Interview with Giuliano Giorgetti: How Inter Milan is rebranding itself into a media company

With the development of digital media, sports and entertainment industries have become more interconnected than ever before. Against such a background, many football clubs hope to hold the ownership of content across different media platforms, providing quality experiences for their fans throughout the world.

Inter Milan Media Content Director Giuliano Giorgetti

In September 2017, Inter Milan launched their brand new Inter Media House, Inter TV and Inter Official App, rebranding itself as an outstanding media company for all of its supporters. Recently, as a media supplier of the 2018 SpoBis held in Germany, Yutang Sports was able to hold an interview with the Inter Milan Media Content Director Giuliano Giorgetti, who shared us with his insights into the club’s updated media strategy.

Giorgetti values the importance of media operations for a professional football club like Inter Milan, by replying: “It’s very important, because football clubs are turning into modern entertainment companies. As part of this transformation, the ability to create engaging content is becoming a strategic factor in terms of gaining a competitive edge.”

At the same time, Giorgetti also points out that “Merely creating content is not enough – the content needs to be tailored to appeal to every target audience. For this reason, we’re devising customised content for the Chinese market so that it meets the needs of our Chinese fans and respects their culture.”

According to the Content Director, the Inter Media House, aiming to ensure Inter Milan is able to adapt to the changing industry, has been built their service around four action areas, that is producing content, distributing content, boosting engagement and overseeing innovation.

More importantly, tailored content bridged the gap between Inter’s sponsors and fanbase. As Giorgetti said, “We work with our sponsorship department on a daily basis to produce more and more branded content to ensure our sponsors get the highest return on investment possible. We’ve also created a series of interactive formats which we will dedicate to our partners in the Chinese market.”

In the Chinese market, Inter Milan has a natural advantage in activating its sports media strategy. In June 2016, the Serie A club decided to sell a 68.55 percent majority share to Suning Holdings Group, a Chinese retail giant. From the perspective of Giorgetti, Suning’s ownership greatly aided Inter Milan’s business expansion in the world’s most populous country. “It allows us to build up extensive knowledge of the Chinese market and – combined with our expertise in sport business – has led to some very positive results. Suning is a respected brand that boosts our profile in the Chinese market.”

The Serie A club has also made strategies for their social media business in China. Inter Milan is especially making efforts to engage with the supporters in China through its main social networks: Toutiao DQD, WeChat and Weibo. “The aim is to create engaging content for our fans – it’s important that they feel part of the club despite being geographically distant.” As Giorgetti remarked.

According to  Giorgetti, increasing Inter Milan’s fan base and boosting engagement are two objectives for their media strategies. He said, “We’re especially focused on increasing fan engagement because we believe it’s really important to build a relationship of trust with our fans. Our bond with the fans gives us a competitive advantage when we speak to other companies that want to work with us.”

In conclusion, all of their efforts are aimed at communicating to their fans, sponsors and partners around the world, “Inter is a prominent, credible brand with a passionate following.”

Proofread by William Logsdon