Mercedes AMG F1 team joins Arsenal in collaborating with Meta’s WhatsApp to bring fans and teams together.
WhatsApp seems to be an emerging platform for businesses to tap into and engage with their audience, with the likes of Arsenal football club and the Mercedes Formula One team announcing partnerships.
Arsenal’s deal with WhatsApp aims to bring fans closer to the club through community and collaboration.
It’s expected the partnership will allow fans to interact with the club through the channel, which will be used to send out announcements. Supporters will also soon see “a series of exciting activations” at the Emirates stadium, with opportunities to attend matches through Arsenal Facebook communities.
“WhatsApp group chats are for supporters’ inner circle, used for everything from debating team strategy, to turning in-jokes into stickers, and celebrating over voice messages with close friends all year round,” a spokesperson for Arsenal said in a statement.
Arsenal is also using Facebook to engage with its supporters, enabling watch parties, community groups, and offering a global stage for more detailed news and interactions, with reels, posts, and stories.
“Facebook is the global stage where supporters unite to celebrate their passion, watching reels about the team and discussing player trades and news in Groups. Locally, supporters turn that energy into real-life experiences – co-ordinating Facebook watch parties and finding other Gooners in their area,” the spokesperson added.
It’s not just football clubs. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team has adapted a range of WhatsApp business platform solutions to improve communication off and on track, as a way to engage fans on its channel and boost e-commerce customer service.
“In Formula One, every millisecond counts. Success hinges on speed and efficiency, and traditional tools like email, texts and phone calls often create delays,” said Bradley Lord, team representative and chief communications officer, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team.
“We needed a way to communicate instantly and transparently. WhatsApp has become an essential part of how we operate, from co-ordinating race-day logistics to sharing updates across departments, or staying connected with our global fanbase. It helps us eliminate delays, reduce miscommunication and make faster, smarter decisions without compromising performance.”
WhatsApp as a comms channel
WhatsApp boasts over 2.7 billion users per month, and the channel provides a streamlined way for businesses and organisations to reach billions of people across the globe. Teams can connect with an incredibly committed and involved audience.
From a marketing perspective, it is a very underrated channel. In an increasingly digital world, the opportunity for connection can be difficult to find, so the partnership between WhatsApp and sports clubs can provide a platform for engagement.
Daniel Höhnke, general manager EMEA for adtech firm Andzen, wrote in a LinkedIn article: “[WhatsApp] delivers engagement rates most marketers can only dream of, it converts better than almost every other digital touchpoint, and it manages to blend personal interaction with scalable automation.”
Open rates for WhatsApp marketing messages are between 90% and 99%, with click-through rates hovering between 20% to 30%, Höhnke highlights. That’s significantly higher than email.
In addition, the platform offers bulletin-board style communication for teams to tailor their messages, even launching separate threads for different interests within the team (LGBT+ supporters, region specific supporters, among others.
From a brand safety perspective, the one-way communication style can protect the team and its partners from a potentially volatile fanbase – participants can react with emojis, and clubs can restrict which emojis can be used, mitigating any risk.
Communication channels such as WhatsApp are fast becoming an incredibly effective way to build community and encourage engagement.
