With the deadline day upon us, Max Jones, Editorial Director at 50 Sport, has taken a look back at January 2024’s underwhelming transfer window and picked out the most creative announcements…
MAX JONES
Editorial Director, 50 Sport
And just like that, the football transfer window slams shut for another few months.
Although perhaps ‘slam’ isn’t the most accurate description for the majority of top European clubs, who could only look up and muster a resigned sigh as it gently closed behind them.
For many, it may as well not have been open in the first place. Take the Premier League, for example, where clubs have not spent even 10 per cent of what they did a year ago, as they tread precariously along an ever-narrowing FFP (Financial Fair Play) tightrope.
As a creative agency, at 50 Sport we always look out and hope for some entertainment in the player signing announcements punctuating our newsfeeds during the bleakest month of the year. In a month when the rest of the industry is turning its attention to the traditions of fitness and dry January, the social currency of who is going where, who is spending what and which rumours are indeed true feels like the equivalent to reality TV. And with it brings a tactical opportunity for football clubs to give their fans something interesting to share and to get excited about.
The big-money moves of recent windows have been replaced by stop-gap stocking fillers in the loan market and with that, this window has lacked a lot of the buzz and intrigue that typically circles around this crucial part of the season.
But there have been exceptions. And with these exceptions, clubs’ in-house media teams have been busy cooking up creative announcement strategies to capitalise on the moments that could prove to be turning points in their seasons.
A few years ago this would have meant big sets, bright colours and a thumping basslines. But transfer announcements are much more nuanced now and key decision makers at clubs are sensing the opportunity to tell a more considered story through their player’s formal introduction to their new fans.
During my stint working for a Premier League club’s social media team, we had a saying that we would apply to everything we produced: ‘think like a fan, act like a club’.
That then led to several questions throughout the ideation process. How are the fans feeling? What are the narratives they have been consuming this week? What do they want to hear from us right now? What can we do to empathise with them? Or how can we best celebrate with them?
Our answers would inform our strategy and more often than not, this was how we would land on the messaging for our transfer announcements. But that was a few years ago now and the landscape continues to change.
So how are clubs doing it in 2024? Here are five social-media announcements that caught our eye at 50 Sport during the January transfer window…
SANCHO’S COMING HOME
Jadon Sancho returning to Borussia Dortmund was probably the least surprising move of the January window but the Black and Yellows’ social team were still able to have fun with their announcement.
A leaked transfer is all-too familiar these days, so BVB capitalised on the excitement by resurfacing an archive clip of Sancho celebrating a big win during his first stint. The twist? They replaced the video with a sound wave visual on X to make it audio-only, meaning users would have to interact with it to get the full teaser.
Not only did this drive up their interactions, it also rewarded fans for recognising a familiar voice. Their follow-up content also involved a social-first short-form edit of Sancho’s 50 Dortmund goals in just 68 seconds, hinting at more things to come.
STONEY’S STAYING
So that’s how to announce a homecoming, but how do you creatively announce that someone is staying? Or better still, that they’re already home? Sometimes the simplest idea is the best one.
After Emma Hayes announced she would be stepping down as Chelsea manager to take the biggest job in women’s football with the USWNT, Casey Stoney seemed the obvious candidate to replace her in west London.
The former England defender had grown up in the capital, played for the Blues and was more than 5,000 miles away from home with her wife and three children in San Diego, so it was an obvious link to make. So after refuting the links for almost two months, Stoney signed a new contract and San Diego’s media team served up the perfect rebuttal. Ten seconds, a line to camera, three extras(!) and two great lines of text. San Diego is home. Casey is home. Perfect.
FAMILY HAMMERS
Quite often it’s players who a welcomed into the club ‘family’ within transfer announcements but West Ham United very cleverly flipped this narrative on its head when they confirmed the signing of Australia legend Katrina Gorry.
The whole transfer strategy was created to make West Ham fans part of the Gorry family instead, with Katrina’s two-year-old daughter, Harper, featuring prominently in the social media content. After dancing to Strawberry Kisses – which Mackenzie Arnold revealed was the Matildas’ World Cup anthem in the summer – for the teaser video, West Ham then produced their very own announcement for Harper, which saw the toddler pose for photos and sign a shirt.
They ended their output with some clever community management, replying to a month-old Matildas post with a similar photo of the mother and daughter duo on X, bringing West Ham fans in on the joke.
CROSSING CONTINENTS
The Gorrys weren’t the only football family to swap continents in January. Renan Lodi became the latest player to sign up to the Saudi project when he moved from Marseille to Al Hilal last month, and the Asian club were clever with their use of access.
Knowing that Lodi wouldn’t be in the country until after the announcement, Al Hilal sent a videographer and a shirt to shoot a cinematic announcement video with a difference. Football clubs have been playing on their location being the greatest destination in many high-profile announcements over the past couple of seasons, with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea really tapping into London. But Al Hilal’s moody video is a nice twist to show the other side of the story.
The shots of Lodi walking around the picturesque Parisian streets might suggest that he does not want to leave France behind, but then the script gives the reasons for why he’s doing it. A part two released later that day shows Lodi’s arrival in Saudi for the pay-off in his new surroundings. It’s simple but incredibly effective.
IN THE GAME
Brighton & Hove Albion love signing a wonderkid. The Seagulls have made a name for themselves in recent windows by buying South American gems for a low fee and then selling them on to various European giants at a huge profit. In many ways, the Premier League club who were on the brink of extinction 26 years ago are the real-life Football Manager team, so why not get the Sports Interactive game on board for your latest announcement?
Brighton are certainly aware of the comparisons. The Seagulls nailed their announcement campaign with teasers, easter eggs for FM24 players and community management too. And despite their limited access to Valentin Barco – he is spotted at the end of the video in his Argentina kit, on international duty with his country’s under-23s – their planning enabled them to make full use of the opportunity by creating engaging content. Give the media team a 20 for flair.
WHAT WE LEARNED
If the summer transfer window centred around the destination, then this one has put the players back in the spotlight again.
Unique personalities and individual storylines have come to the fore over the past few weeks as clubs’ in-house media teams looked to humanise the person behind the athlete much more.
Tapping into those existing narratives allowed both San Diego and West Ham United ride the crest of the announcement wave with Stoney and Gorry, while Lodi being up-front about the reasons behind his move to Al Hilal allowed the player to tell his own story before moving to Saudi.
But perhaps more importantly, this window has only confirmed that short-form is king on social: It took just 10 seconds for Stoney to tell fans she wasn’t going anywhere, while Dortmund used half that time to welcome Sancho back to the club. Clear, concise and creative communication has been the biggest winner in this transfer window.
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