German second division football club VfL Bochum teamed up with kit partner Nike for an integrated campaign called ‘No Fuss. Football As It Should Be’ promoting its new 20/21 season ‘floodlight blue’ jerseys which led to tripling the previous season’s shirt sales and generating record revenue even without fans in the stadium or in the physical club shop.
Territory: Germany
Agency: Beyer Görges
Objectives
The objective of the campaign was to drive sales of the new 2020/21 season home kit of Bundesliga 2 club VfL Bochum (which is based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia).
The brief was to launch the campaign and boost purchasing ahead of the 15 August game against KFC Uerdingen when the team wore the new kit for the first time.
The aim of the jersey design was to building a bridge between tradition and modernity and reach across generations of fans and it is reminiscent of kits from the 1980s, which, according the club, ‘was a time when football was just football. No frills, just football as it should be’.
Thus, the jersey itself has a wide white collar, white cuffs and the club’s founding year 1848 written on the neck with the main body colour scheme blending the club’s traditional navy blue base tone with a new floodlight blue with diagonal stripes woven into the fabric to represent the rays of light emitting from the floodlights.
Activation
According to Vfl Bochum management team member Christoph Wortmann, when the club’s marketing team was planning the campaign they asked themselves one key question: “How can we go to market with a message and with content that reinforces our values and which will also be widely shared by and among the fan base”.
An idea emerged which reflected the club’s essential beliefs both on and off the pitch: an idea based around ‘no fuss’ which reflected Vfl’s DNA and which was also through to ‘be in keeping with the pandemic era’.
The team decided that the core of the campaign had to be based around the football as it should be. Despite one central element, the fans, being absent from matches, the aim of the campaign was to focus on what remains – the club’s values and the football.
So, with this idea in mind, VfL ran a six agency pitch in mid-June won by the Dortmund agency Beyer Görges.
Beyer Görges based the campaign around the club’s three pillar values (which were first established in the clubs 2007 brand concept): ‘down to earth’, ‘approachable’ and ‘authentic’.
Launched at the end of July 2020 and running through the first weeks of August, the ‘No fuss. Football as it should be’ was primarily a digital initiative as online was identified as the key media channel in a period where no fans were allowed in the stadium and thus football in the club shop was minimal).
As well as reflecting the club’s values, the creative also references the ‘Revierklub’s new floodlight blue shirt colour and the old school famous floodlight masts in the Vonovia Ruhrstadion which can be seen from afar when approaching the stadium and which the marketing team felt symbolically represented the proud tradition of the club because they are so rare in modern football stadiums which have mostly switched to under-roof LED lighting.
As the launch PR statement said: “For more than 40 years, the floodlights of the Ruhrstadion have shone beyond the city limits of Bochum. A light that never goes out. Floodlight blue. And this is exactly how the new jersey of VfL Bochum 1848 for the 2020/21 season is presented. ”
Led by video and photography, the bespoke website landing page and social content was supported by local print and OOH poster strands, plus PR work.
The campaign’s debut content pieces feature striker Simon Zoller and fullback Danilo Soares wearing the new shirts.
Teased by floodlight focused imagery from 27 July across the club’s social channels,
Aus einer Zeit, in der Fußball einfach nur Fußball war. Ein Licht, das niemals ausgeht: #VfLutlicht #trikot #zuhausebrenntnochlicht pic.twitter.com/PP9TPEUfZ3
— VfL Bochum 1848 (@VfLBochum1848eV) July 27, 2020
Ein Trikot, geprägt von einer Zeit, als Fußball einfach nur Fußball war.
Noch bis heute 23:59 Uhr das neue Trikot vorbestellen
https://t.co/TEYF6f5co5#VfLutlicht #flutlichtblau pic.twitter.com/S5ZN2fIpaC— VfL Bochum 1848 (@VfLBochum1848eV) July 31, 2020
the 60-second hero spot featuring footage from the 1980s to the present day was posted across its online platforms on 5 August.
The spearhead video was then supported by a set of social and OOH executions.
Unser Trikot verbindet Tradition und mordernes Design.
Unser Fußball, wie wir ihn immer geliebt haben: bodenständig, ehrlich, leidenschaftlich. Ohne großen Schnickschnack. Dafür steht das Trikot 2020|21.#VfLutlicht #flutlichtblau #tricorpworkwear pic.twitter.com/sF1Zbe8cv4
— VfL Bochum 1848 (@VfLBochum1848eV) August 5, 2020
Wer hat's schon im Kleiderschrank? Flutlichtblau Hell oder Dunkel?
https://t.co/2t8G2D6Gm3#VfLutlicht #flutlichtblau #tricorpworkwear pic.twitter.com/DA5butFqzC
— VfL Bochum 1848 (@VfLBochum1848eV) August 11, 2020
#Bermudadreieck@VfLBochum1848eV #meinVfL pic.twitter.com/vnRpa5rvYm
— Simon Zoller (@SiZolli) August 7, 2020
The content aims to drive fans to buy the new jersey from either the Ruhrpark fanshop or the VfL online shop.
“We have strongly orientated ourselves and our creative around the brand concept of VfL Bochum and created a beautiful story that fits the club”, said Beyer Görges Founder David Görges.
Outcome
Within a month of launch, the jersey campaign reached more than half a million fans on VfL’s social networks.
The campaign had a significant effect on shirt sales figures and tripled jersey sales compared with the previous season’s merchandise figures.
The jersey went on sale on 29 July and within one month the Bochum-based club had already sold more than 3500 jerseys: which corresponds to an increase of more than 200% compared to the same time last year.
Priced at €69.95, the jersey sales in the first month generated more than €250,000.
(According to SPONSORs, last year jersey sales accounted for 25% of the club’s €2m total merchandise income).
The sales statistics are all the more impressive because the traditional main sales channel – in person trade in the club shop – was a complete non-factor with the shop closed and games played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Comment:
The club’s traditional, old-school Ruhrstadion has always had a striking look known across the country as a real football stadium in an era when most games are now played in modern, multipurpose entertainment arenas often on the edge of cities beyond the urban homes of the core fan base. It’s classic floodlight masts are unmistakable and not only light the pitch but also show fans the way to the stadium from miles around.
We love using these themes as the heart of a shirt launch campaign – especially one in an era when so much of what brought us to love football in the first place is missing.
Links:
VfL Bochum
https://twitter.com/VfLBochum1848eV
https://www.instagram.com/vflbochum1848.official/
https://www.youtube.com/user/MeinVfL1848
https://www.facebook.com/meinVfL
Beyer Görges
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