Guest Post:  Aaron Syed Jaffery (@aaronjaffery) is Managing Partner of global digital sport consultancy NineteenEightyFour (nineteeneightyfour.co).

The global landscape is changing. Western nations are experiencing low or stagnant growth in the wake of the deepest global recession since the 1930’s, whilst markets in South America, the Middle East and South East Asia have remained relatively buoyant throughout.

But even the traditional powerhouses of emerging markets (Brazil, India and China) have recently seen slowing GDP growth. The BRIC nations were identified by Goldman Sachs in 2001 – 10 years later questions hang over the ability of Russia and China to fulfil their prophecy. Concerns about China’s ability to sustain growth levels seen over the last 20 years were raised in 2011, and since then China has recorded growth of less than 8% for the 5 quarters up to July 2013.

So, where next does the world look to for growth?  In 2011 Jack A Goldstone projected that the new powerhouses are no longer BRIC, but TIMBI. That being Turkey, India, Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia. These five democracies have large populations and are projected to have positive population growth rates for the next half a century.  This potential growth in the labour market, combined with entrepreneurial cultures and a desire to increase education, points to a rosy future in Goldstone’s view.

And so, the TIMBI nations seem the natural start point for looking at national trends in social media. We will be looking at each market in turn starting with Turkey. Exploring how the population uses social media, and which brands and sport brands connect with the audience. We’ll identify trends and ask what brands can learn from these country-leaders when planning their ventures into these new markets.

Starting with Turkey

In Turkey, as for all the emerging nations, we have looked at Facebook and Twitter usage. On a global scale, these are the networks with the greatest penetration as well as providing brands with the ability to run global campaigns.

Facebook is one of the most popular online destinations in Turkey with 32.2million users. A 2011 ComScore study found that Twitter reaches 16.6% of the population of Turkey – or around 9m users.

The top Facebook page confirms the popularity of the platform in Turkey.  ‘Facebook For Every Phone’ is the most popular page by far. Facebook For Every Phone is a web app that enables users without smartphones to use Facebook on their mobile. This initiative by Facebook has proved exceptionally popular in all the emerging markets, as we will see over the coming days.

Patriotism and Sport

Sport, and particularly football, is one of Turkey’s passions. The appearance of Galatasaray and Fenerbahce in the top 5 Facebook pages a testament to this.  And this trend extends to the top 5 sports pages, where football clubs and footballers dominate the landscape. By way of comparison, football clubs don’t make an appearance in the top 10 pages for the UK, home of the most successful global football league, the Premier League..

We can see that Turkey is a fiercely patriotic nation. Across the board Turkish clubs, brands and personalities dominate the top pages on both platforms. Only global football icons Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi make an appearance from outside of Turkey. On Twitter, Nuri Sahin, Gorkan Gonul and Tuncay Sanli are the most popular Turkish icons.

Political Focus

Turkish personalities enjoy a high-profile on both Facebook and Twitter.  Turkish actor and comedian Cem Yilmaz enjoys the highest profile, but Turkey shows a keen eye for politics, with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan both highly followed on Twitter. This is somewhat ironic given the Turkish governments less than enthusiastic endorsement of social media, and their continual desire to regulate and control the channel.

Mobile-centric

And Turkish brands enjoy high connection levels too. Mobile network Turkcell appear in the top 2 for both for Facebook and Twitter, and Turkey shows how important mobile is to the nation, with competitor Avea and phone manufacturer Nokia Turkey also appearing in the top pages.

Turkey’s passion for goods is still alive and well, with eCommerce retailer Sevdim Bunnu the top Turkish brand page in Twitter. And based on these figures Volkswagen can claim to be the most ‘popular’ car in Turkey.  Meanwhile, national airline carrier Turkish Airlines appears twice in the top 6 for Twitter – once for their global feed, and once for their Turkish specific channel.

Summary

Turkey has always been considered a melting pot of trade and culture. A place where east-meets-west, with a prominence on the international language of commerce.

Our findings make it clear that social media is a core part of the Turkish psyche. They show Turkey to be highly patriotic, with a real interest in the political situation within the country – highly important given the recent social unrest.

Sport is a passion of the nation. Football is the focus of sporting attention, with the priority given to Turkish teams and local stars. However, there is an opportunity for international stars to gain excellent visibility, and for brands to leverage these international and local profiles.

Turkish Airlines recent campaign with Lionel Messi and Kobi Bryant can be attributed to their global profiles’ and their popularity in Turkey. We can see Messi’s popularity on Facebook, whilst Bryant is the most-popular non-football Facebook profile in Turkey.

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