ABOUT

Brief:
Avery Dennison recognized a need to compliment our commercial success in global football with an investment into the grassroots of the game. We sought an organization to partner with that provides free access to sport, fosters their community in an inclusive manner, and welcomes players of all skill levels and age ranges.

Concept/Approach:
Through a customer contact we were put in touch with the founders of Manchester Laces & South London Laces. Both clubs are for women and players identifying as non-binary. They host weekly training sessions and field a number of full sided teams that play competitive football in an alternative football league.

We worked with both clubs to identify their primary hurdles to open play to more people and to operate their orgs throughout the season. Together we agreed on a sponsorship fee to be paid by Avery Dennison to each team that will cover their yearly operating costs in full. Additionally, we worked with each team to design and produce brand new Home and Away uniforms, including bespoke name/number fonts for each that draw inspiration from separate historical women & refugee movements in the UK.

Our sponsorship fee would under normal circumstances beget our front of shirt sponsor logo. In this case, however, we sought and secured two brand partners to donate that space to, who had more local ties to each club and who might not otherwise be able to afford to sponsor a team in this manner. Versus (a football publication) and Stadio (a football podcast) were brought in to be the front of shirt sponsors, while Avery Dennison branding is present on each sleeve.

Deliverables:
We worked with both clubs and our brand partners to design new Home and Away kits for each club. Designs were collaborative and took place over the course of many months. Avery Dennison also designed and produced all kit trims (heat transfers, woven patches, badges) including new name & number fonts that are specific to each club.
- 500 kits (shirts, shorts, socks)
- 4 kit designs
- 2 font designs
- letters/numbers for shirt customization for 125 players per club
- Photo shoot for each club
- Video shoot for each club
- Brand film

Results:
Avery Dennison sponsored both clubs for 2 seasons each. We successfully launched our story together with Manchester Laces, South London Laces, Versus and Stadio together on October 24th, 2022.

Earned media included celebrity social support and a digital billboard in Manchester city center.

Our brand film is featured on our corporate website, social media accounts and we issued a joint press release with all parties.

Versus ran an exclusive article about the project and Stadio has covered it in their podcast on a number of occasions. Follow-up campaigns are planned with both of those brand partners.

We've worked with the Laces clubs to offer their shirts for sale online which will further help them raise money. All proceeds go directly back to the clubs themselves.