“The profile of the students of Johan Cruyff Institute adapts very well to our needs; they have a particular focus on the sports industry,” says David Dwinger, COO of 433: The Home of Football
One of the largest sports communities in the world on social networks, The Home of Football, created by 433, draws on the talent that comes out of the classrooms of the Johan Cruyff Institute Amsterdam thanks to a collaboration, which both entities ratified in an agreement last spring. With a powerful mix of fun clips and news related to the world of football, 433: The Home of Football continues to attract the community on social media, with Instagram being its great showcase to the world. With more than 80 million followers and 5 billion impressions, right now it is unrivaled on that platform.
“The student profile of the Johan Cruyff Institute adapts very well to our needs; they have a particular focus on sport and invest in their training in sport management in order to be able to participate in the sports industry. “It’s a conscious investment they make, which we really value,” says David Dwinger, founder of JOGO, a company acquired by 433 (where he is now COO) to develop applications and tools for football.
“Thanks to Johan Cruyff Institute, we have come into contact with very good talents, who fit in very well with our team and are now part of it” – David Dwinger, COO at 433
The relationship between 433 and Johan Cruyff Institute began with JOGO. “We were acquired by 433 and we joined the team to continue doing what we are very good at. JOGO, like Johan Cruyff Institute, represented the development of talent. We had three interns from the Master in Sport Management Amsterdam, and at the end of their probationary period we hired them,” explains David Dwinger. JOGO was born as a startup, with a unique product that had many possibilities in the market, and needed to incorporate people who had a vision and could believe in something. “In that sense, the connection with Johan Cruyff Institute is very clear. Also, having both companies based in Amsterdam, with 433 being the home of football, and what Johan Cruyff represents for this sport, the relationship fits in every way”. The team grew in just over a year from five to 55 full-time people from 12 different nationalities, many of whom are former professional athletes from various sports such as hockey, football and basketball. “Thanks to Johan Cruyff Institute, we have come into contact with very good talents, who fit in very well with our team and are now part of it,” adds David.
Reasons for enormous growth
David Dwinger.
David Dwinger does not hesitate to attribute the key to their resounding success to the planning and authenticity of all the content they develop. “We are 100% football, we love this sport, that is undoubted. But growth comes from having a clear plan, a philosophy, a vision and a mission that is maintained in all the content we create. We offer a lot of content and we do everything ourselves. It is always positive news, we do not take sides and we refer to the facts. That, together with an attractive graphic design, is what people like.”
433: The Home of Football is currently on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube and Snapchat, with its biggest presence on the first mentioned, where the largest community of followers is concentrated. “On Instagram, we are the largest football community, with a reach that is growing organically with approximately 45,000 new followers every day, although the numbers are also growing very fast on TikTok.” But the best is yet to come. “We are working on the development of our own 433 app because, having our own infrastructure, we do not depend on any other channel. That is where our strength lies, in the technology,” explains David Dwinger.
The first version of the app is already available for download, but it will be during the World Cup in Qatar when it will be implemented worldwide. “The 433 app offers an additional channel and it will be very different from what we do on social media. That is where we are now focused on. We want to give football fans from all over the world the opportunity to become ‘433 creators’. It sounds easier than it is because it involves having a lot of technology behind it. It is a whole process that we are working on to get it right.”
Having the technology that allows you to offer unique content is the most complicated thing, and at 433 they have it in-house through the JOGO team. “In addition to the app itself, we work with artificial intelligence and computer vision, which enables us to show the qualities of a player, their control of the ball, the frequency of touches, etc. We will use all that technology to create unique content,” explains David.
With more than 80 million followers and 5 billion impressions, 433: The Home of Football has no rival on Instagram.
433 has some 45 creatives, including staff at its headquarters in Amsterdam and freelancers in different countries, who work on content exquisitely based on the premise that the source is always the same, but the way you display the content must always be attractive. “To tell a story, you can publish a short video on TikTok, a nice infographic on Instagram, and a longer video on the app. Many professional footballers follow us. They like how we show content and they share it on their own Instagram account. Our reach is enormous,” he says.
Currently, 433: The Home of Football has alliances with the 100 best football clubs in the world and collaborates with renowned sports brands. It all stems from founder Rogier Deelstra and Juramy, the parent company founded by Demy de Zeeuw, Juul Manders and Ralph de Geus, and consists of three brands: BALR. (clothing brand), Wannahaves (social brand agency) and 433 (football content). “The three feed off each other and come out stronger. Many brands, and certainly sports brands, can benefit from our reach – says David-. We never do flat advertising, we create branded content, and that is what brands are looking for because it is authentic and that’s what really works.”
