David Sternberg, head of media for Manchester United explains how the English club is changing the way it provides content to supporters on mobile devices.

As a part of sponsorship agreements, Manchester United’s Asian telecom partners were historically given a raft of branded content to distribute to their users as a value-add.

Now telecom partners are content for the club to reach out to customers directly through its website and proprietary apps, said Sternberg.

The wireless companies benefit from increased data usage and the club enjoys a direct relationship with the consumer, said Sternberg, speaking at the recent Media360Asia event in Hong Kong.

“Mobile has become much more important for sponsorship,” according to Sternberg.

Manchester United currently has mobile partnerships with Truemove H in Thailand, Airtel in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Telekom Malaysia in Malaysia, Zong in Pakistan and Bakcell in Azerbaijan.

'Co-producers'

The trend toward direct connections with Asian supporters is central to Manchester United’s game plan for the region.

An emphasis on social media has yielded a rise in Facebook followers of the Manchester club to 34 million in 2013, with about half estimated to come from Asia.

In addition to Facebook, Manchester United reaches supporters through Twitter, and native Chinese platforms Sina, Tencent and Renren.

The Manchester club also produces MUTV, which is distributed across Asia, including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

The club is eager to capitalize on supporters' desire to engage with the brand as “co-producers,” said Sternberg, who joined Manchester United from Universal Sports in 2013.

The goal is to “give them the tools to help build the brand, to empower the fan, player and supporter’s club.”

Immediate measurement

As a content owner whose principal product is only available a handful of hours a week, the ability to provide immediate measurement of user interaction has been beneficial.

More timely measurement of advertising effectiveness has improved guidance on where to spend its own modest marketing budget, according to Sternberg.

The English football club has long been a frontrunner in commercialization and marketing outside of its home market.

Acoording to its 2012/13 annual report, commercial revenue lead Manchester United’s income with 42%, while matchday proceeds provided 30% and broadcasting, 28%.