Is it just us, or have football transfer announcements been getting more out of the ordinary by the day? It makes sense as fans always want new and unique content to stay enticed to their clubs away from match days. Therefore, we’ve wrapped up some of our favourite transfer announcement on social media. We’ll be breaking down what makes them so great and innovative.
David Alaba to Madrid
This initial announcement was awesome as it gave Madrid followers a small insight into the back end of producing social content. It was short and straight to the point, hence why it has over 1.3m plays. Plus, the welcome Alaba hashtag was an effective initiative to increase brand reach beyond the Madrid audience.
Alaba’s welcoming campaign didn’t stop there. Madrid took to their socials to share a personal message from David about joining the Spanish giants. We all know personalised content is a game-changer as the pandemic has increased the demand for fans getting close and personal with their favourite stars. Real continued with personalising the announcement as they released a video called ’10 things you should know about Alaba’.
The Welcome Alaba campaign was unique, innovative and personalised. Three key ingredients for stand-out social content.
Barnsley FC meets the Inbetweeners
This January saw former Norwich City striker Callum Morris join Barnsley FC on a deal until 2023. It’s fair to say Barnsley’s announcement was somewhat interesting going for an Inbetweener’s themed welcome.
The execution is questionable. However, the principle is what sold it for us. The Inbetweeners has made various references to football, particularly from Jay’s infamous quote, “championship manager, completed it mate.”. The show rapidly became integrated within football culture, as we’ve seen the cast feature on the England YouTube channel appear in football pundit shows and football-related content.
It was a culturally sensitive move by Barnsley, which made sense. However, it wouldn’t go amiss to give the players some acting lessons moving forward!
Charlie Austin returns home
The former West Brom striker makes a return home this month, and the content team at QPR did a smashing job. They knew their Twitter feed would blow up with whether Austin would stay or go following the end of his loan spell at the London club. They utilised that as their theme for the official announcement, which saw Charlie assure fans he’s not going anywhere.
Following the #AnnounceAustin campaign, QPR’s content admin did a short video highlighting behind-the-scenes footage for Austin’s official announcement. On TikTok, more and more social media admins in football show quick walkthroughs of their days working at their clubs. QPR maximised this impact by doing it for Austin’s re-arrival.
We appreciated how QPR shone a light on their content team throughout both videos, as they were responsible for making these announcements. There are many things to learn for other clubs.
Gareth Bale wants to send Joe Rodon back to Wales
Spurs had quite a summer last year, bringing back the Welsh wizard Gareth Bale, who was anticipated as the ‘signing of the summer. Soon after, Spurs announced the transfer of Welsh defender Joe Rodon; two Welsh stars in one window proved to be too much for Bale!
The clip has over 1.3m plays and was one of Spurs’ most engaged posts during that week. They even got Ben Davies involved, making Spurs’ own a hattrick of Welsh players in their squad.
The videos were humourous and exciting for Spurs to kickstart their season, considering how it ended for the Lilywhites…
Kolarov: Roma to Inter
The former City defender moved to the other side of Italy in September by joining Inter Milan. His announcement video stood out as it emphasised one of Kolarov’s absolute worldie through a physics-themed lens. It gives fans an appetite for what they have to be excited for, and the animations transitioning to real-time footage is a classic engagement winner.
Have there been any announcements we’ve missed? If so, let us know!
Written by Stoke & Dagger contributor Ashwyn Lall (Twitter: AshsSportsTalk1).