Mito Hollyhock and CCC conclude basic agreement to collaborate on marketing activities aimed at resolving local issues

2024.02.22 Press Releases
Football Club Mito Hollyhock Co., Ltd. / Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.

-Leveraging CCC's new fan marketing initiative to enrich the local community, starting with young people, with the aim of attracting an average of 9,000 attendees to Mito Hollyhock home games-

Football Club Mito Hollyhock Co., Ltd. (Head office: Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture; Representative Director: Kojima Ko; hereinafter referred to as "Mito Hollyhock"), which operates a professional soccer club in the J2 League, and Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shibuya Ward, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and COO: Takahashi Yoshinori; hereinafter referred to as "CCC"), which operates TSUTAYA and Tsutaya Bookstores and engages in database marketing based on T-Points, are pleased to announce that they have entered into a basic agreement to collaborate on marketing activities that utilize the strengths of both companies to solve local issues in the central and northern regions of Ibaraki Prefecture, Mito Hollyhock's hometown.

■Background and process of the basic agreement
Currently, Ibaraki Prefecture is facing a major issue of population outflow from the central and northern regions, and is facing a variety of problems, including labor shortages and a lack of successors in agriculture and other areas, the desertification of urban areas, and concerns about public safety. Mito Hollyhock and CCC have agreed to move forward with this initiative, recognizing that policies and support are needed to help the young people of Ibaraki Prefecture, who will be responsible for the future, to enjoy the time they spend in their local community more, so that they can be proud of their hometown and not worry about the future.

Meanwhile, CCC is currently working with local businesses and local governments to develop businesses that will revitalize the region. We believe that sports teams that are rooted in the local community and have local fans are key content that can lead to regional revitalization, and we hope to use this fan marketing initiative with Mito Hollyhock as a springboard to expand our services throughout Japan.

This initiative is a connection to the future hometown envisioned by Mito Hollyhock, who have promised the local community that they will "bring a new original landscape to this town," and is a company that "creates an environment that makes people and the world more fun and happy -- a culture infrastructure."This is also a challenge for CCC, whose mission is to "contribute to the development of a better world."

■ Details of the basic agreement
By linking Mito Hollyhock's professional soccer club management business with the retail, product planning and development, event and database marketing businesses operated by CCC and its group companies, we aim to revitalize the region and thereby expand Mito Hollyhock's fan base. Going forward, we will conduct research to support this initiative, develop several specific action plans, and enter into business partnerships for each action plan.

Future Initiatives
We will be conducting a survey of teenagers attending the opening match of the 2024 Meiji Yasuda J2 League, Mito Hollyhock vs. Iwaki FC, which will begin on Saturday, February 24th. Additionally, with the cooperation of universities and high schools in the hometown, the two companies will use questionnaires and interviews with young people in their teens and twenties, as well as the databases held by both companies, to investigate the actual state of local issues and explore essential local needs. We will then formulate an action plan to address regional issues and put it into action. Specifically, by holding a variety of real-life events and utilizing the content and know-how of both companies, the companies will promote regional revitalization, starting with the young people who will be responsible for the region in the future, and contribute to resolving regional issues.

■Comment from Kojima Ko, CEO of Mito Hollyhock
First of all, I am very pleased to have reached this basic agreement with everyone at CCC regarding our hometown marketing activities aimed at resolving local issues, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, we have been implementing measures to attract more people to the stadium in order to support the team. In particular, we received a variety of opinions regarding the distribution of free invitation tickets, but we proceeded carefully, and we continued to experiment with new ideas in order to build a fan base that will support us for the long term.
Through this collaboration with CCC, who have agreed with our ideas, we hope to revitalize the local area and have those who are inspired become fans and visit the stadium in large numbers.
As a civic club, one of Mito Hollyhock's important missions is to strengthen ties with the community and actively work to resolve local issues. We sincerely hope that by revitalizing the local area, we will be able to create new fans, and that through Mito Hollyhock x CCC, the area will become more fun and prosperous.

Materials related to this matter

Mito Hollyhock and CCC conclude basic agreement to collaborate on marketing activities aimed at resolving local issues

Inquiries regarding this matter
Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
Public Relations Office TEL: 03-6800-4764 / MAIL: inquiry@ccc.co.jp