The link between Christmas and football goes way back. There’s the 1914 match between British and German soldiers on the Western Front, (immortalised by an iconic Sainsbury’s ad). But that iconic game aside, Christmas day fixtures were a staple of English football till 1965 and Scottish football until 1976. These days, fans enjoy a soccer bonanza on Boxing Day (December 26th) instead.
That link between the beautiful game and the festive season has been reignited in recent years as football clubs have realised that it’s the perfect opportunity to connect with fans and allow the players to reveal a different side.
James Wilkins is executive creative director at Manchester City. This year, the club features fans and players connecting and sharing memories of Man City for a very informal and human campaign, ‘Christmas, Together’.
“It really comes down to closing the gap between players, the club and our fans – bringing them all closer together. Focusing on community – both local and global,” says James, explaining how this campaign ladders into the club’s broader marketing strategy. “That’s why we landed on the themes that we are talking about with the campaign, because even though Christmas is a great time to celebrate community – it’s a theme that is central to our entire identity as a club and spreads across the whole year.”
“We didn’t want our Christmas activity to be purely centred around a hero film – we wanted ‘Christmas, Together’ to be a deeper campaign that says something about our club in general, not just about Christmas. ‘Christmas, Together,’ is a theme that echoes through the club on many levels from the pitch to our fans around the world, to what we do in the community.”
The campaign launched with a hero film that’s warm and relaxed. Of the creative approach, James says, “For the launch film, we wanted something extremely simple, quite free-flowing and naturalistic - bringing players, fans and legends to celebrate together and share memories and stories of why they love this time of year, and the club’s role within their lives at Christmas . No gimmicks, no big reveal, just a stripped back mood on set that will hopefully bring a feeling of shared emotion and connectivity with our fans.”
The campaign isn’t just about giving fans a treat or showcasing Christmas merch, the club was also keen to use this content and its community-centric messaging to underline its relationship with the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, through the club’s charity City in the Community. “That message of togetherness was also important because a central component of our Christmas activity focuses on the Club’s relationship through City in the Community (CITC) with the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital,” says James. “While CITC’s support of the RMCH is year-round, Christmas is a big moment in the calendar for the club to bring even more joy to the children at the hospital.”
Manchester City isn’t the only club creating festive content, of course. This year we’ve seen Chelsea champion the ‘Magic of the Blue’ and Arsenal has released a whimsical film from Knucklehead director Marc Sidelski, featuring a young fan enjoying a night alone in the club. And who could forget Gazza’s bizarre cameo as the chief washer-upper in Rangers’ 2023 effort.
James reflects that there has been a growing momentum around the holiday for club marketing teams and says that the creative strategies are as diverse as the teams themselves.
“While Christmas campaigns and content certainly aren’t a new thing for football clubs, recent years have seen Christmas become far more of a marketing moment for football clubs using the festive season as a brand opportunity to connect with fans over and above solely product sales,” he says. “Exactly how clubs are doing that varies wildly – from nostalgia to humour, from children’s stories to Christmas poems, celebrity fan cameos, low-fi productions all the way to TVC style John Lewis style efforts.”
One might imagine that creating content that strikes that balance between community building and marketing the club’s festive merchandise could be a tricky line to walk, but for James and the team, the holiday season makes it quite simple and natural.
“With Christmas it’s quite easy as having players and fans wearing Christmas jumpers doesn’t look out of place in a Christmas film. But the key is not to force it too much. I think audiences are very nuanced in how they receive messaging around products and how those products are integrated into brand films. We certainly don’t feel the need to fill every frame with a product from the Christmas retail range,” says James.
“The main purpose of the film is to deliver the overarching message of ‘Christmas, Together’, and then all the other elements of product integration flow off the back of that where it feels authentic. Saying that, we do want people to be excited about the products, as money from those products goes towards CITC’s programme with the RMCH,” he continues.
And that sense of authenticity will flow through all of the comms and content around the ‘Christmas, Together’ campaign that’s set to come out between now and December 25th.
“While we launched with this hero film, it is only one part of the ‘Christmas, Together’ campaign – there’ll be lots more coming out between now and Christmas."