When it comes to marketing an international soccer club, Mark Consuelos and business partner Matt Rizzetta have common goals.
In 2022, Rizzetta, Consuelos, Kelly Ripa, and other partners acquired Italy-based Campobasso FC, subsequently growing the club from an amateur team to one that rose in the professional ranks and became the subject of a Disney and ESPN original series, Running With the Wolves.
Speaking at a recent ADWEEK House panel during Advertising Week, Consuelos and Rizzetta explained that they’ve found success with the club by bringing authenticity.
For instance, before the docuseries and professional league success, the endeavor started as more of a social project for Consuelos, who has Italian roots and recognized that the club wouldn’t survive without financial backing. Demonstrating their commitment to authenticity, Rizzetta and Consuelos also explained that they speak Italian in press conferences for the club and make a concerted effort to respect the culture and customs.
“Authenticity is really the keyword for CMOs and for marketers nowadays,” Rizzetta said. “If it’s a real, authentic project that aligns with the values of the brand, they’ll sign up for it.”
That authenticity extends from the club’s marketing partners, which include companies such as Liquid Death, to its own promotion.
“When I first got involved, I wasn’t on the talk show yet,” Consuelos said, noting that he wouldn’t become a regular on LIVE with Kelly and Mark until months later. “Once I was on a talk show, I could, in a very authentic way, talk about this project.”
As part of Consuelos and Ripa’s lives as a married couple, the club easily becomes a topic of conversation on LIVE with Kelly and Mark, and that press even extends into Italy. For instance, when Ryan Reynolds appeared on the show last year ahead of the release of Deadpool and Wolverine, Consuelos swapped a jersey with the actor, who co-owns Wrexham A.F.C., and the clip led to national news in Italy, Consuelos said.
The success also extends beyond the soccer club.
Both Rizzetta and Consuelos explained that Campobasso is in the little-known Italian region of Molise, and the story brings attention to the area, with viewers and marketers falling in love with the towns and the people.
“Anytime people jump on the bandwagon, they immediately become part of the family,” Rizzetta said. “There’s something to be said about that in this world of sometimes overly commercialized sports and franchises and overthinking entertainment, there still is this very authentic, true, old-fashioned project, and we have come to represent that in many ways.”
