Fans of the Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona have a new social media network to use to share their experiences while watching games. FC Barcelona announced a new upgrade to their mobile app so that they can share content with other fans watching the game real-time. The team has partnered with TOK.tv Inc. to make the app upgrade and introduce fans to the newest feature, the “Social Button” which is a new new feature created by TOK.tv Inc. that facilitates fan communication and sharing of fan experiences while watching each game.
TOK.tv has over 4.5 million users according to their website and started out with a partnership with Italian soccer premier league Serie A and one of their most popular teams, Juventus FC. TOK.tv Inc. has since expanded to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF (Barcelona’s rival) in the Spanish premier league, La Liga. The social media network company allows users to explore social features that help connect fans instantly that are watching the team play.
The partnership between TOK.tv and FC Barcelona will impact fans with new app features that can be shared on the network. Users of the app can post selfies of themselves and their friends watching the game. The selfies posted by users can be edited with dynamic changing backgrounds to create more memorable and creative pictures to post.
In addition to posting selfies to the social media network, users can talk live friends on the app. Currently, the app supports calling up to three friends simultaneously to share their real-time experiences of watching the game. The final new feature of the app to impact Barcelona fans is allowing users to cheer on the team together by sending chants and sounds to recreate the in-stadium experience.
A Forbes study on the world’s most valuable soccer teams ranked Barcelona second behind Real Madrid. However, Barcelona ranks first, ahead of Real Madrid, when it comes to social media followers. With these figures established, it makes sense why Barcelona has made an investment to continue pushing their global brand recognition through social media efforts.
Barcelona has an immense network of global followers and enhancing their digital platforms is a smart way to connect those followers who are spread out around the globe.
This partnership also comes at a strategic time for Barcelona as the new Real Madrid app that is aimed at 450 million global followers was produced in conjunction with Microsoft and is also meant to unite the global Real Madrid audience (as can be seen with the YouTube videos below).