AUSTRALIA: The name Al-Ittihad is now known around the world as much as it is regionally, thanks largely to the arrival of Karim Benzema,.
The Ballon d’Or winner turbocharged recognition of the club’s name among football aficionados around the world; these days, the team’s kit can be found on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Rome or Rabat.
It has given the club an incredible platform on which to grow its international profile. However, perhaps conscious of how some European clubs have chased international support at the expense of domestic, Al-Ittihad insist their primary focus is the local fan base, especially within the immediate Middle East and North Africa region.
“What we’re trying to do, as of today, is to really focus on the local market,” explained Turki Khorsheed, the club’s senior branding manager.
“We are local first. We are trying to really enhance the local experience here from every touch point we’ve got in the digital ecosystem. We’re working on a very exciting project, digital transformation, to really expand the brand and how you can interact with it for the local market.
“The fans really want more. They really want more events, opportunities, touch points. Everyone is proud of the business. They want to see a store at every corner. So we’re working on that infrastructure, and then also using the stars as vehicles to talk to the global market.”
That’s not to say the club is uninterested in expanding the global fanbase — it has a large following in Brazil, France, Indonesia, India and China — but doing so is more a by-product of the work the league is doing than a central focus.
“As of today, the global stage, or the global arena, is kind of a secondary goal for us as it’s happening,” Khorsheed told Arab News.
“The SPL obviously has invested a lot in the league where it becomes more enjoyable for the global audience. Players are coming in from all the global teams, and kind of adding that global feel to the league and to the games. So we are kind of getting that halo effect from all of these initiatives that are happening.”
One of those, announced by the Saudi Pro League this week, is larger strategic investment in Brazil, with dedicated content tailored for the Brazilian market and a greater collaboration between leagues.
While the league does a lot of the heavy lifting, it does not mean Al-Ittihad are ignoring their global audience completely.
As the club, officially regarded as the oldest in the Kingdom, approaches its centennial celebrations in 2027, the focus is on preserving its heritage and working on ways to tell its story in a way that resonates with fans around the world.
Clubs everywhere are built on their history, and Al-Ittihad are determined to ensure theirs sits at the heart of everything they do; the word “heritage” was mentioned 12 times in the interview with Khorsheed.
“The heritage is a key aspect of this brand,” he explained. “It really brings all the culture. It brings everything behind the brand, as it’s something you can’t buy. It needs time, it needs care to really nurture, to have such a heritage filled history.
“We’re proud that we date back to 1927 and want to preserve that heritage whilst also improving and enhancing operations all across the business.”
He added: “What we’re doing today is we’re trying to preserve the heritage and to create this unique experience with the fans. By creating ‘Itti TV’ we’re working on something very exciting for the club, to preserve that heritage and to educate further the global audience on the history.
“We’re creating mini documentaries, some episodes, webisodes, podcasts to talk about the heritage. We’re working on a few projects, such as a museum, to really preserve the heritage.”
Other initiatives include pre-season tours, which last year took the team to Spain, Portugal and Italy for matches against clubs such as Sevilla, Real Betis and Inter Milan and tapped into new audiences.
Like every other aspect of the Al-Ittihad business, explored in Part One of Inside Ittihad, fan engagement strategies, marketing and branding are also undergoing a transformation.
Five new brand values spelling out the word “SUPER” — sportsmanship, unity, pioneering, excellence and resilience — have been developed to underpin everything Al-Ittihad does as a club.
Those values are borne out in projects like the new flagship retail store at Jeddah Park, which “merges tradition with innovation” through features such as a holographic portal and the “Itti Lab,” where fans can customize their merchandise.
Then there’s this year’s third kit, the club’s first-ever jersey designed using artificial intelligence which produced a striking design that was an instant hit with fans.
Further, as the club looks to enhance the value of the Al-Ittihad brand, there is the possibility of a new logo to coincide with the 2027 centennial celebrations.
“We are due a refresh of the brand and logo,” Khorsheed explained. “Obviously, there is a lot of chatter about brand lifecycles and when is the best time to move to a (new) brand. However, we are nearing the centennial. So with (that) comes an opportunity to kind of re-present the brand.”
Eagle-eyed fans will have already noticed the club has incorporated a new logo of sorts on its training apparel, as well as on this season’s away and third kits; the shield component stands alone, removed from the ‘1’ silhouette.
This, Khorsheed said, was a deliberate strategy to test the appetite for a new and improved brand moving forward.
“Obviously, the ‘1’ brings a lot of heritage to the brand and the business,” he said. “It’s very iconic, just to have that ‘1’ there, but having the (shield) inside it caused a few limitations when it (came) to scalability of the business.
“So this was more or less a test to see how well it is received, and to see how far we can take the logo. We just separated it as an activity, just to see how well it sits with audiences, (and) get a taste and a feel. And we’re getting all that data back. We’re doing qualitative and quantitative studies just to see what we want to do when it comes to the centennial (celebrations).”
Whether Benzema will be there for those celebrations remains to be seen. Certainly on current form, the Frenc legend easily has a few years left. But every player has an expiry date, and there will come a time when he moves on.
So while the club naturally leans into its Ballon d’Or-winning superstar, it is cautious not to tailor its entire identity and marketing around one player; a trap other clubs have fallen into on signing household names, only to struggle to define their identity when those players leave or retire.
“It’s just an opportunity for us to leverage a Ballon d’Or winner, to really bring that global audience,” Khorsheed said.
“Obviously, Karim is doing really well in the league, and he’s doing great from a brand level also, and from a PR communication level, he’s a pleasure to work with. The size of Karim and his presence at the club is rather large, so we really like to spearhead comms with him. He brings a kind of weight whenever we (use) him. So there are benefits.
“However, we’re not necessarily leaning towards him so hard where we’re kind of pushing the brand. The brand in itself is historic and very big.”
