Football Slovan has not been able to handle crisis communication for a long time. As soon as any even slightly controversial topic comes up, he tries to avoid it and downplay it. Almost without exception, only its CEO Ivan Kmotrík Jr. comments on important topics outside of press conferences. Which would still be relatively fine if he didn’t use his private Instagram profile to communicate.
Communication expert Daniel Feranec sees big gaps in how Slovan should behave on the outside, how to present himself and especially how to communicate through the media towards his fans.
“To see how Ivan Kmotrík approaches the club itself. From his point of view, he is a Slav. Of course, he has the right to do so, but the sad thing is that the club does not have other ik things that would balance this unfortunate form of communication,” Feranec thinks.
In the text you will read:
how Slovan informs about changes in staff; how he expresses his attitude towards journalists; when he failed in crisis communication; why the club should provide space not only to selected media; how he communicates compared to Sparta Prague and PSG.
It regularly happens that Slovan informs about new players or departures on its official channels only after its CEO has done so.
The practice in other Slovak and also foreign clubs is different. The clubs themselves inform about changes in the staff through their official channels – either on social networks or on the website. Rarely do general managers, directors or club owners share these kinds of posts.
“As a person who deals with communication and marketing, and at the same time a person who likes football and is from Bratislava, I follow the events in Slovan. And since I also follow the communication of foreign football clubs, I dare to compare,” says Daniel Feranec at the beginning, who has a good overview of the Slovak football scene.
“I perceive Slovan as a club that has an identity crisis. From the outside, it looks as if there are only results and trophies, and then only Ivan Kmotrík and his more or less controversial situations. Of course, from the point of view of its management, it is not an identity crisis. There identity is fulfilled. I see the problem in the fact that the identity revolves too much around its owner, or the CEO,” continues the communication expert.
Presentation of reinforcements
Slovan acquired only two new players in the winter transfer period. First the stopper Spyros Risvanis and then the forward Gerson Rodrigues. Ivan Kmotrík Jr. reported on both of them on Instagram. Even so that he first had his followers guess who the club hired.
He blurred out Rodrigues’ character before the official release and asked for tips on who it might be.
“I note that every new player is announced by Ivan Kmotrík on his Instagram, which a priori is not a bad thing at all. It is also done in much bigger and more famous foreign clubs. Except there it is done by the presidents, who are a little more appropriate for such announcements, not the owners, who are ‘just’ people behind the scenes.
I perceive it as a problem that in Slovan this non-standard presentation of strengths has become a tool for building the image of Ivan Kmotrík personally, who often seems to be more important than the player himself. This can sometimes seem comical,” thinks Daniel Feranec.
“I can imagine a world in which Slovan fans as a whole would accept this communication, as long as announcing reinforcements via Ivan Kmotrík’s Instagram was only a small part of how Slovan performs. However, the club also committed other communication, to put it mildly, missteps,” he adds.
Successful micromanager syndrome
The Slav also prefers certain media over others in his communication. Ivan Kmotrík Jr. for example, he regularly gives interviews to the newspaper Šport, but he has never given an interview to Denník N. Despite the fact that we asked him for it several times.
Once it turned out that he asked about the topics and agreed to the interview, but canceled it shortly before it took place. Other times, he did not even respond to a request for an interview, whether it was directed directly to him or to the club’s media manager.
Ivan Kmotrík Jr. Photo – TASR
“We see this commonly on the political scene. The ideal case would be to communicate with everyone, put together a media team or at least one capable communicator who will prepare opinions that can be used in all media.
In my opinion, it’s more about the fact that he wants to avoid unpleasant questions. That is also why I mentioned the political scene, where this phenomenon happens on a daily basis. In the club, Kmotrík could have his own opinions, his way of thinking and always be on top of things on the outside. For me, it is incomprehensible that he will not choose this option,” says Feranec.
“Kmotrík reminds me of Igor Matovič in one respect. In Slovakia is
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