New commercial director of CAHN Club: 'Want the team to become number 1 in Southeast Asia'

CAHN Club's new commercial director Jun Togari wants to develop the brand and revenue, so that CAHN team can be number 1 in Southeast Asia and the top group in Asia.

The new commercial director of CAHN Club once helped the Japanese club achieve the highest revenue.

On the morning of September 13, Hanoi Police Club (CAHN Club) announced the contract with Mr. Jun Togari, the new commercial director of the team. Mr. Togari was born in 1968, has been associated with Urawa Red Diamonds Club (Japan) for 32 years in many positions, and has been a member of the J-League executive committee for 27 years.

Having served as Urawa's CEO for 4 years, and over 20 years as the business director and partnership manager of the former Asian champion team, Mr. Togari is expected to elevate the image and brand of CAHN Club. In an interview with Thanh Nien Newspaper and several media agencies on September 13, Mr. Togari revealed that he wants to bring CAHN Club to the top group in Asia.

New commercial director Jun Togari (center) joins CAHN Club

PHOTO: CAHN CLUB

- Why did you accept the position of commercial director of CAHN Club?

Before coming to Vietnam, I had received several invitations from teams playing in J-League 1 (Japan). However, when talking with the leadership of CAHN Club, I realized the desire to develop the team into a big name in Asia in the future.

I want to support the team leadership in achieving this goal. I know that CAHN Club is a team with a rich tradition, strategic planning and a clear future direction. That is the reason I chose this as my destination.

I have worked at Urawa Red Diamonds for 32 years, since the team was founded. My role is to bring in revenue for the club, attract sponsors and partners to accompany and develop the team. As commercial director, I have helped Urawa achieve the highest revenue and the largest fan base in the J-League. Urawa's fan base also has a unique cheering culture, with enthusiasm that everyone can see when the team participates in the FIFA Club World Cup.

During my time there, Urawa also won the AFC Champions League Elite three times and participated in the FIFA Club World Cup. I want to bring my experience and knowledge after 32 years working in Japan to the new club, to promote my ability and knowledge.

I will accompany CAHN Club to become the number 1 team in Southeast Asia, and in the future be among the top teams in Asia, like Urawa Club. I chose the number 11 on the shirt, because "11" in Japanese means superiority. I hope luck will come to CAHN Club.

- What potential does CAHN Club have to develop as you planned?

I see the passion and awareness of developing a regional image that CAHN Club possesses. The team has a very clear plan for commercial image development, in addition to plans for developing the academy, youth training, fan groups, and finally developing to reach out to Asia.

Mr. Jun Togari wants the CAHN Club brand to reach Asia

PHOTO: CAHN CLUB

To develop a brand, you need enough love from fans.

- The Vietnamese football market is very different from Japan. In Vietnam, not many fans buy genuine club products. Counterfeit products appear quite a lot. What solutions do you have to expand the market in that context?

I have great respect for Vietnamese culture and history. I understand that clearly before outlining any development strategy.

The fact that fans like cheap things is something Japan has experienced before. Our country has had a period where genuine goods had to compete with fake goods. To generate revenue from the club brand, we must have enough love, enough strength from the fans.

Once they have that affection, fans will support the team with merchandise. Of course, the club also provides quality, reputable and branded merchandise that anyone can use for a long time, maybe at least 2 to 3 years.

In 2024, I visited Vietnam twice. After observing, I assessed that Vietnam is promoting sports development, parallel with technological innovation. The development of electronic payment technology when selling goods is progressing rapidly, even more than (in some aspects) Japan. Vietnam's economy is also developing, creating favorable conditions.

Mr. Jun Togari once helped Urawa Club (Japan) have accumulated sponsorship revenue of up to 330 million USD.

PHOTO: CAHN CLUB

I see that Vietnamese people also love football very much. So, we need to raise the level of football based on that strong love, combined with economic development, creating revenue for the club.

Vietnamese football teams today, typically CAHN Club, have cooperation and development with large enterprises and corporations. In the future, I can support the club to connect with Japanese enterprises. I see the development potential of Vietnamese football, when supported by domestic and international resources.

- What specific goals do you set for CAHN Club?

At first, I wanted to focus my time on doing business, calling for sponsors. To do that, CAHN Club must have a large fan base. I want CAHN Club to have a large fan base and be managed according to modern standards, so that CAHN Club fans can become the leading fan club in Southeast Asia.

I also want to have many big international brand sponsors come to CAHN Club, so that the team can bring its brand to Asia in the future.

I will strive to accompany the club's leadership to build a football team with an academy, training facilities, and develop school football. In the next 2 years, I want to make CAHN Club the team with the number one achievements, brand, and image in Southeast Asia, then be in the top group in Asia.

Thank you for the chat!

Mr. Jun Togari is one of the founders of the powerful Urawa Red Diamonds "empire" in Japanese football. He built a sponsorship system that helped Urawa accumulate sponsorship revenue of up to 330 million USD, becoming the team with the highest revenue in J-League for many years. He also helped Urawa retain all sponsors even though the team was relegated.

At CAHN Club, commercial director Jun Togari is responsible for building a sponsorship system, partner approach strategy and brand activation, developing a professional fan community, building a fan data platform, upgrading the matchday model: sports festival, entertainment, fan interaction, brand orientation consulting, stadium space design...

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tan-giam-doc-thuong-mai-clb-cahn-muon-doi-vuon-len-so-1-dong-nam-a-185250913140005714.htm