The digitisation of the Premier League brand
From Opta Sports to the Sun, brands have exploited the online community blossoming around the Premier League for some time with little challenge from football chiefs until now.
the Premier League has overhauled its digital strategy.
It was clear that “we needed a fundamental overhaul,” admitted head of digital, Martin Axford, who has shaped what he calls a “mobile first solution” for a “mobile-first generation”. This boils down to a revamped site and its first app that it hopes can give it skin in the game when it comes to live matchday experiences, video, statistics and social media.
Should the move work then fans will be more inclined to use either official source to quench their football fix – whether its live updates or video highlights – rather than go elsewhere. What’s driven the shift is the league’s need to wrestle authority away from the likes of Opta Sports and the Sun when it comes to statistics and Fantasy League at a time when it wants to create a brand that’s known all over the world like the Olympic Rings.
Given how consumption and fan engagement have evolved, the biggest value to the Premier League (outside of broadcast) is around the ability to package and deliver stats, fantasy products, and video content. It may be the most lucrative domestic competition in world football – domestic TV tie-ups worth £5.14bn and shirt deals for all 20 clubs worth £226.5m – but up to this point any association a brand had with the league was actually with the Barclays Premier League. Now that it has several sponsorships instead of one, there’s an opportunity to build the league’s brand, which can only happen if it can exert its authority in a crowded online space.
“This isn’t something that we’ve launched overnight. It’s an evolution of where we’ve been previously and making sure that we’re improving the service,” assured Axford. “Things like the depth of statistics we’re offering…trying to wrestle that authoritative ground away from people who have previously been focusing on statistics. Things like that and the Fantasy League – it’s a USP for us because no one does the official fantasy football game of the Premier League and so driving interest off the back of these is critical for how we continue to grow.”
For all Axford’s confident rhetoric, there’s no denying that the league is a little late to a fragmenting online space where fans are already going to social networks and using digital services to consume their football content. But success of the league’s digital foray “isn’t just about the numbers,” he argued. “It’s also about the experience that fans are getting from the league.” And that’s where its relationship with sponsors like Nike and Tag Heuer could bring something unique to an experience that might otherwise be similar to elsewhere.
Whether it's creating a Nike ball hub that celebrates innovation or taking its app on to Tag Heuer's connected watch, there are a number of “different strands that we’re looking to invest in” to build that association and continue to “provide attractive features and services,” added Axford.
Efforts to generate greater fan engagement from the league’s owned platforms chime with those of its member clubs. Manchester City leads the way in this regard, with the club’s marketing geared to get as many fans as possible consuming the content it creates and hosts, spanning its own YouTube channel, Facebook Messenger Bot and virtual reality. Rival Manchester United also upped its marketing earlier this week in the way it worked with sponsor Adidas and its most expensive signing Paul Pogba to eke out as much buzz from his arrival as it could.
“[The] Premier League has done a terrific job in building a strong brand and product so it’s not a surprise that it wants to capitalise on the commercial opportunity around the product it has built,” said Misha Sher, head of sport and entertainment for EMEA at Mediacom.
“We only have to look at our counterparts in major US sports to see how well those leagues have done in ensuring they maintain control of the of their most valuable assets and in being able to monetise them."
Any progress has been led by the players rather than clubs or federations. So while overdue, these initiatives should be "welcomed and well received by young fans," claimed Antony Marcou, chief executive of sports marketing outfit Sports Revolution.
"Although this is not a commercial initiative, the positive side effect for the Premier League is this will fit well with its licensing model," he continued. "It has been well documented that these deals are devoid of traditional camera facing assets. However as budgets increasingly migrate to digital and social media channels, brands will be able to derive much more value than would previously been the case."
Additional reporting by Tony Connelly.