logistics, certainly not, but it certainly helped to know that the distance, you know, was a was a direct flight from from both San Francisco and LA.
To get here for them. So that's the that's a great thing for us. But I think the other big thing is it it's might be two Californian teams, but we've got a divisional rival matchup here. So for those NFL fans out there, this is a huge game. This is not just a small game. This has got deep rooted history, two teams that have could be competitive for a long time, so we're excited.
Mark Jones:
Mm-hmm. Yes. So just briefly, take me back to the beginning. How did this happen? Like you mentioned it's been a long time in the making. Just how long and why? Because if you think about it, you know, Australia's about the size of LA from a population point of view. So it's not like the you know, the NFL doesn't have a big enough market space to play in in its on in its home turf.
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah, look, I think it all really starts from the league's ambition to globally grow the game. You know, we are the biggest sport in America by quite a long way. and so really if you think about the future of the game and the future of our growth, it r international really is the biggest opportunity that we've got. Ultimately, you know, in the US you know, it's important that we sustain our our current fan base. It's k it's important that we c remain culturally relevant for the younger demo and bring them through into, you know, fandom as well. But you know, we have a ton of markets outside of the US that there is an audience to capture and and we want to capture that audience. We've been growing our game, you know, for over twenty years now in different markets, particularly in Europe. and really in the last couple of years we've expanded that inventory. So we've really looked at Europe's great and we've d had huge success over there, but how can we expand it to other parts of the world? So it really starts there, but then the next part of it was about.
Mark Jones:
Mm.
Charlotte Offord:
We set we set business and office down here four years ago. We built a bit of a foundation for ourselves. we started to grow the fan base and we what we saw was just such dramatic growth that you know, four years ago if we were sitting on this podcast and you'd asked me, Are you gonna get a game? I would have said it's not in the narrative right now. It's not part of the conversation. so but but the fandom that we've built and the fandom that's come to us has really made that decision easy.
Mark Jones:
Mm.
Mark Jones:
Yeah.
Charlotte Offord:
it went on sale, it sold out within two hours and that's a hundred thousand seats. So we know the fan base is here.
Mark Jones:
I was gonna say that was my next question. You said eight was it eight plus million fans in Australia are yeah, you're quite easily gonna fill out the MCG. So well done on that. Yeah, so I actually was really curious about this from a marketing perspective because Australia itself is obviously well saturated with different sports. Did you have to translate the game in any particular way or have you just sort of lifted it as it is? You know, up you know, quite clearly.
Charlotte Offord:
Mm.
Mark Jones:
sports fans and NFL fans will be, you know, getting all of the you know, all the news direct from the states anywhere, right? So maybe there's not too much translation, but it is a pretty normal thing for multinational corporations to have to translate what they're doing into a market like Australia. So yeah, I'm curious from that point of view, as you were going through these this four-year journey, you know what were you learning and
You know, what were the sort of insights that you came across in terms of how Australians react to the game versus Americans?
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah, look, I would say I've definitely learned a lot over the last four years in and entering new market. but what I found is that's that Australia is kinda has this uniqueness to it. I look I look to the two countries in the world where I think they have the biggest appetite for sport, the let's call them sports mad, and I think it's America and Australia. you walk into a market like this and whilst they might love one or two sports more than others, they certainly don't seem to be mutually exclusive to one sport.
Mark Jones:
Yeah.
Charlotte Offord:
and you know, even at the lower level, even at ki at like the young level, kids are playing multiple sports a week in in Australia. So I think when we entered the market, you know, we sat back, we learned, we listened, we tried to understand the landscape and what was happening here. And what we realized is that there's an audience here that could watch AFL on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday night, or a Saturday. You've got a fan base that could watch NRL on a Saturday night or a Sunday.
Mark Jones:
Hm.
Charlotte Offord:
And then all of sudden on Monday morning, they're watching NFL and so I think we entered a in a country where the opportunity was quite big for us in the fact that we don't overlap in playing windows and we actually only overlap with the two biggest codes in the market by four weeks. So by week five of the NFL season, both of those codes are done and they're an off season. And people that like contact sports, I'll tell you, they like contact sports when the off season's happening too.
Mark Jones:
Mm.
Mark Jones:
So what are the differences and the similarities, like the way that NFL people really think about this game that that stands out to you?
Charlotte Offord:
I like to think of it a little bit like a game of chess. there's a lot of strategy to the game, there's obviously you know, some force to it, but I think there there's that piece of it that people love not only what's happening in the and the energy and the excitement that comes around it, but also that strategic nature that that forms the game and the rules. But correct, but I think from a broader brand perspective and the way that we think about growing the NFL brand.
Mark Jones:
Mm.
Mark Jones:
Yep. The plays.
Charlotte Offord:
it is more than just a sport. We are a sports and entertainment property. we really lean into the entertainment side of our business, particularly in new markets. and we want to show up in the most organic way across pretty much every vertical. So you'll see us showing up in music, you'll see us showing up in food, in sport, in lifestyle, in fashion. We wanna be a part of those worlds and the way that we kind of talk to our fans and our new fans.
Charlotte Offord:
is through avenues in which they already have a passion. So their passion point might be fashion and we're showing up in that world and they think, wow, the NFL's here. I love that product. They've collaborated with my favourite designer. I'm gonna wear that. And then that that wearing that gear then piques interest. And all of sudden they go, I wanna know who Patrick Mahomes is. he plays for the team that Taylor Swift's husband plays for. And there's a connection and it's a tree of and that's one example. But you know there is
Mark Jones:
Mm. Yeah, yeah.
Charlotte Offord:
So many cultural relevant pieces that bring someone into our world and our universe, it makes them curious and then all of a sudden they become a fan.
Mark Jones:
All right, so this is one of my favourite questions, which is what business are you in? Because you've mentioned we've talked about sports, we've talked about entertainment, and now we're talking about brand partnerships and culture and lifestyle. So and then I wanted to ask you about like the tickets, like 'cause you you've also got experience at Ticketmaster. So you're also in the ticketing and the membership business. So what business are you in?
Charlotte Offord:
Mm. What business am I in? I would say I am in delivering exceptional experiences to people around the world.
Mark Jones:
You're in the experience business.
Charlotte Offord:
yeah, I would say we're sports, we're lifestyle, we're entertainment, but we also do a lot in the pathway section. So one of the great things in in my job that I also get to do is find and recruit young athletes, bring them through our NFL Academy program which I built on the Gold Coast, have them trained by professional athletes day in, day out, and you know, hopefully go on to US colleges and division one on full scholarship and you know can completely change their lives. So I like to think that it's not just about what happens on the field next Friday, it's actually all about everything else that goes around it that we get to change lives, we get to, you know, really create these experiences for people.
Mark Jones:
Mm-hmm. What then would be the split of your focus in in building the business between some of these areas that we're speaking about? Because obviously you can't do everything all the time with a growing team, right? So how do you keep all the moving parts kind of assembled in your brain and with the team? But also this is the classic sort of how do you divide up your attention question.
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah, no, no, I get that. It's really comes down to the time of year a lot of the time. So, you know, we have we're obviously a seasonal sport. So when we're in season, particularly as you lead into the start of the season, the focus is really shifted towards how do we turn the lights on, how are we getting active, how do we make sure that our game is live on television that our media partners have everything they need, that we're marketing to the right level. So that's kind of coming into the right now part of the season. Obviously with next week being a new element to our whole ecosystem here in Australia. The game obviously right now is a is the biggest focus for me. But then we'll come out of the game and we'll w we'll work on okay, what are we doing through November and December? What does playoffs into Super Bowl look like? And then we'll start to also think about what's happening in the off season. So it's really peak, it's a bit of a flow throughout the year of different things that we're focusing on.
Whilst there's an overarching layer of, you know, when you're running in a football academy, you've got to make sure that that continues to stay going and has the right people in place that can deliver that for you day in, day out without you having to kind of step in on a daily basis.
Mark Jones:
And then tell me a bit about the fans in that sense, how you have to re-engage them through the different seasons. Through the marketing lens, what are the messages that resonate? Like how do you think strategically about.
Mark Jones:
keeping people engaged through the the whole year. you know, it's a common thing for every sport.
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah, no, absolutely. I think we started off probably four years ago. I'd wood would have had a different answer. We would basically focus very heavily on the season and the season only. And then we would you know, Super Bowl would happen and I always used to say that Super Bowl is such an amazing product that I wish it was at the start of the season, not the end of the season, because the next day it's over and then you the lights are off, kind of thing. So that was always the biggest challenge four years ago. Now I look at it and I and we keep going.
Mark Jones:
Yep, yeah.
Charlotte Offord:
So the minute Super Bowl ends, we go into Combine. We start talking about new rookies. We start talking about new athletes. We then go into draft and we, you know, we've really turned that as a business, as a league overall into, you know, it's basically a glorified job offer in the best way possible. People are going on stage in front of, you know, hundreds of thousands of fans getting given a job, which is pretty incredible.
Mark Jones:
Yeah.
Charlotte Offord:
So we build a big story around that and then that turns into minicamp training camp and then we're back in season again. So we've actually gone from being what I would call a six-month product and we would turn the lights off and now I would say with the team growing behind me we've turned it into a three sixty five days a year product where we're always on, we're always talking about something, we've always got something to say. And that's been a really important factor in terms of how we've built the business here.
Mark Jones:
How do you take someone from being in the you know, the junior leagues and also someone who's, you know, just got a general passing interest in from sports right through to being an advocate or, you know, I think you talk about people in the fandom or the you know, those outrageous fans that are wearing the clothing, you know, all day. What's that journey like? How do you take people through that?
Charlotte Offord:
Yep. Mm-hmm. It really depends on their passion point.
So I think when I talked about earlier about being active organically in so many different verticals, you're really trying to find that emotional connection with a fan. And that emotional connection's not one thing for every fan. Right? You've gotta find what is that touch point that is gonna be a passion point of theirs already, whether that is fashion or it is participation in the sport or something else that is gonna then you're there, you're live and you're ready for them in that space and then that's gonna convert them.
Mark Jones:
Mm.
Charlotte Offord:
And ultimately it's not something that happens overnight. It certainly is a thing that is built over time. But we'll take one example being we implemented a flag football program here for young people in schools. We started in a pilot in ten schools. We had a few we had a few schools doing it. We were listening, understanding, learning and hearing from them what is it that you like about this game and how can we make it bigger. That dramatically grew from ten schools to now into over 500 schools across the country and kids are playing that game. But what we're seeing is the kids that play at year one, by the end of year two, they are dripping in NFL gear, head to toe. Mum and dad are coming to watch the games. Mum and dad have now got ESPN. They're they've got subscription products here, there, and there. They're telling me, you know, and I'm like, that's fantastic. And you can see that that passion point started from participation sport. They learnt the basic rules of the game by just playing at school.
Mark Jones:
Yeah.
Charlotte Offord:
And now they're watching it on television. And there's many examples like that. That's just one of many that you've got to find that passion point and you've got to stick with that and hope that gradually they start to pique interest and wanting to learn more.
Mark Jones:
You're also in the merch business, which is part of the entertainment piece here, as you said as before. How did you get into all of this? You know, the interest level. What started it all for you?
Charlotte Offord:
Sure, for me, it's actually not a great story. It’s really just kind of fell on my lap. So, I was working in the ticketing business as you as you said before. I got an opportunity to work for the Olympic Games in London in 2012, which was an incredible experience and then coming out of the Olympic Games.
I got a call from an agent that said, the NFL's looking for a marketing manager. We think you'd be perfect for this role, would you apply? And so at the time I and I've told all my bosses know this, that I had to Google search the NFL at the time, so I wasn't a fan. I saw this the name Super Bowl, I was like, the Super Bowl, I know what that is. So, and that's really where it started and I think in my first job interview I said that to them. I said, I don't know anything about this game and they said “Well, you'll learn”.
Mark Jones:
Mm-hmm.
Charlotte Offord:
And so for the last I just spent ten years in the UK working for the NFL on their marketing team, building their fandom in the UK and really learning a lot through that process. And I think so I fell into it, but I I've grown a real passion for it. I've grown a passion for you know, giving people incredible experiences, and being able to, you know, there's nothing better than showing up like next Friday will be a pure example of that where you walk out into a stadium no matter how many times you've done it and it gives you goosebumps. Like your people are having a good time because you help them to have that good time.
Mark Jones:
Yeah, yeah. No, that that makes a lot of sense. There will be some people who are really upset with what I think is actually a very interesting story because if you know if there's a lifelong passion to work for the NFL and you it's one of those great stories where you just sort of stumbled into it. In marketing we think a lot about American culture of course and in sport. I was really interested in the NRL when they went to Vegas now. It might be twice, I think, that they've yeah.
Charlotte Offord:
Ha ha ha. Mm-hmm.
Twice that yeah.
Mark Jones:
That they played in Vegas. what did you learn from watching that experience and seeing how that code did the same thing in reverse?
Charlotte Offord:
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think it was interesting and we've got a great relationship with the NRL and even before they had their first game there, we were, you know, talking with them about some of the learnings that we had from London and other markets that we've operated games in.
On the flip, as to your point, in the past. And so we've shared a lot of learnings with them and then they've shared a lot of learnings back with us. So I think seeing them make that decision to go to the US, I think was a smart one. I think, you know, they saw how big they are in Australian market. And I think, you know, Peter and the team have done a fantastic job of really elevating the growth of rugby league and so I thought it was a smart one, I think they want to expand into new markets. They want people over there to know what their game is.
Mark Jones:
Yeah. Yeah.
Mark Jones:
Hmm. Yep.
Charlotte Offord:
But they also recognize that people don't know the difference between rugby union and rugby league. And they have to do an education process as part of that journey. They recognize that up front. And just like we recognize when we go to a new market that people may not know the rules of our game. So we have to do we we're going through an education process to make sure that we find the right tools and the right ways to educate those fans locally. So look, I think they what they've done is fantastic and what I've seen, certainly from the outside in, is that that game over there has grown. I think it's the going into its third time now and every year more and more people are going to it, more and more Americans are experiencing it, which is exactly what their goal was.
Mark Jones:
Yes, a part of it is marvelling at the lack of helmets, which I can understand. Yeah. So that's that's really interesting to me because when you think about how you build fans across cultures and you look for different hooks and ways of you know, bringing people into a journey. It is a common experience in in any category of marketing when you're building businesses. I wonder what lessons-
Charlotte Offord:
Yes. Sure.
Mark Jones:
You've picked up that would apply to any other industry? What are your biggest ideas?
Charlotte Offord:
I would say definitely along the way, I think listening to people and listening to the fans has been a huge win for us. we don't come into a market anywhere and assume that we know anything about how the fan who the fans are, how they want to consume, what they want to consume, what's important to them and where their passion points lie. I think we certainly come into a market and-
Mark Jones:
Hm. Yep, yep.
Charlotte Offord:
We wanna listen and we wanna understand the map the fan base before we action anything, particularly at a larger scale. So that's certainly been an important aspect. The other one is no idea is a bad idea. And I think marketers often come up with some brilliant ideas and then question themselves as to is this idea even good? Like did I did I just come up with that and it's a stitch silly idea. we sit around a table constantly, me and my team, and we will just come up with
Mark Jones:
Mm-hmm.
Charlotte Offord:
An array of ideas and every time someone says, no, don't worry about that, I don't like that idea, I'm like, put it on the board. Because you actually don't know when that idea is going to become the perfect idea for what you're trying to do. And a lot of the time people think an idea might be too hard to execute. And I think one of the things that's been great about the NFL and the experience I've had is that no idea is really too hard. They will turn around and make it happen if they want to make it happen.
Mark Jones:
Mm.
Charlotte Offord:
And so we've been able to do some amazing things. We in the Gold Coast a couple of years ago, we did the first ever d day one draft pick live from another country. We had the tech set up, we had it all there, we had Jordan Mailada on the side of a beach, and Commissioner handed over to him f live on stage and off we went and no one's done it since. But it was a fan it worked perfectly. So, you know what, start with whatever idea you have and it's not silly.
Just make it happen. So yeah, I think those are the two learnings I'd say I have.
Mark Jones:
What are the channels that your team is focused on the most?
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah, so locally I would say everything from social media being a huge one, in the fact that social's always on, it's always living, and we're constantly creating con content for that platform. We're also very much conscious of the fact that we need to create
Content for a specific platform, not content that sits across all platforms when it comes to social media. So we have our own videographers, content creators on the ground, and the huge focus from our marketing team is around making sure we're creating content that's locally relevant to the market. People if people want to follow the US channel and follow what's going on in the US, there's an NFL channel for that.
Mark Jones:
Mm-hmm.
Charlotte Offord:
If they want to know what's going on and how it connects to them and their passion points, there's a local channel for that. And that's the that that's a big focus for us. You know, the traditional forms, email marketing is always something that we really focus on. It's one of our biggest converters. So growing a database, sustaining that that database and making sure that we are continuing to engage with that audience is really important, particularly that as most of them will be avid fans of our game.
It is a big one and then I'd say the biggest one would be showing up and having tangible events that a fan can go to. Not every fan can go over to the US and watch a live game. You know, it's not an expensive trip, it's not an easy thing for everyone to do. So, you know, during our tent pole moments, whether it's Super Bowl or Thanksgiving or draft or kickoff of the season, we create tent pole events and moments throughout Australia that people can go to.
Mark Jones:
Mm.
Charlotte Offord:
Coming up this next week for the opening game of the season. We'll have a three-day kickoff festival taking over all of Melbourne Park, which fans can all come can all come to. It doesn't have to be someone that's going to the game. It can be anyone. and it is a huge like large scale music festival with NFL activations, rings, trophy, we're turning one of the arenas into a flag football field. It is a basically all the things in one. So tangible events are a huge part of the strategy for us.
Mark Jones:
Amazing. And how are you tracking the conversion of those big events? So like is what are you getting people to do at the events? Like what's the strategic, you know, drive behind them?
Charlotte Offord:
Yeah.
Yeah, two twofold. So one obviously attendance, the o the obvious one. you know, making sure people are turning up and seeing it. But we have an NFL One Pass app, which is essentially the NFL's kind of digital companion. and we encourage all our fans around the world. It's one app for every event we do globally and so, if you're at an event in Australia, you program yourself in that you're in Australia at this specific event and you can go in, you can register, you can, you know, do activations and then get digital cards. So, if you know, go and do a combine, all your scores will come into a digital app and then you can share them on social. You can win prizes through the app by scanning QR codes at different stations. It's all gamified. So, it's kind of this digital companion that gives you information about what's going on, what to go and see, but also you can actually use it to engage with it in in multiple ways. So, we track a lot of the conversion of that, like not only how many people are signing up.
But also, how many people were actually using and using the gamification throughout the app as well.
Mark Jones:
What's the hardest thing you're facing in that context? Because you're in the attention game as well, which is I think attention is probably the rarest commodity here in terms of how you keep people engaged. And I know that that's, you know, controversial from a social media point of view, but from your point of view it's you know, creating opportunities for fans to stay engaged versus you know-
Charlotte Offord:
Mm-hmm.
Mark Jones:
The rest of life. Right? Other things they could be doing. How so how do you get how do you get that right?
Charlotte Offord:
Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yeah, that and that is a challenge I think that everyone faces. particularly as the world changes so consistently. You're always trying to keep up with new technology. You're always trying to make sure that you're staying relevant in a market. you know, the way in which young people particularly consume these days is very different from when I grew up. and so, you know, it is it is always trying to stay at the head of every trend.
And that's a challenge, you know, that that is that is constantly I think every market marketer faces that challenge. How we try and overcome it, it's not a great answer. Like I think we just try and keep it the forefront of trends. We try and make sure that we are reactive and we don't necessarily we can be planned we can be planned for months on end, but then if something happens tomorrow, we need to be able to switch the lights on and react to that straight away.
Mark Jones:
Yes.
Charlotte Offord:
And not be, we didn't plan that two months ago so we can't do it. So that's really important as well and something I would definitely encourage people to do.
Mark Jones:
Yes.
Mark Jones:
Now you are, you know, from my read, not a futurist, so you can't predict what's gonna happen in the future. But if you know, look at maybe a year or two down the track and you think about this growth phase, what do you think will have been the best strategies that paid off and what were the things that didn't work?
Charlotte Offord:
I would definitely say this game, the first game and then multiple games after that’s been and will be the biggest mover for us in terms of driving fandom. There is nothing better than again coming and seeing the full thing live, and experiencing it f in the flesh. So I would say next weekend is gonna be
Mark Jones:
Mm. Yes.
Charlotte Offord:
A huge moment for not only a lot of fans in this market, but a whole lot of new people that have never experienced the game before that I think will convert into fans over a series of time. And if we keep playing games year over year, for me I think the future sees us with a lot of fans that have been converted through the games. So, I think that would be the biggest one. I'd say things that haven't worked. look, I think there is loads of things that haven't worked. Sometimes we've put on
Mark Jones:
Mm, mm, mm.
Charlotte Offord:
Events or we've jumped onto trends that just haven't caught on and sometimes we look at it and go, Well, that didn't work. Move on. Do you know what I mean? You just gotta we don't dwell on it. We don't look at it and go, why did that not work? Why did we could how could we have done that better? We might say that to ourselves, but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work and it just wasn't right for our brand. And so we'll just move on.
Mark Jones:
Yeah. look, it's an exciting opportunity that you've got. So I really thank you for sharing your story. I'm gonna be watching now with another whole level of interest beyond my support for the Forty Niners. Forty Gasco Forty Niners. I've got to put the plug in there at the end and of course it's great to hear how the whole experience has been shaping out for you and the growing team. So, I do wish you and the team all the very best with the upcoming game and your marketing strategies. Let's stay in touch.
Charlotte Offord:
Ha ha ha.
Thanks, Mark, I really appreciate it.
Mark Jones:
One of the things that I thought was really powerful, a great lesson for any marketer anywhere, is this concept of listening. Charlotte spoke about not assuming you understand the fans in a new market. She's done this work in the UK and then obviously now for the last four years here in Australia. And it it's kind of simple and obvious.
But when you have a sports brand that is so iconic and you've got Australian fans who spend a lot of time watching this game through different channels, from here looking at the US, you would understand that there's a lot of preconceived ideas that we have and also a sort of... if you like a classic idea that you can just sort of lift and shift a lot of these ideas that have worked in the US. But not doing that, of course, is a really smart play. So, whether you are thinking about growing your business just in a very local area, maybe going into state or overseas, a really great lesson to apply in very intentionally spending a lot of time listening. That was one of the things I took out of this interview. There's plenty more great tips and ideas and experiences that she shared as well. So, I hope you really enjoyed my conversation with Charlotte.
That is it for this episode of the CMO show brought to you by ImpactInstitute in partnership with our friends at Adobe. Thanks for joining us. Make sure you share the episode with another sports fan and another friend of yours in marketing who can learn from this. And we'll see you again very soon.