Social media Analysis of Manchester City football club

Social Media Elective Dr. Jim Hamill

Contents

1. Executive Summary ....................................................................... iii
2. Introduction ..................................................................................... 1
3. Analysis............................................................................................ 2
3.1. Internal Analysis ................................................................................................................................. 2
3.2. External Analysis ................................................................................................................................ 4
3.3. Strategy ................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.4. Key Performance Indicators ......................................................................................................... 7
3.5. People/Organisation/Resources................................................................................................. 8
4. Future of Social Media in Sports/Football Clubs ......................... 9
4.1. Future Social Media Initiatives .................................................................................................... 9
4.2. Future Disruptive Technologies .................................................................................................. 9
4.3. Enhanced Business Modelling ................................................................................................. 10
5. Recommendations ........................................................................11
5.1. MCFC Future Stars Initiative ..................................................................................................... 11
5.1.1. Design & Development ..............................................................................................................11
5.1.2. Promotion ...........................................................................................................................................11
5.1.3. Resources Required....................................................................................................................11
5.1.4. Timing ...................................................................................................................................................12
5.1.5. Existing Example ...........................................................................................................................12
5.1.6. Ethical Concerns............................................................................................................................13
5.2. Generic Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 13
5.2.1. Counteract Seasonality of Demand ...................................................................................13
5.2.2. Improve Community Engagement ......................................................................................13
5.2.3. Amplify Popular Social Community Initiatives .............................................................13
5.2.4. Monitor Competitor Social Media Activity.......................................................................14
5.2.5. Engaging with Future Prospective Fans .........................................................................14
6. Conclusion .....................................................................................16
7. Bibliography ..................................................................................17
1. Media Pack .....................................................................................19
1.1.Media Pack 1 ..................................................................................19
1.2.Media Pack 2 ..................................................................................20
1.3.Media Pack 3 ..................................................................................21

Strathclyde MBA ii May/June 2012


1. Executive Summary

Social media in the last five years has changed the basic approach of
communication by both individuals and organizations. As per a McKinsey
report on “Demystifying social media”, 39% of the companies already consider
social media as a primary tool of interaction with customers, a figure that is
expected to rise to 47% in near future (Sarrazin, Edelman and Divol, 2012).

It is therefor imperative that to provide relevant recommendations to enhance
MCFC organisational goals through social media, it is important to first
provide an analysis of the scenario to date with an examination of the internal
and external analysis; the key performance indicators employed and
resources available. This analysis was undertaken by critiquing their:

 Internal Analysis
o Website
 External Analysis
o Youtube
o Twitter
o Facebook
o Flickr

Furthermore the identification and illustration of the importance of social
media KPI‟s is identified and linked to the development of a global fan base.

Key to developing the recommendations is the consideration of the future of
social media in sports/football clubs. This has been done through three core
areas we identified:
 Future Social Media Initiatives
 Future Disruptive Technologies
 Future Consumer Behaviour Points of Manipulation

One core recommendation was made with regards to the development of a
social media platform, named the Manchester City Future Stars Initiative,
where future football players can be identified, whilst also allowing
Manchester City to promote the brand globally. Further generic
recommendations have resulted from our analysis, and merely seek to
enhance the overall social media activities MCFC is currently undertaking.

It is illustrated that MCFC is currently a dominant player in the football social
media market place, and it currently has the resources to maintain this
dominance. It is also noted that the evolving nature of the social media
landscape is always changing, and that caution should be exercised.

Strathclyde MBA iii May/June 2012


2. Introduction

Social media in the last five years has changed the basic approach of
communication by both individuals and organizations. As per a McKinsey
report on “Demystifying social media”, 39% of the companies already consider
social media as a primary tool of interaction with customers, a figure that is
expected to rise to 47% in near future (Sarrazin, Edelman and Divol, 2012).

The following report considers the various social media contrivance available
and employed by Manchester City Football Club (MCFC). The report starts
with the analysis of the company‟s current standing in the social media
sphere. The statement examines the internal mode of community interaction
by scrutinizing the organizations core web page. The report also delves into
the various external forms of social media platforms used by MCFC in its
communication and interaction with its end customer. The research tries to
utilize some recognized tools of evaluation like 6 I‟s and balanced score card
in the process.

The second part of the report focuses on the future prospects and trends of
the social media and plausible evolution of the same.

The report goes on to identify the gaps and opportunities by analyzing the
current strategy and the possible shift in social media means. This is then
finalized with some recommendations for the future social media strategies of
MCFC with the potential benefits from the recommendations.

Strathclyde MBA 1 May/June 2012


3. Analysis

To provide relevant recommendations to enhance MCFC organisational goals
through social media, it is important to first provide an analysis of the scenario
to date with an examination of the internal and external analysis; the key
performance indicators employed and resources available.
3.1. Internal Analysis

MCFC has a creative and innovative relationship with its online community.
On an internal evaluation, their own website is used as a platform for other
social media communities; focusing in Twitter, Facebook and blogs. For
example, instead of promoting a chat developed in house for its own
community, they include in their website a column that represents the
@MCFC Twitter account timeline. With this strategy they support the natural
evolution of communities while hosting their discussions themselves.

The promotion of a customer-to-customer (C2C) relationship is the basis of
their platform. Their “fan sites” segment in the website is dedicated to link
visitors to the top 50 blogs already established. Another example is the share
button in which more than 450 different social networks or forums are
included. These connections to other communities enhance its status as the
„home’ page for current or even prospective fans seeking further interaction
or C2C communication.

In terms of social activity MCFC website includes several interactive sections
that distinguishes them from competitors. The best examples are the Fan
Cam and the Fan Map. The former includes a 360° interactive image of
MCFC Etihad Stadium in which fans can „tag‟ themselves and share that to
their own communities. The latter is a map fed by fans in which is graphically
expressed the geographical distribution of fans around the globe. Both of
these social media tools are pioneering efforts within in the sports industry.
This allows MCFC fans to engage a proximal relationship with their fellow fans
and offer them relevant data to develop strategies through identification of
potential „influencers‟ amongst their involved fan base.

A SWOT analysis (Diagram 1) has been conducted to offer a holistic
perspective of the pros and cons involved in the strategic social media
decisions.



Diagram 1 – SWOT Analysis of Social Media & MCFC

MCFC harnesses their website as a platform for receiving feedback which is
used as a guideline to shape their strategies. Their self-perception is closer to
a global entertainment brand rather than a sport brand (Stoll, 2012). Hence,
they focus not only on fans, but also customers and any person that could be
emotionally moved by the brand. This strategy allows them to be exposed to a
greater amount of people that is required to understand and satisfy. For
instance, the “City Promise” is a section on their website that illustrates its
public commitment to offer a great day in the stadium which is measured by
an online survey.

There were two areas of weakness that specifically can impede social media
were identified:

 The lack of languages. The website can only be displayed in English
and Arabic. Manchester United‟s website by comparison offers seven
languages including English, with a number focusing on developing
Asian markets such as China.
 The lack of specific access through mobile technology. While the only
mobile version of the website can be found in a recently developed
iPhone application. It was also noticed that the iPhone application has
a cost of £3.00.



3.2. External Analysis

Twitter

From the analysis, it is evident that MCFC is highly active in the use of its
twitter account as a medium to interact with its fans. This can be seen from
the fact that 26% of their tweets (Twtrland.com, 2012) are replies to fans. This
is a high percentage when compared to Chelsea FC‟s 18% (Twtrland.com,
2012). Chelsea, who are one of the leading clubs sporting teams associated
with social media. On further analysis, it is seen that the replies are focused at
the key influencers among those associated to the club through social media.
This well thought out strategy helps to improve the relationship of the club
with these influencers as well as to cascade their campaigns and messages
to the fans through these mavens.

They are also using Twitter in innovative ways such as the “Social Media
Stadium” idea, in which in the Etihad Stadium screens all tweets including
#BlueView hash tag. These are displayed through the halftime of the
matches. This is an efficient method of connecting with users at the match,
including those who are external to the stadium. This creates an overarching
sense of being part of the team and crowd, regardless of the members‟
geographic location.

Facebook

Another social media channel that the MCFC uses extensively is Facebook.
The club however lags behind Manchester United in both numbers of fans as
well as the percentage of fan activity in the page (Facebook, 2012). Both the
clubs use Facebook as a platform to broadcast messages and set titles for
discussions but seldom participate further in these discussions.

Flickr

MCFC are one of the few clubs utilizing Flickr. The reasoning for this is the
“fans can use photography and design to express their feelings about the club
and although it is more of a niche network, Flickr is regarded as the best and
easiest way for people to share their creative side online” (Stoll, 2012).

YouTube

MCFC also has started to dabble in the use of video streaming on platforms
such as YouTube. A successful initiative has been the tunnel cam, whereby
the reactions of staff/players/security personal are recorded to give a
„backstage‟ view to viewers (MCFC Youtube Channel, 2012).

External Perspective

From the external perspective, MCFC is not only widely present in most of the
social media networks, but innovative and engaging with the fanbase. They
try to embrace all types of fan insights; from direct comments or feedback



received in Twitter, to the talented expression of feelings through photographs
in Flickr. In each network they try to engage the audience, examples such as
the tunnel cam or the Social Media Stadium are highly effective to attach
more and more the fans to the club while attracting new fans as well.

The presence in this wide amount of networks also enlarges the access to
their website; now Facebook is the third largest route to it (1. Direct Hits, 2.
Google Searches) (McLaren, 2010).



3.3. Strategy

Accumulated from various sources (Stoll, 2012), (McLaren, 2010) it can be
surmised that the strategy implemented for MCFC is based upon the
following:

 To build and deliver social media platforms to customers which
enhances C2C relationships in their own networks whilst ceding
control and censorship
 Regularly communication with fans and integration of their ideas
 Give the feeling of involvement to the fans.
 Involve fans in prototypes of initiatives, ensuring risk reduction
 To provide the fans with additional and inclusive streams of
communication direct to and from the club.
 To provide additional, engaging and exclusive content to our fans on
social media networks.
 To build virtuous relationships with fan sites, blogs and forums that
already exist online.

Given these „means‟, the end goals or objectives could be:
 Enhanced C2B communication for the development of new „focussed
marketing initiatives‟.
 Act as the guardian of the MCFC online presences
 Develop marketing initiatives designed to promote to connected users
and potentially altering consumer behaviour models.

Additionally, it can be acknowledged that social media is utilized by a number
of internal stakeholders to the club such as players and employees. Therefore
the development of social media strategy required a usage policy from the
club, as acknowledged in an interview with Chris Nield, the Social Media
employee of MCFC:

“Whilst we don’t discourage our players and staff from using social
media sites and having personal profiles, we do have guidelines
asking them not to disclose any sensitive information regarding
themselves or other people at the club. The only sites we endorse are
the club’s official presences” (McLaren, 2010).

Overall, MCFC has seen its external indicators improved engaging longtime
supporters and attracting new fans with enough reasons to stay loyal
(McLaren, 2010). Additionally, winning the Premier League Championship last
season boosted the public interest to the club. With a well-established
platform and dedicated social media team accelerated the growth of a diverse
base of fans while setting the ground to keep them in the future.



3.4. Key Performance Indicators

The primary measure for social media is still the 3F‟s:
 Friends
 Fans
 Followers

MCFC in their strategy has focussed on these factors in certain platforms and
excelled in some; especially Facebook as a channel. However, as Chris Nield,
the Social Media Executive of MCFC stated; social media is not a number
game but the ability of the organization to listen and interact with the
customers who voice their opinions on these networks.

While they still have considerable opinions being shared by their fans on
Twitter, the response rate by the organization is not on par with competing
teams engaged in Twitter, when compared to Chelsea. While it can be argued
that the whole industry, including the most successful soccer club on social
media, Chelsea, is also similar, the fact remains that the objectives set by
MCFC for itself in social networks is not being followed.

According to MCFC, the way social media activities are measured is the rate
of growth of members in their social networks (fans on the Facebook page,
followers on Twitter and members of their Flickr group). Additionally they
frequently review analytics, link tracking and exchanges using a range of tools
in order to gauge the real value of the increase in membership (Beusekom,
2012). These tools, adapted for this report are:

 Engagement Duration: With the engagement duration you make it
clear how long a social media visitor is actively involved in the MCFC
website.
 Engagement Ratio: This ratio is determined by engagement. In the
case of Facebook, the number of likes, comments and shares by mail
on a given day divided by the number of fans on the page.
 Response Ratio: The response ratio is calculated by the number of
responses to your wall posts (with regard to Facebook) of the manager
of a page divided by the total number of wall posts.
 Activity Ratio: Last but not least you can analyze which visitors are
the most active through an activity ratio. The activity ratio is the ratio
between the activity of a certain user and the average activity of all
visitors.

The importance of understanding or setting KPI‟s allows the organization
growth goals for MCFC to be set. For example, monitoring of international
engagement, response and activity ratios allows for MCFC to understand their
effectiveness in social media in recruiting new international fans, and as such
growing their fan base.



3.5. People/Organisation/Resources

MCFC has undergone a vast number of changes both on the field and off the
field since the buyout by the Abu Dhabi sovereign. It is evident that MCFC is
being built as a global brand, and the funding to develop this is in place. This
is evident from the rebranding of the organisation in 2008, and the overhaul of
its online presence in 2008/9. Additionally the appointment of Aaron Moore,
who previously worked as a marketing executive for Tottenham Hotspur, as
the voice of the company in MCFC social media platforms indicates MCFC
dedication to social media financially and through personnel.

Since their vision is to be a platform for social communication, the main
responsibilities of the social media team are related to internal roles. They
want to include fans directly within the content of the sites rather than having
an omnipotent voice. However, it is still important to monitor and evaluate the
trend topics in the external platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in order to
react as soon as possible if necessary.



4. Future of Social Media in Sports/Football Clubs

4.1. Future Social Media Initiatives

The future opportunities for integrating MCFC marketing efforts with social
media are continuously advancing. This is evident as a focus of MCFC, as
Nield points out “there will be many more exciting advances in the pipeline
over the coming seasons, I’m sure” and “For us it’s all about opening the
doors of the club to our supporters” (McLaren, 2010).

Considering international sports teams and their integration into social media
a Mashable graphic (Diagram 2). This illustrates how social media is starting
to affect the buying behavior of sports fans and new platforms available to
embrace this change. For example, Crowdseats.com is a new website
assisting American sports teams. Fans can purchase their tickets online, at a
sizeable discount and are then expected to communicate their purchases to
their friends or co-fans to recommend a similar purchase

Diagram 2 – How Social Media is Changing Sport Ticketing (Laird, 2012)

4.2. Future Disruptive Technologies

MCFC will also need to be open to changes in technology or advancing
hardware. Named as disruptive innovations or technology disruptors, these
advances are seen as being able to radically alter the way organisations
interact with their customers, for example tripadvisor.com or the iPod.
Furthermore, a recent technological advancement that could alter MCFC fan
relationships is Google Glasses. Instead of watching a television broadcast of
a game, imagine watching it via streaming video and picking your vantage



point from traditional wide-angle shots to feed delivered via camera glasses
worn by different players (Laird, 2012).

4.3. Enhanced Business Modelling

It is also critical for MCFC to either develop their own social media practices,
through standard operating procedures or external consultants specialising in
Social Media. With software and hardware rapidly changing, being able to
stay ahead of the „game‟ is becoming more difficult. An example of external
consultant‟s efforts is that of McKinsey below in Diagram 3, this illustrates the
different touch points from which an organisation can manipulate a person‟s
social media experience without causing a negative backlash due to
„community feel disruption‟.

Diagram 3 – B2C Social Media Touch Points (Sarrazin, Edelman and Divol,
2012)

The model clearly illustrates that the role an organisation can play in
enhancing sales through social media is that of: Monitoring, Responding,
Amplifying & Leading.



5. Recommendations

Whilst through the analysis it has been identified that MCFC has an above
average social media campaign when benchmarked against its competitors, a
number of improvements can be made to enhance the organisations objective
of increasing its global fanbase.

5.1. MCFC Future Stars Initiative

The first recommendation is a new initiative for MCFC and is named
“Manchester City Future Stars” (MCFS). MCFS will act as a platform where
fans around the world can upload videos of young talented football players.
These „future stars‟ will be voted on by the general public and users of the site
with the top selected chosen given a prize of training at a MCFC youth
Academy as illustrated in Media Pack One.

5.1.1. Design & Development

The design and development of the website would mirror that of the simplistic
„hot or not‟ video platform. Whereby once on the website, two videos are
played simultaneously and the user has to select one as his/her favourite. The
website would also appear as a link or window within the main MCFC
homepage as illustrated in Media Pack Two.

5.1.2. Promotion

The promotion of the MCFS initiative will require a boost to have the

 Teaser campaign
 Initial „street‟ football videos, notably existing viral stars.
 Targeted Facebook Campaign
 Have MCFC players tweet their favourite videos
 (Need to insert which platform prospective fans will use)
 Push initial PR in target countries
 Build stronger PR through viral videos

5.1.3. Resources Required

The additional resources required for the initiative can be split into three
categories:

 Time Resource: The initiative can be targeted for a single year, and
then re-launched if defined as successful a year later.

 People Resource: Presuming the staffing of the development of the
website is outsourced; the website will require two full time staff
members. These personnel can be classified as community manager



and assistant manager. They will have the responsibility to monitor and
administer the website. Additionally, their responsibilities will include
the promotion of the website online through amplifying potentially viral
videos through social media platforms.

 Financial Resource: The MCFS initiative will cost approximately
£150,000.00 to develop and launch. See media pack three for a
detailed cost breakdown.

5.1.4. Timing

It is our recommendation to time the launch of the MCFS one month after the
end of the premier league season. This would counteract the seasonality of
social media user activity. It is clearly evident from diagram 4 below that there
is significant seasonality between the football season and off-season. As such
this represents an opportunity to launch a viral campaign to spread
awareness of the club both in England and globally.

Diagram 4 – ‘Manchester City’ Search Volume Index (Google Trends,
2012)

5.1.5. Existing Example

The development of a social media campaign aimed at promoting
international C2C communication can be achieved through employing
concepts such as the „My Starbucks Idea‟ whereby a platform is created to
generate topical interest on the organisation. The benefits as received from
Starbucks are:

 Increased C2C communication
 Operational/Service Feedback
 Consumer driven initiatives
 Enhanced brand value
 Brand promotion



5.1.6. Ethical Concerns

The ethical concern of the uploading of media related to minors existing
without their permission, and as such videos can be uploaded through a 3 rd
party site such as YouTube. Additionally a terms and conditions should be
enforced which governs the legal rights of minors.

5.2. Generic Recommendations

5.2.1. Counteract Seasonality of Demand

From our analysis it is noted that there is a lull period in the buzz about the
club during the end of season game and start of the transfer window. The club
can take efforts to reduce this lull through innovative ideas beyond the MCFS
initiative. This includes embracing and promoting relevant „gossip‟ about the
transfers, new offers on merchandise, insights into the lives of the key
members of the club etc.

5.2.2. Improve Community Engagement

The club could improve the level of engagement with fans on its Facebook
page through consistent interactions in the discussion to keep the „buzz‟
going.

5.2.3. Amplify Popular Social Community Initiatives

The club can look for opportunities to promote its victorious moments through
social media and increase the sale of its merchandise thus boosting its
revenue. Our study shows that the most popular picture associated with the
club in recent history was one where the football pitch was engulfed by the
blue colour of the fans of the club (see Diagram 5)



Diagram 5 - @MCFC’s Highest ReTweet – (Twiiter.com)

This image could have been used in a number of way on social media, such
as tagging, such as „where‟s wally‟? concepts. It is important for MCFC to
monitor the consumer driven social media communications such as this one,
and as the McKinsey study suggests: Amplify its message (Sarrazin, Edelman
and Divol, 2012).

5.2.4. Monitor Competitor Social Media Activity

MCFC can broaden their perspective into continental Europe and that of other
football clubs in the world. For example, the club could emulate the Marseille
that outsourced the design of its jerseys to the Facebook fans (Lai, N/D).

5.2.5. Engaging with Future Prospective Fans

Whilst Facebook is the globally dominant social media platform with close to
one billion users, only 60 million of these are under the age of 17 (see
diagram 6 below). There are additional alternatives such as:

 Club Penguin with over 30 million user accounts.
 Fantage with over 16 million registered users.
 Franktown Rocks 12 million registered users.
 Facebook which still has a gigantic population.



Diagram 6 - Facebook & LinkedIn Demographics (Young Upstarts, 2012)

It is imperative to engage within social media channels at a potential fans
young age, due to the increasing competitive market for global fan creation
where teams are not only competing against other teams, but other sports
industries.



6. Conclusion

In conclusion it has been illustrated that MCFC is currently a dominant player
in the football social media market place, and it currently has the resources to
maintain this dominance. It is also noted that the evolving nature of the social
media landscape is always changing, and that caution should be exercised.

We have furthered the recommendations by adding in concerns for the future
which include technological innovations, changing consumer behaviour and
new social media platforms.



7. Bibliography

 Beusekom, I.V. (2012) 4 KPI’s to Measure Your Social Media Success,
25 May, [Online], Available:
http://www.business2community.com/social-media/4-kpis-to-measure-
your-social-media-success-0184830 [12 Jun 2012].

 Google Trends (2012) Google Trends - Manchester City, [Online],
Available:
http://www.google.com/trends/?q=premier+league&ctab=0&geo=all&da
te=ytd&sort=0 [20 Jun 2012].

 Lai, J. (N/D) Marseille Football Club outsource their Jersey design,
[Online], Available: http://iamjohnlai.com/blog/?p=366 [14 Jun 2012].

 Laird, S. (2012) Could Google Glass Change Pro Sports Forever?, 27
Jun, [Online], Available: http://mashable.com/2012/06/27/google-glass-
pro-sports/ [27 Jun 2012].

 Laird, S. (2012) How Social Media is Changing Sport Ticketing, 04 Jun,
[Online], Available: http://mashable.com/2012/06/04/social-media-
sports-tickets-infographic/ [13 Jun 2012].

 MCFC Youtube Channel (2012) Tunnel Cam, 16 May, [Online],
Available:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LnxnPl8
A4rY#t=929s [14 Jun 2012].

 McLaren, D. (2010) Interview: Why Manchester City Get Social Media,
10 Feb, [Online], Available: http://www.theuksportsnetwork.com/245
[28 May 2012].

 Sarrazin, H., Edelman, D. and Divol, R. (2012) Demistifying Social
Media, April, [Online], Available:
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Demystifying_social_media_2958
[15 Jun 2012].

 Stoll, B. (2012) Interview with the man behind Manchester City’s Social
Media, 31 Mar, [Online], Available: http://digital-
football.com/featured/interview-with-the-man-behind-manchester-citys-
social-media/ [29 May 2012].

 Twtrland.com (2012) Twtrland.com, 15 Jun, [Online], Available:
(http://twtrland.com/profile/@mcfc) [15 Jun 2012].

 Twtrland.com (2012) Twtrland.com, 15 Jun, [Online], Available:
http://twtrland.com/profile/@chelseafc [15 Jun 2012].



 Young Upstarts (2012) Compelling reasons to spend less time on
Facebook and more time on LinkedIn, 07 May, [Online], Available:
http://www.youngupstarts.com/2012/05/07/20-compelling-reasons-to-
spend-less-time-on-facebook-and-more-time-on-linkedin/ [17 Jun
2012].



1. Media Pack

1.1. Media Pack 1

Illustration of the voting system, in which randomly two young players are
displayed so fans can choose the one more liked. The platform also
emphasises the country from which the video was uploaded as well as the
overall statistics of the young player.

Fans can navigate through the site searching for different players all around
the world and clicking a “Like” button linked with Facebook.



1.2. Media Pack 2
Illustration of the MCFC homepage, in which a link or window to the
“Manchester City Future Stars” platform appears.



1.3. Media Pack 3
Assumed cost breakdown for Manchester City Future Stars Initiative. Further
costing required providing a thorough detailed analysis.

Item £
Website Development £30,000.00
Staffing (2x Employees) £50,000.00
Publicity & Promotion £40,000.00
Initial Videos £15,000.00
Contingency £15,000.00

Total £150,000.00


Social media Analysis of Manchester City football club

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