Manchester-City: The Power of Online Video-Video

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Transcript: Russell Stopford Adam Burns, meettheboss.tv Manchester City football club is not just winning acclaim on the pitch... it’s approach to digital is also making headlines, and for all the right reasons. Manchester City football club’s digital team have been clearing up: best website, best use of technology, and much more. It’s Head of Digital, Russell Stopford is a man with clear ideas and a solid understanding of modern media – especially the power of video online. Russell Stopford, Head of Digital, Manchester City Football Club Well, I think what you’ve got to look at really with digital is that it’s not just a linear passive medium, but television is. Television is the preeminent force in advertising. It’s the dominant force. It’s the key _____, clearly. But I think if you look at the way the advertising spend is moving clearly, the direction in terms of growth, and _____ digital. And I think, obviously, the reason for that is the ability to tie it into _____ with your customers. So, I think in terms of measurability of ROI, that’s why digital is I think more important in most CMO’s marketing strategies. Adam Burns, meettheboss.tv What is the power of online video and how does it fit into your overall strategy moving forward? Russell Stopford, Head of Digital, Manchester City Football Club Well, I think the power of video is I would say it’s the most important asset in this sort of full range of digital media types and assets, and I think the key thing about video assets is its power to engage and create an emotional response, which I don’t think any of the other types of digital media really do at the same level. I think what’s interesting about for us the power of online video, if you look at something like the moment that Sergio scored the winning goal in the premier league, that clip you are seeing there, it’s almost like an icon of a season in many ways.More than just a photo, I think it’s you have to _____ build up on the emotional high its encapsulated within that whole few seconds of video and then his response afterwards. And I think for us, that’s – it’s an incredibly powerful story, and, obviously, with video, you get a story which is beyond what you may capture with a photo or a text, I suppose. Adam Burns, meettheboss.tv How are you dealing with the technical challenges of hosting, distributing, and publishing your online video content? Russell Stopford, Head of Digital, Manchester City Football Club Well, the technical challenge of hosting and distributing our content is managed in a number of different ways. Primarily, for our own sites, we have a relationship with Brightcove, and we distribute our content via their networks, which is what gives us a global presence, really, and a confidence that the content that we’re going to be distributing is going to get to an end viewer in this professional way. We also, obviously, work with YouTube, which gives us a fantastic presence worldwide. Adam Burns, meettheboss.tv For most marketers, television spend is still ten times that of digital. But not Russell. I asked him why... Russell Stopford, Head of Digital, Manchester City Football Club Video is an incredibly powerful sort of unit that we can use in a cross-platform or multi-channel video distribution _____. In terms of video being the most important element in a digital media strategy, the way they fit for us in terms of rest of the channels is that it’s really the essential and digital type highlight if you want, in a multi-channel for failure. So _____ to be on as many platforms on all of the app stores, and to be syndicated as widely as possible in order to be able to reach as many fans around the world as possible.At the same time, we want to create and continue to create content which are as fans who have been with us for many years through generations, get that deeper level of access to content _____. I think that’s what you need by _____, that level of engagement and level of access that we share with our fans, which separate us from what the other clubs are doing. Adam Burns, meettheboss.tv A lot of your fans are a broad diverse age range. Mobile, multi-screen content deliver must be vital, certainly, for your strategy, and being able to access those fans that are abroad and that are of different ages. Where are we on the creative ideas versus technology limitations like? Russell Stopford, Head of Digital, Manchester City Football Club Well, I think the two key _____ are mobile and social, and I think the technology limitation is irrelevant really, in terms of what’s possible there. I think most limitations I think come from say, ROI budget, against the creative ideas. So, really, it’s the creative idea that create the limit, and essentially are limitless depending on whatever ideas you have to be able to gauge your fan base. And particularly for football clubs _____ Manchester City and in an international setting.I think that one of the important aspects, and I think it’s evidenced by the fact that you’ve seen so many startups and new businesses in second screening and social TV is that extra layer of connectivity that you get from these second screen channels to a fan, and I think that’s where there’s a unique point – a unique place, really, for something like Manchester City to occupy with its relationships to its fan base. Adam Burns, meettheboss.tv How are you dealing with the technical challenges of hosting, distributing, and publishing your online video content? Russell Stopford, Head of Digital, Manchester City Football Club Well, the technical challenge of hosting and distributing our content is managed in a number of different ways. Primarily, for our own sites, we have a relationship with _____, and we distribute our content via their networks, which is what gives us a global presence, really, and a confidence that the content that we’re going to be distributing is going to get to an end viewer in this professional _____. We also, obviously, work with YouTube, which gives us a fantastic presence worldwide.And I think further down the line, we’ll be developing to the relationships with other technology partners with _____ channels, one of which we have some new services which we’ll be watching soon, and which _____. Adam Burns, meettheboss.tv To finish, I asked Russell about his equally award-winning approach to customer communications. In a recent survey of more than 1,000 consumers by Lithium and Red Shift Research, 25 percent of those questioned said they expect to hear back from a company when they Tweet about a brand or a product, but only 9 percent said that they have ever actually received a response. Is it because companies aren’t listening or don’t have the resources to respond? And what drives Manchester City’s differentiated approach? Russell Stopford, Head of Digital, Manchester City Football Club Well, I’m one of the nine percent that has received a response, and it created a very good feeling towards the brand when I received the sort of feedback. I think it’s true. I think companies don’t have the resources, and I think they also don’t understand what to do with it because I think it essentially a bunch of one-to-one conversations which are seen by a very big audience.So I think the most important thing is to engage with the discussion and actually go _____ and use it as a communications channel because those conversations are gonna happen whether or not you decide to take part. So I think it’s very important that brands understand the nature of social media and understand that the content is and they have to treat it as if it was essentially a broadcast medium as well as a communications channel. I think that’s the challenge for the brands. Source: www.meettheboss.tv