With the Premier League’s Project Restart finally reaching its finish, this week has also seen plenty of top-class action on social media too.
Will Atkins, Community Manager at The Playbook, has picked out some of the best and most eye-catching sporting social media activity from the past week.
Beatles hits Come Together as Borussia Dortmund announce Jude Bellingham
As the transfer window opens, expect plenty of competition for the best social announcement over the coming weeks, as clubs get creative in a bid to attract eyeballs and engagement to their latest signings.
An early front-runner has to be Borussia Dortmund – never strangers to social success – who hit the mark perfectly as they announced the signing of Jude Bellingham.
While getting their squad to air guitar and lip sync ‘Hey Jude’ to serenade their new teammate might be one thing, what set Dortmund’s announcement out from the pack was the gentle teasing of Beatles hits over the days leading up to the signing.
Only spotted once the final piece of the puzzle was posted, leading to a surge of engagement both for the announcement, and the rest of the content, the Dortmund social team show perfectly the value of a clever and well planned social calendar, as well as setting the standard for other clubs to follow throughout the rest of the transfer window.
Kit launches go digital
Another feature we’re likely to see plenty of in the coming weeks is the traditional summer kit reveals – though the Covid-19 situation means clubs will have to tackle them in non-traditional ways.
With photoshoots unable to take place, clubs have had to get creative – and both Newcastle and Stoke have launched their new shirts via illustrated designs.
However, the best virtual kit launch has to go to Southampton.
After the successes of their Show Your Stripes and Saynts Festival launches, the scale for this year’s was slightly smaller, but the ambition just as good.
The Saints launched an arcade-style video game, where fans had the chance to ‘unlock’ new parts of the kit as they moved through the levels.
Including a lesson in the club’s history (and a number of great Easter eggs), Southampton once again pushed the boundaries in a unique and engaging way to release their new kit – and one that was completely coronavirus-proof too.
Releasing the Kraken
Away from the world of football, the big news in Ice Hockey this week was the announcement of Seattle Kraken – NHL’s 32nd team.
With a suitably bold launch video (featuring giant waves and lightning bolts), the Kraken have hit the ground running with an informal and conversational tone, including a mocked up group chat between all NHL teams welcoming them in, as well as a deep dive into the chosen team colours and kits.
While Seattle Kraken won’t play their first match until the 2021 season, they’ve wasted no time in building up an engaged and loyal social support – already numbering over 200k on Twitter, and 237k on Instagram, and have shown the impact of nailing an immediately recognisable voice and branding on social.
Will Atkins is Community Manager at The Playbook – the game changing communications, campaigns and content agency that has worked on the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, NFL UK, UFC and LaLiga amongst others.
For more information about how The Playbook can help you change the game, visit wearetheplaybook.com.
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