Marketing of Football

The Marketing of Football can happen in many different shapes and formats. From sponsorship activation, new partners, social media, illustrations, video, tickets, fan subscription programs, and even on your favourite bar of chocolate. Football marketing, well sport marketing, is all around us. We see it on social media through paid ads or just social media posts, on TV, in supermarkets and basically anywhere where sport can be consumed.

We may only be 7 weeks into 2021, but there has already been a huge amount of marketing especially in the Premier League but also outside the Premier League as well.

*All information is from Marketing of Football Instagram which I run, and all content is my own words.

Tottenham Hotspur

In early January, Spurs announced that cinch would become the clubs first official sleeve partner. Cinch is one of the UK’s fastest growing online car selling platforms, and will be the clubs official sleeve partner as off the clubs match against Marine in the FA Cup this afternoon. The partnership with see cinch logo on the first team shirts on the men and women’s shirt. Additionally, on match days around the pitch perimeter a multi tiered digital ribbon advertising system. There will also be additional marketing campaigns across social media and digital platforms with the objective of engaging Tottenaham Hotspur fan base. For more information visit the Tottenham Hotspur website.

Also in January, Spurs launched a new Twitter with the primarily aim to engage with the large fan base in South Korea. With a huge fanbase in South Korea, thanks to Heung-Min Son, Tottenham Hotspur finally launched their own dedicated Spurs Korea Twitter. Launching on the 18th January, the aim is to provide content to engage South Korean fans and provide a new way to follow the club and all things Sonny. Tweets are a mix of Korean and English for the global fans. The launch also came at the time of a special emoji which is automatically applied to tweets containing the hashtags:  #손흥민, #Sonny, #HeungMinSon, #NiceOneSonny, and #토트넘 However, these emojis are limited edition and can only be used till the 18th April. 

Manchester City

Manchester City x Salento Creazioni Moda Manchester City Women’s team have just signed a new long term partnership with Italian production house SCM. The partnership becomes the teams first global formalwear partner, and will see the team wear a limited edition hand sewn collection for their WSL match against Manchester United in February. The partnership will also see a number of fan engagement activations and bespoke content featuring the women’s first team. Fans can also purchase a limited edition collection on the Manchester City website from February. 

In social media news, and Tik Tok trends, Manchester City jumped in the Sea Shanty trend last week, by taking the opportunity to have ‘the lads’ sing a sea shanty. 

Liverpool FC

As Liverpool FC Official Sustinable Protein Partner, Quorn have teamed up with members of the men’s first team to promote #MeatFreeMatchdays#MeetFreeLFC

During a video which see’s club captain Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Xherdan Shaqiri team up discuss their eating habits, as well as the benefits go going meat free. The players are challenging fans to join in from Sunday’s match against Manchester United to try and go meet-free. The aim is to promote the benefits of going meet-free, even if it just one day a week.

CADBURY

Okay not a football club, but as a sponsor of the majority of Premier League clubs, you kinda can’t ignore them.

Manchester City x Cadbury An activation campaign to reward city fans, in Cityzens of the Month. The aim is reward a City fan who deserves special recognition. Fans can nominate a local business who they believe have made a positive impact within their community. The activation was shared across social media, with City players explaining how Cadbury Cityzen of of the Month works. This isn’t just UK based either! As part of the multi year partnership with Cadbury (Mondelez International) become Manchester City’s Official Snacking Partner. Fans around the world can nominate people. Community initiatives or local businesses for acts of kindness, generosity and support. 

Premier League x the big 6 – Grab a Pack Now into it’s fourth year, Cadbury’s Legends campaign continues with the traditional top 6. With the top 6 now all having a club partnership with Cadbury (Mondelez International), this year it is all about celebrating the legendary players off all 6 clubs: 

Arsenal – Ian Wright 
Chelsea – Petr Cech 
Manchester United: Gary Neville 
Liverpool: Robbie Fowler 
Manchester City: Micah Richards 
Tottenham Hotspur: Rafa van der Vaart 

The main concept is for fans to buy a special edition Cadbury bar, and hopefully find a club legends’ shit inside. To go along side the chocolate bars, there has also been some brilliant social media content, with one video showing Ian Wright. To drive more participant and engagement, the campaign is advertised across radio, social media and in store.

Chelsea FC

Chelsea women announce first ever women’s short partnership with N+1 Singer, a leading investment bank dedicated to advising and funding ambitious growth companies in the UK. The partnership see’s Chelsea women have their first ever shorts partner, with N+1 Singer logo appearing on their shorts for the first time on Sunday 7 February. The 3 year partnership is hoping to continue to challenge boundaries as Chelsea look for bespoke partners dedicated to their women’s team. 

Chelsea Creates (in collaboration with COPA 90). Chelsea Football Club have collaborated with COPA90 on a new series. The series celebrates London’s most existing new talent in art, music and design. The purpose is to show show Chelsea are #ThePrideOfLondon The campaign features a number of illustrators to showcase talent across London. The series commissions celebrates all what we all love about football.

Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC and the new contract of Rob Holding. It’s always an exciting time when a new player arrives, or a fan favourite signs a new contract at their club. It’s even better to announce it a way to get fans involved, whether that is through cryptic tweets or an engaging video. It is a way to get fans on the website, to buy merchandise or talk about the signing. When Rob Holding signed a new contract, and although the Arsenal social team have a relatively short lead time, the team came up with a creative way to engage fans, rather than just an image and article on the Arsenal website. 

They came up with a video, to show Holding’s highs, lows and challenges that he has faced since in joined the club in 2017. The Arsenal Album was the perfect way to capture Holding’s new contract. Additionally, to help improve engagement with fans, Holding also agreed to do an AMA on Twitch, allowing fans real-time access to the player.