January 3 – Research using the social media tracker tool Flightdeck, puts Chelsea ahead of ‘big club’ rivals Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid in India in the race to dominate the social space.
India in many ways is a barometer market in social and mobile media, with a very fast adopting consumer base and huge mobile connections – almost 700 million active connections in a market of 1.1 billion people.
While cricket is India’s first sporting passion, football has gained a very strong social foothold, both on the social networks but also in the nation’s viewing habits. The English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League attracting the most interest.
The Flightdeck stats show which clubs are currently best placed to benefit from the boom based on the number of internet mentions (blogs, forums, twitter and news) in India per club. Chelsea
Chelsea show a clear and consistent lead over their Manchester United rivals, with a marked peak around the Champions League final. Barcelona are closest to Chelsea.
The graph shows success on the pitch delivers massive results in social media, but what is interesting is that in most Asian markets, even when they are not successful on the pitch, Manchester United dominate the brand awareness stats.
This may reflect the emergence of India as a growth market for football and that the battle for hearts and minds in India is taking place now. Many economic analysts are predicting that by 2050 India will be the world’s largest economy. First movers with their brands will likely gain a major commercial advantage in-market – if they can maintain a high level of on-pitch success.
Flightdeck is a social media tracker tool from Havas Sports and Entertainment.
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