AC Milan linked up with sponsors adidas to promote the fact that they have managed to break the 10m fan barrier on the official Facebook page.  For a global brand such as the most famous club in Italy it was only going to be a matter of time till they grew in such numbers – though still well behind Barcelona (30m), Real Madrid (27m) and Man United (26m).

It has been a pretty low key affair with no promotional video or massive digital campaign launched, what they have done is incorporate their players and give fans the chance to be part of it.  Interestingly they have also turned it into a revenue generator!

The players were photographed at the training ground donning the new Facebook ‘are you in?’ t-shirt that has been produced by the main kit suppliers adidas (disclosure – adidas are a client).  This links into the ‘are you in?’ campaign which has been going on for the last year.

The revenue side of it is that they are giving fans the option to buy one of the t-shirts on their e-commerce site for €12.00.  A way of turning those 10m fans into customers, which is something that is proving to be challenge for clubs on social media.  (I’m going to be speaking on Social CRM ‘converting fans into customers’ at the Sports CRM Summit later this month – more on this to come soon).

The players signed some of the tops and then wore the t-shirts whilst posing for photos.  They also changed the cover photo on their page to promote the celebration.  Timelines are becoming an easier way for clubs to provide visually great content as more clubs and brands use them in new ways.