The Worldwide Commercial Enterprise Continues - 10 years on

[blues2win]

I expect the Club wouldn't mind a top Chinese star for obvious reasons. Any ideas?!

[john@staustell]

I expect the Club wouldn't mind a top Chinese star for obvious reasons. Any ideas?!

No idea at all mate. There's over 200 million burning a hole in the pocket. Do you buy a club in China? Or does that just detract from promoting City?

Fuck knows

[nottsblue]

I expect the Club wouldn't mind a top Chinese star for obvious reasons. Any ideas?!

No idea at all mate. There's over 200 million burning a hole in the pocket. Do you buy a club in China? Or does that just detract from promoting City?

Fuck knows

Or would we be better served by buying the most popular player of the Chinese. Reckon it is likely Messi though. You get the impression the Far East worships the PL and CL and their domestic league is but a side distraction to this.

[john@staustell]

So maybe the CFG websites are going to shape up a bit?

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/02/16/ ... ns-rewards?

Web development platform Wix.com has partnered with Manchester City owners, City Football Group (CFG), to become the official website design and hosting partner for the company’s clubs.

The partnership will see Wix.com collaborate with City to help the club engage with fans across its digital platforms including their website and social media channels.

Wix will also have a presence at the Etihad Stadium with advertising on the pitchside LEDs during Barclays Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup games.

To mark the launch of the new partnership, Wix has created a video ad featuring some of the club’s top players including Pablo Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Nicolas Otamendi and Raheem Sterling with renowned pundit Chris Kamara lending his commentary skills throughout.

The partnership will give Wix.com users and fans of all three City Football Group clubs - Manchester City FC, New York City FC and Melbourne City FC- the chance to win hospitality tickets to selected fixtures and a range of other prizes such as attending first team training sessions.

Omer Shai, Wix.com chief marketing officer, said: “Working with a globally recognized football brand like CFG is part of our overall strategy to use the power of sport to reach worldwide audiences with our brand. We have seen great success advertising in the NFL’s Super Bowl, and now we’re looking to expand to the most popular sport in the world – football.”

City Football Marketing’s group commercial director, Omar Berrada, said the partnership would “not only introduce our clubs’ global fan bases to an easily accessible online tool, but will also provide them with increased opportunities to get closer than ever to all the on the pitch and behind the scenes action taking place across Manchester City FC, New York City FC and Melbourne City FC".

[john@staustell]

China conquest bit by bit

http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/socc ... edium=feed

Events organisation Soccer World China has announced a two-year partnership with English top-flight soccer side Manchester City.

As part of the deal, joint branding will appear throughout Soccer World’s sport centres in China, and Manchester City will send coaches to the Asian nation to help train children.

Soccer World will also run competitions for talented children to go to Manchester City to receive both training and education at their world-leading Etihad Campus facilities.

Soccer World China chief executive Fan Chengen said: “Youth training in the Chinese soccer industry leaves a lot to be desired.

“China is not lacking in young talent, but such fine institutions such as the Chinese soccer clubs are not doing a good job. That is why we want to work with Manchester City.”

Manchester City currently sit fourth in England’s Premier League, 12 points off leaders Leicester City with a game in hand. The club are also preparing to enter the quarter-finals of the Uefa Champions League for the first time in their history

[john@staustell]

HAYS renew their deal, hopefully for more dosh

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/20 ... 1458164494?

Manchester City are delighted to announce that our partner Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people, have renewed of their global partnership, committing to a further three years with the Club.

Hays, the Blues’ Official Recruitment Partner, has helped the Club to build a winning team off the pitch, including recruiting roles across City’s legal, finance, HR, commercial, marketing and communications teams in Manchester, London, Asia and the US.

Sholto Douglas-Home, Hays’ Chief Marketing Officer and Tom Glick, who signed the first agreement with Hays in 2013, representing City Football Group, Manchester City's parent company, came together at the Club’s home at the City Football Academy to sign the partnership extension and talk about why the relationship has been such a success for both sides.

Watch that conversation.

Sholto Douglas-Home, Chief Marketing Officer, Hays said:

“Our partnership with Manchester City has been transformational in ways we hadn’t anticipated. We were so confident in the progress that we’ve made to date that we signed the renewal before the third year of our original relationship finished.

“The world of work and the world of sport have more synergies than people realise and we have been able to showcase those similarities across our digital assets.

"The pace of change at Manchester City has astounded us and it’s been fantastic to be a part of that journey. The next three years offer us huge opportunities to continue to develop across our global network together.”

Tom Glick, City Football Group, said:

“Manchester City and Hays reflect each other very well; we’re increasingly global, we’re increasingly digital and we’re increasingly mobile.

"The story we’re telling is how to recruit and build a winning team and how important that is to organisations of all types and Hays is producing fantastic content which is accessible to its broad audiences.

“We have relied on Hays to help us build our organisation. We are more than a squad of players and an Academy; we have a whole professional set-up, which Hays has helped us to find great people for. We’re extremely excited to continue to grow with Hays as we continue our very successful relationship.”

The next three years will see further dynamic content, which has become a feature of the partnership, both externally and building employee engagement across Hays’ global network of offices.

With seamless integration on digital platforms, Hays’ bespoke content reached 2.8m people when it sent four of its recruitment experts to the City Football Academy to interview City Captain Vincent Kompany, Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta and Gaël Clichy about their careers.

The parallels between elite sport and Hays’ expertise in the workplace have formed a rich territory for the partnership, with a strong focus on leadership, scouting, preparation and understanding the ingredients of a successful and winning team.

Alongside continuing its highly visible in-stadium presence on matchday LED, with millions of views across the Club’s digital estate (including branding on the team line-up announcement), Hays will work together with City to curate new and exciting digital and social content reaching audiences all over the world.

In 2015, Hays extended its relationship with Manchester City to its sister Club in New York, New York City FC, which has just kicked off its second season in Major League Soccer under new Head Coach, Patrick Vieira. Hays has been instrumental in helping the Club to recruit front office staff in its first year.

[DoomMerchant]

Can Hays recruit physios?

cheers

[john@staustell]

Can Hays recruit physios?

cheers

Apparently not!

[Wonderwall]

Latest in the plan to get China on board

Manchester City Football Club and SoccerWorld are pleased to announce their new regional partnership, which will provide aspiring young footballers across China with greater access to state of the art facilities and training programmes.

The new partnership, which sees SoccerWorld become MCFC’s Official Recreational Soccer Partner in the region, was launched at a signing ceremony at the City Football Academy.

The ceremony was attended by SoccerWorld CEO Changen Fan and SoccerWorld Chairman Tao Guan, who received an exclusive tour of the training ground alongside City Football Group’s Commercial Director, Omar Berrada.

Vincent Kompany, Willy Caballero and Richard Wright also made an appearance at the event and the trio welcomed SoccerWorld to the Manchester City family by presenting them with an official MCFC shirt, which they had signed.



As part of the agreement, Manchester City coaches will visit China twice a year to provide SoccerWorld coaches with a one-week intensive training programme that will enable them to enhance the opportunities they offer young footballers in the region.

The SoccerWorld coaches who complete this training programme will subsequently receive an official Club certificate recognising their achievements.

SoccerWorld participants also have a lot to look forward as a result of this new partnership which will give them a chance to visit the UK and enjoy a true Manchester City experience.

SoccerWorld will select the best players taking part in their programme and send them to the City Football Academy where they will train with Manchester City coaches and sports scientists to help them reach their full potential.

While in Manchester, they will also compete in a tournament against Manchester-based youth players, enjoy a behind the scenes tour of the Etihad Stadium and have the rare opportunity to watch the First Team train, an unforgettable experience for any aspiring young footballer.

At the signing ceremony, Omar Berrada, Commercial Director for City Football Group, commented:

“SoccerWorld are an ideal partner for Manchester City. We both share a passion for encouraging people, children and adults, to regularly enjoy the physical and social benefits of playing soccer in safe, secure and fun environments.

"As the leading provider of recreational soccer facilities in China with ambitious plans to grow we are excited to be able to partner with them so that they can use our global football brand to increase participation at all levels of the game and support the broader national focus on enhancing the domestic soccer industry.

"Our partnership with SoccerWorld presents a strong platform on which we can continue to build Manchester City’s relevance, engagement and commitment to China by offering a national organisation access to premier football facilities and services that will allow them to contribute to the growth and development of football across the region.”

SoccerWorld CEO Chengen Fan shared Omar Berrada’s excitement for the new partnership saying:

“The partnership between SoccerWorld and Manchester City provides a new start for the development of youth football in China. In China, SoccerWorld already has more than 20 training centres and 200 pitches where we deliver the highest quality programmes to aspiring footballers.

"Together with Manchester City, we will focus our efforts on ensuring young footballers who train across all of our grounds have access to the best facilities and coaches available. The future looks bright with Manchester City and we can’t wait to get started."

The partnership with SoccerWorld builds on the Club's exciting plans in China, following the announcement in December that a China Media Capital-led consortium had acquired a stake in the Club’s parent company, City Football Group.

The Club will also visit China this summer to compete in the International Champions Cup as part of their pre-season tour.

[john@staustell]

Right, lets put all last season's crap behind us and get back to dominating the world. I do realised I missed one a few weeks back, as it didn't seem interesting or lucrative - nor can I remember what it was!

But now we have Wolf Blass wine, which may interest one or two - although somehow I doubt my purchases of £3 ASDA red will be under much threat.

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/20 ... 1464684353?

Manchester City Football Club have announced a multi-year marketing partnership with leading Australian wine brand, Wolf Blass.

The multi-platform agreement will see Wolf Blass become the Club’s Official Wine Partner in Asia, Middle East, Africa (MEA) and Mexico.

One of the world’s most successful wine brands, Wolf Blass will have the opportunity to engage with City fans via an exciting consumer campaign that will include in-store promotions, co-branded merchandising, giveaways, digital and social media activations, as well as consumer events.

Commenting on the new partnership, Damien Willoughby, VP Director of Partnerships, APAC at City Football Marketing said: “Wolf Blass is a pioneer in their industry whose commitment to quality, character and consistency echoes our own.

“Our new partnership offers us an exciting opportunity to connect with fans and consumers and we are looking forward to working with Wolf Blass as we both continue to grow in new and imaginative ways.”

As the Official Wine Partner of Manchester City, Wolf Blass will have access to one of the most passionate and highly engaged base of football fans in the world.

With more than 240 million fans in Asia, Middle East and Africa, along with millions of followers across the Club’s growing social media presence, Manchester City provides an unprecedented platform for new and existing consumers to engage with Wolf Blass wines.

Robert Foye, President and Managing Director of Asia, MEA and Latin America, at Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of Wolf Blass wines, added: “Wolf Blass has a long association with competitive sports and a passion in the chase for success.

“So we are thrilled to be involved with the number one sport globally, and one of the most popular and successful football clubs in the world.

“Through this partnership with Manchester City FC, we will bring to life our global brand campaign ‘Here’s To The Chase’, which celebrates the bold pursuit of triumph.

“We look forward to joining Manchester City in their bid to win more trophies, and celebrate their growing success with our iconic Wolf Blass wines.”

[john@staustell]

Ah yes the one I missed was the official Chinese light bulb partner. There's a lot of lights in China!!

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/20 ... 1462523808

Manchester City Football Club have signed a new partnership agreement with PAK Lighting, which sees the market leading supplier of high quality indoor and outdoor lighting products become the Club’s first Official Lighting Partner in China. This partnership allows PAK to continue to grow and provides greater presence for Manchester City in China.

To celebrate the new partnership, PAK Lighting hosted a special conference at in Guangzhou attended by Sun Jihai, former Manchester City FC player and current Club Ambassador to China, Yutao Zhang, President of PAK, and Songhui Chen, the Vice President of PAK.

PAK has a long history of providing state of the art lighting products for iconic sporting events and venues across China, including the 2010 Asia Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In addition to supplying top quality lighting products, PAK’s involvement in a variety of sport marketing projects is extensive.

Olympic diving champion, Xiongni, became their brand ambassador in 2001 and for four years they were an official sponsor of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Over the last year PAK have also sponsored CCTV’s broadcast of the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers, as well as being the title sponsor of the Chongqing basketball team.

Today’s announcement ushers in a new era for PAK’s sports marketing strategy as they collaborate with Manchester City

As Manchester City’s Official Lighting Partner in the region, PAK will be a part of a range of upcoming in market fan activations beginning with the Club’s pre-season visit to China. Moving forward, PAK and Manchester City will work together to enhance their partnership through a variety of in market initiatives, including promotional assets, access to exclusive behind the scenes footage, LED advertising and an online presence as the Club’s official regional lighting partner.

Commenting on the new partnership, Mr Songhui Chen, Vice President of PAK Lighting, said:

“As a globally recognised and widely respected football brand, Manchester City have a great presence not only in China, but across the entire world. Their large fan base in China is growing rapidly every day and interest in the Club is widespread across China.

"PAK’s global sports marketing strategy, which we want to expand, requires an influential and respected partner, and Manchester City are without a doubt the ideal football club for us to work with in order to achieve this goal.”

Damian Willoughby said, VP Director of Partnerships APAC for City Football Marketing, added:

“We are delighted to be working with PAK Lighting, whose ambitious plans for further growth and development make them an exciting brand to partner with. They are committed to high quality activations, which will bring the partnership to life for our fans. PAK is a fantastic addition to our growing number of Chinese partners and we are looking forward to working together."

[sheblue]

trains, recruitment agencies, tyres, wine and Chinese lanterns.

[Dameerto]

trains, recruitment agencies, tyres, wine and Chinese lanterns.

Sounds like my average weekend. (Without the trains, recruitment agencies, tyres and Chinese lanterns).

[john@staustell]

trains, recruitment agencies, tyres, wine and Chinese lanterns.

Sounds like my average weekend. (Without the trains, recruitment agencies, tyres and Chinese lanterns).

Me too :-)

[BlueinBosnia]

With more than 240 million fans in Asia, Middle East and Africa

That's a mental stat. I'm sure our worldwide fanbase was around 4 million during Sven's time.

[patrickblue]

Looks like we're after a club in South Africa.

http://www.goal.com/en-za/news/4667/sa-psl/2016/06/19/24808432/rumour-black-aces-to-partner-manchester-city

The English Premier League club is reportedly looking to add South African club Black Aces to their City Football Group

Mpumalanga Black Aces were recently taken over by former Ajax Cape Town boss John Comitis.

Having cemented a partnership with Ajax Amsterdam back then, rumours on Sunday evening suggest that Comitis is now looking at Man City for his new club.

He will change the name of Black Aces, and one possibility is Cape Town City (not yet confirmed).

The link isn't far fetched since there's already an existing relationship between Aces and City, for regional school football development.

Manchester City already have a similar partnership with New York City FC and Melbourne City

[john@staustell]

They sort of ruined it with the last sentence. We created NY and Melbourne, not "have a partnership with".

However, the more the merrier

[Dameerto]

Very speculative - the socalled existing link is with our charity arm if my assumption is right, and City tend to be the instigators for any partnerships rather than someone looking to partner with us. If it's not in our strategic interest then we're not going to do it.

[john@staustell]

First football club in the world to launch Facebook Messenger (which means nothing to me)

http://www.fcbusiness.co.uk/news/articl ... er+account?

Manchester City have become the first football club in the world to launch on Facebook Messenger.

The Club have launched a brand new Messenger Bot to give supporters a City perspective on the latest news and topics surrounding the team.

Subscribers to the Messenger Bot can choose to receive posts form a range of topics and will also include breaking news, exclusive photos, behind-the-scenes videos, smartphone wallpapers, match highlights and more.

Diego Gigliani, Senior Vice President of Media and Innovation at City Football Marketing, said: “We are delighted to announce another digital first for Manchester City. Messaging platforms have huge global audiences and our fans all over the world are spending more and more time on them.

“Messaging apps are on the path to becoming one of the most important ways of delivering content directly into fans’ hands, as seen already in China with WeChat, and we wanted City fans to be the first to benefit from this experience on Facebook Messenger.

“We are committed to experimenting with new ways of engaging with our increasingly global, digital and mobile fan base and Facebook Messenger is yet another example of this.”

Other recent digital innovations for City include the first ever Premier League game broadcast live in virtual reality, the launch of an official Manchester City Giphy page, the Etihad-branded video series ‘Global City Fans’ with over 7 million views on YouTube alone, and the installation of a 360-degree camera in the players’ tunnel.

[Wonderwall]

First football club in the world to launch Facebook Messenger (which means nothing to me)

http://www.fcbusiness.co.uk/news/articl ... er+account?

Manchester City have become the first football club in the world to launch on Facebook Messenger.

The Club have launched a brand new Messenger Bot to give supporters a City perspective on the latest news and topics surrounding the team.

Subscribers to the Messenger Bot can choose to receive posts form a range of topics and will also include breaking news, exclusive photos, behind-the-scenes videos, smartphone wallpapers, match highlights and more.

Diego Gigliani, Senior Vice President of Media and Innovation at City Football Marketing, said: “We are delighted to announce another digital first for Manchester City. Messaging platforms have huge global audiences and our fans all over the world are spending more and more time on them.

“Messaging apps are on the path to becoming one of the most important ways of delivering content directly into fans’ hands, as seen already in China with WeChat, and we wanted City fans to be the first to benefit from this experience on Facebook Messenger.

“We are committed to experimenting with new ways of engaging with our increasingly global, digital and mobile fan base and Facebook Messenger is yet another example of this.”

Other recent digital innovations for City include the first ever Premier League game broadcast live in virtual reality, the launch of an official Manchester City Giphy page, the Etihad-branded video series ‘Global City Fans’ with over 7 million views on YouTube alone, and the installation of a 360-degree camera in the players’ tunnel.

Personally think it would be a nightmare subscribing to shit like that