Social Media Made Pogba So Expensive
Man United bought a celebrity more than a player.
Paul Pogba, 23 years old, got back to Old Trafford, four seasons after leaving Manchester United for the Juventus (Turin), confirming a transfer fee of 105€ millions.
People are now saying that the young player isn’t worth all this money, especially since his team lost three games in a row in september 2016. If we only think about soccer, it’s clearly true. Actually, no sport performance is worth all this money. There might be no point to explain this transfert looking at it only from a soccer perspective.
#POGBACK is not about sport. It is a marketing phenomenon. Pogba is the most expensive player thanks to a marketing strategy based on social media.
It would be a bit naive to think that entertainment is the only purpose of the frenchy’s social media activity. This guy has a team working on social medias, which got really creative during the mercato.
It all started with Pogba’s summer holidays
Good social media strategies rely on good content. You can use all the tools and algorithm-hack you want, at the end of the day, the quality of the visuals and the relevance of you’re message is still 90% of the job.
Pogba’s fans had the pleasure of watching their favorite player enjoying Miami, with the french rapper Booba, and his teammate Antoine Griezmann. At the same time, they could follow the player’s summer transfert drama, orchestrated by his agent, Mino Raiola.
Mino Raiola Orchestrated Everything
Again, the communication about the transfer was totally under control. Mino Raiola was probably using social media to put pressure on Manchester United, by giving clues about Pogba getting back to Old Trafford (with all the twittosphere getting crazy) and then deleting the tweets. People’s reactions gave an insight to the club, about the potential of the community supporting Paul Pogba.
Pogba is playing the social media game
This player got a strong and attractive personality, there’s no question about that. The difference with other players, is that he’s playing the game: the social media game. There is a community behind his back, forgiving bad performances, buying the clothes he wears, and most of all, supporting whatever team he plays for.
Football is getting global, and people are more and more supporting big teams without geographical limitations.
Pogba is a celebrity and even though he’s not the best player in the world (and not even the best mid-field player), he will increase goodies sales, eventually attract supporters, and generate visibility for the team.
The community Pogba buildt around his persona contributed to set this exceptionnal transfer fee. At the end of the day, soccer is not only about sport. People wants to watch a show.
Like in the Roman Coliseum, soccer fans like a gladiator who makes it look spectacular more than one who does the job quickly with no style.
