Clubs must capitalise on Social Media - Yaw Ampofo Ankrah

Experienced sports journalist Yaw Ampofo Ankrah has called on Ghanaian clubs to capitalize on social media in a bid to package and brand their clubs to a higher level.

The former Metro TV sports host and current anchor for Super Sports charged the entire football family to feast on the viral nature of the numerous social media platforms if they are to project the image of local football beyond the country.

The Ghana Beach Soccer Association President cited the localized branding of the South African Premiership as a starting block to follow in the packaging and re-branding exercise that has long term effects on the league at large.

Yaw Ampofo Ankrah cited the ease to which vital statistics, images and other content can be accessed as one of the reasons why the other leagues have more followers but was quick to suggest we follow suit.

“Social media is a very important tool with regards to branding of the league. South Africa mastered the art of branding and their stadiums which has had great effect on their game,” he said.

“Branding of the local language as in the Zulu commentary can satisfy both ends on the local scene. Contents on the clubs such as statistics and packaging will help panelists, analysts and other reporters”, Yaw Ankrah told sportscrusader.com.

He continued, “In Ghana we sort of assume that numbers alone indicate success but we need a lot of efforts to really promote the league not just on Hearts and Kotoko matches only”.

“People don’t understand the importance of branding and marketing to the image of the club. The major stakeholder should also understand the need to work in tandem with the media to promote the league (using social media as a strong tool)”, the super sports anchor concluded.

The 2016 Ghana Premier League season has enjoyed massive patronage as compared to the previous seasons and the influx of social media such as twitter, Facebook, audioboom, Instagram, wechat and the club’s official websites can only project the image of a club beyond the confines of the nation.