How soccer built culture before America fully embraced it

Nataly Kelly (00:00):

Welcome to Inside Insight, where marketing strategy meets consumer truth with your host, Nataly Kelly.

Nataly Kelly (00:06):

Thirty-two years ago, the FIFA World Cup came to the United States for the first time. The tournament drew more than 3.5 million fans, still the most attended World Cup in history, and helped lay the foundation for Major League Soccer, which launched two years later. In 1996, soccer was already the world's most popular sport, with billions of fans across the globe. But in America, it was still finding its place. What followed wasn't an overnight success story.

Nataly Kelly (00:41):

It was three decades of patient fan building, cultural investment, and community growth. Now, the world's biggest sporting event is returning to North America. The 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature 48 teams, 104 matches, and span three host nations: the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The final will be played at MetLife Stadium in New York and New Jersey, bringing the tournament's biggest moment to one of the most diverse regions in the world. But the real opportunity isn't the tournament itself.

Nataly Kelly (01:15):

It's what happens after. What can brands learn from a sport that spent decades earning cultural relevance before it became mainstream? How do you turn a month of global attention into a generation of new fans? And how do you build authentic connections across cultures, communities, and generations without losing what made people care in the first place? I'm Nataly Kelly, and today on Inside Insights, I'm joined by Radhika Duggal, Chief Marketing Officer at Major League Soccer, and Bettina Garibaldi, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for FIFA World Cup 26 New York, New Jersey.

Nataly Kelly (01:54):

Today, we'll explore what soccer's rise can teach every brand about building culture, earning relevance, and turning moments into movements. Radhika and Bettina, welcome to Inside Insights.

Radhika Duggal (02:04):

Thank you for having us.

Bettina Garibaldi (02:06):

Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Nataly Kelly (02:08):

I'm so happy to have both of you here. What a powerhouse episode this is going to be. So I want to start out with a question for you, Radhika. So, soccer didn’t become culturally relevant in America overnight. It was built over decades, often community by community.

Nataly Kelly (02:23):

When you look back at that journey, what can other brands learn from the way soccer earned its place in a market where that wasn't necessarily ready for it in the beginning?

Radhika Duggal (02:36):

I think the way you began the introduction to this conversation is such a really smart synopsis of MLS's building strategy. As you said, we didn't build cultural relevance overnight. It wasn't 1996, and then in 1997, we had 98% brand awareness and everyone was playing soccer. The reality is, for every brand in every market, especially now when every marketplace is so close, cluttered.

Radhika Duggal (02:59):

You earn relevance through consistency, through community, and through cultural relevance. And that means the job for us, especially for marketers in the sport of soccer and Major League Soccer in particular, we have to take the 30-year foundation that we've built and make it easier for the next generation of soccer fans to find the entry point. That's what it is all about, particularly in this moment when interest and enthusiasm in soccer is at such a peak. And so marketing has to be both brand-building and performance-driven. We need the emotional storytelling that's going to connect our players to the World Cup excitement and get people to say, "Oh, MLS, what's that?"

Radhika Duggal (03:42):

Let me go learn more. But then we need the data discipline and the analytics and the technology to understand where that fan who's suddenly interested is on their journey and figure out how to get them to fall in love with our players and our sport. Because our players and our sport are here all day, every day after the World Cup leaves North America. And so I think all of this is a lesson in consistency, community building and culture building and making sure that we have a real and concrete plan to take advantage of the moment that's going to be in front of us in about a week.

Nataly Kelly (04:15):

Wow, that's so inspiring, especially because so many of my customers at Zappy are trying to build that legacy and trying to build that brand over so many years.

Nataly Kelly (04:26):

And finding those entry points as you described, Radhika, is so important so you can continue to grow the fan base, especially in light of competition from other sports leagues all vying for the same attention and many of them going global now as well. So that's such great insight. I want to turn it over to Bettina and ask you a question. You've mentioned before that the World Cup isn't just a sporting event. It, it's an experience.

Nataly Kelly (04:49):

And it's one that lives far beyond the matches and even beyond just winning the trophy itself. So how do you think about creating experiences and memories that deepen that engagement with fans long after the final whistle is blown?

Bettina Garibaldi (05:03):

Yeah, it's, you know, I think for the most part, too many organizations focus on the event itself and not really enough on the emotional residue, right, that the event leaves behind.

Bettina Garibaldi (05:15):

And the reality is that people rarely remember every score unless it's obviously a matchup that you cannot forget, right, like the last final of the World Cup in Qatar. But, you know, what they remember truly is who they were with, how they felt, the stories they became a part of, right? And that's why I think, you know, for the World Cup, it's a platform for creating moments, for creating those moments of belonging.

Bettina Garibaldi (05:40):

Not just moments of entertainment, right? The match itself, I like to put it in context of it's the catalyst. But the real opportunity here is not everything, it's everything that happens around it. The watch parties where family experiences a tournament together, right? The neighborhood businesses that welcome fans from around the world, right?

Bettina Garibaldi (06:00):

The first time a young person, you know, falls in love with the sport, right? Those are the memories that truly, truly endure. And from a marketing perspective, the goal isn't simply attendance or viewership. I like to say participation is a new reach, and participation creates emotional investment. That emotional investment creates lasting fandom.

Bettina Garibaldi (06:25):

So that's why you'll hear me say this and beat that drum. But, you know, attention is rented, but that belonging is really, really earned. Right now the World Cup is, is that attention-driving mechanism, right? But it's what are we doing around that, right?

Bettina Garibaldi (06:44):

If we can make people feel like they're a part of something bigger than themselves, then that impact is gonna last that much longer.

Radhika Duggal (06:52):

I wanna just second what Bettina said. I think it really, really is all about the memory and the experience. If I take my soccer CMO hat off, right? I was at a birthday party, I was—six year old, so I was at a six year old birthday party this weekend, I was chatting with all the moms and they were all talking about, you know, should we take our kids to a World Cup match?

Radhika Duggal (07:10):

And every single person, Bettina said exactly what you said, which was, I want them to be part of the memory and I want them to experience it. And none of these people are core, core, core fans that are going to remember every score, but they're people that want for their family to have an experience and a memory together. And I'll be honest, when I take my soccer CMO hat off, that's what I want for my family too. So I think you're absolutely right. It's not about every score, it's not about every goal.

Radhika Duggal (07:42):

It's about making an incredible experience for people to have together.

Nataly Kelly (07:47):

Yeah, I think that's so true. You know, I'm thinking—I lived in Ecuador and I was never really a soccer fan, but we had a World Cup qualifying game in Quito against Argentina. And of course we played it in Quito because the altitude gave us a little bit of an advantage. And you know, I had never seen anything like it.

Nataly Kelly (08:05):

I had never really been to a major game like that or a match. And you know what astounded me was listening to the radios and seeing people have their radios—this is in the 1990s—because they were listening to the commentators, and I thought, wow, they not only are here, they're connected to people outside who are watching the game, and they're with their friends, their family, the excitement, it made such a lasting impression that I can't wait to go to, you know, my next game. I haven't been at one in a while, but Ecuador's in the World Cup this year, so I may have to make—

Bettina Garibaldi (08:38):

Yes, they're playing in New York, New Jersey, too, so.

Nataly Kelly (08:41):

Against Germany. Yeah, I really want to go. I really have to get there because Ecuador is near and dear to my heart. I lived there for many years, so. But it's all about that emotional resonance and that deepening of that experience.

Nataly Kelly (08:53):

Experience, as you said, because as a former, not a soccer fan, it really made me very impressed and wanted to be, you know, more engaged with the sport as well. So that was my entry point.

Nataly Kelly (09:06):

Great. Well, I know, you know, this podcast is all about insights and consumer insights. And so I wanted to ask you a question, Radhika, about, you know, behind the successful growth story, there's usually a consumer insight that changes how marketers actually see the market.

Nataly Kelly (09:22):

So I'd love to know, is there anything that you've learned about the American soccer fan that has surprised you? And if so, how has that changed the way MLS shows up and grows the game?

Radhika Duggal (09:34):

Yeah, I'll—I'll never forget. So I'm—

Radhika Duggal (09:37):

I'm about two and a quarter years into my tenure at MLS, and maybe about a year in, we were going through a pitch process with different agencies, and the agency we ultimately chose to work with, Ogilvy— in one of our conversations, they said something that has stuck with me throughout and has totally transformed our marketing strategy. They said, basically, soccer in North America just needs attention and spectacle. It's not about changing the product. It's just not.

Radhika Duggal (10:04):

It's about making sure the way that we present soccer—this is exactly—also, Bettina, I feel like what you just said as well, it's like it's exactly about making the product an exceptional experience worth having and making it fit into North American culture. Because North American sports culture is built on spectacle. It's built on moments and personalities and entertainment and cultural conversation and shared experience.

Radhika Duggal (10:30):

Not necessarily every goal or every white card. And fans don't just consume the game itself. They consume what it means in the context of culture and all of those things. And that insight has fundamentally changed how we market MLS. We're leaning into the star power of our players.

Radhika Duggal (10:48):

Music, celebrations, celebrity ownership, storytelling. And you'll see all of that in our upcoming campaign that will launch towards the end of the World Cup. And this is about—not about replacing the game in any way. It's about surrounding it with all of the things that North American consumers expect.

Radhika Duggal (11:10):

Our job is to create that spectacle around the match that makes people want to be part of the experience. And fans teach us that, right? Data can tell us who's watching. And by the way, we are obsessed with that data.

Radhika Duggal (11:23):

We stare at that data and that's really, really important. Like what is the number of people that are watching? But fans tell us why they show up to watch and they want community and they want entertainment. And it's just that moment where Ogilvy shared that insight with us—and I'll give them credit all day long for that because it just was such a defining moment for us.

Radhika Duggal (11:45):

That's the lens that we're bringing to marketing in 2026 and beyond. It's not about changing soccer in North America. It's about showcasing soccer in a way that reflects North American culture.

Nataly Kelly (11:56):

I love that. That is a great insight and really important.

Nataly Kelly (12:01):

And I—I'm already seeing it show up in some of the marketing activities that are happening. Love hearing that. Including that I know it'll be a spectacle. That's wonderful. Bettina, you have one of the coolest jobs.

Nataly Kelly (12:13):

You're in charge of marketing the world's biggest sporting event to one of the most diverse regions in the world. I would love to find out how do you make something as global as the FIFA World Cup feel genuinely local and relevant across different communities—while still preserving the identity of the tournament?

Bettina Garibaldi (12:34):

Yeah, I would say that I think one of the biggest misconceptions in marketing is that you have to choose between scale and relevance. And you—you don't. And this is—this is the biggest sporting—

Bettina Garibaldi (12:45):

I think we keep on saying "biggest sporting event." I think it's the biggest event on the planet. Not even just sporting, just event in general. Surpasses Olympics, right?

Bettina Garibaldi (12:55):

From just a longevity perspective, too. And viewership.

Bettina Garibaldi (13:00):

When—when I put it into the context for, you know, for the, you know, the American market, the viewership of the—the final in Qatar between France and Argentina was the same viewership as the last 13 Super Bowls combined. We're essentially going to have 104 Super Bowls happen in our nation, in Mexico and Canada over the course of 39 days. The scale—

Bettina Garibaldi (13:21):

Back to your question. I don't think you have to choose between scale and relevance. My remit is obviously the New York and New Jersey region, which is the most welcoming. Ellis Island is there to prove it, but in general, the most diverse, too. I think the World Cup is one of those—

Bettina Garibaldi (13:38):

Is one of the most powerful brands on the planet from a viewership and an importance perspective. And that global identity is what makes it special, right? You don't want to dilute that, but people experience global events through the lens of their local communities, through the lens of their local culture, through the lens of how they identify themselves. Our job isn't to make the World Cup different for every audience.

Bettina Garibaldi (14:01):

The World Cup is what it is, right. But our job is to create enough entry points for different audiences to see themselves in it, if that makes sense. So, obviously, in this region, as diverse and incredible as New York and New Jersey is, and many other host cities—but I could speak specifically for us—we were a united bid.

Bettina Garibaldi (14:22):

We're a very unique region in the sense of we're two regions in one, hence the name. And what that also provides is not only, you know, certain complexities, but also opportunities, right. There is, you know, we're recognizing that lifelong soccer supporter from Argentina—and not to plug, because I'm Argentinian, originally from Argentina—but that family from Queens, a creator in Brooklyn, someone discovering the sport for the first time in South Jersey, right?

Bettina Garibaldi (14:49):

The soccer moms, right. The common thread is the World Cup, and the expression can be different, right. So I always talk about—when I'm just kind of relaying speeches and things like that—

Bettina Garibaldi (15:01):

It's about, you know, it's a global brand, but local soul. The brand is consistent. But the experiences, the stories, right? The community partnerships, the cultural programming, the fan engagement opportunities that we're developing, they reflect the people and the communities that we're serving.

Bettina Garibaldi (15:20):

So ultimately it's—the goal isn't just to bring the World Cup to New York and New Jersey, right? It's to make New York and New Jersey part of the World Cup story.

Nataly Kelly (15:30):

Mm. Yeah, that really lands for me. And I think the other piece is the players. You know, it strikes me—this is a place, one of the only times, when these local players get to play for their national teams, you know, and because soccer is such a global sport, it gives fans who might be in a different market or different country the opportunity to see them through that local lens as well. And they have many entry points and connections to them locally and globally. So it's really fascinating.

Bettina Garibaldi (15:57):

Wow. Just to add to that, right. The World Cup, if I were to make kind of an easy analogy, the World Cup’s the stage, right. And the people are the story. And those people are everything—from a player for the first time representing their nation, right, and what that means to them, to communities, right, a local business, that this is their moment to shine, right,

Bettina Garibaldi (16:18):

And benefit from the influx of visitors and residents that are going to be kind of cheering on this that's happening in our backyard. The people are the story, but the World Cup is kind of providing that platform.

Nataly Kelly (16:31):

I love that. And actually, it brings me to another question for you, Radhika. So MLS was born out of that momentum that Bettina just talked about with creating the 1994 World Cup.

Nataly Kelly (16:40):

And now the sport's about to experience another defining moment in North America. So how are you thinking about converting that surge of attention into long term fandom and sustained growth for the sport?

Radhika Duggal (16:52):

You know, I think that's the million dollar question. And the answer to that will be, did I do my job correctly? And I'm excited to see the outcome because, geez, we've spent certainly my entire tenure here and many people, well before me, much of their tenure, planning for exactly this moment and making sure the outcome is planning positive for us.

Radhika Duggal (17:12):

You know, I think first and foremost we think of the World Cup as this incredible awareness moment. But awareness is a really different thing than fandom. Awareness is like a flash in the pan, right. I think I've said that before. Like it can disappear in an instant if you don't do anything with it.

Radhika Duggal (17:33):

And luckily that is the job of marketer to take that awareness and turn it into fandom. And what is going to be so exciting is we'll be able to take that handoff from—once the World Cup is over—global soccer energy and do a little bit, Bettina, of what you were suggesting, is take that and turn that into local engagement. And for us, the message is really simple. It's for the consumer.

Radhika Duggal (17:53):

That game that you fell in love with over the summer, maybe for the first time, maybe not, maybe you got re-engaged with soccer through the World Cup—well, that is the game we play at Major League Soccer all season, every season here in your local market. And that's what our 2026 sort of World Cup marketing campaign aims to do. It aims to connect us to the World Cup and then remind people that so many of our players are playing on their national teams, it's the same stars here on your home soil.

Radhika Duggal (18:23):

But for us it's all about making sure this isn't the finish line. This is the beginning, right? We take the awareness from the World Cup and then that's the beginning of actually like a two year long sprint for us. We restart our season a couple days before the World Cup semifinal. We then have a—you know, we finish out the rest of the season with action-packed soccer throughout the month of August and September and then we're going to playoffs and Cups in November and December and then we start a sprint season in, at the beginning of 2027.

Radhika Duggal (18:57):

So we do a 14 week season very quickly where every match is a match of consequence and then we transition our calendar to align with the global soccer calendar. So this is like—coming out of the World Cup, that is when we start running, and that is when we start having just an incredible volume of soccer here in North America. And we just, we—we so believe that consumers are going to fall in love with our players by watching them play on the World Cup stage. And we're excited to welcome them to become fans of the MLS.

Nataly Kelly (19:32):

Wow, I'm excited just hearing you talk about that.

Nataly Kelly (19:34):

Very curious. You know, the profile of the soccer fan is changing rapidly and you know, for a long time, I know, you know, younger generations have been getting more into the sport in the United States as we already talked about, are getting into soccer. And Gen Z consumes sports very differently—creators play a bigger role than traditional media in many cases and fans are often engaging with multiple screens at once. Back to my anecdote from when people were listening to the radio. Now it's, everybody's on their phone, they're listening, they're watching, they're scrolling.

Nataly Kelly (20:09):

So what do brands do you think brands still misunderstand about how modern fans discover and connect with sports? Bettina, this question is for you.

Bettina Garibaldi (20:19):

Yeah, I think one of the biggest misconceptions I believe is that brands think younger fans are less passionate than previous generations because of the attention span, right, which—which is not true.

Bettina Garibaldi (20:31):

They're not, they're just, the younger fans are just discovering and expressing fandom differently, right. Historically, I would say sports fandom was built top down, right. You watch the match, then you watch the postgame show, then you read about it in the paper the next—

Bettina Garibaldi (20:46):

Right. It's very structured because those were our options. But today it's much more networked, right. A fan might discover a player through TikTok and then follow them on Instagram and then watch highlights on YouTube and then join a group chat during a match and then tune into the live game,

Bettina Garibaldi (21:06):

Right? All that happened before even watching the game, right? So I think in many cases that second screen has become the—the first screen. And what certain brands often misunderstand is, right, that discovery doesn't always start with the sport itself.

Bettina Garibaldi (21:23):

Right. It starts with, as Radhika even mentioned, too, right, culture. It's personality, it's identity, it's community. And that's what really we're all about.

Bettina Garibaldi (21:34):

My job as the CMO for the New York, New Jersey LOC Committee isn't selling tickets to MetLife. That's not my job. My job is to ensure that obviously we're pulling off a safe and secure and accessible World Cup in the region, creating opportunities for people to engage with the sport. But, you know, we consider it a win when they're—someone is considering,

Bettina Garibaldi (21:56):

Someone's thinking about soccer differently now, right? And they are engaging with us. They have opted in to engage, right. And going back to the participation is a new reach, right. They've engaged when otherwise they wouldn't have.

Bettina Garibaldi (22:11):

That's a win. And I think, you know, I often say, you know, highlights create awareness, but the communities are really what create that fandom. And in this region in particular, too, which are such a diverse community, we have representatives from all the nations that are competing and have qualified, right, for the World Cup. The brands that I, you know, just—

Bettina Garibaldi (22:37):

Just kind of put a note on this. This question. I think the brands that are winning truly understand that their role isn't just simply to broadcast the messages. It's really to create those opportunities for participation. Participation creates that emotional investment and also tapping into universal emotions.

Bettina Garibaldi (22:54):

That's the scale, right? What the World Cup does. Tapping that and doing that in the right way to get people engaged is what turns, you know, a casual viewer into a lifelong fan.

Nataly Kelly (23:08):

FIFA and MLS ultimately have different mandates. One is focused on delivering a global event, while the other is focused on growing a league year after year.

Nataly Kelly (23:15):

But it seems like there's also a shared mission underneath both of those things. I'll ask you first, Radhika, but I'd love to hear from both of you, Bettina as well. How do you think about aligning around the same consumer while pursuing different objectives?

Radhika Duggal (23:32):

I think the good thing is they're not competing objectives. So—same consumer, same objective.

Radhika Duggal (23:36):

And in my mind, the objective is about growing the sport of soccer, particularly in this moment in North America, and the interest and having it last long after the World Cup sort of leaves town. I think that's in our shared interest. And Bettina, you'll tell me if you think differently. And so then it's not really about competition. It's about finding the right ways to support each other.

Radhika Duggal (23:56):

And I think we've had an incredible partnership with FIFA in a number of different ways where we're having the opportunity to jointly introduce fans to the game through things like our soccer celebrations. These are essentially watch parties in a number of our local markets where a consumer can show up to the—I'm going to make it up—the Chicago Fire Soccer celebration that takes place in Chicago. And they have the opportunity to watch a live match because of the partnership we have with FIFA. And that's a way for hundreds or thousands of fans to experience the World Cup if perhaps they couldn't get into the match that they wanted to go see in person or couldn't afford the ticket.

Radhika Duggal (24:32):

And so I think, you know, it's a shared goal, it's a shared consumer. And the way that we achieve our shared goal of growing the growth of soccer in North America is by working together.

Bettina Garibaldi (24:44):

Yeah, yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think, you know, FIFA is responsible for delivering the world's biggest sporting event. MLS is focused on building that sustained growth for the sport and the league here.

Bettina Garibaldi (24:57):

But as Radhika said, underneath those potential different objectives is that same consumer, right? I don't think consumers think in organizational structures, like they don't wake up one day and say, "Today I'm a FIFA fan, today I'm an MLS NYCFC fan," right? Like, they're simply looking for experiences, stories, communities and teams that they can connect with.

Bettina Garibaldi (25:15):

So that's why I think there is tremendous alignment that the World Cup creates that extraordinary moment of attention and cultural relevance, right? And then MLS and others across the soccer ecosystem have that opportunity to help convert that attention into that lasting fandom, as Radhika mentioned. So, you know, I think—yeah, the World Cup is the moment. Soccer's growth in America is a movement, quite frankly.

Bettina Garibaldi (25:40):

What 1994 did in the US established the league. What's 2026 going to do next, right, for the growth of the league, for the growth of our legacy partners, U.S. Soccer Foundation, for the growth of them and their mission, right?

Bettina Garibaldi (25:55):

And quite frankly, success isn't measured solely by what happens during the tournament. In our eyes, it's truly measured by what happens after. And I know that sounds super cliche, but we're going to be asking ourselves questions down the line, right? Like, are more kids playing? Are more families attending matches?

Bettina Garibaldi (26:13):

Are more people following clubs, players and leagues year round, right. If, if we all do our jobs well, millions of people will discover and deepen their connection to the sport during the World Cup. But that real opportunity is making sure that they have somewhere to go next to kind of keep that going.

Nataly Kelly (26:30):

Yeah, it's about making soccer part of the fabric of their lives coming out of the World Cup.

Nataly Kelly (26:34):

It's about making it a habit as opposed to sort of an afterthought or something they're curious about but don't make time for.

Nataly Kelly (26:40):

Yeah, I think it's so great that you both are hitting on the long-term aspect of this because it's about leveraging the moment to build something bigger and it's more strategic than just just getting through the game—you know, getting through the games and getting through the finals. I have another question related to that, and Bettina, I'll start with you this time, but I'd love your perspective as well, Radhika. When you look beyond 2026, what do you think the long-term opportunity is for soccer in North America?

Nataly Kelly (27:06):

And what should every brand marketer learn from the way the sport has built something that lasts?

Bettina Garibaldi (27:13):

I think the biggest opportunity is that we're not talking about a sporting event. We're really talking about a cultural shift, the scale of this. For those that aren't—may not be soccer fans. I think once they experience the energy that is about to land on our soil, it's going to change their perspective.

Bettina Garibaldi (27:28):

It's the biggest moment North America has seen in a generation, in a sporting moment. The real opportunity, as I've mentioned, isn't the tournament itself. It's those millions of people who will engage with it in a new way because of it and then hopefully can continue to make this a part of their experiences, whether they're their pastime, what they enjoy watching, what they enjoy playing. Right. So some will attend.

Bettina Garibaldi (27:55):

You know, I'm very excited personally, you know, for some folks to attend their first match, right, or to attend their first World Cup. I've clearly been to several, having worked in two previous ones. But, you know, some, some might discover their new favorite player, right, that underdog or that underdog team,

Bettina Garibaldi (28:16):

Right. Some will watch with their families and create traditions long after 2026, right. It's, it's those moments that may seem small individually, but collectively they have the power to really shape the sports landscape for the future. So—

Bettina Garibaldi (28:32):

And you know, personally, I mean, as I mentioned at the onset, I'm originally from Argentina. I was born in Argentina but I grew up around the world just given my father's profession at the time. But, you know, I set my kind of roots here in the States for college and that was a very long time ago. So I've been here since. So I've seen the trajectory of this sport, but the sport itself for me I was kind of—

Bettina Garibaldi (28:53):

You were born with it, you just love it, right? It's just that culture.

Bettina Garibaldi (28:57):

What I'm—what I'm most excited is for people to see that it's just never just about the game. It's much more than that. It's about identity, it is about the community, it is about that belonging, it is about that culture and that’s why—that’s why it travels so well across borders, generations, demographics. I mean soccer, yeah, it's—it's such a low barrier to entry type of sport to participate in as well. And I think that's the lesson for marketers.

Bettina Garibaldi (29:23):

Right. The strongest brands don't simply attract attention, they truly create a belonging. Attention is fleeting and belonging kind of lasts. So that's what I'm very hopeful for and super excited about.

Nataly Kelly (29:38):

I love that answer.

Nataly Kelly (29:41):

Okay, Radhika and Bettina, let's move on to our lightning round where I'm going to ask you each a few quick-hitting consumer insights related questions. Are you ready to go?

Radhika Duggal (29:49):

Ready.

Nataly Kelly (29:53):

Great. Radhika, what's one thing people consistently underestimate about the American soccer fan?

Radhika Duggal (29:58):

Their dedication and their passion. I have worked in a number of different industries. I've never seen passion for a product the way you see passion that soccer fans have for their MLS team. And it seems from the outside looking in even more vigorous and even more dedicated than the passion folks have for other sports. Because our fans feel like they're building the sport from the ground up.

Radhika Duggal (30:20):

It's an incredible thing to see.

Nataly Kelly (30:23):

Wonderful. Bettina, what's one signal that tells you a community genuinely cares about an event, not just that they're aware of it?

Bettina Garibaldi (30:30):

I would say the clearest signal is when people start doing the—your marketing for you,

Bettina Garibaldi (30:34):

Right? Awareness is something you can buy, but caring is something you earn. Right. So when a community genuinely cares and is engaged, people start sharing information without being asked, right,

Bettina Garibaldi (30:44):

They bring friends, local businesses create their own promotions. Community organizations incorporate the event into their programming. Families make plans around it, right, and so on and so forth.

Bettina Garibaldi (30:56):

That's when you know you've moved—you know, beyond that awareness, they're helping you do your—do our job.

Nataly Kelly (31:04):

That's wonderful. Radhika, what's one consumer behavior you're paying closer attention to today than you were five years ago?

Radhika Duggal (31:11):

Gotta be about how people are engaging with us on social.

Radhika Duggal (31:14):

We at Major League Soccer now reach nearly 113 million followers globally and that's a roughly 15% year-over-year increase. We're just seeing such growth in our social channels. So I think we then have to pay attention and make sure the content that we're providing is thoughtful and fun and engaging and entertaining and aligned with our brand. It's just these channels are growing like weeds and like rocket ships. And I just want us to make sure that we're really taking advantage of the megaphone we have there.

Nataly Kelly (31:41):

Love it. Bettina, what's one thing global brands get wrong when trying to connect with local communities?

Bettina Garibaldi (31:47):

I think it's confusing representation with relevance. So especially for the World Cup, right, it's such an international event,

Bettina Garibaldi (31:54):

You know, focusing solely on translating language when they should be translating meaning. Right. Communities, they want to feel understood, not targeted. So the brands genuinely that succeed

Bettina Garibaldi (32:06):

Are the ones that spend less time broadcasting and more time listening, to be honest. And it's not, as I mentioned earlier, the goal isn't to make a global brand look local. The goal is to make it feel locally relevant.

Nataly Kelly (32:18):

That makes so much sense to me. For both of you, starting with Radhika, what's one marketing lesson from soccer that has nothing to do with sports?

Radhika Duggal (32:28):

I would say it is probably the most basic marketing lesson you can learn, which is always start with the customer. Every question, every journey, every piece of creative, every meeting, every room you are in. If you are the marketer, you should be the customer's advocate and everything you say should be about the customer's perspective.

Nataly Kelly (32:46):

Bettina, did you want to add to that?

Bettina Garibaldi (32:49):

Yeah, agree, agree. I'd add as well, right, people rally around identity and soccer is a great example of that. You know, around the world, people inherit clubs from their parents.

Bettina Garibaldi (32:59):

They gather with friends to watch matches. They travel far and wide to support their teams and build traditions that span generations. Right. So very little of that is actually about product on the field, if that makes sense. It's about the belonging and it's about the community and it's about being a part of something bigger than yourself.

Bettina Garibaldi (33:17):

So I do think that's one of the most important lessons for marketers. It's—we spend a lot of time thinking about awareness. A lot of impressions, right. Conversion.

Bettina Garibaldi (33:26):

But the strongest brands truly understand that people—you make decisions emotionally before you justify them rationally as well. Especially nowadays, right, with just kind of so much high tech and everything that's evolving, you know, that's what I believe soccer has done better than almost anything else in this world.

Nataly Kelly (33:46):

Wonderful. I love that answer. So before we let you go, I have one last question for both of you that we ask all of our guests. And starting with Bettina, what's the one thing that marketing and insights teams need to do together in the next 12 months to help their company or organization win with consumers and grow their businesses?

Bettina Garibaldi (34:05):

Spend less time measuring what happened and more time understanding why it happened. We have more data available than ever before as I just mentioned.

Bettina Garibaldi (34:14):

So the data alone doesn't create growth. It's great. Trust me. I'm a data nerd too. But growth comes truly from turning information into understanding and understanding into action.

Bettina Garibaldi (34:27):

So I think over the next 12 months, you know, it's truly combining, right, the analytics with empathy. And that's when you truly understand right—your customers, as Radhika said, right. You understand what your consumers and your customers are feeling, what motivates them, what's changing in their lives.

Bettina Garibaldi (34:44):

And things are changing so fast too, right. So it's like keeping up with that and at the end of the day it's, for me it's not more dashboards, it's better decisions.

Radhika Duggal (34:55):

I would say I 100% agree with that. And add on making sure marketing teams and insights teams together have to work together to figure out how to make sure decision makers and executives really understand the customer's perspective.

Radhika Duggal (35:07):

Oftentimes your customer is different from your executive or your executive might be a bit removed from sort of the everyday life of the customer. Make sure that that consumer or that customer or that fan's everyday life and everyday journey is in the mind of the decision maker so that the folks making decisions within your organization can relate to the person that's going to have to live with and work through the outcomes of those decisions.

Nataly Kelly (35:30):

Well, I want to thank both of you for your time today. It's been a wonderful chat here on Inside Insights and I have learned so much from both of you and I'm so excited now for the World Cup and for soccer at large. You've really—you've really inspired me a lot on linking some of these time-bound moments to the broader strategy and impact of what we do as marketers.

Nataly Kelly (35:52):

So wonderful to have you both here.

Nataly Kelly (35:54):

Okay, so that wraps up this episode for us here on the Inside Insights podcast. Thanks to Radhika Duggal, CMO at Major League Soccer, and Bettina Garibaldi, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at FIFA World Cup New York, New Jersey, for joining us. If you'd like to contact either of our guests, you can find a link to their LinkedIn profiles in our show notes or at Inside Insights below. Or you can visit their respective organizational websites at mlssoccer.com and nynjfwc26.com. If you haven't subscribed yet and want a regular stream of research and insights knowledge in your podcast feed, hit that subscribe button in your podcast app or follow us on YouTube.

Nataly Kelly (36:29):

Okay, that's all for today. We'll see you on the next episode of Inside Insights.