The Media Management and Marketing workshop continued in Bhutan today as part of the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) efforts to enhance the revenue generation and media and communications capabilities of administrators in the South Asian nation.
Officials from the Bhutan Football Federation (BFF) as well as representatives from the Bank of Bhutan National League clubs were presented with an overview of the suite of projects under the League Development Programme (LDP), which aims to grow and improve the level of league and club management of all Member Associations (MA) on the continent.
With revenue generation and media engagement being identified as one of the primary pillars of focus in football in Bhutan, participants were pleased with the opportunity to widen their understanding on evolving sponsorship and media coverage methods. The marketing and club sponsorship session, conducted by AFC Development Officer Yogesh Desai, also examined a case study to demonstrate the commercial principles applied by clubs of similar scale in the South Asian region.
Bhutanese national player Karun Gurung, who is also the Director of Football at Thimphu City Football Club, commended the AFC’s club-focussed workshops: “We are a developing football country with many of our clubs still only a few years old. These workshops have been very informative for us as we look to establish a personalised marketing and media strategy for our clubs.
“Enhanced income generation and sponsorship will bring more professionalism to clubs. Today, we are still semi professional but the aim, one day, should be to establish a professional league here in Bhutan.”
Earlier, the workshop also emphasised the importance of developing a communication strategy and provided insights into managing media operations during AFC competitions. Club representatives also actively participated in discussions on best practices in marketing, promotion and sponsorships activation.
Bhutan is one of 32 MAs currently benefiting from the LDP, with Project Bhutan making steady progress through the implementation of various activities under the programme. Since the LDP was introduced in Bhutan last year, a majority of clubs in the national league today have a media and marketing officer, which is in line with the AFC’s Club Licensing Regulations.
During the first day of the workshop on Wednesday, BFF also became the first MA to implement the new AFC President’s Initiative - the Live Streaming Platform. The AFC’s partners, mycujoo, also expanded on the scope of their presentation today with a commercialisation and monetisation session to help the BFF set in motion a digital revenue generation programme through the new platform.
Source: the-afc.com