In our goal to make Paisley proud of its local team, we want St Mirren Football Club to have a strong, recognised presence within the community. We want to mark the gravitas St Mirren plays in the town’s history and celebrate the overwhelming support loyal fans show the club. The 2020/21 season is like no other, yet the fan support is unwavering.
St Mirren Belongs to Paisley
One great way to showcase St Mirren far and wide across Paisley has been to launch large traditional billboard placements across key Paisley locations. Loyal St Mirren fans will feel a sense of pride as the familiar black and white stripes capture their attention; locals who are football fanatics will be reminded of their homegrown team and be encouraged to show their support.
Be inspired to follow the Paisley football club and their youth development that has produced the talent of Lewis Morgan, Cammy MacPherson and Ethan Erhahon.
Visualisation
It takes time to decide on what to visually promote. What do we want to communicate to our fans?
Recent times have been challenging for everyone, therefore during the summer when we heard the positive update that football matches could resume, we immediately sprang into action to spread the news.
The announcement of football returning after covid-19, albeit behind closed doors, was a momentous occasion. The business operations at the club could resume with staff at the helm, players would be able to focus on the season ahead and fans could finally watch their team on the pitch, albeit virtually.
The ideal way to celebrate with our fans was to takeover Paisley with standout billboards.
Selecting Photographs
Due to social distancing measures, our photographs for billboards were limited. The transfer window period and a delay in the shipment of our 2020/21 football kit all contributed to drastically reducing our options for imagery.
Our graphic designer set to work. It was a challenge she was determined to overcome. Existing action shots would be examined to identify images that would fit into our messaging perfectly. The images would be cropped, cut out and photoshopped to life-size. The thrill of being a St Mirren Football Club supporter would be conveyed on screen.
Graphic designer hard at work
Follow The Leader
Manager Jim Goodwin was positioned at great height. He had the task to lead us into the unknown and motivate the town to Be In That Number and march alongside the saints.
Stoic Jim made an appearance
Football Is Back
“Football Is Back!” appeared in bold letters alongside first team player Jon Obika.
Obika billboard in progress
There was a sense of sheer delight once the return of football was announced. Obika’s celebratory pose matched with the bold headline conveyed the buzz of the football community.
The photo had to be methodically cut out and optimised perfectly
Fanatic About Our Fans
As football returned without fans filling the stands, the club was humbled by the unwavering fan support shown despite the adversity. As season ticket sales surpassed the same level as previous years, the wider marketing team knew the fans had to be a focal point in the communications.
The club thought about shouting from the rooftops about how fantastic their fans were. It was a resounding decision that fans would star in our billboard placements.
Fans photos in all shapes and sizes were sent to the club and photoshopped into position
Location, Location, Location
Where will our billboard pop-up? The decision on which advert placement will give us the greatest visibility for our fans, especially as people are leaving the house less, is vital to the marketing strategy.
Fortunately, fans have expressed their delight in spotting our adverts.
Fans doing their best Obika impression
Playing For Fans
Our fan billboards had a huge impact on the players. The players were blown away by the creative and commented it was refreshing to see as they had a newfound appreciation for the supportive faces in the crowd.
Sam Foley expressed his delight in seeing the fan photos sky high and spotting the club across Paisley:
“It really gave us all an appreciation of what this club means to the people of Paisley. We can’t wait for them to be allowed to return to football."
The player response inspired marketing and graphic design to arrange an upload to the pitch side screens to motivate the players. Again, our graphic designer set to work and spent time carefully editing the important fan moments many of you shared with us.
Fan photos providing support on the pitch
Eye-Catching
The creation of pay-per-view billboards were produced to drum up excitement for match days. The creative featured both St Mirren and the opposing team. It was produced internally for St Mirren to have full ownership of the illustration and strongly convey the club’s brand and traditional colour scheme. We put the task of promoting St Mirren while subtly featuring the opposition in our own hands.
The graphics were adapted for social media. Overall, the images were recognisable and complimentary of one another. The attention-grabbing advert would demand a second look as your eye would be drawn to the familiar sight. Driving by Linwood Road you would notice an upcoming St Mirren match was available to watch live. Later, whilst online, recognition will kick-in as you notice a similar advert again and are reminded to support your local team.
Socialising online only
Be In That Number
Now more than ever it is important to stand by your local football club and St Mirren want to do what we can to be at the forefront of the minds of local football fans as the club continues business operations under uncertain circumstances.
Together the club, marketing personnel and Kibble Communications are doing their best to share news and support the team in any way we can. Our aim is to share news about our players; keep the community updated about staff who are doing their part to ensure the running of the club goes as smoothly as possible through the transition into our new normal while seizing any opportunity to raise the fans' spirits. We have exciting future plans and hope to share them with you as we move forward.
Look out for St Mirren billboards across Abercorn Street, Renfrew Street and Linwood Road.
