Digital publisher LADbible has appointed Nick Speakman as its new director of social.
Speakman, the founder and director of humorous digital sports publishing brand SPORF, announced that he would be leaving his post as Manchester United鈥檚 global head of social media two weeks ago.
鈥淟eading forward the social media operation at Manchester United has been the honour of a lifetime,鈥� he wrote on LinkedIn.
鈥淔rom four staff members, across a handful of social platforms, to building a best-in-class digital team recognised as a benchmark for clubs across the sports industry. Together, we鈥檝e built the playbook, evolved our channels, transformed our content, launched into new markets and broke platform records.
鈥淣one of this is possible without the trust and support from the incredibly talented people working collaboratively across each department at this football club. With a very special mention for Ian Nolan (Manchester United’s CCO/director, media network)听who trusted me with such responsibility, while guiding and developing my role over the last five years. I can鈥檛 thank you enough.
鈥淚鈥檝e had the privilege of experiencing trophy wins across the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 team; welcoming home and working with the 馃悙 (Cristiano Ronaldo); introducing club-first social media initiatives; proudly representing the club at sport鈥檚 biggest events; meeting United fans from all over the world; playing on the hallowed Old Trafford pitch and even scoring at the Stretford End. The list goes on.
鈥淏ut with every journey comes a new chapter and I鈥檓 grateful to have been given an unbelievable opportunity to take on my biggest career challenge yet.
鈥淎 final thank you to every single person who has played a part in making this role what it is today. From colleagues at the club, to fans in the stand and everyone who has reached out over the last five years. You鈥檝e made it special. Once a Red, always a Red.鈥�
He joined Manchester United in 2020 from Manchester-based Social Chain, which was co-founded by Steven Bartlett and Dominic McGregor.听
When Social Chain acquired SPORF,听 he joined the Manchester firm as head of brand. He also has experience working for BT Sport as a social media manager.听
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SPORF was born in 2012 as an idea Speakman had in his university bedroom. It initially started as Twitter account BBC Sporf, parodying BBC Sport, but transitioned to become a content publisher. It bagged the BBC as one of its high-profile clients despite the corporation previously attempting to close it down prior to it dropping BBC from its name.
He told 老九品茶Cloud in Social Chain’s offices in 2019: 鈥淲ill there be new platforms? Will people use their phones less? Use different technology?
鈥淟ooking at the really big picture, what will the website look like when we’ve got enough content and relationships with athletes? Could we one day have a Netflix series? A TV station? A magazine?
鈥淎s we mature as a brand, we want to move away from 鈥楢nthony Martial has just scored a goal鈥� to 鈥楳artial 鈥� what music does he listen to? What does he buy when he goes shopping? What’s he like as a father?鈥�
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter where the content sits, as long as we maintain that consistent tone of voice and core value of showing a different side to top athletes and sports teams.鈥�
Speakman will now lead a dynamic team of social media experts and creatives to create engaging content for LADbible鈥檚 503m followers.
It currently employs over 400 members of staff and has a market cap of over 拢225m.
The news of Speakman鈥檚 arrival comes two months after former BOXPARK CEO Simon Champion joined as the company鈥檚 chief business officer.听
On the announcement of his appointment, Speakman added: 鈥淟ADbible Group is the world鈥檚 biggest and most influential social publisher, engaging millions of people daily and collaborating with the world鈥檚 biggest brands.
鈥淚鈥檓 honoured to join such a trailblazing team.鈥�