Success on the field and a strong digital push off the field is a winning combination for clubs

Sourced from http://www.ryanjknapp.com/blog/fc-barcelona-case-study-wins-prestigious-award/

We can learn from the big players in Football. I thought this little piece might interest you. It certainly made me sit up and take notice.

Just about every Football Club in the ACT region has a website. Many are not well designed or maintained - after all, its all done by volunteers. Nevertheless, a general audit of lots of Club sites will reveal a range of attempts to exploit a "website".But this is changing and changing quickly as our communities are becoming ever more involved and relaint on web based / digital commincations, not to mention that not so sleeping giant - social media platforms (facebook, twitter, increasong interaction with live Television, radio broadcasts and online commerical shopping etc). There are Web based products out there now that enable teams to be managed using email and SMS, together with "chat room" type functionality, the set up costs are free, no onging costs but you pay the SMS charges you generate, and your site supports advertising imposed on you by the organisation that runs it. If you can live with the latter, its a good way to start at team level. The FFA has pursued the introduction of MyFootball Club and S2S for Club Football operational matters (though the take up on the latter seems a bit slow). Now there is talk of "Sporting Pulse" beng a provider to Football Clubs. The convergence of technologies makes everything possible and some Clubs out there are getting their act together to leverage off this technology. But it requires some careful planning and good advice.

This is a big subject, so just for now, read this short story and consider how you might move your Club forward.

FC Barcelona case study wins prestigious award

by Ryan Knapp on November 12, 2010
We all know FC Barcelona have experienced incredible success during recent years. Not only have they been a dominate force on the field led by Leo Messi and company, but they have seen their value as a brand rise tremendously because of their success and also a strongly focused marketing effort, especially in the United States and in Asia.

At the end of October, the North American Case Research Association (NACRA) awarded the Gold Award to a research study produced at ESADE Law and Business School case entitled “FC Barcelona, more than a club” The ESADE is part of the Institut Ramon Llull located in Catalunya in Spain.


The study was written by professors Josep Franch y Jordi Montaña and a student in Marketing Management, Andreu Turró, according to Managing Sport.


The article (note, I’ve written to see if I can get a hold of a copy to read) goes back in time when Barcelona were the 13th largest club in the world in terms of revenue. With a strong focus on building the brand and also building the club and it’s players into a powerhouse, Barcelona was able to skyrocket up the charts and position itself as one of the most popular clubs in the world.
They have done a great job, especially in working with new media. Their newsletters are extremely informative and well designed, not to mention they come in an array of different languages. They also have at the moment over 6,000,000 fans on facebook and each simple post from their facebook page garners between 2,000 – 15,000 comments. Absolutely mindblowing.

Success on the field and a strong digital push off the field is a winning combination for clubs. While you can have a strong digital center to carry your team through those bad seasons, when they both combine, you can have a great case study like FC Barcelona.