Aston Villa must build on 'spike in numbers' by finalising sponsor deals - Keith Wyness
Aston Villa's pre-season tour to East Asia will have opened up doors for them in terms of future sponsorship deals in that region.
That is according to former Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the "real value" behind the tour for his former club is in growing their sponsorship potential in that region.
Unai Emery's side recently played a three-game tour across Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong, which concluded with a 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich.
Wyness believes that the Villans are looking to "consolidate" a relationship with their fanbase in the far east, and grow their reputation in that region as a club.
He emphasised that tours of that nature tend to have far more commercial benefit for clubs than they do in terms of short-term footballing benefit.
Villa's other games saw them defeat Thai side Pathum United 3-1, and they also managed victory with the same scoreline against an Indonesian All-Star XI.
Aston Villa must jump on 'spike in numbers'
Villa's former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs - believes that his former club's work is far from done now that their tour is over.
The Scottish businessman noted that it is very important for clubs to continue to "harvest" the fan interest after the initial "spike" that is typically seen during a pre-season tour.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, he explained why the next steps in that region are hugely important for Villa commercially.
"Well, I've taken clubs on tours to Asia and all those sort of things before, and it's about the marketing and the whole growth of that market for your fanbase," Wyness said.
"You've got to be really switched on in terms of how you control those social media followers that you're going to gain while you're out there. And it isn't just a case of getting a spike in numbers while you're over there.
"You've got to harvest the fan interest and maintain that relationship with the fanbase once you've actually got those people in. And not many clubs are very good at doing that.
"It's about growing the fan base, and growing regional sponsors. That's where the real value is for somebody like Villa. But they've got to be very switched on and treat this like a campaign of war in marketing terms to be able to come back with good results.
"Rather than just thinking you can just turn up and it will happen. It doesn't work like that. You've got to work really hard these days to get these benefits."
Aston Villa settle on Emi Martinez and Ezri Konsa exit plan
Football Insider revealed last week that Villa are willing to lose goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez this summer, in order to keep hold of key centre-back Ezri Konsa.
Sources have indicated that at least one of the starting duo are likely to depart Villa Park before the 1 September transfer deadline, and Martinez is the most likely candidate.
The Argentine stopper has been heavily linked with a move to Inter Milan throughout the summer window, while Konsa has been subject to an enquiry from Arsenal of late.
Villa are prepared to accept an offer for Martinez to leave the club in the coming weeks, with Konsa viewed as the more important piece of the puzzle.