PSL teams and battlefield of social media

When players are competing on the ground during the Pakistan Super League (PSL), fans compete with the followers of other franchises on social media.

Almost every game of the Pakistan’s premier T20 competition becomes the top trend on digital media, where fans express their views about players, team strategies and different moments of the games.

Franchises are well aware of the fact, so they tend to stay active on these digital platforms, which mainly include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The management of the teams get a golden chance to promote their players, brand and cause.

Seeing the benefits of well-managed social media, franchises compete on two grounds, players represent them on the field, while their social media teams fight it off on the internet.

To learn about how serious they take digital media, what strategies they make, how they create content for different platforms and other stuff, Bol News talked to the relevant personnel of the franchises.

Peshawar Zalmi 

Peshawar Zalmi are leading the way on Twitter and Instagram with 1.3 million followers and 583,000 likes, respectively.

According to Zalmi’s media head Farooq Jahanzeb, the secret behind his franchise’s popularity on these two platforms is their global reach and how they have managed to integrate Pakhtoon culture into their brand.

“Over the years we have worked to expand our roots in different parts of the world,” he said. “Our Global Zalmi programme is spread in 32 countries around the world, which indicates the popularity of Zalmi globally.

“The culture of Pakhtoons is reflected in everything from our team kit to the songs. We also have introduced the Heritage Kit of Peshawar Zalmi which includes famous places of KPK. Due to the commitment with the region, it creates the strong bond between the leagues and fans and we are marginalising this bond at digital space.”

Moreover, Jahanzeb talked about their content strategy and stated that they are more inclined to show people what they rarely see and give fans a sneak peek into the dressing room and practice sessions.

“We try to bring to the fans things that they never see, such as how the players participate in practice sessions, the atmosphere of the dressing room and other interesting things,” he said.

Islamabad United

The two-time PSL champions have the largest fan following on Facebook with 3,453,899 likes on their page.

Islamabad United team manager Hassan Cheema believes that is because the first two seasons of the glittering league took place in the UAE, therefore, the fans could only connect with the teams over social media.

“So we had already understood the importance of digital from the [first] season and always worked on it, thanks to which we are ahead of the rest of the teams on Facebook today,” he maintained.

On being asked about what strategy they follow to generate content to keep their social media audience involved, Cheema replied that they keep a keen eye on different practices throughout the world.

‘’We keep an eye on what is happening in other international sports like football and basketball and try to apply those practices in Pakistan what has been popular among the fans so far,” he said.

Cheema opined that social media has also started playing an important role in striking marketing deals with brands as numerous businesses want to take advantage of the fan engagement on the internet during the tournament to communicate their message through franchises’ accounts.

He added that the monetisation of the digital platform is not much lucrative that it can be targeted but it is more important for the team to establish strong relations with its fans on every platform.

Lahore Qalandars 

Lahore Qalandars, though the only team that is yet to lift the beautiful PSL trophy, have the most number of subscribers (246,000) on their YouTube channel.

Talking about their digital fan base, Lahore Qalandars Chief Operating Officer Sameen Rana revealed that they are the most popular among their contemporaries because they post content all year round.

He further explained that they produce better content during the league because they have a dedicated team that live with players inside the bubble ever since the outbreak of Covid-19.

“During the PSL, our social media team is in a bubble with the players, so we can bring more exciting things for fans,” he shared. “We are active throughout the year and not only in PSL days, which makes us at the forefront of YouTube.”

He also stated that the franchise looks to keep their fans as engaged as possible even in the decision making. He quoted an example where he recently asked Qalandars’ fans on Twitter whether they want to see a new kit for the team for the upcoming PSL episode or persist with the old one.

“When you own the fans, they start to own the franchise,” he unveiled the secret.

According to Qalandars COO, they generate content with an aim to educate youngsters regarding Pakistan’s culture and also show the positive aspect of players’ life.

“We strive to make our young generation aware of our culture as well as to educate the minds of the youth with the positive aspects of players’ lives which motivates the new generation and also encourage them to walk on the right path,” he added.

Quetta Gladiators

Meanwhile, Quetta Gladiators digital media head Faraz Maqbool says that the management has always taken social media seriously and have worked accordingly.

“The way players play on the field, we play on digital platforms,” he said. “We call our digital fan following Purple Force because we know that a large number of cricket fans are attached to our team, so we consider our digital audience a part of the family.”

Maqbool identified Zalmi and United as the main competitor on the field as well as on social media platforms.

This year, Gladiators are featuring arguably Pakistan’s biggest cricketing star of the modern age, Shahid Afridi and it is expected to be his last appearance of the league. Therefore, rightly so, the former champions want to make the most out of his presence and also give him a fitting tribute.

“We have planned many things for this season, but the most important one is Shahid Afridi. As this PSL edition will be his last, we have designed a campaign especially for him to give him a memorable farewell,” he revealed.

Karachi Kings

Karachi Kings, despite being the franchise associated with the largest city of the country, do not have the largest social media following.

Karachi Kings Senior Executive Vice President Shehzad Hassan Khan defended the low fan following saying that they believe in organic reach and do not want to involve in paid promotion.

“Organic following leads to better engagement on our platforms,” he opined.

Unfolding the social media approach, Khan maintained that they keep the interest of Pakistan in their view as PSL has played a major role in the revival of cricket in the country.

“We always design our content to serve the interest of cricket in the country,” he claimed. “As Karachi is the most advanced city in the country, we try to reflect it on our social platforms.”

He added that the importance of digital monetisation can no longer be ignored and it did not matter before, but now that teams have followers in millions; thus, they will definitely benefit from it in the near future.

Multan Sultans 

Multan Sultans Chief Operating Officer Haider Azhar reasoned that his franchise has a comparatively low social media following because they are the newest addition in the league and management of the franchise has also changed twice.

“Despite coming late, our performance in digital accounts is much better. We didn’t take help from bots,” he claimed. “Our all following is organic, which is why we get so much attention on Twitter. Our posts are often the centre of attention.”

Similar to United’s Cheema, Azhar also maintained that his social media team observes other international leagues and take inspiration from there to generate content.

“We try to keep an eye on the trends in football and basketball leagues. We customise these strategies for the local market, which is applauded by fans on the internet space,” he said.

He added that as Multan Sultans represent the whole of the Southern Punjab region, this is why they are popular on the belt which has a population of around 50 million.

Haider also echoed the words of his other contemporaries regarding social media’s importance when it comes to marketing.

“Digital accounts now play an important role in marketing,” he said. “Brands are now focusing more on social media for their promotion. We are working only on social media right now with so many brands and I think it will grow over time.”

*Social media figures have been rounded off and the numbers were last noted on Friday (January 21)

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