UEFA Champions League final 2013 - and no Spaniards are going
What causes joy and delight offline is no different online. On Facebook and Twitter, people are liking, sharing and re-tweeting about the Champions League matches for all they're worth. By Manuel P. Nappo, Head of Studies CAS Social Media Management HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zürich.
Agreed, that alone would not be worth a social media column. After all, this is 2013, and it should go without saying that the strong football clubs such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern Munich also have a strong social web presence. Nota bene, Real Madrid and Barcelona are number 2 and 3 of the "Most Valuable Soccer Teams" (and Dortmund in 14th place). But that's another topic...
The topic here is how this year's Champions League semi-finals produced a clear winner, also from a social media perspective. But right from the start: Real Madrid has a good 50 million fans on the Facebook and Twitter platforms. FC Barcelona has around 58, Bayern Munich has just under 7 and Borussia Dortmund not even 3 million fans. Based on these figures, the Spaniards are socially far ahead of the Germans. In terms of quality, however, the Germans play in a different league, both on the pitch and on the social web. Once again, numerous likes and high follower numbers are not proof of outstanding social media activities. Unfortunately, the opposite is all too often the case, and the biggest aren't always the best. When I look at the Twitter streams of the Spaniards, I am overcome with boredom.
Their monologue-oriented way of communicating reminds me of online news, and I could just as well read it on Blick.ch or something. But social media is there to provide background information, for example to provide the loyal fan base with "backstage photos" and, above all, to enter into a dialog with the community. That means replying to the fans and reciting their tweets. For the thousandth time - it's social, not media. While Bayern Munich eagerly create hashtags and ask the community to share their joy via second screen on Twitter, for example "Where are you watching tonight,s big clash? Tweet us a pic using #Packmas" or re-tweeting photos of fans from around the world under #Miasinmia, there is nothing from Barça to suggest social enjoyment. The engagement rankings also reflect my feeling; the entry with the highest engagement rate during the semi-final matches came from Borussia Dortmund (4.3 %), and the second came from Bayern (4.0 %). Funnily enough, the Madrid post featuring Ronaldo only managed to generate 0.5 % engagement, despite being liked more than twice as much at first glance.
The days of self-righteous communicative tiki-taka are over. Anyone who manages to create meaning with their social media presence and inspire their virtual fan base in this way can also be declared the winner offline.
