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ComparisonofsocialmediainteractionswithfansandfollowersofFC
Tokyo,MonterreyRayadosandFCSpartakMoscowthroughFacebook,
TwitterandYouTube
Author:SebastianoMereu
Contact:@sebinomics(Twitter)Dateofpublishing:11April2013
Publishedatwww.90minutesjapan.com
Introduction
Footballisaglobalphenomenonthatcanbeenjoyedwithoutgeographicalboundaries.Clubsanywhereintheworldentertainaudiencesinstadiums,onTV,andthrough
differentproducts,andtrytospreadtheirbrandwhileinteractingwithpeopleof
interestononlinechannels.Someclubsdoitmoreeffectivelythanothersandcanthereforeprovidemorefertilegroundfortheirbrandtoengagefansandprospective
customers(Brownetal.,2007).
Certainclubsenjoytheloyaltyoflegionsoffansinonepartoftheworld,whereasthey
areratherunknowninotherregions.Furthermore,itseemsobviousthatinthe21stcentury,fansandfollowersareorganizedthroughsocialmediaplatformsuchas
Facebooktoovercomegeographicalbarriers(Zhang,2010).However,withoutproperincentivesbytheclub,socialmediacanonlyprovidelimitedpossibleinteractionand
flowofinformation.
Aninformaldiscussionheldinearly2013byinternationalaficionadosoftheJ.Leagueon
TwitterprovedthatinternationalfanssharetheopinionthatinformationonJapanese
footballinEnglishisratherscarce.SoontheassumptionwasmadethatclubsoutsideofJapandoabetterjobatspreadinginformationabouttheclubandinteractingwithfans.
Thatassumptionwasthestepping-stoneforthehypothesisofthisresearch:
ProfessionalfootballclubsoutsideofJapanaremoreengagedininteractionswith
fansandfollowers,becausetheyusesocialmediachannelsmoreeffectively.
Methodology
Theanswertotheresearchquestion,AreprofessionalfootballclubsoutsideofJapanmoreengagedininteractionswithfansandfollowers?wastobefoundbyfocusingthe
researchonthreeclubsthathavesimilarchancestoreachandengagewithpeoplein
theirrespectivemetropolitanareasthroughcommunitymanagementanddifferentmediachannelsnation-wide.Thefollowingfactorswereconsideredtoprovidesimilar
chancestoeachfootballclub:
Populationofthecountryandhomecity Capacityofhomestadium Accesstothesamesocialmediachannels(Facebook,TwitterandYouTube) Allcommunicationtofansandfollowersistobedoneintheclubsdomestic
language
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Inordertocomparethreeclubsoperatinginsimilarcircumstances,clubsfromcountries
withasimilarsizeinpopulationandGDPneedtobechosen.Afterconsultingalistofcountriesrankedbypopulation(Wikipedia,2013)clubsfromRussia,JapanandMexico
withcountrypopulationsof143million(Russia),127million(Japan)and112million
(Mexico)respectivelywerechosen.Thecountriesareranked9th(Russia),10th(Japan),
and11th(Mexico).Theabove-mentionedcountrieswereranked3rd(Japan),10th(Russia)and14th(Mexico)intermsofGDPbytheUnitedNations(2012),whichcanbe
arelativemeasurethatfootballfansandconsumersingeneralhavesimilarpossibilitiestoaccessandenjoyfootballintheirrespectivecountries.TheFIFA/Coca-ColaWorld
Rankingwasnotconsideredforthisresearch,sincetherankingfocusesonnationalteamsandisanirrelevantfactorforthiscomparison.
Requirements
Requirementsthathadtobemetforaclubtoqualifyforthecomparison:
Competinginatop-tierdivisionsince2012 Citypopulationlargerthan1millioninmostrecentcensusfigures Stadiumcapacitylargerthan20,000 OfficialcommunicationchannelsonFacebook,TwitterandYouTubeindomestic
language;domesticlanguagenotbeingEnglish
Thecomparisonrequiresaclubtobecompetinginatop-tierdivisionsince2012to
makesureallclubsreceivethemaximumamountoffootballadvertisingandpromotion
intheirhomemarket.Inaddition,aclubisrequiredtouseFacebook,TwitterandYouTubeasonlinecommunicationplatformsintheirdomesticlanguagetoqualifyfor
thecomparison.Thechoicefellontheabove-mentionedplatforms,becauseFacebookandTwitterarethemostpopuloussocialnetworksasofMarch2013(eBizMBA,2013)
andeasilyaccessibleinmanycountries.YouTubeisconsideredtobeamust-useplatformforanyorganizationpublishinginformation.StatisticsshowthatYouTubereachestrafficof4billionviewsperday(Perez,2012),whichprovesthattheplatform
canbringalotofweighttotheonlinecommunicationmixofanorganization.Theother
requirementswerechosenrandomlyforguidance.
Choicesforthethreeclubsweremaderandomlyaftervisitingofficialclubwebsitesandotheronlinesources.Afterscanningvariousonlinesourcestheconclusioncouldbe
drawnthatmanyJ.Leagueteamslackengagementinabove-mentionedsocialmedia
platforms.ThismadeitimpossibletochooseoneofthemorepopularandsuccessfulJ.Leagueclubsforthisresearch.Therefore,thechoicefellonaclubthathasneverwon
theJ.LeaguesDivision1championshipandonlyparticipatedintheAFCChampionsLeagueonceintheirprofessionalcareer:FCTokyo.However,duetothelocationoftheclubandthefactthattheiraverageattendanceintheirhomestadiumhasbeencounting
morethan22,000peoplepermatchsince2001,exceptfor2011whentheclubwasrelegatedtoJ.LeagueDivision2,thesemightgivesomeextraleveragetothepossibility
ofcommunicationwiththeirfansandfollowers.
MoreteamsinRussiaandMexicometallthesetrequirementsforthisresearch.Japan
seemstolagintotalsocialmediaparticipation(Delo,2012),whereasRussianand
Mexicanclubsseemtobemoreopentowardsnewmedia.
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Engagement
Allengagementfiguresweregathereduntil25March20138:00PMCentralEuropeanTime(CET)forFacebookandYouTube,and6:40PMCETforTwitterrespectivelyand
wereanalyzedfortheperiod15to25March2013.
FacebookFour(4)metricswerechosentoevaluatethesocialmarketingreachandpersonalinvolvementwithFacebookfansinconversations:postsbytheofficialclubfanpage,likes,comments,andshares(Munn,2013).Allfiguresweregatheredseparatelyfora
moreaccurateanalysis.Thenatureofthecontentoftheposts(picture,video,advertizing,etc.)anditsqualitywerenotconsidered.
ThemetricforthelevelofengagementonTwitterisofdifferentnaturethantheonefor
Facebook.Insteadofmeasuringtheengagementlevelofthefanstowardstheclub,the
researchonTwitterwantstogatherinformationofhowtheclubsengagewiththeir
followers.Thereasonisbasedontimeconstraintsforthisresearchandtheaccessibilityofthenecessarydata.
TomeasuretheengagementperformanceoftheclubswithfollowersonTwitter,three
(3)metricswithoutboundcharacteristicswerechosen:retweetsbytheofficialclubaccount,mentionsofotherTwitteraccountsintweets,andrepliesbytheclubaccountto
tweetsbyothers.Itisessentialforabrandtolistentothecommunityandrespondwith
usefulandrelevantcontent(Wilson,2013).Allfigures(forretweets,mentions,andreplies)weresummedupinonenumber,sinceanykindofengagementonTwitteris
presentedverysimilarformatinanytweet.Hence,creatingonefigurethataggregatesthelevelofengagementistherightthingtodointhecaseofTwitter.
YouTube
YouTubedoesnotprovideeasyaccesstotheamountoflikesandcommentsofvideosin
theformofalist.Videoshavetobeaccessedindividually,whichwouldhavemadethe
workloadforthisresearchunbearableinregardtothetimeconstraint.Therefore,theassessmentoftheengagementlevelwasrestrictedtolikesandcommentsofthethree(3)
mostpopularvideosofeachclubsindividualYouTubechannel.Forthisresearchthefollowingthreefactorswerenotconsidered:dislikes,dateofuploadofthevideos,and
possiblegeographicrestrictions.
Tab.1:Requirementstobemetforresearchcomparison
FCTokyo ClubdeFtbolMonterrey FCSpartakMoscow
Competingin
top-tiersince
2012
(J.LeagueDivision1)
1960
(LigaMXPrimeraDivisin)
1978
(RussianPr.Leaguesince2001)
Citypopulation13,185,502
(TokyoMetropolis)
4,080,329
(Metro)11,510,097
Stadiumcapacity50,100
(AjinomotoStadium)
32,854
(EstadioTecnolgico)
78,360
(LuzhnikiStadium)
OfficialFacebook facebook.com/fctokyo facebook.com/rayadosoficial facebook.com/fcspartak
OfficialTwitter twitter.com/fctokyo_express twitter.com/RayadosCom twitter.com/fcsm_official
OfficialYouTube youtube.com/fctokyochannel youtube.com/rayadosoficial youtube.com/FCSMofficial
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AnalysisandDiscussion
Communicationthroughonlinechannelsisessentialtokeepfansandfollowersinvolved
withabrandandmakesurevaluableinformationisspreadacrossdifferentmedia
channels(Scarborough,2013).Themostpopularsocialmediachannelstodayare
FacebookandTwitterwithestimated750millionuniquevisitorspermonthinthecaseofFacebookand250millionuniquevisitorspermonthonTwitter(eBizMBA,2013).Furthermore,thesesocialnetworksareeasilyaccessibleindifferentcountriesandoffer
easyaccessthroughmobiledevices.
YouTube,currentlybeingthesecond-largestsearchengineontheweb,afterGoogle,
(Kostalampros,2013)isanotheronlinecommunicationchannel,whichsuccessfulorganizationscannotdowithout(Thaw,2007).Eventhoughtheplatformisnot
necessarilyusedasasocialnetworkbybrands,theembeddingoptiongivesYouTube
videosanultimateviralpotential,whichisessentialforanybrandthatwantstospreaditsaudio-visualcontentthroughouttheInternet(Lewis,2013).
Facebook:Analysis
AcloserlookattheFacebookbehaviorofourthreereferenceclubsandtheirfansshows
thatFCSpartakMoscowaccumulated469,219pagelikesuntil25March2013,followedbyMonterreyRayadoswith213,220likes,andFCTokyofarbehindbothofthemwith
9,234likes.However,onefactorthatwasnotconsideredhereiswhenexactlythe
Facebookfanpageforeachfootballclubwasstarted.Thiscouldhaveacertainimpactontheaccumulationoflikes,butisnotofimportanceforthisresearch,sincethefocusof
theresearchlieswiththeengagementleveloftherespectivechannelsinthetime-span
of10days.
ToexplorethesocialmarketingreachandpersonalinvolvementwithFacebookfansinconversationsinthetimeperiodbetween15and25March2013,thefollowingfour(4)metricswerechosen:
Postsbytheofficialclubfanpage
PostspublishedbytheadministratorofaFacebookfanpageareacrucialmarketing
communicationsinstrumentandthelifeandbloodofafanpage.Therightbalancebetweeninformation,entertainment,andeducationneedstobefoundforthebest
possibleuserexperience(Selwyn,2009).
FromtheclubschosenforthisresearchMonterreyRayadospublishedthemostposts
withinourgiventime-spanwith185outofanaccumulated220postsacrossallthreeclubs.Thenumberequatesto84percentofallpostspublishedbetweenthethreeclubs.
FCSpartakMoscowposted21posts(10percent)andFCTokyo14posts(6percent).
Likes
Facebookoffersthepossibilitytolikepublishedposts.The213,220fansofthe
MonterreyRayadosFacebookfanpageshowedmostengagementbyclicking116,060timesonalikebuttononapost.Thatequatesto96.25percentofalllikesgiventothe
threeanalyzedfanpages,giventhatthesumofalllikesamountsto120,588.The469,219fansoftheFCSpartakMoscowfanpagelikedtheclubsposts3,149times,which
translatesto2.6percentofthewhole;andtheengagementofFCTokyos9,234fans
reached1.14percent,or1,379likes.
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Comments
AnotherwayhowfanscanengagewiththeclubsFacebookfanpageisbycommentingonposts.MonterreyRayadoswereabletogenerate9,060commentsoverthe10daysof
thisresearch.Thisfiguretranslatesto96.43percentofthe9,395commentsinaggregate
writtentothethreeclubfanpagesunderanalysis.FCSpartakMoscowreceived328
comments(3.49percent)bytheirfansandFCTokyowasabletobringfanstocomment7times(0.07percent).
Shares
Facebookoffersuserstheoptiontosharepostswiththeirfriends,anditisinanyfanpageadministratorsinteresttohavetheirpostssharedandspreadacrossFacebookto
generatemorelikes,trafficandanyotherkindofengagement(Mustonen,2009).Asit
wasshowninthecaseoflikesonpostsandcomments,fansofMonterreyRayadossharedmostpostswiththeirfriendsonFacebook.Thetotalamountofsharesacrossall
clubsis9,113andMonterreyfansshared8,948(98.19percent)ofallposts.FCSpartak
Moscowwasabletomotivateitsfanstoshare161posts(1.77percent)andFCTokyo
merelyclicked4timesonthesharebutton,whichequatesto0.04percentofallpostsshared.
Facebook:Discussion
ThefiguresgatheredinFacebookforthisresearchshowthatahigheramountoffanpagelikesdoesnottranslateintoahigherengagementwithfans,inthiscase.The
FacebookfanpageofFCSpartakMoscowsports469,219likes,whichequateto67.84
percentbetweenthethreeclubs,butfanengagementinregardtolikesofposts,commentsandsharesareconsiderablylowerthantheengagementoffansofthe
MontereyRayadosFacebookfanpage,whoamountto213,220fans,or30.83percentbetweenthethreeclubs.WithlessthanhalfoftheamountoflikesofFCSpartak
Moscow,MonterreyRayadosareabletoleadtherankingwith96.25percentoflikesreceivedonall220postsacrossthethreereferenceclubs,96.43percentofcommentsreceivedonposts,and98.19percentofallsharedposts.
Nocorrelationbetweenfanpage-likesandfan-engagement
Thereisnocorrelationbetweenthefanpagelikesandtheengagementinthis
comparison.FCSpartakMoscowowns67.84percentofthe691,673likesinaggregate,buttheirlikesonposts,commentsandsharesonlyreachedandengagementof2.61,
3.49and1.77percentrespectively.Ontheotherhand,MonterreyRayadosreachedan
engagementofmorethan96percentinallmetricswithamere30.84percentoflikes.
Thisprovestobestronglyefficient,sinceMonterreyRayadospublished84percentofallposts,comparedtothe10percentofFCSpartakMoscowand6percentofFCTokyo.The
RussianandJapaneseclubspentlessresourcesinthepublishingoftheposts,butwhencomparedtotheiroutcomestheresourceswerewasted,sinceineffectivelyused.FC
Tokyopublished14posts(6percentofthewholesum)andgeneratedonly1.14percentofthelikesonposts,0.07percentcomments,and0.04percentofallshares.
Possiblecorrelationbetweenamountofpostsandfan-engagement
Apossiblecorrelationcanbefoundbetweentheamountofpostspublishedbya
Facebookfanpageandthefanengagement.Inthiscomparison,themorepostsare
publishedonapage,thehighertheengagementoffans.Therefore,moreopportunityforengagementshouldbecreated,ifhigherengagementratesaretobeattained.Onemight
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arguethattoomuchpostingmightupsetfans.Nonetheless,itprovedtobetheright
strategyinthecaseofthisresearch.
Tab.2:ComparisonFacebook
FCTokyo ClubdeFtbolMonterrey FCSpartakMoscow
Fanpagelikes
(lifetime)9,234 213,220 469,210
%ofthesum 1.34 30.83 67.84
Postspublished
(15-25March)14 185 21
%ofthesum 6 84 10
Likesonposts
(15-25March)1,379 116,060 3,149
%ofthesum 1.14 96.25 2.61
Comments
(15-25March)7 9,060 328
%ofthesum 0.07 96.43 3.49
Shares
(15-25March)4 8,948 161
%ofthesum 0.04 98.19 1.77
Twitter:Analysis
TheprevioussectionportrayedFCSpartakMoscowastheclubwiththemostFacebook
fans,butwitharelativelylowlevelofengagementonthesocialnetworkincomparisontotheirMexicancounterpart,MonterreyRayados.FCTokyohasanirrelevantlevelof
engagementonFacebookcomparedtotheothertwoclubs.
TheanalysisonTwittershowsthatMonterreyRayadoshave196,159followers,which
translatesto55.97percentoffollowersacrossthethreeclubs.TheofficialTwitter
accountofFCSpartakMoscowisfollowedby106,930users(30.51percent)andFCTokyohasafollowingof47,386users,whichequatesto13.52percent.Thethreeclubs
tweeteda264tweetsinaggregateinthetimeperiod15to25March2013,withMonterreytweeting164times(62.12percent),FCSpartakMoscowsendingout90
tweets(34.09percent),andFCTokyopushingout10messages(3.79percent).
Theengagementlevelinthiscaseismeasureddifferentlythanintheprevioussection.
Insteadofmeasuringtheengagementoffanswithaclubsofficialchannel,asdoneintheFacebookanalysis,thisTwitteranalysisgathereddataonhowthethreereferenceclubsengagewiththeirfollowers.Theengagementfigureincludesalloutboundretweets,
mentionsandrepliesmultiplementionsinonetweetcountasone(1)bytheclubtotheTwitterplatformintheabove-mentionedtimeperiod.
MonterreyRayadosarethemostinteractingclubinthisTwittercomparisonwith120engagingtweets,whichtranslateto79.47percentofthe151timesoneofthethreeclubs
engagedinaconversationonTwitter.FCSpartakMoscowengaged31times(20.53
percent)andFCTokyodidnotengagewithanyone(0percent)insaidtimeperiod.
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Twitter:Discussion
Twitterisasocialnetworkthatreliesonconnectionsandengagementtofosterrelationshipsandmakeitmorefuntofollowabrand(Javaetal.,2007).Ifnoshout-outs
aremade,thentheTwitterfeedstaysafeedthatpushesoutinformationanddoesnot
turnintoaplacewhereatwo-wayonlinecommunicationtakesplace.Afteracloserlook
attheactivitiesoftheclubsonTwitter,itbecameapparentthatFCTokyoonlyusedtheirTwitteraccounttopushoutnewsarticlesandothernewsflashestothemasses.
MonterreyRayados,ontheotherhand,tweetmatchupdatesandarenotafraidtogetintouchwithfollowers.Thisrequiresmorecommitmentonthehumanresourcesside,
sinceareal-timeconversationshouldbeguaranteed,especiallyduringmatches.
Forone-waycommunication,socialmediamanagementsoftwaresuchasHootSuiteor
TweetDeckcanbeusedtoscheduleautomatedtweets(orFacebookupdatesetc.),whichcansupportthedailyjoboftheresponsiblepersonforonlinecommunications.
Nonetheless,thelevelofengagementfromtheclubtoitsfollowingisarguablythemost
essentialfactortoboostengagementfromfollowersbacktotheclub,andtherefore,itis
acrucialactivityforabrand(Kreutzeretal.,2010).
Tab.3:ComparisonTwitter
FCTokyo ClubdeFtbolMonterrey FCSpartakMoscow
Tweets
(lifetime)1,227 22,180 9,802
%ofthesum 3.69 66.79 29.52
Tweets
(15-25March)10 164 90
%ofthesum 3.79 62.12 34.09
Followers(lifetime)
47,386 196,159 106,930
%ofthesum 13.52 55.97 30.51
Engagement
(15-25March)0 120 31
%ofthesum 0.00 79.47 20.53
YouTube:Analysis
FCSpartakMoscowhaspublished268YouTubevideossincetheystartedtheirchannel
on7July2010.Thatis53.39percentofthe502videospublishedamongthethreeclubs,
sincethefirstofthemjoinedYouTubein2011.MonterreyRayadosfollowshortlybehindwith197videos(39.24percent)publishedsince4October2010.FCTokyo
published37videos(7.37percent)sincetheinceptionofitschannelon20July2011.FC
SpartakMoscownotonlyuploadedmostvideos,theclubalsogatheredmostsubscribers(39,658/77.80percentofthewhole)andthehighestamountofviewsonalluploaded
videos(6,636,594/81.78percent).ThefiguresfortheMonterreyRayadosYouTubechannelamountto8,962subscribers(17.58percent)and1,268,443totalviews(15.63
percent).FCTokyoreached2,352subscribers(4.61percent)and210,041totalviews
(2.59percent).However,FCTokyojoinedYouTubeoneyearlaterthanFCSpartakMoscowandninemonthsafterMonterreyRayados,whichcanhaveanimpactonthe
numberofsubscriptionsandvideoviews.
Thelevelofengagementwasassessedbyanalyzinglikesandcommentsofthethree
mostpopularvideosofeachclubsYouTubechannel,withoutconsideringdislikes,date
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ofupload,andifthevideoswererestrictedtospecificregions.EventhoughFCSpartak
Moscowoutperformedbothotherclubsintheabove-analyzedmetrics,MonterreyRayadosgatheredmostlikesonthetopthreevideoswith2,070likes(52.73percentof
thewhole).However,FCSpartakMoscowwasnotfarbehindwith1,776likes(45.24
percent).FCTokyowasabletogather80likes(2.04percent),whereasitisimportantto
notethatone(1)oftheirtopthreevideoshadthelike-functiondisabled.
Inthecaseofcomment-engagement,userswhowatchedFCSpartakMoscowvideoscommented2,310times(69.45percent),whereasMonterreyRayadosreceived1,016
comments(30.55percent).PeoplewerenotabletocommentonanyofthetopthreeFCTokyovideos,becausetheclubsYouTubechanneladministratordisabledthecomments
function.
Tab.4:ComparisonYouTube
FCTokyo ClubdeFtbolMonterrey FCSpartakMoscow
Videosintotal 37 197 268
%ofthesum 7.37 39.24 53.39
Subscribers
(lifetime)2,352 8,962 39,658
%ofthesum 4.61 17.58 77.80
Totalviewsonall
videos(lifetime)210,041 1,268,443 6,636,594
%ofthesum 2.59 15.63 81.78
Engagementon3mostpopularvideos(a)
Likes 80(b) 2,070 1,776
%ofthesum 2.04 52.73 45.24
Comments Commentsdisabled 1,016 2,310
%ofthesum 0.00 30.55 69.45
Datejoinedor1st
videoupload20July2011 4October2010 7July2010
(a)Restrictedtolikesandcommentsofthethree(3)mostpopularvideosofeachclubsYouTubechannel,withoutconsidering
thedislikes,whenthevideoswereuploaded,andifthevideoswererestrictedtospecificregions.(b)Onlytwo(2)outofthethree(3)mostpopularvideoshavethelike-functionon.
YouTube:Discussion
AccordingtoHalveyandKeane(2007),thenumberofsubscribersincreaseswith
respecttoviewsandthenfallsoffafteracertainpoint.Theyalsonotethatthenumberof
subscribersthataYouTubechannelhasincreaseswiththenumberofvideosuploadedontothechannel.Thecorrelationbetweentheamountofsubscribersourreference
clubshaveontheirrespectiveYouTubechannelsandtheamountoftotalviewsalso
existsinourcomparison.Hence,itishighlyrecommendabletouploadahighnumberofvideostogrowthesubscriberbaseandgeneratemoreviews.Withmoreviewsmore
opportunityforcommentingandlikingiscreated.
ThemetricthatstandsoutmostistheamountoflikesgiventotheMonterreyRayados
videos,whichishigherthantheamountgiventoFCSpartakMoscow,despiteallother
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Monterreymetricsbeinglower.Afairassumptioncouldbethatthetopthreevideosof
FCSpartakMoscowarelessemotionalandsparkedlesspositivereactionsthantheMonterreyRayadosvideos.Maybetheygeneratedmoredislikes;however,thatisa
metricnotcoveredinthisresearch.
Conclusion
Three(3)footballclubsfromdifferentcontinentswithsimilarmarketingandcommunicationopportunitiesintheirrespectivemarketswerechosentoassesstheir
engagementsandinteractionswithfansandfollowersonthreesocialmediaplatforms.
ThefootballclubsareFCSpartakMoscow,MonterreyRayadosandFCTokyo,andthesocialmediaplatformsanalyzedforthisresearchareFacebook,TwitterandYouTube.
Afterdecidingonasetofrequirements,whichhadtobemetbyeachclubtoqualifyfortheresearch,individualengagementmetricsforeachsocialmediaplatformwere
elaboratedanddatawasgatheredforengagementlevelsinthetime-span15-25March
2013.
ThenatureoftheengagementanalysisonFacebookwasbasedonhowfansreactto
updatesbytheclubontheirrespectiveFacebookfanpages.TheanalysisforTwitterengagementwasbasedonhowtheclubtriestoengagewithfollowersbyretweeting,
replyingandmentioningotherTwitterusers.ThenatureoftheengagementonYouTubewasassessedbyhowmanylikesandcommentsthethreemostpopularYouTubevideos
ofeachindividualclubhavegeneratedsincetheirdateofupload.
TherearetwomainfindingsintheFacebookanalysis.Firstly,theresearchshowedthat
thereisnocorrelationbetweentheamountoffanpage-likesofourchosenclubsandfan-engagement.FCSpartakMoscowhad469,210likes,butneverreachedmorethan
3.49percentofengagementincomparisontotheothertwoclubs,whereasMonterreyRayadosalwaysreachedmorethan96percentofengagementwithonly213,220page
likes.
Thesecondfindingisthatthereisapossiblecorrelationbetweentheamountoffanpage
postsandfan-engagement.MonterreyRayadosposted84percentofallpostsacrossthe
threeanalyzedfanpagesandreceivedmorethan96percentofengagementacrossallmeasuredmetrics.FCSpartakMoscowpublished10percentofthepostsandreached
faninvolvementofaround3percentonallmetrics.
TheTwitteranalysisshowedthattheMonterreyRayadosaccountisthemostactivecomparedtoFCTokyoandFCSpartakMoscow.TheMexicanclubtweetsmoremessages
thantheothertwoclubsandengagesexcessivelymorewithitsfollowers.Overthe
periodoften(10)days,Monterreyengagedin120tweets,whereasFCSpartakMoscowinvolveditsfollowersin31tweets,andFCTokyonotonce.Manycompanieshave
realizedbynowthatTwitterisatwo-waycommunicationtoolusedtoengagestakeholdersandspreadonesbrand(Rybalkoetal.,2010).Accordingtothisanalysis,
FCTokyousesTwitterasjustanothermediachanneltopushoutlinkstonewsinstead
ofusingitasatooltoconnectwithfansandpeopleofinterest.
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YouTube
DuringtheanalysisofthethreeYouTubechannels,itsoonbecameapparentthatFCTokyohasadifferentattitudetowardstheplatformthanthetwootherclubs.Allthree
mostpopularFCTokyovideoshavethecommentsoptiondisabledandoneofthevideos
hasalsotheratingoptiondisabled.Thisisaclearsignofcommunicationblockonthe
sideoftheclub,whichcandisgruntleviewers.Inaddition,FCTokyohasuploaded37videos,whichgenerated210,041views.
Incomparison,FCSpartakMoscowandMonterreyRayadosuploaded268and197
videosrespectively,andgenerated6.6millionand1.2millionviews.TheresearchshowsthatthemorevideosareuploadedontoaYouTubechannelthemoreusersareto
subscribeandthemorevideoviewsaregenerated.Itisthereforeadvisabletoproduce
andpublishasmanyvideosaspossible.
Inconclusion,wecansaythatMonterreyRayadosisthemostengaginganddialogue-
orientedclubofthethreeclubschosenforthiscomparison.Theymightnotnecessarily
havethefarthestreachinthefirstinstance,buttheyarestronginbuildingtieswithfansandfollowersthroughdialogueandseemtobeabletocontinuouslyengagethem.FCSpartakMoscowisstrongatgatheringmassesoffanpagelikers,subscribersand
followers,butlagsbehindMonterreywhenitcomestoactualengagement.FCTokyois
byfarthesttheleastinteractiveclubofourthreereferenceclubs.Bydisablingcommunicationoptionsandnotengagingwithfollowers,informationwillnotbecarried
ontothewebandcanthereforenotreachpeopleofinterest.
Communicationcanbelookedatfromaculturalpointofview,anditmightbeargued
thatMexicansaremoreoutgoingthanAsians,anditisthereforeeasierforthemtoengageinonlinedialogues.Suchananalysiswouldbedefinitelyofinterestforfurther
researchandcouldgivefurtherinsightsintothismatter.
Accordingtoourresearch,theanswerourresearchquestion,Areprofessionalfootball
clubsoutsideofJapanmoreengagedininteractionswithfansandfollowers?is:
Yes,professionalfootballclubsoutsideofJapanaremorecommittedandengaged
ininteractionswithfansandfollowers,becausetheyusesocialmediachannels
moreoftenandmoreeffectively.
Nonetheless,furtherresearchisneededtoassessthereasoninmoredetail.Possible
researchcouldincludeanevaluationoftheeffectculturehasonthecommunication
behaviorofclubswithadifferentculturalbackground,aswellasacomparisonoftheengagementlevelofclubsfromthesameleague.
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