Daniel Mecchi, Senior Director, Social & Digital Marketing at Marriott International during his ‘Social Media Opportunities for Sporting Events’ talk. This talk was a part of Josoor Institute’s diploma programme.

By Joe Koraith/Doha
 

During the pre-match press conference for the Qatar Stars League match between Al Rayyan and Al Arabi last week, the coaches were asked about the relevance of social media and the role it played in today’s sport.
Both the coaches – Rayyan’s Jorge Fossati and Arabi’s Gianfranco Zola – while admitting that they weren’t really clued in, insisted that any healthy discussion about the game will only help create a good atmosphere for the game.
“If there is a lot of chatter on social media, I think that is a good sign because people are enthusiastic about it. It will help create a good atmosphere and this is what we want, what the players want,” Fossati had said.
Zola added: “I appreciate the talk about football on social media, as long as they keep it positive and help create a good atmosphere for the game.”
Both Rayyan and Arabi boast of an envious fan base, one that flocks to matches and helps create that amazing atmosphere in the stadium. But other teams don’t seem to command that kind of following. Social media is a tool that the QSL clubs can use to get more people to the stadium.
And one of the big names worldwide in social media, Daniel Mecchi, who is Senior Director, Social & Digital Marketing at Marriott International, was here in Doha recently to speak about ‘Social Media Opportunities for Sporting Events’. The talk was a part of Josoor Institute’s diploma programme.  
Mecchi has been involved with the NFL and NBA Global Games, has worked with star athletes like Michael Phelps, Lindsey Vonn and Stephen Curry and big teams like Tottenham Hotspur FC. And he believes that social media, if used in the right way, can be used to get people to the stadiums here in Qatar.
“There is no magic trick in getting people to the stadiums. From a sport perspective, it’s about the content and the story. What is that unique story about your club that you can tell which will get people to pay attention and engage with you? Then you use that as some inducement to invite them to come to a match. It starts with having relevant content for that audience,” said Mecchi, during an informal chat with Gulf Times.
“The overall message of the club is important. What makes your club special, what’s your heritage? When the club tells their story in an interesting way, that makes people want to check them out. And when they do that then it’s a ‘like’, a ‘retweet’ or a ‘post’. That is sharing of content which my friends will then see. That’s the whole idea. But it’s incumbent upon that club to tell that story. You should give me a reason to root for you, isn’t it?” he added.
Mecchi also suggested using the big-name players to engage with fans to increase the popularity of the teams: “You could get an athlete to be the ‘Athlete of the Day’ on Twitter. That’s a great way to interact with your fans.”
Social media and sports complement each other, feels Mecchi. “It’s almost as if social media has been made for sports, it’s a way to extend the play on the pitch, a way to give access to fans. Earlier I could only see my favourite player when he was on the pitch. Now I can follow him, learn from him and see what he’s doing because they are on social media. I no longer have to wait for the match to do that,” he explained.
If QSL clubs can work on these pointers from Mecchi, then maybe we will get more footfalls inside the stadiums.