Manchester City Football Club has hailed its digital marketing investment at the Media Guardian Changing Advertising Summit on data and consumer profiling, Marketing Magazine reports.

The club’s head of digital Richard Ayers spoke at the event and described how the brand’s digital following is gaining on other clubs such as Manchester United and Chelsea, and is fast building up its use of loyalty and digital channels.

Mr Ayers described how sporting institutions should cater for not only the fans who attend events live but the wider fanbase who are keen to stay engaged with their team or athlete through digital channels.

Man City currently has nearly 125,000 followers on Twitter and over a million Facebook fans, as well as 70,000 spectators who hold membership cards, he went on to inform.

“Our fundamental strategy is giving them [fans] access to the club, giving them behind-the-scenes footage and getting them closer to that [match day] experience,” the head of digital argued.
He also commented that digital media has the potential to reach a far greater number of overseas fans.

“In the UK, the chances of persuading someone who supports Chelsea to support City are slim. However, overseas is kind of interesting because quite often they support two or three clubs,” Mr Ayers told the audience.

Earlier this month Manchester City Football Club became the first Premier League team to sign up to a content deal with YouTube.

The contract allows the club to create and control videos, while also managing the advertising surrounding its content.

This is largely done through CityTV, the Manchester City TV channel, which is responsible for uploading around 100 videos a month. It covers a range of topics, from players, to behind-the-scene interviews and debates with fans.

Jeff Nathenson, head of sports partnerships for YouTube, told the Drum: “We believe this kind of deal will have a global impact, allowing them to reach news fans in new territories with compelling original content.”

Source: equimedia.co.uk

Related Articles

1. Manchester City strikes content deal with YouTube Manchester City become the first Premier League club to sign a content deal with the video sharing giant, YouTube....
2. The first digital Cup final – Carling Cup Manchester United vs Aston Villa Carling Cup's final on Sunday will be the first ever digital Final Cup. Carling are giving fans the opportunity to...
3. Manchester City uses augmented reality and 3D for membership scheme Manchester City is introducing a new digital membership scheme for season ticket holders, which includes augmented reality content and the ability to collect points to...
4. Arsenal revs up digital marketing to attract global fanbase Arsenal is set to ramp up digital marketing activity, including a raft of new social gaming and media initiatives, to keep pace with its Premier...
5. Liverpool Football Club signs new digital ‘contract for the 2011/12 season’ Liverpool Football Club has announced the signing of a new one-year contract with local digital media company Edit.TV....