Brandjack News

By Quentin Langley

Apparently some 660 million people worldwide have an allegiance to Manchester United. That is at least three times more than the Shia branch of Islam and around eight times more than the Anglican Communion, the largest Protestant denomination and double the number of Orthodox Christians. If football is a religion, Manchester United comes in as the third biggest brand in the world, after Roman Catholicism and Sunni Islam.

Sports clubs are not the only cult brands – think Apple, or Harley-Davidson – but they are the grand masters of managing cult status. Sports fans are tribes – affiliated, usually from birth, as much by their hostilitly to a rival brand as by their love for the tribe.

At one point, of course, sports teams drew their support from a locality. The big global brands are well beyond that, with Man U's tribe not only dwarfing the population of Manchester, but amounting to some ten times the population of the entire UK. 

Social media are obvious weapons in the armoury of this reputation management. But presently the club is only beginning to exploit its assets. There are only 20 million fans signed up to the club's Facebook page.

Once the network is fully operational, it will be very powerful. A football club is not like a cola brand. A 'like' is rather more meaningful. People are actually interested in the club and its news. A good Facebook page for Manchester United will be very 'sticky', keeping fans engaged on the page.

The agency, SapieNitro, recently engaged to develop Man U's social media presence has taken on a dream account. If handled well, this is going to set new standards in social media management.