Global Fútbol

Mascots are not only charged with energising the fans and filling LaLiga's stadiums with colour and entertainment. In the present day, they are cuddly characters present on matchdays and at many of the clubs' events, also serve to enhance marketing campaigns and expansion strategies. The mascot is a means to position the team's brand, convey messages, reach out to younger fans, develop new fans, build loyalty and generate revenue.

Among other things, with SISA the Fly, Girona FC is seeking to make interacting with their mascot a source of joy to make the matchday experience more memorable. For Girona FC, its mascot is a way of personifying the values and identity of the club, conveying them in a friendly, positive and interactive manner. "The true objective of the mascot is purely to create a new and different point of contact with the club for the fans," explains Aran Navarro, the club's head of marketing.

SISA as a way to connect with fans

"It's a tool that connects all sections of the fans and unites them. Entire families, youngsters, and older people interact with the mascot, both to celebrate victories and soothe the pain of defeat," he goes on to say.

The mascot takes part in the main events of the club, and matchdays are when she interacts with fans the most. "On matchdays, the mascot visits the fan zone before the game, welcomes members at the gates of the stadium, energises the players during the warmup and has her photo taken with the fans in the stands."

How Girona are involving their members in big decisions

The mascot has an important representational value for Girona, which is why she is involved in many of the club's events in addition to matchdays. "Since SISA the fly has been the club mascot, she has appeared at the presentation of the new kits and at activations around the city."

One of the main values of Girona FC is its closeness to the fans. The club demonstrates this in different ways, and one of them is by involving its members in big decisions about the club. SISA was selected following a consultation by Girona FC with the fans, just as they decided on the club's future badge and, on another occasion, the club slogan: 'Orgull Gironi' ("Girona Pride").

When choosing the mascot, the club proposed three characters linked to different legends about the city (fly, lioness, and female crocodile) and the members overwhelmingly opted for the fly to be their mascot. In a second survey asking about the name of the fly, the one which garnered the most votes was SISA.

Why SISA and why a fly?

"SISA the Fly represents the defence of the city and the hope that, even after losing a battle, the war can be won. The character strongly represents the values of struggle, humility, perseverance and teamwork, characteristics inherent to Girona FC," remarks Navarro.

When pressed for more details about the name and the reason for her being a fly, he states the following: "Flies are a symbol of the city of Girona. As legend has it, giant flies helped to save the city from a siege by Napoleon's troops, stinging his soldiers and their horses and causing them to flee. Sant Narcis is the patron saint of Girona, and Sisa is short for Narcisa."

A fly on social media

SISA is quite the modern mascot and a native of the digital age. She has accounts on social media, such as Twitter and Instagram, so that fans can follow her activities and adventures. "As the mascot has come to life, the fans' acceptance of and esteem for SISA, even before she was presented, meant that, together with her unveiling, we not only launched her digital channels, through which she cheers on the team and celebrates their victories just like any other fan, but she also has her very own line of merchandise composed of shirts, masks, mugs, notebooks and colouring pencils."

With fans returning to the stadiums, people at the club believe that their mascot will take on an even stronger identity and this will naturally lead to her image being transmitted beyond the fans of Girona FC. Undoubtedly, mascots represent a good opportunity to get closer to the fans, to entertain, to create value, but also to generate income. We are therefore talking about an interesting business asset.