Branding through Social Media (Case Study: Instagram Page of Tehran Esteghlal F.C.)

The aim of this study was to investigate how to the Sport teams use Instagram as a social media platform for their branding purposes, and how much their fans respond to the brand on Instagram.

First, qualitative and quantitative content analysis was conducted on 500 Instagram posts by Tehran Esteghlal F.C. Then, by using one-way ANOVA and Scheffe test, investigated what team brand attributes have created more fan engagement.

Findings indicated that two demonstrates of brand attributes of Esteghlal F.C. on its Instagram page including product-related factors (team success, star player and head coach), and non-product related factors (brand mark, management, club’s history and tradition, club’s culture and values, event’s image, sponsor and fans). The highest frequency of images was related to star players (47.6%), and the lowest frequency was attributed to the club’s culture and values (2.2%). The results of ANOVA showed a significant difference between the means of comments and likes of the fans in terms of brand attributes. Scheffe test results showed that star players cause a significant difference in the number of fans' likes. moreover, it pointed out that sponsors effect the number of fans' comments.

Instagram as a social media platform could be a suitable instrument to realize the brand through the content of messages exchanged between the followers and the sport teams. So, it could be used for branding purposes of the club.