A successful Dutch campaign: Tom Schreurs experience as head of marketing of FC Twente

How would you describe your job at FC Twente in a few lines?

Tom: With the marketing team we used to work together with all commercial departments such as Ticketing, Sponsoring, Hospitality and Merchandise. We used to support marketing activities for all B2b and B2C products of the clubs. From sponsor activation campaigns and promotional content creation to market research and sales analysis. Our goal was to satisfy the needs of fans and sponsors to increase revenues.

How do you see the future of sport digital marketing and social media?

Tom: I believe that digitalisation is an unstoppable trend and digital marketing will become more and more important for every sport organisation. Fans consume more content then ever and social media makes it possible to compete directly with sport content consumption through traditional channels such as TV. Most sport organisations are still thinking in old-fashioned models and there are a lot of chances for these ‘lovebrands’ to improve their marketing results based on digital tactics. Not only to sell more tickets and merchandise, but also to increase return on investment with digital sponsorship models. Digital marketing allows organisations to speak with thousands of fans on a personal level in a way that is relevant to them based on their needs.

Could you tell us an example of a social media campaign which has struck you as being incredible, brilliant and successful? What we are asking for is a short sport digital marketing story that you consider worth spreading.

Tom: The digital marketing campaign that struck me in the last couple of months is the introduction of the new sponsor of Corinthians, OMO sports. OMO sports is a laundry detergent especially to reduce the smell of sweat. They launched their sponsorship with a kit that showed the sponsor only after players were beginning to sweat during the match. This brilliant idea was worldwide on the news with massive exposure a large reach on social media. I believe it’s brilliant because of the great natural fit between the goal, concept and execution of this campaign.

Behind the curtains of Europa Innovation Business School: interview with Andrea Boscaro, Top Speaker in Eindhoven

– How did you get involved in social media marketing?

Eight years ago I decided to leave the e-commerce company that I was managing in Italy because I realised, together with Nicola Mauri (my associate in The Vortex), how necessary it was for companies to master at least the skills (if not the processes) in the digital world and that this was a much needed thing due to the rise of social media. Since then, social media became one of the main focus of my teaching work because it gives you the opportunity to interact with others and spread info about a brand.
My experience as teacher started after an analysis of the market; I had the intuition that this was something that many people would want, and that this would be a very wanted and needed service. So I chose to use my previous skills and channel them in this field. During the Master’s Degree in Social Media and Digital Marketing I teach specifically content marketing, but also more general aspects of digital marketing.

– You have many years under your belt as a teacher for Europa Innovation. What does this experience mean to you?

Personally I am impressed that owners of established businesses, not only young students, would decide to humbly put themselves out there for a week, going into a classroom with strangers to learn about something and starting from zero. This is one of the most motivating aspects for me, it makes me want to do it all over again.

– How do you manage to stay up-to-date and remain competitive in DM?

With an obsessive attention to a number of sources, websites and accounts worth following. Curating this selection and reading it daily. I also I admire the great amount of participation, especially from younger students, to the events regarding the digital world, “verticalising” its narrative and its training in specific sectors. Without the shadow of a doubt, we live in a moment where there is a lot of interaction and of course this is a sign of its force and why it is so interesting.

– Is it important to acquire skills and profound knowledge in a field like this one, where so much is taken for granted? How much do you have to study and learn?

Each day when I access social media platforms I see that things have changed from the day before; because of this, classical learning is not enough. You need to practice, to make mock-up social campaigns o curate smaller ones to get your footing and test the opportunities and the limits of the instruments on the field. Moreover you need to study in detail the interpretative models of the use of digital media, the theories such as the one of “micro-moments” and trends that differentiate the adoption of such environments from different kinds of people.

– Would you recommend the training of Europa Innovation to people who are new to this field? And would you recommend it to those who want to give a boost to an already established career?

For people who do not have previous knowledge, there is the possibility to understand that all the different instruments in Digital Marketing execute a different task. For people that have already a discreet knowledge of Digital Marketing, classes give the opportunity to ask questions to the people that I believe are the best Italian teachers in Digital Marketing at the moment.
I think that Master’s Degrees are like a tailor-made dress: we all have to personalise our path focusing on our interests. Going to classes with the right questions is the first step to making your tailor-made dress.

– Do you think this is a domain that belongs to young people? Under which conditions?

On a professional level, digital marketing allows younger people to face all the different solutions in a way that is transparent and free of preconceived notions. What younger people miss is obviously the experience and the language of marketing and management which often creates a divide between the professional and the client, may it be the entrepreneur or the marketing manager. Nevertheless, as we see in examples such as the online success of Giovanni Trapattoni, curated by his grandson, technology is supposed to bridge the gap between different generations in order to create value.

– Is it true that companies, businesses, everybody that will not adapt will inevitably remain behind?

It is true, but with a more disenchanted outlook than in the past. Like every time just after a technological change, after an indiscriminate initial adoption phase and a phase of being love-struck, we are now in a phase of deeper awareness, aimed at understanding what really works and what is a investment or effort which can be useless. Not every digital platform or every technique can be useful for every business model; thus it is your expertise that helps you to get to know them, and even to not adopt them.

This isn’t exclusive to Expo, but I’ve always found speaking to as many of the speakers as possible is helpful. There’s also something called Office Hour, where you can speak one-on-one with folks to get ideas and find the spark you might be looking for.

How Should a Developer Divide Their Time to Get the Most Out?

Always the question! Make sure to check out the schedule (especially the FullSTK stage as that is full of technical content) and have a plan for your time. I might be biased, since I’ve hosted and spoken on FullSTK over the past few years. Make sure to take breaks, though. Expo can be busy, with a fast pace. Look for places in the schedule where you can walk away and focus on chatting to folks, just to review ideas.

What’s the Most Useful Talk You’ve Ever Seen at Genesis Expo?

One of the best talks I’ve seen was at Expo in 2018. It was a talk by Curt Cronin about teams and leadership. Based on his experience as a Navy Seal, he discussed how teams of developers (and the greater tech space) can function better when focusing on trust and communication. There are always plenty of great talks – I focus mostly on FullSTK and binate.io as a developer, with the occasional nod to a Centre Stage talk from leaders in the industry.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.

That said, nothing compares to being involved. I try to engage with as many people as possible to see where things are leading and where the focus is. There are some conversations that become more “what not to do”, but overall, engaging with people is where I learn most.