Mito Hollyhock takes on new sports marketing challenges using data and event planning capabilities
Sports marketing, driven by emotion and empathy, is gaining attention as a field merging advertising, branding, and social impact. In the J.League, digital strategies using SNS, YouTube, and J.League ID mark a major turning point.(Updated August 6, 2025)
In this situation, Culture Convenience Club (CCC) Group is a soccer club based in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Mito Hollyhock(hereinafter referred to as "Mito H"), we are taking on the challenge of new sports marketing using V POINT data and the event planning capabilities of the CCC Group.
CCC Group and Mito Hollyhock
The CCC Group has been supporting Mito H since 2017, as more than 60% of people in Ibaraki Prefecture use T-CARD (now known as V POINT Cards). In this context, together with Book Ace Co., Ltd., a TSUTAYA franchisee, we have implemented a variety of community-based marketing initiatives, including promotions using T-POINT (now known as V POINT) and the issuance of a "Support T-CARD," which automatically uses accumulated points to support Mito H.
Developing home game events that make people want to invite others
In recent years, we have been focusing on developing event plans that target new demographics in order to further increase the number of visitors. One of the most popular dishes is "Traveling Hometown Gourmet (commonly known as Satguru)."Taking advantage of the unique characteristics of a sports event where teams and supporters travel from all over Japan, food and drink and product booths showcasing the local cuisine of the opposing team are set up at home game stadiums. It has already recorded the highest sales among all food and beverage booths, and in a survey, over 90% of customers responded that "(Satoguru) gave them the motivation to invite someone to the stadium," motivating not only existing fans but also new visitors.
Motogo Seta, Executive Officer and General Manager of Business Operations, Football Club Mito Hollyhock Co., Ltd.
"CCC Group's event planning has satisfied a wide range of supporters, including not only "Satoguru," which has traditionally led to increased supporter loyalty as 'fun for adults,' but also "Holy-kun's Children's Snack Market," which thoroughly covers the needs of our main target group, families. On the practical side, the CCC Group handles everything from product receipt to sales, customer service, and even promotions, which is extremely helpful."
Realizing sports marketing utilizing CCC Group assets and databases
We are also developing many projects that utilize the assets unique to the CCC Group. Campaigns include a "Check-in Coupon" that gives you V POINT for every home game, a campaign where you can earn double V POINT at participating stores the day after a victory, a "V Dress-Up" campaign that lets you change your "Mobile V Card" to a player's design, and a "GOAL QUEST" campaign where you can earn V POINT if you correctly predict the outcome of a match. In the future, we plan to produce and sell goods that can only be exchanged for V POINT, aiming to increase supporter loyalty through V POINT. Furthermore, going forward, we plan to gain a thorough understanding of the visitor database in real time, in order to quantitatively verify the effectiveness of each project and explore behavioral changes, primarily among new supporters, and use this information to guide further action.
Seta: "Marketing in the soccer industry is easily influenced by external factors such as match results, rankings, performance, and weather, no matter how well a promotion is planned. That's why, by working with the CCC Group, which has an overwhelming number of users we can reach, the data analysis capabilities to verify effectiveness, and knowledge of planning numerous events, we hope to increase our success rate despite the many uncertainties."
Aiming to become a club team that is integrated into the daily lives of supporters
Currently, 67% of V POINT users in Ibaraki Prefecture are V POINT users, totaling approximately 1.9 million people (as of the end of May 2025). Going forward, we will continue to disseminate information to V POINT users within the prefecture, conduct database marketing, and promote the entire local community by utilizing our store network, as well as interact with supporters on the ground, aiming to create projects that reflect the emotional aspects and sports enthusiasm that cannot be fully analyzed through data alone. We will also contribute to revitalizing the local economy through sports marketing that utilizes the assets and planning capabilities of the CCC Group.
Seta: "I think the most important thing for our sports marketing is how much we can appear in the daily lives of supporters. It is important to create opportunities for Mito H to connect with its supporters not only during the extraordinary 38 home and away games per year, but also during the other 320 days of the year. To achieve this, it is important for Mito H to take a broad approach not only to the 40,000 supporters they can reach using J.League ID, but also to the residents of Ibaraki Prefecture, who account for approximately 90% of visitors. Going forward, together with the CCC Group, which can reach approximately 70% of Ibaraki Prefecture residents, we will continue to create and operate projects that offer high customer value, while making maximum use of the TSUTAYA store network and other resources."
