GM to forge marketing partnership with popular Manchester United soccer team

Detroit Free Press - General Motors, which abandoned Super Bowl advertising earlier this month, plans to announce Thursday a broad marketing and sponsorship plan with popular European soccer team Manchester United, a person familiar with GM's plans confirmed.

The deal would give GM major visibility alongside a soccer team that has a worldwide following – and it would fit with the automaker's strategy of making Chevrolet and Cadillac strong global brands.

M's decision to pivot from the Super Bowl, whose popularity is concentrated in the U.S., to Manchester United, which is popular globally, offers insight into its marketing priorities.

Joel Ewanick, GM's global chief marketing officer, is expected to discuss the Manchester United deal with reporters Thursday.

The deal also comes about two months after GM formed a new advertising agency called Commonwealth – a 50-50 partnership between competitors San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and New York-based McCann Erickson Worldwide – to lead Chevrolet's global ad strategy. What role Commonwealth played in reaching the Manchester United deal is not clear..

Manchester United, one of the most successful clubs in English soccer, released a survey Tuesday conducted by Kantar Media Compete that showed it has 659 million followers throughout the world. But about 89.2% of its fans are located outside the Americas, the survey found.

The team is particularly popular in Asia, where it has 325 million followers. It also boasts 173 million in the Middle East and Africa.