Premier League midfielder launches new app to engage with fans

Last season, for footballer Xherdan Shaqiri, was marked by two sensational goals. One coming in the Premier League for his club, Stoke City, and the other coming in Euro 2016 for his country, Switzerland.

But if the odd wonder goal isn’t quite enough to get your name mentioned in countless articles, win you heaps of fans, and have sponsors clamouring over you like candy floss in an anthill, then Shaqiri’s latest trick definitely will.

The Switzerland star and probable Euro 2016 goal of the tournament winner has teamed up with Joiz Global, a company specialising in community marketing and social media platforms, to create a new app.

The venture is a fan-app, dedicated to providing Shaqiri’s growing fan-base with news, video and messaging capabilities as well as behind the scenes videos and interviews. It is, for many, an opportunity to engage with their hero.

And Shaqiri is a hero – a hero beyond Staffordshire in the north or England and the mountains and lakes of Switzerland. Born in Kosovo and brought up in Switzerland, Shaqiri is a hero in Kosovo, too, and could yet become the poster boy for a new Kosovo national football team.

So fans aren’t in short supply, pointing to some real interest in the new app.

“My new app is incredibly useful and a whole lot of fun,” Shaqiri told Joiz Global’s website. “I can stay in touch with my fans everywhere, at any time, and give them instant access to exclusive live streaming sessions, videos and competitions. It’s the perfect way for my fans to communicate with me and with each other as well as keeping up to date with all my latest news.”

If it’s exciting for Shaqiri and exciting for his fans, it will also be exciting for his sponsors.

Joiz Global’s website makes it clear that the app will be available for use by advertisers as well as Shaqiri’s sponsors:

“Additionally, Shaqiri’s partners Volkswagen, Coke, Nike and Hublot have the opportunity to utilise the app as an innovative new marketing channel. Branded entertainment campaigns are being produced by joiz Global in cooperation with Shaqiri. In addition, joiz Global is selling advertising in the app.”

It will be interesting to see how the sponsors use the app for marketing and advertising purposes, as they will get a similar sort of access to Shaqiri’s fans as the fans get to Shaqiri.

About author

Chris McMullan
Chris McMullan 831 posts

Chris is a sports journalist and editor of Digital Sport - follow him on Twitter @CJMcMullan_

You might also like

SPORTEL 2021: Day One Recap

This year’s prestigious SPORTEL convention kicked off in sunny Monaco today, welcoming a host of familiar faces as well as plenty of new ones. Doors opened at 8:30am with businesses

Six Founding Riders Set To Bring The Vision Of The UCI Track Champions League To Life

Olympic Champions, UCI World Champions and World Record holders join the new track cycling competition debuting in November 2021 The UCI Track Champions League is delighted to announce that six

Sports related spending to soar this summer as pre-pandemic life resumes

New insights from eBay Ads UK reveal the potential for brands to engage with an excited but nervous nation as sports events get back on track  As pubs and indoor