Out of Home / Print Campaign / Activations: Targeting International Visitors & UK Domestic Markets
Manchester United Football Club – Official Membership Campaign
About
Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Nicknamed "the Red Devils", the club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to its current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910. Manchester United is one of the most widely supported football clubs in the world. Manchester United was the highest-earning football club in the world for 2016–17, with an annual revenue of €676.3 million, and the world's third most valuable football club in 2019, valued at £3.15 billion ($3.81 billion). As of 2015, it is the world's most valuable football brand, estimated to be worth $1.2 billion ProblemA global brand, one of the most valuable in the world wanted to target the domestic market with exclusive membership options, 6 different tiers to allow supporters of all ages to follow this fantastic club and have an opportunity to access bespoke merchandise that would otherwise not be accessible to the casual fan. Increasing brand awareness and it’s growing domestic fan base.
Plan of Action
Out of Home Print & Digital Campaign - Out of Home Screens & Leaflets.
Platinum Network - Motorway Service Area’s to capture the travelling fans from the North West areas of the UK that stop at these high footfall locations. The large high impact Digital Out of Home Screens were also used to promote these exclusive membership offers.Premier Network - This covers our exclusive high footfall Supermarket Network, including brands, Waitrose, M&S Food, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, ASDA, Co-op, and the expanding German giants Lidl, and Aldi. Along with the Train Network using the four main railway stations in Manchester, Piccadilly, Victoria, Oxford Road and Deansgate. Prime Network - Equally important to our client, dedicated sport retail outlets (Sports Direct, and JD Sports) national retail outlet (John Lewis), Sport entertainment venues (Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester Velodrome, AO Arena, Manchester Regional Arena and National Speedway Stadium)Experiential / Engagement - Using our street teams that become brand ambassadors of MUFC, handing out leaflets to visiting fans at domestic and overseas international matches, the 2017 UEFA Europa League Final held in Stockholm, Sweden.
Outcome
The duration of the campaign over 3 months culminated with the UEFA Europa League Final, this additional service had been discussed in previous meetings with the marketing team at MUFC, as similar Experiential campaigns had been carried out for the Welsh Rugby Union team during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. This boosted the membership campaign that had seen a dramatic uptake in new members from the distribution exposure that had been carried out in the initial days of the campaign back in March.