MUNICH: Utilizing UGC to give online communities the opportunity to engage with products in real contexts

Sporting and fashion brand, MUNICH, has deepened its relatability by incorporating images created by social media users into its marketing strategy. We take a look at the brand’s eCommerce journey on their site, connection with their online community, and their User Generated Content results below. 

Numbers

The Story

MUNICH is a sports and fashion brand for adults and children that was established in 1939. They are based in Barcelona and are one of the leading sportswear and fashion brands in over 40 countries. They began by creating technical sports shoes but have since expanded into the fashion and streetwear realms. The brand caters to a diverse range of sports including, but not limited to, padel, tennis, futsal, handball, field hockey, and soccer.

Challenge

MUNICH was no stranger to well-known people using their products, however, this was not spreading their message to the extent that they would have liked. Therefore there was space in their marketing strategy to incorporate content made by everyday consumers that might have a wider reach.  

“Our products are worn by very different people. In the beginning, MUNICH shoes were very visible among influencers and well-known people, but at the same time, we did not see enough impact on social networks and on the website. It was at that moment that we decided to redirect all the Instagram content to our website.” 

Andrea de la Mano, Digital Department at MUNICH Sports

Building a stronger online community around the MUNICH brand was a priority. User Generated Content allowed MUNICH to prioritize its online presence and display its products in different contexts, from being worn by players in professional sports games, to consumers wearing them in their day-to-day lives, and everything in between. This gave their digital community the ability to engage with the brand on multiple levels. 

“People wear our products with enthusiasm, and we took advantage of all the content they uploaded on social networks to create a community. We have many images of professional players wearing the MUNICH shoes, so it gives the user confidence to see the products being used in professional games. The products can be seen in many different situations, on the street, doing sports, etc. We wanted all this movement to be reflected on the website.”

Andrea de la Mano, Digital Department at MUNICH Sports

Solution

The phenomena of social proof is nothing new, human beings are group-orientated creatures and observe the actions of others to gauge how much they can trust something or someone. When consumers see content that was created by happy customers they are much more likely to trust the products that are being shown.

The right technological solutions don’t need to be complicated to use and MUNICH has utilized Flowbox to automatically gather and manage content with ease. Their UGC is well organized and integrating with Flowbox was the right solution to help the brand work towards its goals. 

“Flowbox generates added value on the website. It is an advantage to be able to have the catalog integrated with the user’s photograph. This makes it much easier for the consumer to buy our products. The use of UGC has accompanied MUNICH in its growth as an eCommerce site.”

Andrea de la Mano, Digital Department at MUNICH Sports

Results