MATE: Kicking goals for Aussie telco customers
91海角乱伦 Wholesale customer MATE had a clear brand purpose in mind when they began working with Aussie soccer players Sam Kerr and Mathew Ryan. Mark Fazio, General Manager of MATE, tells us more.
was founded in 2016 by two brothers, David and Mark Fazio. Although their family business started off small, they always had a clear vision of being an Australian home-grown internet and mobile provider who could stand out from the crowd.
鈥淲hen we started, we didn鈥檛 have a brand as such but we knew we didn鈥檛 want to be an anonymous telco you could swap out with any one of dozens in the market,鈥� says Mark Fazio, General Manager of MATE.
鈥淥ur business is very family-orientated: it鈥檚 a family business built in my auntie鈥檚 backyard on the essence of loyalty and support. It鈥檚 the philosophy we wanted to instil in our business and culture. We wanted MATE to be known for being on the side of Aussies by saving them from bad telco products and bad service.鈥�
MATE knew that to keep their customers happy, they needed to focus on more than just price. Mark said it was easy to identify a brand ambassador to bring their purpose to life.
鈥淢athew Ryan is a goalkeeper in the English Premier League and is currently the Australian national team鈥檚 number one. His job is literally to save the Aussies. Once we linked up with Mat we saw the football community drive into MATE. People signed with us purely on the strength of having him as our brand ambassador.鈥�
This success prompted MATE to explore further opportunities to engage with the sports community.
鈥淢aty Ryan was 鈥榮aving Aussies鈥� so our next question was who鈥檚 kicking goals for them? No-one does that better at the moment than Sam Kerr (captain of the Australian women鈥檚 soccer team). She is a fantastic role model and she resonates with our customers.鈥�
They also formed partnerships with the Central Coast Mariners and Western Sydney Wanderers FC. Mark says the Mariners made sense to them because they were the only professional A-League team in the Central Coast.
A strategy that attracts and retains customers
MATE has seen a tangible business outcome from their brand-building, with customer numbers increasing in tandem with the sponsorships.
鈥淏y working with sportspeople and clubs, we are attracting the people who follow them. Football clubs have databases of fans we can talk to. It鈥檚 like having a closed channel to a new market.鈥�
鈥淥ur partnerships are more than just nice-to-haves,鈥� Mark says. 鈥淭hey are calculated marketing activities too. We are in the process of running data to analyse the results, but we have seen 15 per cent growth specifically in the Central Coast region thanks to the sponsorships.鈥�
Tie-ups with brands can provide a useful means of making customers stickier too, as Mark explains.
鈥淥ur partnerships mean we can offer experiences that money can鈥檛 buy such as exclusive behind the scenes content. Over the summer we ran a consumer competition for two MATE customers to watch Mat Ryan in the EPL and have dinner with him afterwards. If you are a fan, that is really memorable, valuable experience and it brings our customers closer to our brand.鈥�
Looking ahead
Aussie sports are now returning to our screens after a hiatus due to COVID-19. In these challenging times, sport has never been more important in uniting communities. Looking forward, MATE is looking at how to provide even more value for Aussie sports-lovers. The brand, Mark says, continues to come first and guide how the company evaluates growth opportunities.
鈥淲e want to get deeper into our existing partnerships in various ways,鈥� Mark says. 鈥淲e already offer content. Now we want to extend that offering into different types of exclusive content. We are looking at expanding our presence into other sports but it has to be the right club for us and our brand.鈥�
鈥淔ootball is a grassroots activity - it has one of the largest participation rates of all sports - so it鈥檚 an excellent way to reach a broad community. The key thing for us is to talk to the same kind of people we are: devoted, passionate fans, who want our loyalty rewarded with great service.鈥�