Two And a Half Men

Liverpool F.C.

Two and a half men

STRATEGY

Liverpool Strategy All sports fans want to feel a sense of pride. For most, pride is built upon wins, but for Liverpool fans, pride is built upon passion. Most sports fans direct their passion towards their team, but Liverpool fans direct their passion towards each other. And although the beloved Reds unite the fans, it’s a common commitment towards each other that keeps them bound together. This commitment is built upon a motto that all Liverpool fans share: the promise that as long as you are Liverpool, “you’ll never walk alone.” See, the relationship between Liverpool fans isn’t one based on similar interests, but one based on similar blood. For this reason, Liverpool fans aren’t just friends – they’re brothers. And in a time when the brand is launching in a new country, it needs to welcome newcomers not as fans, but as family.

Since our campaign is built upon brotherhood, the 18-32 male market seems to be the most sensible target audience. We conducted preliminary research, and found that 18-32 year-old males dominate the sports audience in both Europe and the United States. That was enough to convince us that going after this target audience would be a logical move.

Our goals are to increase awareness, interest, and support of Liverpool first and soccer second in the United States, both in the short and the long run. We aim to make Liverpool a culturally relevant brand domestically, and an active part of the sports dialogue. We also seek to deliver a brand experience unlike anything the average American sports fan has ever been a part of. In terms of look and feel, our work modernizes the brand while respecting its rich tradition and history. We’ve decided against any major alterations to the brand’s signature assets (logo, jersey, slogan, etc.) for the launch because we believe Liverpool is an international brand that should be consistent with the way it presents itself across different markets. Besides, we’re introducing the brand, not revitalizing it. Our key message is simple: Liverpool fosters the most devoted and passionate fans who not only create the best sports experience, but the greatest sense of community.

Our call to action is even simpler: join us, and spread the word.

Our Liverpool US launch would begin immediately and last until August, and consists of four brand redesigns, an advertising campaign with print, out-of-home, broadcast, and digital (display and social) executions, and an experiential campaign spanning a guerilla effort, an ambassador program and several match day experiences.

The launch would reach our target audience through strategic ad buys in local and national sports and male media (GQ, ESPN, CollegeHumor, etc.), as well as real life experiences. The launch would take place in Boston and Baltimore, the sites of the only Liverpool matches in the US this summer. Additionally, the ambassador program and certain match day experiences would launch in other key cities, comprised of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, and San Francisco. The advertising campaign would run nationally, but with more media buys in the cities mentioned above (especially Boston and Baltimore.)

We measure the campaign’s success broadly through event attendance, social media mentions and interactions (including buzz words and sentiment analysis), merchandise sales, Nielsen ratings, media mentions, web traffic (including video views), clickthrough/bounce rates, and the membership / performance of the ambassador program. Extra attention will be paid to historical data (to track virility) and visitor origin (ex: finding the number of US-specific video views.) We consider success to be a statistically significant increase across all categories for the US market in the short and long run.

Design

Carlsberg bottle

What better way to launch Liverpool in America than to launch it with their beer sponsor Carlsberg as well?

The limited edition Liverpool Carlsberg bottle will be the launch beer for Liverpool in the US, and will also be a precursor for an anticipated expansion of the Carlsberg brand in America. The neck and bottom labels will be in Liverpool colors, with a team logo added to the base of the neck, leaving the middle of the bottle bare.

The design successfully integrates the two brands together without compromising Carlsberg’s iconic look. The beer will be available exclusively at Liverpool-sponsored bars/pubs and Liverpool matches in America.

Beer Pitcher

A big part of match day shenanigans is drinking with friends and fans, and we’re big fans of giving the people what they want. The Liverpool beer pitcher offers a special drinking experience by offering a single pitcher to last a group of guys the entire game, eliminating the need to refill/order new rounds and the fear of potentially missing a critical moment during the match. Along the side of the pitcher are markers, labeled with time intervals in the game to pace the drinking. The markers are labeled with “Game On” at the top, “Half-time” at the middle, and “End of Match” at the bottom, with 15-minute intervals in between. Additionally, the pitchers are frozen before serving to ensure that its contents stay cold throughout the match. These exclusive pitchers are available exclusively at Liverpool-sponsored bars/pubs and Liverpool matches in America, and promises to be a massive hit with the fans.

Scarf

A necessity at every game and for every diehard, the football club scarf is a staple of team pride and comradery. The problem with football scarves is that they only really look good around your neck on match day – they don’t quite look the same with a peacoat while you’re on a first date. To combat this, our version of the team scarf will be dual-sided and offer the wearer two alternate looks: one side includes the team logo as well as the slogan “you’ll never walk alone”, while the other is a more fashionable style with a red and white striped pattern with teal tassels at each end. The two sides ensure that regardless of the occasion, a Liverpool fan can always show off his colors. This scarf will be handed out for free to all ticketholders at the Liverpool games in America.

Mobile App

The Liverpool mobile app encompasses all the features of successful digital media – it is engaging, entertaining, informative, and interactive. This mobile app is similar to the existing Liverpool mobile app, but offers more opportunity for fans to interact with each other both digitally and interpersonally. Our Liverpool mobile app consists of four main segments: news, fan features, live updates, and a special locator. Each of these segments are then broken down into four sub-segments. Within “News” are a schedule, statistics, standings, and clips/highlights; within “Fans” are contests, song lyrics, tweets, and a merchandise shop; within “Live” are minute-to-minute game updates, live game streaming, live game radio and updated fan content, such as video clips taken at games or events; and finally, “Find” locates nearby friends, fellow fans, events, and Liverpoolfriendly pubs. Unlike, the current Liverpool mobile app, our mobile app allows Liverpool fans to publicize and promote gatherings exclusively to other scousers. We aimed to create a mobile app that is both informative and appealing for veteran fans, while also being educational and useful for new fans.

MARKETING

Print/OOH: “The Red Sea”

60 Second TV Spot: “Walk On”

Open on a playground, with a young boy wearing a Liverpool jersey holding a soccer ball. “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, Liverpool’s anthem, plays, and is the only audio in the spot (apart from a singing crowd that joins in with the music later on.)

Music: When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high…

A bully grabs the soccer ball from the young boy and kicks it over a hill, out of sight. Camera cuts to a closeup of the young boy, miserable. He looks down at his feet and tries not to cry. Camera cuts again to a shot of three bullies, laughing at the young boy cruelly and jeering at him. One of the bullies is clutching an American football.

Music: And don’t be afraid of the dark…

The distant sound of a crowd singing along with the music can be heard, gradually getting louder. Cut to a shot of the young boy and the bullies looking off-camera, perplexed by the sound. Camera cuts to the empty hill.

Suddenly, an unbelievably massive crowd of Liverpool fans wearing red jerseys emerges, singing loudly and marching towards the camera. The man leading the crowd is holding the young boy’s soccer ball.

Music and crowd: Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart…

The three bullies, terrified, run away off-camera. The young boy stands there, bewildered but elated.

Music and crowd: And you’ll never walk alone! You’ll never walk alone!

The crowd leader hands the young boy his ball, and hoists him on his shoulders. Camera cuts to an eagle-eye shot of the sea of fans from behind, while slowly zooming out. Fade out to black.

Super: YOU’LL NEVER WALK ALONE. Logo: Liverpool F.C.

Banner Ad: “The Noise”

As a user browses the page on which the banner ad is displayed, there’s a sound of a roaring crowd. When the user moves his/her mouse towards the banner ad, the sound of the crowd gets louder. When the user moves his/her mouse away from the banner ad, the sound of the crowd gets quieter. The user is invited to “click to see what the noise is all about”, with the banner ad directing to LFCtour.com.

Digital/Social: The Liverpool Fan Exchange Program

The Liverpool Fan Exchange Program is a web series that sends 4 American Liverpool fans to the UK and 4 British Liverpool fans to America to watch their team play. The 8 lucky fans are chosen based on entries received after a call for submissions on the Liverpool web site. These fans immerse themselves in the culture of the foreign country (such as Brits going to an American rodeo, or Yanks going to a British pub), meet famous Liverpool supporters (like LeBron James and Daniel Craig), and attend a Liverpool match, with cameras capturing everything along the way. In addition to these experiences, the web series examines how people in the two countries do the same things differently, candidly looking at topics such as what to call the sport (football or soccer?) and what match day rituals in each country are like. We believe this lighthearted and informative series, with celebrity appearances and rich original content, will bridge the cultural gap between Liverpool fans in the US and UK and generate a large amount of views and interactions.

Fans can also keep up with the exchange program by following each delegation’s Facebook and Twitter pages, which will be constantly updated with status updates, photos, and videos documenting their experiences. Fans will be able to interact directly with the delegations as well by tweeting at the delegations or posting to their wall. Finally, delegations will live-tweet matches under the hashtag #LiverpoolLive with fans, ensuring that they can commentate and enjoy the match together.

EXPERIENTIAL

“The Red Sea” Ambassadors

Launching a brand to a new market is never easy, and requires a lot of help. Thankfully for Liverpool, there are a lot of people in the United States who are able and willing: the existing fans.

The Red Sea is a large group of existing Liverpool fans in America chosen as ambassadors to help launch and spread the brand in the United States. Their responsibilities include actively promoting the brand online and offline, supporting the brand’s marketing efforts, and periodically checking in with progress reports and status updates. However, their greatest responsibility is not to simply participate, but lead the game day fan experience. They are simultaneously the educators and disciples of Liverpool: while they start the singing of songs, they teach the lyrics to those who don’t know them; while they organize personal meetups, they extend an invitation to all fans; while they love the team, they’re actively eager to share it with others. In exchange for their dedication, they receive numerous benefits from the organization, including free tickets, discounted merchandise and exclusive opportunities, like a meet-and-greet with players. It’s a win-win situation for both sides: the ambassadors receive perks while their favorite team and sport gain recognition, and the brand successfully expands while ensuring the fans and the experience remain incredible.

Subway Guerilla

To Liverpool fans, the journey from home to the match isn’t just a matter of getting from point A to point B – it’s an essential part of the game day experience. It’s an opportunity to walk alongside their brothers in unity and solidarity while demonstrating team spirit. To them, it’s a celebration of who they are.

On selected times and dates, hundreds of Liverpool fans will “take over” public transportation systems in selected cities, wearing their red and white. They’ll bring their infectious enthusiasm along, cheerfully chatting and singing while handing out Liverpool paraphernalia to people passing by. Over the course of the day, they’ll board trains/subways, exiting at one specific stop (which will have a complete ad buyout with Liverpool branding), as if they were heading to a match. This guerilla effort would increase awareness and interest of the brand while positively immersing Americans in the brand’s culture and identity with a unique, shareable experience.

Arena Experience

The match day arena experience is crucial - not just because it’s showtime for the Liverpool team, but especially for the brand. We’ve rallied our troops, expressed (loudly) that Liverpool is the team to root for, and must now deliver on the promise. By binding Liverpool traditions with American game day rituals and customs into a unique experience, match goers will walk away with an unforgettable impression of how sports should be.

Before the match, a massive tailgate/carnival open to all ticketholders takes place at a nearby park. The tailgate allows fans to mingle and relax before the match, and includes food, drink, a beer garden (with limited edition Carlsberg), merchandise booths, meet-and-greets with famous Liverpool fans (LeBron James, Dr. Dre, etc.) contests, ambassador kiosks, and games, among other attractions. About an hour before kickoff, all attendees march together in solidarity to the stadium.

During the match, hardcore fans sitting in two designated sections lead the stadium with chants and songs.

Given the uninterrupted pace of the game, the stadium jumbotron cycles between statistics, fun facts, historical information, live shots of fans, replays, live tweets from fans, promotions, and lyrics/chants. Half-time will feature an AYSO youth match, fan contests (like a penalty shootout), and the usual jumbotron antics (kisscam, etc.)

The post-game events will be an opportunity for friends – new and old – to relax and recollect the experiences of that day. There will be several events for Liverpool fans at nearby bars/pubs, which can be found through the “Find” feature of the Liverpool mobile app.

The Pub Experience

Simply because some fans aren’t at the actual game doesn’t mean that they have to miss out on the fun.

Therefore, we have designed events that will act as extensions of the Arena experience. We will host viewing parties at local bars, or pubs, in key cities.

The pub events will not only be an opportunity to rally Liverpool fans and celebrate the team, but they will also be the stage on which we introduce Carlsberg Beer to those don’t have the opportunity to attend the Arena events. To commemorate both Carlsberg and Liverpool FC, refreshments will be offered in our innovative Liverpool mugs. The pub experience is essential as a completing segment of our campaign, which aspires to perpetuate a sense of community and promote Liverpool culture. The events are open to the general public, but the majority of the crowd will be in red and white. Ambassadors will be present, riling up the assembly into songs and chants. Games and giveaways will be offered and snacks will be provided.

Furthermore, the pub events can be found and located through the Liverpool mobile app.