Any reader of this blog will know that we whole heartedly believe Manchester City<\/a> to be the finest example of Social Media Engagement in the English Premier League<\/a>. Again and again, City produce creative and innovative fan engagement Social Media activity<\/a>.<\/p>\n This week, Benjamin Stoll<\/a> – a German football social media blogger on “The Missing Piece<\/a>“, and contributor to Digital-Football.com – has very kindly provided us access to an interview he conducted with Richard Ayers via Google+ Hangout<\/a>. Richard has been the “digital playmaker” leading the Manchester City team and without a doubt, the<\/strong> thought-leader in Football Social Media at this moment. Benjamin has a full transcript of the interview (though it’s in German!) on his website<\/a> – where you can also listen to the interview (in English). For the sake of brevity, here are our highlights:<\/p>\n Ayers states that,<\/p>\n “we [City] do not think of ourselves as a football club, we are a global entertainment brand”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Football is after all a form of entertainment so why do clubs persist in not thinking like the rest of the industry. Ayers explains that many of City’s digital activities are not ROI based – the QR codes<\/a>, the tunnel cam, the Google streetview within the stadium – it’s all about providing for fans that want to feel closer to the club.<\/p>\n An interesting comment Ayers made was that Manchester City’s activity intends to target\u00a0“new people who are not passionate about the club”. Activity shouldn’t just be exclusively for their current fans but it should be for winning and creating new fans – a particularly shrewd strategy when you look at the EPL’s global viewership and adoption in emerging markets. For City, Social Media isn’t just about the football – but it’s sharing that “experience” and what it means to be part of the club.<\/p>\nFootball is an entertainment brand<\/h3>\n
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Football Social Media isn’t just for the fans<\/h3>\n