National Football Teams and their fans: An analysis on the adoption on and engagement of Social Media across 3 countries (France, Spain and Ireland).

THE UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

[MIM PROJECT]

Title: National Football Teams and their fans: An
analysis on the adoption of and engagement on
Social Media across countries.

Name: Benoît Loïc Vaysse

Year of Completion: 2012

Title: National Football Teams and their fans: An analysis on the
adoption of and engagement on Social Media across countries.

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of
Master of Science in International Management of the University of
Strathclyde

THE UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

Name: Benoît Loïc Vaysse

Year of Completion: 2012

Supervisor: Dr Sean Ennis

Statement of Academic Honesty

I declare that this dissertation is entirely my own original work.

I declare that, except where fully referenced direct quotations have been
included, no aspect of this dissertation has been copied from any other
source.

I declare that all other works cited in this dissertation have been
appropriately referenced.

I understand that any act of Academic Dishonesty such as plagiarism or
collusion may result in the non-award of a Master’s degree.

Signed …………………….……… Dated …….……………………

Project Feedback

Page | iv

Acknowledgements

The first person to be acknowledged is Dr Sear Ennis. Without his
precious guidance, advice and knowledge, this project would have never
been possible.
For their help in correcting, translating the entire participation sheet,
letter of consent and questionnaire, Alfonso Melero, Ana Miguel Fonseca
Pêgo, Camila da Fonseca, Chloé Millet, Francisca Monteiro and Itziar
Iranzo Marco have to be thanked.

Page | vii

Abstract:

This project has been undertaken to analyse the Social Media’s Strategies and Management of
National Football Teams. (France, Spain and Ireland) involved in the Euro2012. One of the
objectives was to draw recommendations for National Football Team to make better use of
Social Media.

The literature reviewed the core concept and evolution of the Web and its link to Social Media.
As this project focused on Sports, the adoption of Social Media into Sports were analysed.
Secondly, the concept of Customers Relationship Management and its link with Social Media
and Football have also been studied. Furthermore, in order to have a better understanding of the
Football’s Industry, a brief description of majors’ football institutions and countries studied had
been done.

To reach these objectives, the researcher collected quantitative and qualitative data. Firstly, the
researcher analysed the use and adoption of Social Media by National Football Team with the
use of netnography. Secondly, to understand the Social Media Strategy adopted by federations,
the researcher run phone interview with their S.M. executive. Finally, via the send-out of an
online questionnaire to supporters of teams studied, the researcher analysed the Social Media
behaviour and expectation of supporters.

Findings show that, at a certain degree of difference, federations are lacking in behind in their
adoption of Social Media platforms. Moreover, according to the questionnaire and the feedback
from interviews, they use Social Media as a broadcasting tool rather than as an engaging one.
According to analytical tools, supporters talks in a positive way of their teams online. As a
result, supporters tend to influence their fellow supporters to follow their teams on Social Media
platforms. Furthermore, according to the questionnaire feedback, supporters would like their
National Football Team to make more use of Social Media. Consequently, to keep themselves
updated on the latest news, federations tend to attend conference, follow group study on Web2.0
platform and get advice from S.M. agencies.

As a result, recommendations have been oriented over a short, medium and long term period.
Short period are essentially based on the readjustment of current platform and on the adoption
of new ones. The medium term period concern the improvement of the core website in order to
make it more Web2.0 friendly. Finally, the long term period concern the adoption of platforms
that require a certain technological advancement such as Google Earth or 360° Photos
Audience.

Keywords: Web2.0, Social Media, National Football Team, Euro2012, France, Spain, Ireland.

Words Count: 17,362

Page | viii

Table of Contents
Project Feedback ..................................................................................................................... iv

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ vii

Abstract: ............................................................................................................................... viii

1 Introduction.....................................................................................................................14

1.1 Introduction: ............................................................................................................14

1.2 Research rationale: ...................................................................................................14

1.3 Research Aims: ........................................................................................................14

1.4 Research Objectives: ................................................................................................14

1.5 Nota Bene: ...............................................................................................................14

2 Literature Review ............................................................................................................15

2.1 Chapter Introduction: ...............................................................................................15

2.2 Web 2.0: ..................................................................................................................16

2.2.1 Core concept: ...................................................................................................16

2.2.2 Web 2.0 and Social Media: ...............................................................................18

2.2.3 Adoption of Social Media into Sports: ..............................................................21

2.3 Customer Relationship Management: .......................................................................23

2.3.1 Customer Relationship Management and Companies: .......................................23

2.3.2 Customer Relationship Management and Social Customer Relationship
Management:...................................................................................................................23

2.3.3 Adoption of Customer Relationship Management into Football: .......................24

2.4 Chapter Conclusion: ................................................................................................25

3 Industry Profile ...............................................................................................................27


3.2 Fédération Internationale de Football Association: ...................................................27

3.2.1 Objectives: .......................................................................................................27

3.2.2 Notion of Confederations: ................................................................................27

3.2.3 Notion of Associations: ....................................................................................27

3.2.4 Financial: .........................................................................................................28

3.3 Union of European Football Association: .................................................................28

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3.3.1 History: ............................................................................................................28

3.3.2 Objective: ........................................................................................................28

3.3.3 Financial: .........................................................................................................28

3.4 U.E.F.A. Euro Cup: .................................................................................................29

3.4.1 History and General Rules: ...............................................................................29

3.4.2 Case of the U.E.F.A. Euro 2012: ......................................................................29

3.5 Members Association: .............................................................................................30

3.5.1 Fédération Française de Football: .....................................................................30

3.5.2 Real Federación Española de Futbol: ................................................................31

3.5.3 Football Association of Ireland: ........................................................................31


4 Methodology ...................................................................................................................33


4.2 Marketing Research: ................................................................................................33

4.3 Research Method and Justification: ..........................................................................33

4.3.1 Netnography: ...................................................................................................34

4.3.2 Interviews: .......................................................................................................35

4.3.3 Online Questionnaire: ......................................................................................35

4.4 Sampling: ................................................................................................................35

4.4.1 Step 1: Define the population of interest ...........................................................35

4.4.2 Step 2: Determine whether to sample or census ................................................36

4.4.3 Step 3: Select the sampling frame .....................................................................36

4.4.4 Step 4: Choose a sampling method ...................................................................36

4.4.5 Step 5: Determine sample size ..........................................................................36

4.4.6 Step 6 Implement the sampling procedure ........................................................36

4.5 Final Analysis: .........................................................................................................36

4.6 Recommendations: ..................................................................................................37


5 Analysis ..........................................................................................................................38

5.1 Chapter introduction: ...............................................................................................38

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5.2 General feedback on the questionnaire: ....................................................................38

5.3 General user behaviour on Social Media: .................................................................39

5.4 Analysis of the French Football Team: .....................................................................40

5.4.1 Involvement: ....................................................................................................40

5.4.2 Interactions: .....................................................................................................42

5.4.3 Intimacy: ..........................................................................................................43

5.4.4 Influence: .........................................................................................................43

5.4.5 Insight:.............................................................................................................44

5.4.6 Impact:.............................................................................................................44

5.5 Analysis of the Spanish Football Team: ...................................................................45

5.5.1 Involvement: ....................................................................................................45

5.5.2 Interactions: .....................................................................................................46

5.5.3 Intimacy: ..........................................................................................................47

5.5.4 Influence: .........................................................................................................47

5.5.5 Insight:.............................................................................................................48

5.5.6 Impact:.............................................................................................................49

5.6 Analysis of Ireland: ..................................................................................................49

5.6.1 Involvement: ....................................................................................................49

5.6.2 Interactions: .....................................................................................................51

5.6.3 Intimacy: ..........................................................................................................53

5.6.4 Influence: .........................................................................................................53

5.6.5 Insight:.............................................................................................................53

5.6.6 Impact:.............................................................................................................54


6 Conclusions, Recommendations, Limitations ...................................................................55

6.1 Conclusions: ............................................................................................................55

6.1.1 Chapter Introduction: .......................................................................................55

6.1.2 Objective 1: Social Media’s adoption by National Football Teams....................55

6.1.3 Objective 2: Strategy adopted by National Football Team:................................56

6.1.4 Objective 3: Expectation of supporters in their use of Social Media ..................56

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6.2 Recommendations: ..................................................................................................57

6.2.1 Business Objectives: ........................................................................................57

6.2.2 Customer Segment: ..........................................................................................57

6.2.3 Periods: ............................................................................................................58

6.2.4 Resources:........................................................................................................63

6.2.5 Chapter Conclusion: .........................................................................................63

6.3 Limitations and Recommendations for future research: ............................................63

6.4 Reflective Essay: .....................................................................................................64

7 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................66

8 Appendices......................................................................................................................71

8.1 Acronym: ................................................................................................................71

8.2 Glossary: .................................................................................................................72

8.3 Questions for interviews: .........................................................................................74

8.4 Online Questionnaire: ..............................................................................................76

8.5 Participant Information Sheet: ..................................................................................87

8.5.1 Participant Information Sheet English ..............................................................87

8.5.2 Participant Information Sheet French................................................................90

8.5.3 Participant Information Sheet Spanish ..............................................................93

8.6 Consent Form: .........................................................................................................96

8.6.1 Consent Form English: .....................................................................................96

8.6.2 Consent Form French: ......................................................................................97

8.6.3 Consent Form Spanish: ....................................................................................97

8.7 Transcript of the Interview with the French National Football Team: .......................98

8.8 Good Practices: ...................................................................................................... 101

8.8.1 Facebook: F.C. Barcelona .............................................................................. 101

8.8.2 Twitter: Liverpool F.C. .................................................................................. 101

8.8.3 YouTube: Nike “My Time is Now” ................................................................ 102

8.8.4 Foursquare: Manchester City F.C. .................................................................. 103

8.8.5 Instagram: Manchester City F.C. .................................................................... 103

8.8.6 Pinterest: Liverpool F.C. ................................................................................ 104

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8.8.7 Mobile App: NHL Ice Time ........................................................................... 104

8.8.8 Website: ......................................................................................................... 105

8.8.9 Facebook Platform: London 2012 ................................................................... 106

8.8.10 Google Earth: Wembley Stadium ................................................................... 106

8.8.11 Match Day Photo Experience: Arsenal F.C. .................................................... 107

8.9 The case of the English and the Portuguese Football Team: .................................... 108

8.9.1 Participant Information Sheet Portuguese: ...................................................... 108

8.9.2 Consent Form Portuguese:.............................................................................. 112

8.9.3 Industry Profile of the Football Association and the Federação Portuguesa de
Futebol: 113

8.9.4 Analysis of the Football Association and the Federação Portuguesa de Futebol:
114

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1 Introduction

1.1 Introduction:
This chapter will outline the research rationale, the research aims and finally the research
objectives.

1.2 Research rationale:
Lots of studies have been done on the topic of Football and Social Media (S.M.). However, the
researcher has found that a gap resulted in the analysis of S.M. adoption within National
Football Team (N.F.T.). As a result, in a year of European Football Competition, the researcher
has decided to ride on the wave of this competition to analyse the S.M. strategies adopted by
three different countries: France, Spain, and Ireland.

S.M. being a new trend, the aim of this topic became as a result relevant.

1.3 Research Aims:
The aim of the research project is to study the S.M. strategy adopted by N.F.T., benchmarks
them with its competitors and finally makes some recommendations.

1.4 Research Objectives:
 Objective 1: S.M. Adoption by N.F.T.
 Objective 2: Strategy adopted by N.F.T.
 Objective 3: Expectation of supporters in their use of S.M.

1.5 Nota Bene:
In this project, the researcher used several technical terms. Please refer to the Acronym (See
8.1) and Glossary (See 8.2) sections in the appendices.

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2 Literature Review

2.1 Chapter Introduction:
Sports which used to be a form of pass-time in the past have now become a real industry that
generates billions of dollars of revenue. Athletes practicing sports at a high level are now
considered as being professional. Such an environment has been favourable to the apparition of
marketing technique adapted to sports. Before a definition of Sport Marketing is given, the
notion of Marketing has to be defined. According to Hollensen (2011, p. 26), marketing is a
“means whereby consumers/users are made aware of the product/service and are able to
purchase it”. As a result, the adaptation of Marketing to Sports could be define as “an ongoing
process through which contests with an uncertain outcome are staged, creating opportunities for
the simultaneous fulfilment of direct and indirect objectives among sports customers, sports
businesses and other related individuals and organisations” (Chadwick & Beech, 2007, pp. 4-5).

The discipline of Sports Marketing has the particularity to be based on the Uncertainty of the
Outcome because sport is a way in which people can publicly assert their affiliations. Another
important characteristic of Sports Marketing is the relationship between fans and sports
organisations because without interest of fans, media and sponsors will not engage with the
Sports Industry. As a result fans, take a major part in the development of Sports. By extension
Online Sports Marketing has become a major tool for sports organisation in order to reach
potential market. Already in 2003, Brown (2003) identified that sports marketers could use the
Internet as form of engagement with their fans. Nowadays, the Internet is being used by a major
part of the population – 82.5% of Internet Penetration in the UK in 2010 (TNS, 2012). It,
consequently, summarises well the importance the Internet has taken into the Internet sports
industry. With the increasing adoption of S.M. within sports, fans, sports clubs have seen in
S.M. an important tool to foster their relationship with their fans. (Walsh, 2010)

The purpose of this project is to analyse the S.M. strategy adopted by N.F.T. involved in the
Euro2012. As a result, an answer to this project will be done in five parts. The first part will be
the literature review in which all the concept and models used in this project will be explained.
In order to have an understanding of football, the football industry will be developed in the
second part. The third part will analyse the methodology adopted by the researcher to conduct
his research, while the fourth section will analyse the data collected. Finally, as a form of
conclusions, the recommendations and limits will be developed in the fifth and final part.

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For the purpose of this project, an analysis of the engagement and adoption of S.M. into N.F.T
will be done. Therefore, it is important to have an idea of several concepts such as Web 2.0 but
also Consumer Relationship Management (C.R.M.).

2.2 Web 2.0:

2.2.1 Core concept:

2.2.1.1 Evolution of the Web:
In order to understand the concept of Web 2.0, it is important to explain the evolution of the
Web and its different phase. According to Rosen & Phillips (2011), the Internet has been
developed during the 1970’s. Indeed, in 1971, the first email has been sent from one computer
to another one following by the first chat sessions and first FTP file downloaded in 1973. The
World Wide Web, which became the first and accessible form of the Internet to public, has
appeared in 1994.

2.2.1.2 Definition of Web 2.0:
Across numerous reading, the researcher noticed that the definition O’Reilly made of Web 2.0
has been commonly accepted by his peers. Therefore we will use his definition as a starting
point of our research. He (2005) defined “Web 2.0 as tools that help people build online
community for creativity, collaboration and sharing.” (Bohley, 2010). According to O’Reilly,
Web 2.0 is a mixture of seven principles.

1 - The Web as a
Platform.

2 - Harnessing
7 - Rich User Collective
Experience Intelligence

6 - Sofware above 3 - Data is the
the level of a Next Intel Inside
single device

5 - Lightweight 4 - End of
Programming Software Release
Models Cycle

First of all, the Web 2.0 is considered to be a platform. In Web 1.0 era, it used to have Netscape,
Double Click and Akamai, nowadays it has Google, AdSense and Bitorrent who have replaced
respectively the mentioned applications. In the past, every tool was seen as a software sold and

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package to consumer in the way Microsoft did with their operating system. While nowadays,
everything is built on the basis of a web application accessible from everywhere, by everyone
and free of charge.
Moreover, one of the core assets of Web 2.0 is the availability for Internet users to find
information and their ability to engage between each other. This form of engagement can be
done via the transfer of knowledge or via the transfer of data as it is for Bitorrent. Additionally,
the concept of service of Bitorrent is to be self-improved regarding the taste of the users. For
example, on Bitorrent, more popular is a file, faster will be the download.
The second principle is the concept of harnessing collective intelligence. By this, it means that
each user improves the experience of the use of the platform by adding value to it. The peer-to-
peer concept is derived from this process where every user shares its files with his peers on a
server. Another concept derived from this, is the Open Source. Open Source is a platform built
with neither pattern nor copyright where any internet user can not only adopt it but can also
customize it to his own need.

The concept of “Data Management” is the next concept. This is the pure result of the Open
Source theory. With an increasing number of information needed, software has to update
consistently. As it has now shifted into an information era, the notion of infoware has appeared.
Amazon is the perfect example because, even though it was using the bibliography database of
Bowker for their book, they have now introduced their own identification database and has
encouraged its customers to complete the missing information. By this way, Amazon has
become within 10 years, the number one in book referencing.
The fourth principle is the “end of the software release cycle”. As we have mentioned
previously, one of the main move from the Web 1.0 to the Web 2.0 is the end of the software.
Nowadays, except in the situation of an absolute necessity (I.e.: if it is updated on a daily basis),
software should stop being developed in favour of platform. Moreover, with the required
engagement of Internet users, it is witnessing a perpetual “Bêta” version of platform.
The fifth core aspect of Web 2.0 is the programming model of platform. In the era of Web 1.0,
engineer used to develop software by using very complicated coding system. Nowadays, in the

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era of the Web 2.0, where everything is available to everyone, the coding system has been
lightened on purpose in order to make it more accessible to people. Therefore, this new system
is designed for hackability and remixability. (O'Reilly, 2005) With Web 2.0, the key word has
been “Think syndication, not coordination”. It means, as O’Reilly said, the data need to be
associated outwards without controlling what happens.
As we have drawn from the previous principles, the key aspect of Web 2.0 is the fact that these
platforms, in which application can be built on, are independent from any device. The main
objective of Web 2.0 is to be able to access them from anywhere at any time with anything.
iTunes is the best example possible as this application can be used on any mobile device. Lap or
desk tops here are playing the role of storage and control station for these devices.
Finally the last principle is the concept of “Rich User Experience”. The development of web-
application is such, that nowadays these ones are as efficient as local PC-based applications.

2.2.1.3 Adoption of Web 2.0 within companies:
Following to these core principles and according to Rosen & Phillips (2011), an average of 75%
of current companies use Web 2.0 (McAfee.com, 2010). Evidences that outline this fact show
that half of the websites present in the top ten of the most visited websites are actually Web 2.0
websites (Alexa, 2012). Due to the different advantages a company can withdraw from Web 2.0,
such as generating revenue, an increasing number of companies tend to adopt more and more
Web 2.0.

2.2.1.4 From Web2.0 to Web3.0:
The Web3.0 is the natural evolution of the Web2.0. It is an evolutionary shift on how people
interact online. According to Green (2011), Web 3.0 is composed by three components:

- The Semantic Web
- The Mobile Web
- The Immersive Internet

In definitive, Web3.0 technologies offers a more customised search which is more targeted to
Web users and who finally provide a higher quality of information in a minimum of time. Open
Graph tools are a Web3.0 application because it enables third party application to support
integration and development across various site and devices.

2.2.2 Web 2.0 and Social Media:

2.2.2.1 Definition and link of Social Media with Web 2.0.:
Following the description made of Web 2.0, the researcher will follow the reasoning of Kaplan
& Haenlein (2010) stating that Web 2.0 is the core platform of S.M. According to them, “S.M.
is a group of Internet based application that build on the ideological and technological

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foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation of users generated content.” (Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2010) The key elements of S.M. are the level of media richness and the social
process. According to them, higher is the combination, closer will be the similarity with real life
and therefore higher will be the interaction and engagement between participants.

Media Research
Low Medium High
Social Networking Virtual Social
High Blog
Social Site Worlds
Process Collaborative Content Virtual Game
Low
Project Community Worlds
(Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010)

According to Berthon, et al. (2012), S.M. content can either be under the form of text, picture,
video and networks. Rosen & Phillips (2011), regarding to the previous aspect of S.M., defined
websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Virtual Worlds and Virtual Goods as being Web 2.0
applications. Therefore, S.M., which is highly accessible, can be used to reach a large audience.
(Brogan, 2010; Zabella, 2010). A recent study in Rothschild’s (2011) article shows that
countries such as Poland (43%) and Britain (43%) are countries in Europe using the most S.M.
In opposition, France (36%), Spain (34%), Russia (33%) and Germany (33%) are ones of the
least countries in Europe. These differences in S.M. adoption within countries have been
explained by Berthon, et al. Indeed, they (2012) have outlined five evidences based on countries
that explain the reasons of adoption of S.M by companies. The first axiom is based on the
country technological advancement, cultural adoption and finally governmental rules and
regulation. It states that more open a country will be on new technology, easier will be the use
of S.M. in the country. The second axiom is the local environment. When a company is being
present on S.M., its content will be available from everyone and from everywhere. Therefore, it
has to be careful on local impact because a misadventure can blow up into a major global
catastrophe for the company and vice-versa. As the researcher has stated before, when a
company uses S.M., all its data are available by anyone. Therefore, in the situation of general
issues, as the word is being spread very fast, it is very difficult for a company to keep the issue
internally. This was the third axiom. The fourth axiom is working very closely with the first
axiom as it relates to the actions and creations of creative consumers. Indeed, according to
Berthon, et al. (2012), countries will follow the trend of creative consumer by adopting up-to-
date technology. Finally the fifth axiom transmits the lesson that technology is dependent of the
history of a country. Actually, the technological evolution of a country is very dependant of its
history and its adoption.

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2.2.2.2 Adoption of Social Media within Companies:
As it is a relatively new trend, S.M. has not been integrated into the marketing mix fully (Glynn
Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Meanwhile, companies such as G.E. and P&G have integrated S.M.
into their Marketing Communication in order to facilitate the interaction between customers /
customers / companies. S.M. has a huge power in bringing awareness to companies
(Edosomwan, et al., 2011); however it is very often feared by them because of the “inability of
managers to control the content, the timing and the frequency of information about a product or
service”. (Glynn Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Nevertheless, since the Internet has been ranked as
the favourite source of media for consumers on their place of work and at home, companies
have to learn how to deal with this new platform. Nowadays, consumers change their habit in
product and service consumption and they are less likely to listen traditional channel of
communication. Therefore, they tend to pay more attention to advice from their peers. Besides,
they are more willing to be the master of their own decision and tend to move toward a
customization of product (On-Demand product). As a result, S.M. is considered by customers as
being a trustworthy source of information. (Glynn Mangold & Faulds, 2009) Following to what
have been said before the control of the content by manager, even though they cannot control it,
they can still influence and shape people’s post in order to match the guideline of the company.

2.2.2.3 Social Media Strategies for companies:
Wilson, et al. (2011) outlined four different S.M. Strategies that companies adopts regarding to
their profile and their expectations.
For example a company driven by a low budget and willing to avoid uncertainty by monitoring
with established tools will generally adopt a strategy focused on Customer Service. A second
example could be the one of a company seeking to embrace uncertainty. In such circumstances,
it would rather try to listen and engage with their customers and employees on platform such as
Twitter and Facebook. Both strategies provide usually good results and they usually play as a
springboard for larger involvement. If a company with large resource is willing to get
foreseeable result, it will tend to use in this situation third parties such as external application or
external collaborators/customers. Such a strategy has generally a snow ball effect by
encouraging initiative in and out of the company. Finally when a company wants to empower
engagement at a large scale, it will tend to create and use internal platform to expand its
business. Such a strategy requires huge investment. However, it has a major impact on the R&D
and on the operations channels of the company and its partners, customers. (Wilson, et al.,
2011)

However, as S.M. can be positive for a company, badly managed, it can have terrible
consequences on companies and brand. Indeed, United Airlines staff broke the tailored guitar of
one of his customers. After trying to deal with the customers service of the company, this little

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known country singer produced a series of video clips called “United Breaks Guitars” and
posted them on YouTube. The videos promptly generated over 10 million of views. In
exchange, the company gain a terrible reputation online for breaking the belonging of its
customers. (Fournier & Avery, 2011)

As we have seen the impact of S.M. onto Web 2.0, we will now look at how S.M. is used into
Sports.

2.2.3 Adoption of Social Media into Sports:

2.2.3.1 Notion of Fandom:
Before to have a look at the adoption of S.M. into Sports, it would be interesting to analyse the
behaviour of fans over sports and therefore defines the notion of Fandom. According to Cova &
Cova (2002), consumer tribe consists of a gathering of people that share the same passions ad
commitment to a product, service, organisation, concept or idea. Their particularities are that
their boundaries are not only based on geographical, ethnic or familial, modern tribes have their
foundations on concept. In the case of Football, this can be seen in the behaviour of football
fans not willing to support the opponent team while maintaining a good relationship with the
opponent fans. However, as Rein, et al. (2006) have outlined in their book, there is a paradox of
commercialisation. Indeed, according to them there is a conflict between sport as a business and
sport as a game. Consequently of this assumption, sports should be considered as a product and
fans as a product. Therefore, this can lead to debate as sport is generally associated to the
innocence of youth, the spirit of competition and finally the integrity of the game.

As a result according to Dionisio et al in Ennis, et al.’s (2011) article, fans with the highest
dedication to their clubs will be those who actively commit to the team and proactively engage
in sustain behaviour.

With the proliferation of media channels and mobile technology, new technology has the
potential to narrow people’s interests to their preferences and shut out the rest of the world.

According to Josh Robinson (campaignlive.co.uk, 2012) in an interview given to
“campaignlive”, 59% of fans claim to support more their teams by engaging with them on S.M.
As we have seen previously, the most important for a S.M. campaign is to generate and support
engagement even though the relation sport/fan is commonly stronger than the one of
company/customer. As said by Josh Robinson and Lucien Boyer, S.M. has a huge commercial
impact for the reason that S.M. fans can interact with their teams 24 hours per day and it enables
sport clubs and nations to provide a unique content and enables fans to set their own culture
(Ham, 2011; campaignlive.co.uk, 2012). Therefore it is very important for sport franchises not
to neglect this new channel of communication. However, S.M. will have a powerful impact if it

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uses traditional S.M. platforms because according to them, sports should reach fans where fans
are located. However, it can use several platforms in order to diversify the content and multiply
the engagement. (campaignlive.co.uk, 2012)

2.2.3.2 Adoption of Social Media into football:
Since football club intend to talk at their fans rather than with them, several studies have shown
that there is generally no engagement between football club and fans. (Ugaz, 2011; Hamill,
2011; Hamill, 2011). This has been seen by the Klout result and by the extensive use of Twitter
as a broadcasting channel rather than an open channel for fan to engage with their club; a few
exceptions being Liverpool, CF America, Chivas with an higher percentage of response.

With such a development of S.M. some avant-gardist clubs such as Manchester United who
created its own network or Manchester City with its early partnership with YouTube have
already start using intensively S.M. Some others clubs, such as Marseille, to engage with their
fans, gave them the task to design the brand new shirt of the season. (Fox, 2011)

2.2.3.3 Future Trends to be adopted in Football in Europe:
However, as this wave is just hitting Europe, in the USA, there are actually trends that could be
adapted into European football. In Europe, clubs tends to emphasize a lot on goods that can be
sold. Instead in the USA, they try to market the experience of the match day by communicating
and highlighting the atmosphere. Another trend is to give the command of S.M. tools during a
game to an influential fan. By doing this, as the S.M. fan knows what to expect from his
position as fan, he usually delivers pertinent content and engages more with the others fans.
Afterwards, this one usually focuses on its experience which generates free communication for
the club. The concept of Fans Night is very popular across of the Atlantic. This is usually done
to reward fans of their support all over the year and enable them to meet their fellow follower on
Twitter. The concept of the fan generated content has been developed over the past few years. It
consists of encouraging the supporter to create content such as biographies, match reports or
even YouTube video for the club. Finally the last trends came out from the appearance of one of
the latest S.M. sharing site called Pinterest. This one is used as a collaborative sharing sites in
which competition are organised.

Finally, according to Josh Robinson and Lucien Boyer, an impact during the Euro2012 on S.M.
will be noticed if and only if teams perform well on the pitch. In any circumstance, the
Euro2012 will be a good trial in general for this year of sports with the Olympics games
happening in July and August and for the following one like the next Football World Cup
organised in Brazil in 2014. (campaignlive.co.uk, 2012)

As we described the concept of S.M., we are now moving onto a very important aspect of
businesses: C.R.M.

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2.3 Customer Relationship Management:

2.3.1 Customer Relationship Management and Companies:

2.3.1.1 Importance of customers for businesses:
First of all, it is very important to locate C.R.M. into its context. According to Treacy &
Wiersence (1995) in Nguyen & Mutum (2012) article, a business should have customers
otherwise it is considered as a pastime. Gronroos (1996) stated that getting new customers is at
least ten times more expensive as maintaining their own customers. He also outlined the
difficulty to get new ones due to their low level of loyalty; therefore it is very important for a
company to create a sustainable customers relationship.

2.3.1.2 From Relationship Marketing to Customer Relationship Management:
Following to the evolution of relationship between companies and their customers, Nguyen &
Mutum (2012) mentioned that Relationship Marketing (R.M.) is the ancestor of C.R.M. Morgan
& Hunt (1994) defines R.M. as a process of establishing, developing, and maintaining
successful relational exchanges between parties. Therefore, for the purpose of the project, the
researcher will take Boulding et al (2005)’s definition of C.R.M. which has been commonly
accepted by their peers. They define it as a system in which they have integrated all
relationships, have collected and analysed data across the firm in order to develop capabilities to
create customers’ value while creating shareholders’ value for the firm. As a result, the
approach of C.R.M. in comparison to R.M. is more tactical, managerial and more focus on
relationship building with their key customers.

2.3.1.3 Outcome for firms to use Customer Relationship Management:
The outcome for a company to have efficient C.R.M. practices would be to increase the
company’s performance and its profitability but also to get insights on their customers’ lifestyle.
(Plakoyiannaki & Tzokas, 2002; Nguyen & Mutum, 2012) The keys success factor in creating a
strong relationship between a firm and its customers is divided in four steps. First of all, the firm
should trust and commit itself to this relation in order to get a better quality and to increase the
length of the relationship. Then it should satisfy its customer by rewarding them in order to
increase their loyalty. The third key success factor is the concept of dependence and symmetry
by behaving on the same level of the customers. Finally the fourth aspect is the concept of
fairness which would generate trustworthiness by increasing the quality of the relationship.
(Nguyen & Mutum, 2012)

2.3.2 Customer Relationship Management and Social Customer Relationship
Management:
Resulting from its benefit for companies and the evolvement of communication channel,
C.R.M. can be applied to potential buyers by the use of S.M. because it offers customization.

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Moreover the principle of customizing C.R.M. creates a long term competitive advantage for the
company. (Nguyen & Mutum, 2012) Therefore, it is in the interest of companies to combine
both tools (C.R.M. & S.M.) in order to strengthen their customers’ relationship. This concept of
adopting C.R.M. into S.M. is frequently named Social Customers Relationship Management
(S.C.R.M.) or C.R.M. 2.0. (Greenberg, 2010; Heller Baird & Parasmis, 2011) Nowadays even
though customers are connected with brands on S.M., they barely interact with them. (Heller
Baird & Parasmis, 2011). Indeed, when in need for information or advice, these social
customers tend to rely more on peers rather than on commercial. (Greenberg, 2010) This lack of
interaction is mainly due to a lack of understanding from companies. Indeed, according to a
study from Heller Baird & Parasmis (2011), customers mainly connect with companies to
benefit of discount or coupons while companies think customers connect with them to interact.
As a result, as Business Bet highlighted the fact that a higher interaction would involve a higher
customer’s loyalty, it is in the interest of companies to adopt an S.C.R.M. to personalize the
interaction and experience with their customers. (Greenberg, 2010)

As the importance of the adoption of S.C.R.M. within companies has been outlined, the next
part will be an analysis on the impact and use of C.R.M. into football.

2.3.3 Adoption of Customer Relationship Management into Football:
According to Adamson, et al. (2006), the adoption of C.R.M. technique into the football
industry is being delayed. However, in the football industry, the loyalty level of fan is usually
greater than the relation company/customers because there is a stronger natural feeling of
adoption and recognition that exist between football fans and their club that does not exist
between companies and their customers. However, football clubs are facing the same issues as
companies in the way they need to strengthen their relationship. Indeed, according to them,
there are several types of fans depending on their commitment to the club and their willingness
to be entertained. In function of their behaviour, fans are being segmented by their value in
order to customize the service of clubs to their needs.

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Entertainment

Carefree Busy
Casuals Supporters

Casuals Regular Fanatics

Glory
Hunters

Professionnal Commited
Wanderers Casuals

Winning
Increasing Commitment to Football

Increasing Evaluation of Alternatives

(Adamson, et al., 2006)

However, there are some C.R.M. techniques that cannot be applied to fans such as the
customization to an individual but rather to a group because they see themselves as a
community. (Adamson, et al., 2006) Therefore, Adamson, et al. (2006) segmented fans into two
subgroup: the casual fan and the committed fans. The casual fans are generally ones who attend
football game for the entertainment; they expect a high-end service and will emphasized a lot on
financial aspect. In opposition, the committed fans feel attached to the club emotionally. They
attend football game to support and see their team winning, no matter how the team played.
This segment of fans are very likely to move from one segment to another if the performance of
the team are in behind of their own expectations. As a result, football fans expect football club
to communicate with them on a supporter’s way but with the treatment of a customers.

2.4 Chapter Conclusion:
This chapter has sketched the evolution of the Web from the 1.0 to nowadays the appearance of
the 3.0. However, a major emphasis has to be done on the Web2.0 because S.M. has been built
on the core foundation of Web2.0 application. Due to its increasing adoption, S.M. has been
progressively adopted by companies by implementing strategies that match their profile and
expectations. Football clubs have faced the same evolution with the increasing adoption by fans
of Web2.0 applications.

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Another aspect that has to be considered is the notion of C.R.M. In fact, this one is considered
to be more tactical, managerial and more focus on relationship building with key customers than
the ancestor of C.R.M. used to. With the appearance of S.M., C.R.M. has adapted itself to this
new platform and therefore enables companies to personalize their interaction and experience
with their customers. Finally adopting C.R.M. technic to football would involve considering
supporters as a community rather than individual as it is done by companies. As a result, two
groups of fans have been identified (the casual fans and the committed fans) whose enable
Online Sports Marketer to target.

All those learning have been relevant for the study of this project. Indeed, as the main theme of
this project is on S.M., this project could not be treated without an understanding of the topic.
Extending this topic to the industry of football has enabled the researcher to understand the
different implication of S.M. into football. By extension, learning the core concept of C.R.M.
has been important to understand the fans behaviour and the different types of S.M. strategies
that could be adopted.

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3 Industry Profile

According to Manley (2010), Football is the most practiced sport in the world but also the one
with the biggest media coverage and level of income.

In order to have an overall understanding of this project, it is necessary to have an overview of
the football industry. As a result, in this chapter, the researcher describes the main instance of
football such as the F.I.F.A. and the U.E.F.A., the U.E.F.A. Euro Cup each nation studied in this
project.

3.2 Fédération Internationale de Football Association:
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (F.I.F.A.) has been created in 1904. It is
the governing body of International Football. It provides the basis of the rules for everything
that relates to football such as competitions, transfer doping issues. Its headquarters is located in
Zurich in Switzerland. The president is Joseph Sepp Blatter. (F.I.F.A., 2012)

3.2.1 Objectives:
The F.I.F.A. has several objectives in terms of football such as improving and promoting the
game of football. It also organises international competition for seniors, women, youth and
futsal categories such as the F.I.F.A. World Cup every four years. Beside these objectives, the
F.I.F.A. is in charge of drawing regulations and provision and ensures these rules are being
enforced. Finally, the last and main objective of the F.I.F.A. is to prevent any practices that
could endanger the truthfulness of the game of football. (F.I.F.A., 2012)

3.2.2 Notion of Confederations:
The F.I.F.A. is divided into six confederations. Each of them corresponds to a different
continent and act as representative of the F.I.F.A. in its level. Every confederation has right and
obligation regarding to the F.I.F.A. such as to obey and enforce with statutes set up by the
F.I.F.A., to work closely with the main instance in the organisation of international competition
but also in joint objectives. Additionally, they have to organise joint competition. (F.I.F.A.,
2012)

3.2.3 Notion of Associations:
A particular nation eligible to organise competition and supervise football in its own country is
called an association by the F.I.F.A. Thus, according to the F.I.F.A., a country is an independent
state. (F.I.F.A., 2012)

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3.2.4 Financial:
Regarding the financial aspect, as we said before, football is one of the main sport financially
speaking. According to the F.I.F.A., in the period 2007/10, its revenue raised to USD 4,189
million from USD 2,634 million from the previous four years period. This revenue has been
essentially driven by the F.I.F.A. World Cup organised in South-Africa in 2010 via the sale of
television and marketing right. (F.I.F.A., 2012)

As the role of the F.I.F.A. is to enhance and develop the game, a major part (70%) of the
income generated is being reinvested into football and football development via Corporate
Social Responsibilities and development programme. (F.I.F.A., 2012)

3.3 Union of European Football Association:
In this project, the researcher will analyse three countries (France, Spain, and Ireland) involved
in the European Cup 2012. As the European Cup is organised by the U.E.F.A., he will have a
deeper look at how this institution works. (U.E.F.A., 2012)

3.3.1 History:
Union of European Football Association (U.E.F.A.) has been created in 1954 and is the
European representative of the F.I.F.A. Therefore it has to maintain good relationship with the
F.I.F.A. and others confederations. As a result it has to develop solidarity across European
Member Association by maintaining their interests. Its headquarters is located in Switzerland
and its current President is Michel Platini. (U.E.F.A., 2012)

3.3.2 Objective:
The mission of the U.E.F.A. is to deal with all the matter regarding to European Football such
as organising continental competition between Member Association (U.E.F.A. European Cup)
but also between clubs (U.E.F.A. Champions League, U.E.F.A. Europa League). The U.E.F.A.
have to promote the value of football and develop its practice in Europe through the
development of F.A.I. replay practice and prevent unethical practice (doping, discrimination,)
that could put at risk the rules and regulation of football. Another aspect that the U.E.F.A. has to
make sure is that the values of football overcome commercial interests. (U.E.F.A., 2012)

3.3.3 Financial:
With the revenue generated, the U.E.F.A. has to use them equitably and support the practices of
football between nations and the different categories of Football. During the period of 2009/10,
the estimated revenue of the U.E.F.A. was at €1,397.4 million. It was due to the receipt of the
Champions League (72.6%) and Europa League (12.9%) and on the coming up U.E.F.A. Euro
2012 competitions organised jointly in Poland and Ukraine (5.6%). (U.E.F.A., 2012)

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3.4 U.E.F.A. Euro Cup:
As the N.F.T. studied were involved in the Euro 2012, the researcher will have a look at the
background of this competition.

3.4.1 History and General Rules:
The U.E.F.A. Euro is a competition organised by the U.E.F.A. every four years, over two
seasons. Every single U.E.F.A. Member Association is invited to take part in the competition
via qualification competition selection then through the final tournament organised in a single or
in a cooperation of countries.

3.4.2 Case of the U.E.F.A. Euro 2012:
The U.E.F.A. Euro 2012 had been organised in Poland and Ukraine across 8 cities. (U.E.F.A.,
2012)

3.4.2.1 Qualification stage:
As host countries, Poland and Ukraine were automatically qualified so was Spain because of its
victory during the Euro 2008. In total, sixty-one Members Associations took part in the
qualification stage. Teams were divided into six groups of six teams and three groups of five
teams. The nine group winners and the four best runner-ups were automatically qualified for the

Page | 29

final tournament. Therefore, sixteen N.F.T. were involved in the final tournament in Poland and
Ukraine. (U.E.F.A., 2012)

3.4.2.2 Final Stage:
After two years of competitions, the U.E.F.A. Euro 2012 saw the Spanish National Team
winning the tournament for the second times in a row. (U.E.F.A., 2012)

3.4.2.3 Financial:
Financial Report has not been published yet for this event. However, according to the U.E.F.A.
(2012), the organisation of a continental competition is a major driver of economic development
for the host countries but also for the football institutions. (U.E.F.A., 2012)

3.5 Members Association:
To understand the nations studied over the project, the researcher will have a look at how
Football Federation in each Members Association studied works.

All the federation under the governance of the U.E.F.A. will have the same mission and duty
towards the U.E.F.A. and F.I.F.A. They will just have to control them in their respective
countries. As the U.E.F.A., Members Associations are responsible of developing and regulating
the game of football on and off field at a national level. (U.E.F.A., 2012)

3.5.1 Fédération Française de Football:

3.5.1.1 History:
Fédération Française de Football (French Football Federation – F.F.F.) has been created in 1919
but the country is affiliated to the F.I.F.A. since 1904. The Headquarter is based in Paris. Noël
Le Graët, as president of the federation, has the duty of representing the federation at the
U.E.F.A. and seat during federal and executive committee. (F.F.F., 2012)

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3.5.1.2 The federation in figure:
The French football federation has over 2million licensees among over 20,000 clubs. Forty
clubs are involved in professional competition and leagues. Annually, 1 million games are being
organised by the professional and amateur’s league making them one of the most competed
league in Europe. All those clubs are organised within 31 regional leagues in 102 districts.
(F.F.F., 2012)

3.5.1.3 Financial:
Broadcast and Partnership are the main source of income (200 million of Euros) of the F.F.F.
(A.F.P., 2011). For the period 2010/14, the turnover of the F.F.F. from partnership was
estimated to 120.5 million which represent an increase of 37% from the exercise 2006/10. (AFP,
2010) Meanwhile, the F.F.F. invests mainly its money on developing football via its foundations
or through the amateur’s league.

3.5.2 Real Federación Española de Futbol:

3.5.2.1 History:
The Real Federación Española de Fútbol (R.F.E.F.) is the Spanish Football governing body. It is
affiliated to the F.I.F.A. since 1904. However, the R.F.E.F. has been created in 1913. According
to the Spanish Law, it is a Private Association. Its president is Ángel Mª Villar Llona. The
headquarters of the federation is located in Madrid. (R.F.E.F., 2012)

According to the U.E.F.A. (2012), 653,190 registered players are playing for one of the 18,000
clubs shared within one of the 20 counties.

3.5.3 Football Association of Ireland:

3.5.3.1 History:
The original name of the Football Association of Ireland (F.A.I.) should be Cumann Peile na h-
Eireann. It is the governing body of football in the Republic of Ireland. The F.A.I. has been
founded in 1921 but joint the F.I.F.A. two years later in 1923. The headquarters of the F.A.I. is
located in the Republic of Ireland. Its president is Paddy McPaul. (F.A.I., 2012)

In total, there are almost 170,000 players registered playing in one of the 5,828 clubs shared
among the 4 districts (Munster, Leinster, Connaught and Ulster). Each district supervises the
development of football in the area. (F.A.I., 2012)

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3.5.3.3 Financial:
In 2010, the turnover of the federation was almost €40 million. This revenue is originated from
TV right and from partners. (F.A.I., 2012)
This revenue has been used to finance the underage squad and to the development of the elite
teams. (F.A.I., 2012)

As the researcher just presented, the main football instance is the F.I.F.A. and then the U.E.F.A.
at the European level.

Even though each Members Associations has its particularity, they all have to promote the game
of football and the values that are associated with. Financially talking, despite the disparity of
income of Members Association across Europe, those ones are still considered as being the
leader in the world.

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4 Methodology

While choosing for a topic, the researcher realised that a few studies have been done in S.M.
and sports focusing on football. Most of the studies linking S.M. to football were focusing on
football clubs such as Celtic Glasgow or Chelsea. However, he noticed a major gap in the
analysis of the use of S.M. with N.F.T. Another challenge he has faced during the process of the
literature review was the availability of reliable information. He realised that most of the papers
talking about S.M. and sports were non-academicals and/or out-of-date. Therefore, some deep
researches have had to be done in order to find accurate research on this topic.

Therefore, following to what have been found in the literature review, the methodology here had
several objectives such as understanding the use of S.M. by N.F.T. but also understanding the
expectation of N.F.T. supporters toward the use of S.M. platforms. By analysing every aspect,
the researcher will draw recommendations to implement in function of the expectation of
supporters.

4.2 Marketing Research:
According to Kozinets (2002), doing marketing research is an important process because it
helps to identify and understand the consumer behaviour of particular consumers and consumer
groups. In this situation, the researcher collected qualitative and quantitative data from primary
and secondary source.

4.3 Research Method and Justification:
In order to support this project, the researcher has decided to collect both qualitative and
quantitative data. Using both methods enable him to reduce the weaknesses of using a single
approach and enhance the finding of each method.

As said by Amaratunga, et al. (2002), when using quantitative research method, the researcher
makes the assumption that he can explain consumer behaviour by some social fact. Amaratunga,
et al. (2002) defined this as “the deductive logic of the natural sciences” (Horna, 1994).
The collection of data would be through a survey designed for supporters of their N.F.T.

According to Kozinets (2002), the collection of qualitative data is useful because it helps to
gather insight data that underlines the needs, desire, meaning and choices. This method would
be through Netnography and through a phone interviews.

The process of the analysis of the project would be as follow:

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1 - Netnography

2- 3-
Quantitative Qualitative
Data Data

4.3.1 Netnography:
According to Kozinets (2002, p. 62), the netnography is method that study the culture and
communities online. Therefore, the researcher will analyse the Web 2.0 tools and information
provided on their websites related to and on Web 2.0 platforms. The advantages of using
netnography are that it provides insight on how the N.F.T. use them and how it is perceived by
their supporters on S.M. platforms.

By Web 2.0 platform, we consider:

Internal: External:
- Text - Facebook
- Images - MySpace
Users Generated Content:
- Video - Twitter
Social Networking Sites:
- Wiki - Linkedin
- Blogs - Google+
- Forums - Foursquare
Feedback, Opinion, Discussion: - Ratings - Youtube
Mumltimedia Sharing Sites:
- Favourites - FlickR
- Online Chat Podcast Sites: - iTunes
- Web Application / Widgets - Trip Advisor
Travel Blog & review Sites:
Rich Internet Application: - Mapping / Mash-ups - Igougo
- Podcast / Vodcast Virtual reality Sites: - Second Life
- Social tagging Mapping Sites: - Google Earth
Folksonomies: - Social Bookmarking - Mobile
Applications:
- Tag Cloud - Tablets
- In
Feeds:
- Out
Community: - Site Community
External Links: - To others 2.0 sites.

Hamill (2012) in his Sports Marketing’s article has used this model to compare the adoption and
engagement of the Top 20 Football club in Europe. As a result, this model has been tasted and
has proven its effectiveness; the researcher decided to use it as well.

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As a basis, he will use this model to compare the adoption and engagement of S.M. across the
three different N.F.T. studied in this project. At the end of the analysis, he will be able to draw a
list of Web 2.0 application being used in football and in what context and what kind of content.

4.3.2 Interviews:
The next stage of the methodology is the collection of qualitative data. By the process of a
phone interviews with an executive in charge of the S.M. accounts of the N.F.T. According to
Thompson (1997) in Kozinets’ (2002) articles, in comparison with netnography, those ones are
usually less time consuming and easier and provide more insight on data. Meanwhile, the use of
this technique is having some limits due to the lack of contextualization and obtrusiveness in
contrast with ethnography.
The researcher decided to use this technique because according to him, it is one of the only one
that could provide insight information on the S.M. strategy used by the N.F.T. At the end of this
analysis, he is willing to compare the different S.M. strategies adopted by N.F.T and find out
whether or not they use different ways and channels to engage with their fans and the outcome
of their finding. The length of the interview was planned to be no longer than 45minutes.

4.3.3 Online Questionnaire:
Finally, in order to have a full understanding of “supporters’ behaviour” on S.M. sites, he
intended to send out an online questionnaire designed for supporters of the N.F.T. studied.
Indeed, since the burst of online communities, hundreds thousands of people discuss online
about their issues and interests (Wright, 2005). Therefore, these online virtual communities are
favourable of this new process of filling out questionnaire. Moreover proceeding through an
online questionnaire offers the possibility to reach people from different country easily and is on
top of that time and cost effective through their automated data collection. (Wright, 2005)
As within the three countries studied, three different languages (French, English and Spanish,)
are being spoken, in order to increase the number of response, the participant sheet, letter of
consent and the questionnaire has been translated into these three languages.
Before, the questionnaire had been sent out to collect final data; the researcher shared the
questionnaire to his relative to make sure there is no bug and to check the intelligibility of the
questions.

4.4 Sampling:
To determine the sampling, the researcher used the 6 Steps model set up by Wilson (2006).

4.4.1 Step 1: Define the population of interest
The population of interest in this case is every supporter of N.F.T. studied following their teams
on S.M.

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4.4.2 Step 2: Determine whether to sample or census
Due to the large scale, cost, time and effort that require a census, the researcher has decided to
focus on a sample.

4.4.3 Step 3: Select the sampling frame
The researcher will frame his research on supporters found on forum, blog, Fan page on S.M.
platforms. The questionnaire will also be distributed to relatives of the researchers. He will also
try to get access to fan’s database of N.F.T.

4.4.4 Step 4: Choose a sampling method
Wilson (2006) differentiates two sampling methods: the probability and non-probability
sampling. For the purpose of the project, the researcher has used the non-probability one by
focusing on the convenience sampling. It means that the researchers will approach the most
accessible members of the population of interest because the researcher will look for any kinds
of participants as long as they follow one of the N.F.T. studied.

4.4.5 Step 5: Determine sample size
Regarding the sample size, after discussion with the researchers, it has been decided that the
more participants fill out the questionnaire, the merrier. However, it has been stated that 50
feedbacks from each nation would be a representative number of fans behaviours.

4.4.6 Step 6 Implement the sampling procedure
Once all the previous steps had been done, the survey had been implemented.

Error within the answers was taken into consideration. Therefore, every survey that had been
filled out but that did not match the requirement was automatically deleted.

Regarding the interview, to avoid any error or misunderstanding during the analysis,
conversations had been audio recorded via the use of a mobile application.

4.5 Final Analysis:
According to Hamill (2012), a business assesses its success on S.M. on the quality of the
network, on the strength of the relationship and finally on the ability to leverage. As a result,
Hamill (2012) created a model to measure the S.M. performance of the firm called “the 6Is
approach”. The following point composed the model:

 Involvement: By involvement he understood the interaction between network/
communities and the quality of the interaction, how many time and how often do they
spend and finally their origin.
 Interaction: By interaction here, he looked at the nature of the post. Did they read only,
post videos, comments, reviews and recommends?

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 Intimacy: Through the use of analytical tools, he analysed the affection people have
towards their N.F.T.
 Influence: In this situation, he studied whether or not supporters of N.F.T. tend to
influence other fans to support their N.F.T.
 Insight: He looked at the actionable insight by analysing the information and knowledge
of supporters towards their N.F.T.
 Impact: By looking at the impact, he looked at whether or not S.M. has a business
impact.

4.6 Recommendations:
For the recommendations chapter, the researcher will use the “4C’s model” created by Hamill
(2012). The 4C’s are described as follow:

 Content: By content, he meant the type of content that will be posted on N.F.T. (Photos,
Videos,)
 Consumers: The notion of consumers signifies the target market and by which means it
will be reached.
 Conversations: By conversations, Hamill meant the different tools the researcher will
advise the N.F.T. to use to engage with their fans.
 Conversions: Conversion is the process of measuring the impact of S.M. The researcher
will advise N.F.T. to focus on some analytical tools.

To conclude, to collect the necessary data, the researcher used qualitative and quantitative data
from primary and secondary source. First of all, he collected data from the website and the S.M.
platforms used by N.F.T. by using the model set up by Hamill. Then he collected qualitative
data by interviewing executive in charge of the S.M. account in order to understand the strategy
of the federation and finally, he collected quantitative data to understand the expectation of
supporters. All those data were analysed to make recommendations.

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5 Analysis

5.1 Chapter introduction:
As it has been outlined in the methodology chapter, data collected, from the 3 different sources,
of the 3 countries studied (France, Spain, Ireland), will be analysed and summarized with the
6I’s model approach of Hamill. The first source was the netnography. Thanks to this, the
researcher wishes to find out which S.M. channel, N.F.T. are involved in and for which use.
Across the interviews run with S.M. managers of N.F.T., the researcher analysed and compared
the different S.M. strategies adopted by them and how do they engage with their fellow
supporters. Finally, the final source was to analyse the feedback of the questionnaire distributed
to supporters of the respective N.F.T. studied. By doing so, the researcher wanted to study the
S.M. behaviour of supporters and their expectations.

5.2 General feedback on the questionnaire:
Respondent of this survey were generally young as 95% of them were between 18 to 30 years
old. This sample was composed mostly by man (77%).

The origin of respondent were broad as people from America, Europe, Asia and Africa filled in
the survey. In total, 12 countries were concerned mostly from the countries studied (France,
46%; Ireland: 21%).

Finally, the percentage of National Team supported by participant is shared more or less
equitably between Ireland and Spain (25% and 23% respectively) with France leading with 51%
of respondents. This gap between these countries is due to the highest number of respondent of
France among the other nations.

Finally, almost every fan (97%) supports its N.F.T. by watching game on TV or Online. Then,
they buy merchandising goods (41%) and attend games occasionally (44%). Lastly, in minor
proportion they either attend game during continental or worldwide competition (10%) or every
home game.

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5.3 General user behaviour on Social Media:
Among the 39 respondents, the majority of them (97%) use Facebook as a main Web 2.0 access
then comes YouTube for a different use (87%) and in a certain extent Google+ (44%), Twitter
(49%) and LinkedIn (46%). Something that has to be noted is the mention of the new photo
sharing sites such as Pinterest and Instagram into this list of S.M. Platform. Regarding the
adoption of S.M. application, it can be noticed that 90% of S.M. users adopted it at least 3 years
ago. Moreover, according to the finding, supporters of N.F.T. can be characterised as intense
active users because 95% of them access S.M. sites at least once a day from their laptop/desktop
(100%) and / or their smartphones / Tablet (69%).

Furthermore, the main reason for using S.M. is to communicate with friends and family (95%)
and for 82% of them to keep being updated on their friends’ life and product or service and as
an entertaining way.

Page | 39

5.4 Analysis of the French Football Team:

5.4.1 Involvement:

5.4.1.1 Profile of Supporters of the French Football Team on Social Media:
70% of fans on official S.M. platforms are under 24 and are originally French and more
precisely from Paris. Their main motivation for browsing on their channel is to look for
exclusive content. However, those who interact with the team are commonly older that the
majority of fans.

FFF
Internal External
Text Facebook Y
Images Myspace
UGC
Video Social Networking Twitter
Wiki Sites Linkedin
Blogs Google+ Y
Forums Foursquare
FOD Ratings Youtube Y
Multimedia Sharing
Favourites FlickR
Sites
Online Chat Others Y: Dailymotion
Web
Podcast Sites iTunes
Application/Widgets
RIA
Mapping/Mash-ups Video & Photo Travel Blog & Review Trip Advisor
Podcast/Vodcast Sites Igougo
Social Tagging Yes Virtual Reality Sites Second Life
Delicious/Digg/Tumblr/Blogu
Folksonomies Social Bookmarking er
Mapping Sites Google Earth
Tag Cloud Mobile Y: from partners C10
Applications
Content Feeds Tablet
Feeds
RSS Feeds RSS Feeds Result: 5
Community Social Network Overall Result 10
Yes: Facebook fan button on
External Links To other Web 2.0 every article
Result: 5

5.4.1.2 Use of Social Media:
On Hamill’s model, the F.F.F. is scoring only 10. It locates the F.F.F. as a “Continuous
Adopter”

5.4.1.2.1 External Adoption:
The F.F.F. has an external presence on S.M. across Facebook, YouTube, Dailymotion, Google+
and a Mobile App.

The purpose of being active on S.M. was to create a page in which football supporters could
come and share their feeling. The willing of the F.F.F. was to involve fan in the generation of
contents.

However their strategy has evolved over the time. The loyalty program which used to be run
had been stop and now it has adopted a broadcasting strategy in which they use S.M. more as
feed of information for supporters. Additionally, it has created an application to get information
on fans to create a C.R.M. database for commercial purpose.

Page | 40

The timeline of posts vary upon the news of the French Football Team in and off-peak period,
the federation posts on average of 3 – 4 times a week. On a news period, it posts on average 3 –
4 a day while on match days; it can go up to 10 times a day.

During the Euro2012, it has decided to increase their presence on S.M. platform and the amount
of content. As a result, the number of view on YouTube has doubled over that period and the
Facebook page had its fans number growing by 55% (April: 450,000 fans; August: 700,000).
The Google+ page, which has been created for this occasion, generated 10,000 friends. The
single policy the federation has is regarding the type of content fans could post. Indeed, in order
to follow a certain code, it deletes every non-ethical post. Regarding the YouTube page, it has
600 subscribers and 400 on Dailymotion. This difference in number of views is due to the
amount of campaign done for this channel.

5.4.1.2.2 Internal Adoption:
With a score of 5 on Hamill’s model, it cannot be said that the F.F.F. is adopting intensively
S.M. internally. This is probably due to the willingness of N.F.T. to broadcast information and
therefore talk at supporters rather than with their supporters. (Hamill, 2011)

It has adopted Rich Internet Application (R.I.A.), folksonomies, feeds and external Web2.0
links are posted on its website.

Regarding the R.I.A., the F.F.F. has adopted some mash-ups by embedding in its website some
photos and videos. It enables the Web users to watch the latest information and in a certain
extent engages with the F.F.F.

The folksonomies is a very rare used tool. It can be found on its websites through the use of
social bookmarking and social tagging. By this way, the federation in charge of the website of
the N.F.T. enables its fans to flag its articles into its own blogs.

The F.F.F. has embedded R.S.S. feeds as a Web2.0 application on its website. As a result fans
can read articles posted on the core website of the F.F.F. on another platform. This is generally
uses by N.F.T. willing to broadcast their articles to their fans. By this way, supporters can feel
involved with their teams because not only they will always be updated thanks to this tool but
they will also access exclusive content sourced by the federation.

Finally, to promote official external S.M. channel, the F.F.F. is present on, it has posted links
directly on its website. Moreover, this method enables supporters to get access to official and
exclusive contents.

Page | 41

5.4.2 Interactions:
Generally, it decided to adopt S.M. and more specifically those channels in order to broadcast
exclusive information to supporters without passing by journalists. As those channels were the
trended ones at the time of the adoption, the federation decided to set up an account and create
an interface on them. The second reason for being present was to create a loyalty program for
fans of the French Football Team. The objective was to recruit them by talking to and engaging
with them. Due to the tendency for general fans to support the French Team and not the
federation, it decided to create the page on the name of the team and not on the federation.

On this channel, it usually posts photos, videos, exclusive content or create contest in order to
generate engagement between fans.

According to the questionnaire, French Supporters clearly do not want to engage with the F.F.F.
as 65% claims do not engaging with them. However for those who do, they can be considered as
active supporters as 67% of them engage at least every couple of days on almost every platform
(Facebook, Twitter, G+, YouTube, Pinterest,). The opinion of supporters regarding their
engagement is quite divided because depending on the S.M. platform they use to interact with.
For example Facebook users are satisfied of the content and the time the F.F.F. posts content on
this channel. Alternatively, YouTube users are very dissatisfied regarding the content and the
time.

Their main reasons to engage are to discuss their feeling about the performance of the team and
to understand what others fans feel about the team. However, it appears that French Supporters
do not attach much importance to game and competition the F.F.F. could organise as it comes as
one of the least reasons of engagement. Generally, supporters of the F.F.F. use S.M. to feel
more connected to their fellow fans and their National Teams. By opposition, they think that it
is in one way communication mode as according to them, the F.F.F. does not use S.M. to build a
strong relationship with them. Finally regarding their privacy data, supporters are not willing to
share them with third parties and to get unsolicited request from N.F.T.

Page | 42

Finally, according to the questionnaire, supporters expect more insight information than they
use to have and more engagement with their supporters. Supporters also suggested the F.F.F.
could create a blog and forum in which supporter could take part. Finally, one outcome of using
S.M. suggested from supporters would be to use it as a weapon against general fight and racism
in football.

5.4.3 Intimacy:
According to SocialMention, the general sentiment of the French Football Team is very positive
as 6 mentions out of 1 are positives. Another ratio that deserves to be
commented is the 21% reach. It measures the range of the audience.
Therefore, it means that 21% of posts have been reached by unique
authors. Therefore, the highest the ratio is, the merrier. However, it can be
considered that 21% is a decent score.

5.4.4 Influence:
Following to the previous chart on SocialMention, the F.F.F. score 34% on
passion. It means that 1 person out of 3 who talk about the N.F.T. do it
repeatedly. As a result, this is a very decent score that could involve other supporters to follow
the French Football Team on S.M.

Following to the Facebook Insight data, it
can be noticed that the French Football Team
has been mentioned many time during the
Euro2012. However, since the end of the
competition, the amount of mention has been
reduced.

Page | 43

5.4.5 Insight:
Along with the number of time this one has been visited by supporters (65% of respondents
visited the website less than a month to never); the website of the French Football Team is not a
source of information for supporters. However for the others 35%, result showed that the
Euro2012 had an impact on the traffic on the website.

About the presence of N.F.T. on S.M., the researcher concludes supporters are not well
informed on the presence of official S.M. platforms because 60% of them mentioned that the
football team has either no presence or they do not know. Nevertheless, for those following the
F.F.F., the main channel appears as to be Facebook (42%) and Google+ (11%). The same
assessment can be done as 75% of supporters have no idea whether the Team is present on S.M.
Channel. According to the sample of respondent, 44% of supporters are following the F.F.F. for
more than a year, which result in the fact that the Euro2012 was not a reason for following their
page.

Following to the use of S.M. by the F.F.F., 45% of supporters consider that the current S.M. use
of the F.F.F. is sufficient while 45% of supporters consider that the F.F.F. should make more
use of S.M. By more use, supporters suggested that the team should adopt others platforms such
as Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Blogs.

5.4.6 Impact:
The F.F.F. measures its S.M. strategy through a various range of tools such as Google Analytics
for YouTube, Agorapulse for Facebook. Moreover, it works in collaboration with two external

Page | 44

agencies (Smart&Geek and K.R.D.S. for Facebook) that provide it with statistics. For that, it
measures its Return on Investment (R.O.I.) in function of its engagement and recruitment rates.
It also measures its R.O.I. via the sale of commercial information regarding its fan base to its
partners. Finally, as the S.M. team keep themselves up-to-date via the regular contact with S.M.
companies such as Facebook, Google (Google+ and YouTube) but also its communication
agencies. This enables it to follow the latest S.M. trends on the market.

5.5 Analysis of the Spanish Football Team:

5.5.1 Involvement:

5.5.1.1 Profile of Supporters of the Spanish Football Team on Social Media:
Followers of the R.F.E.F. on S.M. are worldwide supporters of the Spanish National Team and
general football fans who are willing to be informed of the different competition and evolution
within the federation. Most of the followers are from Madrid area and are between 18 – 24 years
old. The R.F.E.F. qualifies its supporters as being passive because they only read and listen
without actually taking part in the debate. However, according to its analytics, the most active
supporters are located in Latin America. Supporters are usually active on its S.M. channel
around international game. This, usually, result in an increase of followers on Facebook and
Twitter and videos views on YouTube.

RFEF
Internal External
Text Facebook Y
Images Myspace
UGC
Video Social Networking Twitter Y
Wiki Sites Linkedin
Blogs Google+
Forums Foursquare
FOD Ratings Youtube Y
Multimedia Sharing
Favourites FlickR
Sites
Online Chat Others
Web
Podcast Sites iTunes
Application/Widgets
RIA Mapping/Mash-ups Mash-ups Photo Video Trip Advisor
Travel Blog & Review
Yes: Radio show recorded
Podcast/Vodcast and available on the website
Sites Igougo

Social Tagging Virtual Reality Sites Second Life
Folksonomies Social Bookmarking Mapping Sites Google Earth
Tag Cloud Mobile
Applications
Content Feeds Tablet
Feeds
RSS Feeds Result: 3
Community Social Network Overall Result 6
Yes: Twitter, Facebook and
External Links To other Web 2.0 Youtube.
Result: 3

5.5.1.2 Use of Social Media:
According to Hamill’s model, Spain is scoring a very low score (6). It is essentially present on
External S.M. Channels and has slightly adopted internal applications. It could be considered as
being a Non-Starter.

Page | 45

National Football Teams and their fans: An analysis on the adoption on and engagement of Social Media across 3 countries (France, Spain and Ireland).

National Football Teams and their fans: An analysis on the adoption on and engagement of Social Media across 3 countries (France, Spain and Ireland).

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