They are shadow workers whose goal is to make their clients shine. With the growing importance of social networks in football, several FC Nantes players have decided to collaborate with image agents or graphic designers. On match days, like this Sunday in Lorient, the Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Telegram accounts of Jean-Charles Castelletto, Moussa Sissoko, Dennis Appiah and Pedro Chirivella thus publish “game dayor encounter visuals. Videos depicting a player’s best actions can also sometimes be uploaded within a week.
The goal is simple: to increase the notoriety of the player. “The job of an image agent is to polish the image of a player, in the good sense of the word, and to highlight itconfirms Badr Slassi, image agent of the French international midfielder. It’s like sports agents, if you don’t have one, it’s more difficult to make a transfer than when you have one.“And the fallout is quantifiable for the Canaries. Explanations.
Very controlled communication
In the head of Jean-Charles Castelletto, the desire germinated the day after the success in the Coupe de France. “His request was to occupy a little more ground on social networks because he was not used to postingconfides Victor Lemée, creator of the company 23h23. It’s a way for them to offload that burden, but we always work together with the players. Everything is always validated. We never publish anything without the player validating beforehand.”
The agency, which created a logo for the defender, thus takes care of offering content Cameroonian international and is responsible for recovering photos and videos from the club or specialized agencies, in order to make the edits then posted. The regularity of the publications allows the audience. The circle is then virtuous for the player. And for the company that deals with managing its image.
We have to be versatile if we want to have as many players as possible
“It is also a way to highlight the Nantes publicwhich was one of his requestsassures Victor Lemée, who also collaborates with four other footballers. Before he was in Brest and there are, of course, also supporters but it is not comparable. Last season, with the Coupe de France, he really saw how passionate and crazy the public was for his team..”
Behind his computer, Thibaud Gabrysch, also an image agent for a dozen professional sportsmen, therefore draws on his imagination to create new content and surprise the subscribers of Moussa Sissoko, for whom the young man collaborates as a graphic designer. “I do all the visuals for him on Instagram, Twitter and even on Telegram where he has a channellists this “jack of all trades” still a student. I made a video when he left Watford, for his arrival at FC Nantes. I do photo editing, editing on his best actions, etc. I do according to his requests.” But he does not publish his creations himself. Only the image agent and the ex-midfielder of Tottenham have the authority to make publications.
“From 50,000 followers to around one million subscribers on Instagram”
For players of the stature of Moussa Sissoko, the needs are also increased tenfold. And the media attention far superior to some of his Nantes teammates. “For Moussa, I am the gateway to everything that does not concern footballconfirms Badr Slassi, with whom the player has been collaborating for seven years. This means the press, social networks, sponsorship contracts or even partnerships..”
Image agent, it is in a way provide after-sales service for footballers. “It’s sometimes responding to certain requests that he does not necessarily see go through, such as requests for jerseysobserves Victor Lemée. Afterwards, we cannot satisfy everyone, otherwise we would have to open a shop (laughs).” “Anyway, we have to be versatile if we want to have as many players as possible.“, adds Thibaud Gabrysch.
Our role is to judge the advisability of a communication.
When the job is well done, the curve of “views” and subscribers generally takes on the appearance of an out-of-category pass. This was verified on the accounts of number 17 of the Yellows. “Qwhen we started working together, in Newcastle, he had less than 50,000 Instagram followerstoday it is close to one million [877.000, ndlr]explains Badr Slassi. We also manage to quantify it through the partnerships it has, solicitations including media.”
The proportions are not comparable for the Facebook and Instagram accounts of Jean-Charles Castelletto. The decline is not the same but the effects are nonetheless assessable. “We saw the difference quite quicklypromises Victor Lemée, the 34-year-old man at the head of the 23:23 agency. This is felt in terms of subscribers, viewings too. But that’s not everything, we attach importance to quality.“
Create a brand to be attractive and attract new partners
It is also and above all a question of strategy. What do we say ? When ? How ? Why ? What interest ? “Social networks have an impact but what really has an impact is the way it communicates. With Moussa, we did media trainingreveals Badr Slassi, in relation to half a dozen players. Our role is also to judge the advisability of a communication. The English course given last April, from a distance, by the former Watford player to Touraine college students is a perfect one. Nothing is left to chance. Or almost not. In May 2019, after a full match which had allowed Tottenham to reach the first Champions League final in its history, Moussa Sissoko had fun commenting on photos on Instagram.
– Instagram screenshot
“There are Facebook accounts that have taken this up a lot and it has remainedlaughs the player’s image agent. We even have supporters who always ask us if Moussa can comment on his photos in a somewhat humorous way. And that is a part of improvisation. It was he who had this idea and it gradually became a trademark.” Selling as a brand. More and more players are trying to grow their image to try to win advertising contracts and to attract new sponsors in order to increase but also to diversify their income. But to exist off the pitch, you still have to perform well during matches.