\n
Though they\u2019re based in Wales, and not a global city like New York, London, or Madrid, Wrexham AFC may just be one of the most relevant sports teams in the world.<\/p>\n
That hasn\u2019t always been the case. The team was ranked toward the bottom of the National League, which sits below the Premier League and the English Football League (EFL) in England\u2019s football pyramid, when actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney made a bid to take over the club in 2020.<\/p>\n
Wrexham has since been promoted in back-to-back seasons, but those successes aren\u2019t necessarily what is drawing in big brands like United Airlines, which has been the team\u2019s front-of-jersey sponsor since last season. Instead, the team\u2019s off-field stats and the growing popularity of the docuseries Welcome to Wrexham<\/em>, <\/em>which has followed the team\u2019s changing fortunes, has served as a major draw\u2014even if United doesn\u2019t actually fly to Wales.<\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019ll probably never fly to Wales, but it just so happens that one of the most popular soccer\u2014football\u2014teams in the states happens to play in Wales,\u201d Maggie Schmerin, United\u2019s chief advertising officer, told Marketing Brew. \u201cThe success of this team, through the Welcome to Wrexham<\/em> documentary, through Rob and Ryan\u2019s social channels, that was something that we wanted to be a part of.\u201d<\/p>\nFlying off the shelves<\/h2>\n
Jersey sponsorships, though expensive, represent an opportunity for marketers to spread brand names far and wide: Not only do players wear the sponsor\u2019s name on their chests for in-stadium crowds to see, but televised games bring additional reach, and fans often buy jerseys of their own to rep their teams.<\/p>\n
For United, a jersey sponsorship with Wrexham meant securing product placement in Welcome to Wrexham<\/em>, too, something Schmerin described as a perk in a world where ad-blocking and ad-skipping is widespread.<\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019ll be hard to ignore if we are literally a running billboard across their jerseys,\u201d Schmerin said.<\/p>\n
The jerseys don\u2019t just appear in the series and in games\u2014they\u2019re getting plenty of traction among fans, too. When the new kits with United branding went on sale last summer, they sold out almost immediately. Since then, United has been leaning into Wrexham merch more broadly as part of its sponsorship, Schmerin said: At a game in March, United gave every fan who attended a free team scarf.<\/p>\n
More recently, the airline announced that it plans to celebrate Wrexham\u2019s promotion by giving select passengers on some long-haul flights limited-edition Wrexham pajamas and amenity kits with Wrexham-themed toiletries. They\u2019ll be available through June and July, supplies permitting, according to Schmerin.<\/p>\n
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Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The club\u2019s promotion in and of itself has been giving United something to cheer about.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time they\u2019ve gone up, that just means more exposure on TV,\u201d Schmerin said. \u201cThere have been more opportunities here in the states; I know ESPN+ has had some of their matches, and we love that\u2026As the team continues to be successful, I think that\u2019s another hook to draw people in to [watch] the docuseries, to become followers of the club, of the TV show, on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n
The captains<\/h2>\n
In addition to the reach of the team and the show, United\u2019s sponsorship has also gotten it in front of the massive online audiences of Reynolds and McElhenney, who have more than 53 million Instagram followers combined.<\/p>\n
Reynolds and McElhenney personally announced the start of the sponsorship last year in a video that got 413,000 views on YouTube and 6 million plays on Instagram, where the video was co-posted to both actors\u2019 accounts. United TikTok ad campaigns involving Wrexham saw two times the airline\u2019s average ad engagement rate on the platform last year, according to the brand.<\/p>\n
A video showing off the new pajamas and amenity kits was co-posted on United, Wrexham, Reynolds, and McElhenney\u2019s Instagram accounts, where it was viewed more than 39,000 times in 18 hours.<\/p>\n
Beyond their star power and social reach, Reynolds and McElhenney pair well with United\u2019s brand voice on its social channels, which is designed to be \u201cwitty\u201d and \u201cculturally relevant\u2026something that seems to come quite naturally to those guys,\u201d Schmerin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have their finger on the pulse of what will resonate, what\u2019s relevant, how to bring that hint of humor into something, and how to make news in a world that exists in an always-on, 24\/7 news cycle,\u201d Schmerin said. \u201cFrom a marketing perspective, they are wonderful partners and collaborators to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schmerin declined to share whether United will pursue an extended sponsorship beyond its current two-year deal with Wrexham, which ends in 2025. For now, she said the brand is focused on Wrexham\u2019s summer tour in North America. United flew the men\u2019s team to the states last summer, and will do the same this year for both the Wrexham men\u2019s team and the women\u2019s team, who are making their US debut in July and whose jerseys United also sponsors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Though they\u2019re based in Wales, and not a global city like New York, London, or Madrid, Wrexham AFC may just be one of the most relevant sports teams in the world. That hasn\u2019t always been the case. The team was ranked toward the bottom of the National League, which sits below the Premier League and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-marketing"},"yoast_head":"\n
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