Lies, Damn Lies and Market Research- Steven Falk

May 30, 2012

Manchester United has announced that the club now boasts 659 million fans globally. This impressive figure is derived from research recently carried out by Kantar through sampling the views of 54,000 respondents in 39 countries and makes the club the best supported team in the world by some considerable margin.
The regional split is:-
– Americas 71m
– Europe 90m
– Africa & Middle East 173m
– Asia 325m
Interestingly, the total number of fans is double that predicted by the last research study carried out for the club in 2007 (by TNS) which in turn is quadruple the number identified in 2001 by MORI. Perhaps you can see a trend developing here.
There are certain issues to consider when assessing the usefulness of this research and the conclusions that can be derived from it. Here are some of the more obvious ones:-
1. Manchester United is currently looking for investment in launching on the Hong Kong stock exchange and by attracting sponsorship from companies in Asia. A research study suggesting 325m fans in the region will not harm these initiatives.
2. The research is commissioned by the club and carried out using a combination of sampling and modelling. As such the outcome has a wide statistical margin of error allowing the headline number of fans to be pretty much what the club would like it to be to suit its own purposes.
3. The total number of fans estimated by the previous studies (333m and 75m respectively) is not comparable as a contiguous measure of growing popularity or brand progression as they were carried out by different organisations using different methodologies.
4. Estimating the number of global fans presupposes the club has a precise definition of its target. A fan in Hong Kong (once described as supporting any team that plays in red and wins the Premier League) may be very different from a season ticket holder in Salford. Equally, a fan may be defined as someone whose week is ruined when the team looses or someone who occasionally watches the team play on TV.
The real issue to be addressed by Manchester United is not how many fans support the team but how many of them actually transact regularly with the club and its sponsors.
The club must develop processes and channels to interact with its fan-base by collecting, storing and segmenting their contact details and behaviours.  Suitable CRM strategies must be constructed to contact these fans and to turn their passive support into revenue. Without this, the estimate of their number, impressive though it is in PR terms, is largely irrelevant.

Manchester United has announced that the club now boasts 659 million fans globally. This impressive figure is derived from research recently carried out by Kantar through sampling the views of 54,000 respondents in 39 countries and makes the club the best supported team in the world by some considerable margin.

The regional split is:-

-Americas 71m

– Europe 90m

– Africa & Middle East 173m

– Asia 325m

Interestingly, the total number of fans is double that predicted by the last research study carried out for the club in 2007 (by TNS) which in turn is quadruple the number identified in 2001 by MORI. Perhaps you can see a trend developing here.

There are certain issues to consider when assessing the usefulness of this research and the conclusions that can be derived from it. Here are some of the more obvious ones:-

1. Manchester United is currently looking for investment in launching on the Hong Kong stock exchange and by attracting sponsorship from companies in Asia. A research study suggesting 325m fans in the region will not harm these initiatives.

2. The research is commissioned by the club and carried out using a combination of sampling and modelling. As such the outcome has a wide statistical margin of error allowing the headline number of fans to be pretty much what the club would like it to be to suit its own purposes.

3. The total number of fans estimated by the previous studies (333m and 75m respectively) is not comparable as a contiguous measure of growing popularity or brand progression as they were carried out by different organisations using different methodologies.

4. Estimating the number of global fans presupposes the club has a precise definition of its target. A fan in Hong Kong (once described as supporting any team that plays in red and wins the Premier League) may be very different from a season ticket holder in Salford. Equally, a fan may be defined as someone whose week is ruined when the team looses or someone who occasionally watches the team play on TV. 

The real issue to be addressed by Manchester United is not how many fans support the team but how many of them actually transact regularly with the club and its sponsors. 

The club must develop processes and channels to interact with its fan-base by collecting, storing and segmenting their contact details and behaviours.  Suitable CRM strategies must be constructed to contact these fans and to turn their passive support into revenue. Without this, the estimate of their number, impressive though it is in PR terms, is largely irrelevant.

 

About Steven Falk:

A graduate in Psychology from Manchester University, Steven started his career in the motor industry before taking an MBA at Warwick University Business School. There followed commercial roles at Astra Zeneca, United Utilities, Great Universal Stores and MBNA Bank where he worked on a range of assignments in the UK, Eastern & Western Europe, North America and Asia.

From 2001 to 2009, Steven was Marketing Director at Manchester United Football Club. Steven served as a member of the Executive Committee of Manchester United and a board director of Manchester United Foundation, the club’s charitable trading arm. In January 2010, he launched Star Sports Marketing, a specialist sports marketing consultancy. 

For a confidential conversation on how Star Sports Marketing can help you to devise and implement an effective brand strategy. Visit www.starsportsmarketing.com or email steven.falk@starsportsmarketing.co.uk 

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