Samuel Kwame Boadu represents Berry Ladies FC at Betway Sports Marketing Summit

Entrepreneur and CEO of SamBoad Business Group Limited, Samuel Kwame Boadu, has represented Ghanaian women’s football team Berry Ladies FC at this year’s Betway Sports Marketing Summit.

Speaking at the summit, Mr Boadu pointed out that “I remain a committed member of Mrs. Gifty Oware -Mensah’s flagship initiative in women’s football, Berry Ladies FC, because it deals directly with three themes very close to my heart – Technology in Sports, Job Creation and Gender Equality. At this year’s Betway Sports Marketing Summit which took place at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra and the Golden Bean Hotel in Kumasi with the two venues linked up through video conferencing, we retained our attention on technology in sports while also broadening our focus to address diversity and gender inclusion in Sports.”

He added, "Technology in Sports is the leading accelerator for economic transformation and development. From efficient ticket payment systems, Live telecasts of matches, digital marketing to access to data that fosters connection and collaboration at the Ghana Football Association (GFA) level— technology in sports is our new reality and it offers a world of opportunity and promise. But Africa especially Ghanaians cannot be left behind. Ghana Football Association needs this type of gathering."

Elroy Salam and Samuel Kwame Boadu represented Berry Ladies FC, under Ghana Women’s Premier League and Ghana Football Association (GFA) to draw attention to young ones who seek economic hope and opportunity via technology in sports. "Technology in sports is a great employer of labour, technology in sports drives inclusiveness, technology in sports helps to alleviate poverty, but we must not forget that in Africa especially Ghana we are just starting out and we cannot afford to lag behind. We need the world to pay attention to Africa especially Ghana so that young Africans are not disenfranchised and left behind in this new technology in Sports era. We must address these issues holistically to fight poverty which as we all know is a threat to everyone everywhere hence continue to promote women in sports and enhance our way of marketing these teams to attract more investors and stakeholders."

Julia Stuart

Samuel Kwame Boadu challenged and urged the Betway Ghana representatives and the representatives of the Ghana Women’s Premier League(GWPL) to keep close attention to the activities of their players on social media. This was supported and agreed by astute sports journalist, Michael Oti Adjei, adding that this will not only ensure discipline in the players’ ranks but also help in managing and consolidating the brands of the clubs.

Representatives from women’s football clubs in Ghana attended the event on Thursday, April 7, 2022, to learn skills to help them market their brands, secure sponsorship deals, enjoy public goodwill and engage better with fans.

“Every club seated here or those absent must be where their fans are. Whether you know them individually or not,” Samuel kwame Boadu said. “There are so many people sitting on social media. Your fans automatically sit there,” He added, urging them to develop content strategies that help to engage with the fans.

“You must always have a good content plan; it goes without saying. Having no content plan is like going to train and not having an idea what you are going to train on today; it doesn’t work like that,” Founder of SamBoad Business Group Limited, Samuel added.

Samuel Kwame Boadu also pointed out some mistakes that are commonly made by clubs on social media, stating there is a need for them to employ dedicated professional social media managers or Digital Marketers.

“You need community managers,” he said. “I know it’s difficult because we can’t pay our team managers and the rest but you can’t run a football club these days without social media managers. It doesn’t matter whether it is full time or part-time, get somebody whose commitment is to give you presence on social media.”

“At SamBoad Business Group Limited, we have led in committing to Tech and Job creation especially Digital Marketing. Our digital marketing training for Ghanaian entrepreneurs demonstrates the possibilities that can be unlocked in our country when we leverage technology in business, investment and social good. Our firm’s partnership with Priority Insurance Company, a leading Insurance firm in Ghana and Coco Vanilla Restaurants, Berry Ladies FC etc. is a demonstration of what can be achieved when the digital revolution is democratised – personal empowerment, business growth, equitable bilateral relationships and a more gender balanced and inclusive society. I thank my good friend and CEO, Gifty Oware-Aboagye, for this wonderful opportunity to champion the tech and sports marketing side of Berry Ladies FC, while reconnecting with old friends here at the Betway Ghana summit,” Samuel Kwame Boadu concluded.

Speaking on how to attract prospective sponsors, renowned sports marketer and former Hearts of Oak, Managing Director Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe opined that women’s football clubs must use their unique attributes to project their brand identity.

He counselled teams in the Women’s Premier League to improve their relationship with sponsors and other club partners to better their chances of securing major sponsorship deals.

Julia Stuart, a presenter from South African TV outfit, SuperSport, who was another trainer at the workshop, advised footballers and club executives to strive to set themselves apart from the masses by paying attention to branding.

“Personal Branding is the practice of marketing people and their careers as brands. It’s an ongoing process of developing and maintaining a reputation and impression of an individual group or organisation,” she explained. She iterated that having a strong brand and social media presence can create an avenue for sportsmen to leverage their identities to work as brand ambassadors or promotors because “we live in an age of influencers where people have found new ways of making money in the digital space.”

The sports presenter cited some sports personalities who have built strong personal brands over the years such as Jack Grealish, Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams, Ian Wright and others whom she said are “focused, consistent and authentic”.

Chief Executive Officer of South African sports agency, Forwardzone, Ashley Kotzin on his part advised Ghanaian women’s football clubs to build a formidable brand because it is key to attracting sponsors who play a crucial role in every sport.

“As we know in the sporting ecosystem, we need sponsors, we need funding. Generally, money is the key that can tie all our great plans together,” he said.

He stressed, “Oftentimes we have excellent plans, excellent strategic ideas but we know that we need to have partners to make that happen.”

Mr Kotzin defined sports marketing as: “the marketing strategy which is aimed at promoting sports events, products, teams, services and athletes. The ability to build and develop brands that partners or sponsors would want to be involved with, so the development of your leagues, programmes, teams, athletes and brands; all of these things are potentially marketable commodities that we can find sponsors for.”

"The mentorship training programme was created to equip, empower and inspire the development of women’s football in Ghana. We are excited to be making an impact in women’s football through the upliftment of Ghana’s Women’s Premier League.It was good to touch base again with leaders in Ghana Women Football Association and I believe this is a good start to help lift publicity in women’s football, bringing back the Love in Ghana. Berry Ladies Football Club also known as Berries is a Ghanaian professional women’s football club based in Accra in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana doing exploit in Ghana Football," Mr Kotzin emphasised.