After yeas of launching apps for specific uses like virtual reality videos and match information, Man City will "merge all those features into one," according to Seb Joseph of DIGIDAY. Five apps, including Man City’s official app, "will be replaced by a new version that gives fans a more personalized experience of the previous apps." If a fan opened the app in Indonesia on a matchday, for example, "they would be shown what channel they could watch the game on," whereas a season ticket holder in Manchester "might get travel information or news about events at the stadium that day." City Football Group CMO Nuria Tarré said, "We know that 99 percent of the audience we talk to isn't in Manchester." As the club continues to grow, Tarré said that it is "even more important to be locally relevant" in the app, particularly in markets throughout Asia, where fans tend to follow more than one club. Consolidating the club’s online footprint will "help to future-proof it against changes in the digital media landscape," said Pete Clare, consulting partner at Seven League, the sports marketing firm founded by the former head of digital at Man City. The digital media landscape Clare cited is pushing rights owners like Man City to "move to an audience-first commercial model rather than rights assets." Clare: "The theory holds that app consolidation allows clubs to create a cleaner product ecosystem and a more user-friendly one-stop shop. However, the critical challenge for Manchester City will be to properly understand and integrate the very different needs and requirements of their diverse fan base." One audience the club's revamped app will not be able to cater to is kids, specifically those between 6 and 12 years old. The club created a separate "walled garden" app for kids last month, because it wanted to "allay any concerns that their data would be shared without parental consent" (DIGIDAY, 5/4).
