Club expands digital presence in China

AS Roma are pleased to be able to announce an expansion of our social media offering to fans across China.

With 25 official accounts across various social media platforms and languages, the club has now added another four to the collection – with the launch of official profiles on Chinese platforms Douyin, Toutiao, WeChat Channel and DongQiuDi.

Together with the club’s existing Weibo and Wechat accounts, Chinese fans will now be served by six official accounts on five major platforms - making AS Roma one of the most active clubs among all its European counterparts.

“The desire to reinvigorate our social media presence in China has always been a key element of our global brand strategy,” said AS Roma’s Chief Marketing Officer, Max Van Den Doel.

“AS Roma was one of the first European football clubs to have their games broadcast to Chinese audiences. We have 13 well-supported fan clubs in China, containing some of the most passionate Romanisti in the world.

“We recognise that, and we want to give those fans more exclusive and personalised content in their own language.”

Roma’s existing fan club network in the country already covers 13 cities in 12 provinces.

With a presence across six social media channels, fans both old and new will be able to get closer than ever before to the Giallorossi way of life.

“We are exploring the many opportunities available to us in this highly competitive market,” Van Den Doel added.

“The unique style of social media communication in China will not only allow the club to enjoy an increase in fan participation, but also create many new commercial opportunities for us.”

Douyin is one of the most active and interactive online communities for short-form videos in China, while Toutiao, another core product developed by the same company Bytedance, is one of China's largest news and information content platforms, one underpinned by sophisticated machine learning techniques.

WeChat Channel is a new function within the WeChat ecosystem, one that specialises in video creation and live streaming.

DongQiudi, meanwhile, is one of the biggest football apps in China, with more than 5 million daily active users.