Liverpool sees social media "as the Trojan horse to unlock" the commercial potential of Asia's 4 billion consumers, according to Ian Ransom of REUTERS. Engaging with its global support base via social media channels "has become an increasingly essential way for the Merseyside club to attract new sponsors in emerging markets and convince the existing ones to stay on board during a lean period on-field." Liverpool Managing Dir Ian Ayre said, "We made a conscious effort to boost our social media presence about 18 months ago. We took the view that the real relationship with a fan is having true engagement. You can have millions of fans as you want, but if you're not communicating with them, how are you really establishing that relationship?" Asia "has been at the centre of Liverpool's online charm offensive, with commercial managers deployed at a number of markets to generate localised content." The past year "has seen a flurry of new country-specific websites and social media accounts in a bid to convert casual fans into hooked-up, digital consumers" (REUTERS, 7/25).
