Fans & Players Front MCFC & Nike Social Media 'Built For Brilliance' Kit Launch

Early July saw Manchester City and Nike link up to unveil the new 2015/16 Premier League kit through a distinctly fan-focused ‘Built For Brilliance’ campaign

The campaign was teased through official club and brand social media,

Built for Brilliance. The new #MCFC 2015/16 home kit will be revealed tomorrow: http://t.co/PwUtTToEke pic.twitter.com/3md4XpzXhw

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 2, 2015

but then it was City fans themselves who were given the opportunity to launch the kit with a selection of fans picked through the Nike Football App chosen to pose for selfies with their favourite players – both wearing the new shirt.

These selfie pictures were then sent out to City supporters through social media not only across Nike and City’s own channels, but also one the feeds belonging to the players who posed for the pictures.

For example, Pablo Zabaleta paired with fan Pete McDonnell,

Loved the @mcfc kit shoot with @petelbmcdonnell. Top guy and wore the shirt with pride! pic.twitter.com/P7hzC1PmtF

— Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta) July 3, 2015

while keeper Jo Hart paired with Louie Joyce,

Joe Hart displays his new 2015/16 goalkeeper’s shirt with true blue @LouieJoyce_. pic.twitter.com/hoGpvpACF1

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 3, 2015

and Wilfred Bony with Joe Danson.

Both Bony and Cityzen @joedanson will be pulling on the classically designed new home kit at the Etihad this season. pic.twitter.com/YcCzWa75YS

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 3, 2015

There was also the usual kit launch photo shoot – which was promoted on Twitter,

.@SamNasri19's smile says it all! The best pics from the new kit photoshoot. View: http://t.co/KT8xxCin2W #mcfc pic.twitter.com/i3JC9A9kOP

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 3, 2015

Suits you, Sir! Behind the scenes at the photoshoot for our new home kit. Gallery: http://t.co/KT8xxC0Mbo #mcfc pic.twitter.com/RV8V9K34zD

— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) July 3, 2015

and on Facebook,

Take an exclusive look behind the scenes of our new #MCFC home kit launch – loads more pics of Sergio Aguero, Yaya Touré and more wearing it here too! http://manc.it/1HBsl8x

Posted by Manchester City FC on Friday, July 3, 2015

as well as on the team’s website –

https://www.mcfc.co.uk/news/team-news/2015/july/kit-launch-gallery-a-closer-look-at-the-new-mcfc-home-shirt/1435846792

all with the usual behind-the-scenes creative approach.

Nike also promotes the launch with a dedicated page on its UK football website (at http://news.nike.com/news/manchester-city-home-kit-for-2015-16-brings-nike-football-performance-innovation-to-a-timeless-look) that also includes snippets from the fan-led strand and to the women’s team.

Some of the executions and content drove fans to the club’s online pre-order site at http://shop.mcfc.co.uk/.

According to Nike, it created the new uniform from a mix of recent City kits and the opinion of Manchester’s people and their take on casual wear in the city.

The new kit itself features the return of City’s traditional white collar and shorts and all of Manchester City’s teams – including women’s and youth teams – will wear the new kit this season.

Indeed, it’ll be Manchester City Women’s FC who will actually professionally debut the new home kit in their FA WSL fixture on 12 July.

Each kit element – shirt, shorts and socks – is made from fully recycled polyester which is created from melted down and recycled plastic bottles.

According to Nike, it takes 18 recycled plastic bottles to create each individual kit.

In fact, since 2010, Nike alone has diverted more than 2 billion plastic bottles from landfills into recycled polyester.

Comment

This kit launch has several nice touches from the club: from all teams using the same strip, the eco friendly manufacturing process and the fan-focused launch campaign.

It avoids the more razzmatazz approach recently employed by clubs such as Arsenal/Puma (see case study)

and the cheerleaders, acrobats and fire eaters fronted Mexico’s Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles latest shirt launch,

in favour of a simpler, fan-focused, social media led campaign.

Manchester City’s own social platforms: its Twitter feed boasts 2.5 million followers, whilst its official YouTube channel boasts 413,500 subscribers.

The kit launch tactic is another example of City’s commitment to and innovation around new technologies and social media.

Another recent example of this approach this year was the February launch of Manchester City Android Wear smartwatch matchday app which gives fans access to key match day moments (from team sheet announcements to goal alerts).

City were the first football team in the world to launch such a wearable technology companion app.

‘We recognise thesmartwatch market is still in its early stages but its popularity is projected to increase rapidly as new players come into the market. We’re thrilled to get in early and start discovering ways to tap into the devices’ potential,’ said Man City media and fan relationships director Diego Gigliani.

‘For those fans who want to keep up with all the action but are unable to watch the game, having CityMatchday Wear on their Android watches will allow them to go about their busy days while receiving key updates related to our matches as they happen.’

As part of the app launch, four members of City’s Cityzen membership programme will win an Android Watch allowing them to make full use of the app.

The ‘CityMatchday Wear’ is available for download from the Google Play store (see https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.droiders.android.mcfcwear&hl=en_GB).

Links:

Nike Twitter:

@NikeUK

Man City Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MCFC

@MCFC

Man City YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/mcfcofficial

Man City Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/mcfcofficial

Nike Website:

http://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/