United's digital approach key to on-field success says MD
Extensive online engagement is an essential part of building fresh
success for Manchester United, the club's group managing director
Richard Arnold said on Tuesday.
Extensive online engagement is an essential part of building fresh
success for Manchester United, the club's group managing director
Richard Arnold said on Tuesday.
Arnold was speaking at the Web Summit in Lisbon and outlined the club's
widespread involvement with their global online fan-base which he said
amounted to 659 million followers.
United, the world's wealthiest club, have 73.3 million followers on
Facebook, which Arnold said was more than the NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL
combined. They also have 18.5 million followers on Twitter.
Some pundits have said that United's focus on the club's commercial
interests is a distraction from the need to get back to the top in the
Premier League but Arnold said the two go hand-in-hand.
"Commercial success is only possible because of the unparalleled
engagement we have with our fans. The end goal is creating a virtuous
circle, where more engagement with our fans equals greater opportunities
for our partners," he said.
"And that in turn equals greater revenue, and more opportunities for
academy investment and world class signings to deliver the performances
and success United fans expect and deserve. Expressed simply, for us to
win on the pitch, we have to win off it."
United, who have won a record 20 English league titles, have not
finished top of the Premier League since 2013 and currently sit in
seventh place.
But interest in the club shows no signs of waning and Arnold said United
were responsible for generating 44 percent of all Premier League club
interactions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The club have a series of commercial partners including Chevrolet,
Adidas, Aon and Aeroflot and their content strategy, includes their own
MUTV channel, YouTube channel, club website and print publications.
Arnold said the millennial demographic accounted for 51 percent of
United fans and followers as well as 77 percent of their social media
following.
The club, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, are controlled by the American Glazer family.
United have forecast revenue for 2018-19 to rise to record levels,
between 615 million pounds (US$804 million) and 630 million pounds in
the year to next June.
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