For decades, football have been played via TV
broadcast in family living rooms, then in viewing centers which serves as
stadium next door, in school fields scattered across the country, youths gather
to watch and play…
But now, the game have transcended the traditional
ball and pitch system, and fans are consuming football more in a different way.
It’s not just about going to the stadium and the
screens are no longer just TV sets, but have gotten smaller and are in the
hands of most individuals.
Based on our findings, millennial fans between the
ages of 13 and 24 years are craving digital platforms… and football social
influencers are bringing them content that they want to consume real-time.
In our survey of 10, 230 millennials across Nigeria
showed they favored watching and reading
their favorite football social
influencer over their favorite star players.
Football social influencer are connecting with
millennial viewers by providing an authetic and friendly voice that is
attractive to them… social influencer like Benson chukwueke, founder of Cheer
on Nigeria blog and Inspire football life (IFL community network), has been
reaching young football consumers, engaging and building trust over his brand
as a football consultant online.
Chukwueke has been impacting value in variety of
ways - from football idea and concept development, to youth empowerment and
football business mentoring… he is usually on live chat with over 500 fans on
daily basis via individual and group chats on WhatsApp, Messengers, Kingschat…
87% fans use social media to regularly consume
football-related content. This is nearly twice as much as football content
consumed through mainstream sports
media.
Real-time interactions and fans engagements on
Twitter and popular forums like Nairaland reaching millions of fans at once on trending hashtags #.
Respondent that
watch football related videos have positive purchase intent to buy from
brands that use social influencers.
Brand managers in Nigeria should capitalize on the
knowledge of this changing consumer buying behavior… Nearly a quarter of today’s
marketers are focusing on influencers marketing as being their most effective
method for customer acquisition.
Marketers in Nigeria should start channeling their
effort in using influencers’ platforms online to positively engage their
customers.
