Egor Kretsan: Zenit St Petersburg - bold, brash and speaking 15 languages

Egor Kretsan: Zenit St Petersburg - bold, brash and speaking 15 languages

Rich Clarke
podcast
Add a heading (2).png

Russian football is undergoing a makeover. It has just hosted a successful World Cup and its club sides are regulars in the latter stages of European competition. The Russian League revealed a radical rebranding last year and its leading club, Zenit St Petersburg, are thinking beyond the serious stereotype into which the country’s persona sometimes falls.

They are creating high polished content, translating it into 15 languages and are not afraid to take on the world’s big teams and major media outlets on social media.

New Media Director Egor Kretsan leads the club’s content strategy. He spoke to me about their approach.

Topics

2:56 Outlining Zenit’s multi-lingual strategy. How many languages and why they started in Persian

4:14 Why they don’t use agencies and decide to employ their fans

8:12 How do you manage 15 fan blogs “It is about building relationships and talking to people”

10:58 “The first the multilingual was more opportunistic, now it is about strategy”

13:37 Changing the story for different markets

14:45 Giving the bloggers some autonomy

15:35 How do measure the success of each blogger

17:16 ‘Issues’ and how to manage with them

19:32 The social media trends in different countries

22:34 The size of his team

24:18 The content strategy in a nutshell

26:45 The role of Zenit TV

29:01 How highlights are used “The only way to watch the Russian League abroad is google”.

30:07 Exporting the Russian League is the “hottest topic” right now.

31:12 The rebranding of the League last season

Zenit 1 Daily Mail 0

Zenit 1 Daily Mail 0

32:22 TV - “It is easier to watch the Dutch League than the Russian League but we are No 6 ranked country in the world”

32:53 The confidence of having a fine World Cup

35:32 Working with VK/Telegram

36:48 The strength of VK - “better than Facebook and great engagement”. The weakness of VK - Piracy

37:52 Telegram - the usage of it channels

39:51 Using Foursquare/Swarm, Yandex (a competitor to Google), OK - big in the provinces and the home of the the Classico in Russia

43:07 The tone of voice - talking to fans and clubs, like digging out Chelsea

45:56 “Art v Humour”

47:01 The small Russian club who have pushed their way into the national media through social

48.32 Attacking the issue of racism in Russian Football and Zenit St Petersburg

51:15 The source of new ideas

53:25 The best teams on social media in Russia

55:06 The problems of slow internet reaction

56:01 Flares for the Zenit bus for the Fenerbahce game and why it got 22m views

59:52 Other successes - the G Drive show. A sponsored show that received excellent engagement.

1:01:45 Taking on the Daily Mail

1:04:55 The emphasis on branded content and how they approach it

LINKS

Egor Krestan on LinkedIN

Zenit on English website, English Twitter, Instagram, YouTube

Featured
David Tossell: How one-day cricket changed the game
David Tossell: How one-day cricket changed the game

In 2023, one-day cricket enjoyed its 60th birthday.

David Tossell has written a book on the evolution of the format. He describes those early days as “nicely naïve”. But, at the same time, they were the foundation for every major innovation in cricket ever since.

These days, the 50-over game is under an existential threat due to the rise of T20. Can it survive, is it worth saving and what would be its legacy?

Ricardo Fort: Sports Sponsorship 101
Ricardo Fort: Sports Sponsorship 101

Ricardo Fort has led the sponsorship strategy for brands at World Cup and Olympics.

After a long, successful career with the likes of Coca-cola and Visa, he has set up his own consulting firm. In this podcast, Ricardo gives straight answers to key questions in sports sponsorship and outlines how content fits in. This is a sophisticated 101 for anyone interested in working in the commercial department at a major sports organisation.

Alex Phillips - The most influential football administrator you' ve never heard of
Alex Phillips - The most influential football administrator you' ve never heard of

Alex Phillips does not look or sound like a revolutionary but his ideas could shake up football.

He spent 15 years at Uefa, including a couple as Head of Compliance and Governance. He was seconded to the Asian Football Confederation for three years and now leads the World Football Remission Fund, a FIFA body administrating how money "stolen from the game" should be returned for its overall benefit.

In this podcast, we discuss good governance, the ramifications of the failed Super League project, educating owners and fans, setting examples and, of course, content.

Claire Nelson: Scottish netball and creating the ultimate female spectator sport
Claire Nelson: Scottish netball and creating the ultimate female spectator sport

The challenges facing netball are different to other sports. While we have seen growth in women's football, tennis and boxing in recent years, it has always occurred through the lens (or maybe in the shadow) of established male forebears. Netball does not have this baggage. Its product and message can be tailored specifically toward women and girls. Claire Nelson, CEO of Netball Scotland explains

Tom Dunmore: Launching Major League Cricket
Tom Dunmore: Launching Major League Cricket

In the next 10 years, cricket will try to cross its biggest and most important new frontier - the USA. They have been awarded co-hosting rights for the 2024 T20 World Cup and a buzz is building around the chances of inclusion in the Olympics in Los Angeles four years later.

Minor League Cricket started last season and its Major League big brother begins this year. Tom Dunmore is VP of Marketing for both tournaments. In this podcast, we discuss the story so far, the challenges they face and the vision for success.

Brian Jacks: Olympian, Superstar and maybe... UFC coach
Brian Jacks: Olympian, Superstar and maybe... UFC coach

Brian Jacks was a household in the UK in the 1980s. The pinnacle of the judo player’s sporting success came when he won a bronze medal at the Munich Olympics in 1972. But a few years later he would become much more famous as the UK and European champion in Superstars, a popular television programme that saw the best athletes of the day compete in events outside their niche. The show grew throughout the world to become perhaps the first modern example of how sporting heroes could cross into mainstream media, with all its financial benefits, through light entertainment television.

Now living in Thailand, Jacks talks about his motivations, how he leveraged his Superstars fame, his rivalry with Daley Thompson and why he’d love to be a grappling coach in UFC.

Podcast partner: Sports Tech Match - Simplifying Sports Tech Procurement

Grant Russell: Find a unique story, stick to the story, live the story
Grant Russell: Find a unique story, stick to the story, live the story

Motherwell FC have lifted only one trophy in the past 30 years. However, off the pitch, they beat off competition from Manchester United, Everton and Leicester to win the Best Digital/Social Media category at the Football Business Awards this year.

Grant Russell is the club’s Head of Brand, Digital and Communications. In this episode, he talks about the thinking, discipline and creativity that have gone into building a stand-out story for an otherwise overlooked Scottish team.

This is a deep dive into content strategy and, like me, Russell believes in cutting through clutter with a strict, realistic yet progressive vision for storytelling.

Ed Warner: How to run a modern sport
Ed Warner: How to run a modern sport

After a decade as chair of UK Athletics (including the 2017 World Championships in London) and a few years in his current role with GB Wheelchair rugby, Ed Warner is well-placed to comment on the stresses and strains of running a modern sport.

In this podcast, we discuss many of the key issues required to steer a sporting ship towards success: leadership styles, funding models, changing content strategies, marketing, elite sport v participation, bringing in private equity funding and his open application for the role of ECB chair.

George Crabb: How to create the perfect sports app
George Crabb: How to create the perfect sports app

Given its increasingly strategic importance within sports business, it is surprising how many rights-holders produce sub-standard apps.

To try and solve this issue, I spoke to George Crabb, Managing Director at The Other Media. This well-established digital agency have a rich history in working with rights-holders to create mobile applications of the highest quality.

Vijhay Vick: Content strategy for teams who win the league every year
Vijhay Vick: Content strategy for teams who win the league every year

How do you create a story about a team that has won the league seven seasons in a row (and an eighth is expected to follow soon)? Johor Darul Ta'zim (or JDT) were re-formed in 2013 under the guidance of the Crown Prince of Johor. They won their first title a year later and the AFC Cup 12 months after that. But their tone on social media has brought them as much attention as their success. Vijhay Vick, the Head of Content, is leading their strategy. In this podcast, he discusses his approach to JDT's unique position.






Jacqui Oatley: How women in football are raising their voice

Jacqui Oatley: How women in football are raising their voice
Kei Koyama: The J.League breaks ou

Kei Koyama: The J.League breaks ou
0