Xirrus®, the leader in high-performance wireless networks, today announced that Liverpool FC – one of the world’s most historic and famous football clubs – has deployed its Wireless Arrays at Anfield, the home of the Club since its formation in 1892. The first phase of the deployment covers the two-tier, 12,000-seat Centenary Stand and adjoining corporate facilities, enabling fans to access and share digital content during games as never before.

The Wi-Fi network will be available to Liverpool fans for the home game against West Ham on Sunday 7 April. By offering Wi-Fi to its fans, Liverpool is hoping to improve their overall match day experience and encourage them to share the excitement of the game with the global Liverpool fan base. It also opens up a new way for Liverpool to gain insight and feedback from its fan base which hasn’t been possible up to now.

Andrew Robinson, Head of Digital Media and Technology at Liverpool Football Club, explains:

“Running our own data network based on Xirrus technology means we can provide our fans with a dedicated, robust and high quality experience. The added reliability and performance of high capacity Wi-Fi over 3G connections will encourage our fans to use social networks like Twitter and Facebook to share their experiences with fans unable to make it to the game.”

Robinson continues:

“A massive driver for this new network is that we can gain more insight into our fans than ever before. Sign-in will be via a one-time registration process using an email address and fans will be encouraged to tell us their likes and dislikes. The technology will allow us to find out what devices fans like to connect with the Club on so we can invest in digital platforms accordingly. We will also find out more about how fans use the stadium and its facilities so we can adapt these to better serve them.

“The experience that we’ve created from day one is something we think fans will get very excited about. We’ll be providing in-match stats, food and drink offers, access to online retail, in-play betting in partnership with Paddy Power and also the ability to engage with a global audience outside of the stadium through social media platforms.”

This development is one we have seen start to take a hold in sport.  Despite clubs being activate in promoting the use of mobile around games, the inability to even send a text message never mind a tweet has been something that has needed to be addressed.  We saw how well it can work and enhance the fan experience at London 2012, now we are seeing more and more top football teams follow that lead.

It will be interesting to see the digital activations that will follow on from launch, taking advance of this new connectivity.  Are you a Liverpool fan?  What do you think of the announcement?

Thank you to everyone who came along last night to the Sports Cafe in Haymarket, London.  We had around 100 people attend (not bad for the end of January) for a night of networking and a Q&A session with digital expert Richard Ayers.  They included people from the likes of Chelsea, BT Sport, Opta, RFU, Spurs, PGA Tour, BBC Sport, Haymarket, Aqueduct, Sport Business and many more.

It was great fun from a personal perspective to catch up with so many friends as well as meet new people.  The Q&A session with Richard was a relaxed session which I really enjoyed being part of.  There were also some great questions from the audience who made full use of the expertise Richard has whilst he was on stage.

There are plans being developed already for the next event as we look to run one of these every couple of months.  So keep your eyes out in March for the second in the series of Q&A/networking sessions.

If you have any thoughts on who you would like to see interviewed next then do add it into the comments below.  One suggestion that has already been made is to get hold of the Head of Sport at YouTube, something I think could be really interesting.  Do you agree?

Below are some of the tweets and images that came from the night as we used the #uksnmeetup tag to bring some of the conversations together.  Twitter was pretty active and I’d like to thank Luca for not only live-tweeting through the session but also checking people in on the door.  Thanks for your help mate.

I’d also like to thank Sanjit and the guys at Squawka for helping make the night possible by sponsoring the event.  If you haven’t checked out their app then make sure you do so…. it’s pretty awesome.

Guest Post by Alex Morris.  Alex follows F1, Rallying, football and cricket. And, to his surprise, enjoyed the Olympics! By day is the Social Media Manager at Manchester based company, Cartridge Save.

2012 has been a busy year for Twitter; the London Olympics saw an unprecedented amount of Tweets and, in amongst all the big names Tweeting, controversy has kept the social media tool in the news. It’s questionable whether sports men and women should post Tweets at all; they’re athletes and prone to making decisions in the heat of the moment. There have been consistent examples in 2012 of Tweets being published without any forward thinking. It leads to the consideration of whether managers should remove their young chargers from the world of social media. To consider this, here’s a look at some of this year’s calamities.

The Olympics

Presided over by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (thankfully there is an abbreviation for this – LOCOG), the committee made it clear there would be strict rules for athletes using the social media format. With some 10,500 competitors to keep an eye on this was going to be some task for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to manage and, sure enough, Rule 40 (“no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board.”) immediately caused controversy. In defiance, Hurdler Dawn Harper posted pictures of herself gagged with a “Rule 40” strip on Twitter. This quickly escalated into a full protest, which forced the International Olympic Committee to step in and demand control of the situation.

Although the IOC encouraged Tweeting, they made it abundantly clear it would be strictly monitored; “Postings, blogs and tweets should at all times conform to the Olympic spirit and fundamental principles of Olympism as contained in the Olympic Charter, be dignified and in good taste, and not contain vulgar or obscene words or images.” Before the Games even began Greek Triple Jumper Paraskevi “Voula” Papachristou posted racist comments targeting Africans living in Greece (“With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!”), and also retweeted a far-right politicians’ comment criticising immigration. She went on to apologise on Twitter, but she was still banned. This was followed by Swiss footballer Michel Morganella who Tweeted a disappointed post after losing 2-1 to South Korea. Translated into English it read “I want to beat up all South Koreans!” before accusing them of being mentally handicapped. There were immediate calls for the 23 year old to be banned.

On a lighter note, the BBC’s Denise Lewis, a former athlete, was mocked for her continuous misuse of “literally”. Many Twitter users found this mistake highly annoying; at one stage Lewis claimed, “Jess Ennis’s entrance will literally blow the roof off the stadium.” Inadvertently she caused a flood of spoof responses.

Football

The most high profile embarrassment this year came with Ashley Cole’s verbal assault on the FA in early October. Following the unfortunate, and embarrassing, John Terry racism conviction, Cole posted a profane Tweet mocking the FA. Gary Lineker was one of the many who followed up this remark with a Tweet suggesting Cole apologise to the FA; others suggested he had put his career on the line. Eventually he did express his regret (through his solicitor), however, Cole wasn’t finished there! Having flirted with disaster once he followed this up with a highly public row with Alan Shearer regarding the England line-up. This resulted in Cole criticising the former England captain; “Alan Shearer says @TheRealAC3 needs to be banned for comments. I want his opinion on bans for kicking Neil Lennon in the head. #GlassHouses”. A further scan down his account shows his attitude towards fans; “Lol, jokers, don’t boo me then get angry because I tweet, its all fun so #takeachilpill”. With Cole it seems to be a case of controlling his outspoken nature, especially as Chelsea’s manager, Roberto Di Matteo, confirmed the left back would face punishment by his club; “We’ve got a social media policy [here] and there’s going to be a disciplinary process – action – against the tweet.”

Cole has now been charged by the FA with Misconduct and has until 16:00 on Thursday 11th October to respond.  ITV has run with ‘Top 10 footballers who got Twitter wrong‘ which makes interesting reading.

Formula One

Most of the F1 drivers on Twitter are well behaved. One driver stands out. Lewis Hamilton continuously lands himself in trouble with his trigger happy Tweet button. In August he dismayed his McLaren team when he, in a fit of frustration, posted pictures of his rear wing and qualifying telemetry onto his Twitter account. He quickly removed the posts and apologise.

In early October he made another blunder following a disappointing Japanese Grand Prix. After the announcement of his defection to the Mercedes team for 2013 he, for reasons best kept to himself, believed team-mate Jenson Button had snubbed him on Twitter, “Just noticed @jensonbutton unfollowed, thats a shame. After 3 years as teammates, I thought we respected one another but clearly he doesn’t.” An hour later he realised what was actually going on, “My bad, just found out Jenson never followed me. Don’t blame him! Need to be on Twitter more.” Unfortunately he’s making these blunders before his 1.1 million followers and the world’s media. Perhaps it’s time he got a press officer.

Verdict

For casual observers and fans these antics can often be hilarious and a true illumination of our heroes and heroines. For the organisers, team owners and managers they can be a nightmare, whilst for competitors they can be career ending. What is clear is how it is only a few individuals who are using the platform for a means to express offensive views; others are simply not thinking about team spirit when they launch their latest Tweet. Perhaps soon it will be mandatory for the world’s top sports stars to have Tweets approved by press officers – until they can prove they’re capable of behaving themselves it would appear to be the best solution!

Following on from the jobs we’ve highlighted previously from Chelsea FC and The RFU, here is another one we thought was too good not to highlight.  This time it is at Premier League club West Ham United.

It’s a great opportunity for someone with a love for football, experience of journalism and passion for digital marketing.  It’s a club pretty close to my heart as one of my best friends is a season ticket holder and I went to half a dozen matches during their promotion winning campaign last year.  It’s also an exciting time to be involved with the club as they could potentially soon be on their way to the Olympic Stadium, if they win the bid to make it their new home.

Good luck if you decide to go for it and pass it onto others who may like it if it’s not for you.

P.s. good luck with Gold, Sullivan and Brady!

Media Department
Closing Date: 5pm, Friday 5 October 2012
Full-time
Position: Media Officer (digital)

Due to the growth in our digital output, we are seeking to recruit a Media Officer (digital) to join our busy media team.

Key responsibilities will include:

- Working into the Content Editor, manage the day-to-day running of the club’s online digital platforms

- Manage copy writing for new stories to include football, corporate, community and marketing, predominantly for digital output

- Assisting with other copy writing across the department where necessary to include matchday programme and emails

- Managing the club’s social media output and offering new ideas to increase followers

- Ensuring marketing needs are satisfied across all digital and social media platforms

- Working with Content and Multimedia Editor to come up with new and innovative ideas for the club’s digital and video platforms

- Contributing to presenting and production of the club’s video output

- Assisting with press office duties on matchday and press days as directed by the Press and Media Manager

- Assisting in all other communication requirements as required by Press and Media Manager and Marketing Director

The ideal candidate will have:

- At least two years’ journalistic experience, preferably online
- A passion for football
- A recognised journalism qualification or extensive experience in the field
- Basic understanding of marketing communication principles
- The ability to work professionally at all times, while also being comfortable in the unique, high-pressured environment of a Premier League football club

We are committed to the principle of equality and equal opportunities in employment. We will actively promote equality and equal opportunities in our business to ensure that individuals receive treatment that is fair and equitable and consistent with their relevant aptitudes, potential skills and abilities. Employees will be recruited and selected, promoted and trained on the basis of objective criteria.

If you are interested in this role, please send a ONE PAGE CV with covering letter and current salary to hr@westhamunited.co.uk with the job title as the subject line.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on Friday 5 October. Due to the expected large number of applicants, we will not be able to reply to every application.

GUEST POST: Oscar Ugaz (@oscarugaz) is consultant on digital business (Real Madrid, SAB Miller, Toyota)  with expertise in Digital Media and online businesses. Over the past 15 years he has worked for major brands in America and Europe. He holds the position of Regional Project Director at Phantasia Wunderman.

In 2007 he was appointed as Digital Business Manager for Spanish Football Club Real Madrid C.F. He has been in charge of the E-commerce business, the commercial strategy of realmadrid.com portals, the online video business and the Social Media strategy of the Club. Oscar is a keynote speaker who often participates at events and conferences on Digital Business Strategy and the impact of Social Media. In the last few years he has spoken at events in Spain, Germany, UK, and Latin America

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A member of the board at a top football club used to say to newcomers:

“My dear boys, you are here to help 11 guys who are well gifted  to kick a ball, in their task to make millions happy.”

When you share this inspiring quote with the veterans at the marketing area they smile back and say:

“Indeed dear boy, you are going to make millions of people happy but in the meantime you will be asked to make millions of euros”.

No cynicism here. Many football clubs generate huge  levels  of revenue but also consume it just as  fast. Therefore, there is a focus to work in the most straightforward way.

Being straightforward in business produce “cookie-cutter” approaches. Take a look at the annual report of Deloitte on the economics of European football clubs. The revenues are divided in three parts: matchday, TV rights and commercial (this is mix of sponsorships, licensing, merchandising, etc). Digital business is usually found  in the commercial section .

Is digital nowadays a big business in the “football sector”?

If you review the quotes of some of the officers of the top clubs, digital represent around a 4 % of the total revenue. In most cases this includes the tickets sold through the internet (not a big task considering their high demand).

Usually, little money generation brings modest attention and resources from the board and management.

Is this lack of attention towards new and small businesses a characteristic of football clubs?. Not at all. The innovator´s dilemma explains how companies focus on big profitable markets and improve the way they do business in them. This is the logical approach of any good and responsible manager.

But the dilemma also tells us that this approach is what condemns those very same companies. The disruptive innovations that modify industries and shift market leaderships come from  new segments with new demands and needs. It starts in small markets with little revenue and scarce information.

The ones who tap these disruptive innovations are small, agile companies. Big and good companies that “do the right thing” are left behind because of their revenue and margin structures, their compromises and their focus. They can´t get distracted. They need to keep the ball rolling.

You see these cases every day: music industry vs digital music consumption, mobile phones vs fixed landlines, tablets vs laptops, Microsoft vs Google vs Facebook vs the next one.

Football will confront this dilemma in some way. As the social phenomenon will not disappear or lose relevance in the near future.  But it will be transformed or enhanced in the way we consume it. Every day we read about how people watch sports in a multitasking way, how they share astonishing amounts of information and opinions in social networks, how stadiums get wired to exploit multimedia experiences, etc, etc.

It is a very interesting situation with opportunities no less interesting.  How to break the innovation dilemma in what is regarded as “digisport”? Please allow me to suggest some advice:

For clubs / sports organisations:

• Work to find the connections between digital business and other marketing areas and look for positive externalities. How can these new assets help enhance sponsorship deals? Is there a new pool of potential subscribers for the membership program? Can it help to distribute our video content (maybe ad supported) in a cheaper and wider way? If digital is evaluated only by itself you will only see a modest amount of money generated in comparison with other mature and tested business models. And you will drop it.

• Don’t set  weak  benchmarks and get frustrated about them. It’s not only about numbers of fans, followers, comments or tweets. It’s about engagement and conversion and they are ratios that put big and small organizations to “compete” side by side. Is not about the size. Is what you do with that size.

• Spin off a team inside your organization with  resources and leave them to explore and experiment in this new environment. You don’t require an army of experts. You need a very small group of clever people. It’s not about big budgets, it’s about intelligent, insightful and focused approaches. “I’m too small for digital” is a lazy excuse

• Demand information, insights, knowledge and cooperation from other areas. Use this to get ready for the future. In that future (in some cases this is the present) sponsorship relationships will demand new ways to activate in digital (you will need data to make your pitch and assets to deploy it); its possible that you will negotiate TV match or highlights rights with new digital bidders (are you going to understand how they work and your opportunity cost to make a good deal or walk away?). Maybe you will be required to understand new licensing models and the opportunities around them or find new ways to create and develop products or services.

• Stop playing safe.  You will only produce lame content, mediocre products and zero new knowledge. No one will pay attention, or  buy, no matter the shield you put on top. Nowadays the most dangerous option is playing safe

For digital marketing professionals:

• We are in an economic crisis because banks and brokers sold one another bad debt. Today, social media “experts” are trading the wrong stuff also. Connections and actions unlikely to yield anything meaningful,. Stop bragging only about tweets, comments, likes, number of fans. By itself they are irrelevant. Start talking also about business: traffic, conversion, membership affiliation programs, merchandising sales, saves in the aforementioned activities.

• Be honest if the business numbers is not already “big”. The worst thing we can do is generate false expectations.

• Don’t concentrate on yourself. The only way to succeed is to cooperate with other areas and produce not only direct business but also externalities. By ourselves we are not meaningful. Demand that interaction and cooperation.

Sports and specially football produces some  of the greatest content of our time. In a chaotic and in some ways “uncertain” time for digital business, the opportunity will be only for those who are serious and get focus enough. If we do it well it is going to be a great time.

You may well have missed it this week but the Metro ran with a small story about the QR code venture by sports betting company Betfair.

This isn’t the first time they have looked to use the technology in a fun, unique way.  More recently they added them onto the rears of the British Women’s Beach Volleyball team, an activation that was picked up by much of the press.

At the time I could see what they were trying to do.  Chances are they got few signups or extra through people taking pictures of the players during the game itself (or even at the event) but as a gimmick it went well from a PR point of view and would have cost very little to do.

Now they have taken it a step further with the sponsorship of Irish boxer Eamonn O’Kane.  This involves placing a QR code on the crotch area of his shorts, a campaign that comes complete with the tag line ‘marketing with balls’ and its own promotional video.

Many in the industry have been crying out when it comes to the use of QR codes and about how many are totally meaningless they are and generally put in places that you cannot use them, i.e. the underground.

With headlines from the likes of Mashable (Why QR codes wont last), The Guardian (WTF, QR Codes?), Business Insider (Death to the QR Code) and Gizmodo (QR Codes: Goodbye and Good Riddance), it has become somewhat of a running joke.

Rather than using the technology for its strengths it has become a PR tool where the objective is to place them in the oddest possible places and gain press coverage for this fact.  Otherwise why would they fly them through the sky, on underground posters (opposite the platform), on footballers heads (!) and now on a boxers crotch?!

There has always been an obstacle that has kept QR Codes from really taking off, and that’s the fact you have to download the reader first to then use it and take a picture (as well as the image problem they have).

It’s role is meant to be to act as a shortcut, taking out the hassle of entering a website address and accessing great content (quickly).  If it just linking to content that is easily available already or placed in odd places then its use becomes negligible and consumers will not take them seriously.

Hopefully this will the last QR code PR stunt by Betfair, and with the failure to gain much coverage (The Drum and Metro being the only ones of note) it is most likely.  At the end of the day, marketeers only have themselves to blame.

What is the most stupid use of QR codes you have you seen?  Do you think they will ever become truly useful?  Have these stunts destroyed their reputation?

Manchester City FC have again shown they are at the forefront of digital technology when it comes to engaging with fans.  After seeing some great new tech in their membership cards (something I’ll be covering soon) they have brought out an Augmented Reality app to celebrate their FA Cup win earlier this month.

The app allows fans the chance to have a clip of them celebrating with the FA Cup itself….well almost, you print off a ‘marker’ and film yourself using your webcam.  The AR app takes care of the rest, replacing the marker with the trophy.  Simples! 

They managed to turn it around in record time after deciding not to commission anything before the Final as they didnt want to jinx their chances, probably a sensible move.  Instead they have put this together in a little over a week, which is quite staggering with high-end digital production company Specialmoves. 

Ian Cafferky, Chief Brand and Commercial Officer for City, said, “This kind of digital technology is only the beginning of what we have in store for fans next season.  Our new Membership cards lets us give fans great Augmented Reality features, and will allow fans to interact with the Club like never before.  

“Supporting City should be fun, that’s why we have enabled our fans to share their pictures on Facebook with other Blues from around the world.”

Darrel Wilkins, Creative Director at Specialmoves, the high-end digital production company that created the FA Cup app, said: “We wanted to give Manchester City fans the opportunity to lift the FA Cup. Our Augmented Reality app gives fans an extra outlet to celebrate the win and continue the banter.

“We’re really excited to be working with Manchester City Football Club, helping then create innovative digital interactions for their fans. We’re sure there will be more great stuff to come.”

http://www.fcbusiness.co.uk/news/article/newsitem=1205/title=manchester+city+invites+all+its+fans+to+lift+the+fa+cup