With a base of around 35 million supporters, Manchester United FC already boasts more fans in India than any other football club and it continues to add new ones with its latest #ILOVEUNITED fan events.
United’s ambassador, Denis Irwin and club legend and former striker Louis Saha returned to India (having previously represented the club in February 2016) for this season’s #ILOVEUNITED experience on 20 January in Mumbai.
The live experience – which saw 10,000 fans apply for the 3,000 tickets at the venue (showing the degree of #ILOVEUNITED demand) was boosted by amplification across Indian football platforms as well as via fan channels too.
Some of my favourite pictures from the #ILOVEUNITED event yesterday.@ManUtd_pune @ManUtd pic.twitter.com/0ynLUTyivU
— Vishal (@NamakSwagAnusar) January 21, 2018
This year’s Indian event also saw plenty of pre- and in-event activation from several of the club’s high profile Indian partners (such as Apollo Tyres and HCL), alongside an impressive line up of the club’s global partners (including Adidas, Aeroflot, Concha y Toro, Epson, Gulf, TAG Heuer and Uber).
The sponsors event-related work ranged from offering guests player/legend engagement opportunities, as well as competitions, giveaways, VIP discounts or options to purchase exclusive products.
Our President @mihirdsheth won the Gulf Oil Challenge at the #ILOVEUNITED event in Mumbai and has earned a free trip to Old Trafford to watch Manchester United vs Liverpool!
Great Stuff, Boss
#GulfFanArmy #RedArmy #MUFC pic.twitter.com/eRLS9BlqxM— Man United NM (@ManUtd_NM) January 20, 2018
While, Gulf, Adidas and Apollo have intensified Manchester United’s promotion in India with digital, social and OOH marketing.
Hey Mumbaikars, here is a chance for you to make your wish come true! Just answer these simple questions in the comment section, and win passes to #ILoveUnited. Lucky winners will win #ApolloXManUtd merchandise too! Don’t forget to use #LiveWithLegends to validate your entry. pic.twitter.com/BYwkZZ1F5M
— Apollo Tyres (@apollotyres) January 17, 2018
Just hours left for the #LiveWithLegends Facebook Live event with the @ManUtd Legends, @louissaha08 & @DenisIrwin.
Catch them LIVE today, 19th October 2017 from 4:30 PM IST.#ApolloXManUtd #GGMU #MUFC #ILOVEUNITED pic.twitter.com/SL9Qed7x9I— Apollo Tyres (@apollotyres) January 19, 2018
This partner event activation builds on previous and ongoing Man Utd campaigns: such as Apollo’s innovative #EarnTheJersey game-led initiative (see case study).
This latest event follows on from the previous fan party the club hosted in Mumbai during the 16/17 season: which saw more than 4,000 fans attend.
#ILOVEUNITED has already covered three locations covered this season – Shanghai,
New York,
and Mumbai – and between them the events have been activated by a total of 29 sponsors.
As to how the sponsors are supporting the #ILOVEUNITED events, according to Utd there have already been more than 20,000 applicants for tickets – meaning each venue will be filled to capacity.
In Shanghai and New York the club hosted over 3,000 fans between them.
These events are promoted by local sponsors in market and by the club itself across its own global platforms.
“We are proud to have a global following of 659m fans and we feel it is important to take the club to the fans as often as we can. We do this every minute of every day through our media platforms, with our latest figures showing we receive 147m connections across all social media platforms, including Manutd.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Sina Weibo and Line,as well as also stage these physical events which allow our fans to engage with the club,” outlined Manchester Utd partnerships director Sean Jefferson.
“Our partners are fully integrated into the international strategy and we work closely with them to select cities, venues, and activations which work for them and our fans. We want to recognise and reward the loyal support we receive from our fans, some of whom will never have the chance to visit Manchester, by bringing a little bit of the United dream to them.”
“With India being such an important market for the club, we are always looking at further partnership opportunities. A number of our global partners are either headquartered in India, or have India as a very high priority market,” adds Jefferson.
“We have close to 35m followers in India, which is a huge audience for any partner. However, it has to be the right partnership with the right company – ones who can enhance the offering we give to our fans as well as complement the club and its reputation at the pinnacle of world football.”
Comment:
Boosted by tournament’s such as last year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup
and India’s own, new domestic Indian Super League (ISL), there is growing fan interest in India and that means growing brand and club interest too.
In fact, India has become a hotspot for football with major football clubs targeting its marketing potential.
When it comes to finding new fans, securing new sponsors and marketing partners, India is increasingly seen as a football hotspot.
Recent months have seen clubs such as Liverpool FC, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City FC all make investments and boost their presence felt in India through partnerships and events.
But, with its events, soccer schools and brand partners, for the moment it is Manchester United that continues to lead the way.
With this kind of global approach, it is little surprise that, according to Forbes, Man Utd is once again the world’s most valuable football club – valued by the financial publisher as $3.69bn.
“We will continue to grow the commercial side of our business and see our long-standing, loyal and expanding family of fans in the region as being key to our success. We will also further develop our retail, merchandising, apparel and product licensing business, exploit new media and content opportunities and enhance the reach and distribution of our broadcasting rights,” continues Jefferson.
“The [APAC] opportunities to engage with our huge family of fans means that there is significant potential in the region and the continued growth of business in this area makes it an attractive area in which to operate. The club has had an office in Hong Kong for the last four years, providing a central hub for partners within APAC, employing staff who speak the languages, know and understand the different cultures and importantly who are in the same time zone. This has allowed the club to develop further its business interests within the region. Manchester United alone has well over 300m followers in the APAC, which demonstrates the power and reach of football in the region. As I think with most international companies these days, the region as a whole and the individual countries within, it remain an important key market for the club.”
Links:
Manchester United
http://www.manutd.com/en/IndianMegastorePage.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/manchesterunited/
http://www.manutd.com/en/Club/Sponsors.aspx
https://www.instagram.com/MANCHESTERUNITED/
https://plus.google.com/+MANUTD
https://www.pinterest.com/manutd/
