Is football club advertising the new beautiful game?

A spate of adverts showcasing the passion behind some of Britain’s beloved football clubs continues this month with a finely finessed offering showcasing Midlands’ behemoths Aston Villa. But what’s prompted this newfound trend?

Is it just me, or is a new standard being set in the field of football club branding?

After we showcased Chelsea FC and Uncommon Studios’ finely honed ode to the West London club’s ambitions, Aston Villa has dropped a similarly high-production statement with adidas.

Aston Villa and adidas’ offering unveils the club’s home kit for the 2024/25 season, marking the beginning of the organisations' first multi-year partnership and the club's 150th anniversary. The home kit features the ‘AV 150’ symbol in elegant calligraphy on the back of the shirt, as well as adidas’ three stripes branding on the shoulders and around the collar.

What marks out the advert, however, is not the (admittedly fetching) new kit, but the focus on the club’s famous fans (including Ozzy Osbourne), local culture and dressing room camaraderie (starring fan favourite John McGinn and manager Unai Emery).

Knowing nods to Aston Villa’s history are also referenced, including a young fan praying to a photo of late 20th century Villa legend Paul McGrath, and prior top goal scorer for the club Gabby Agbonlahor facetiming Unai Emery.

All of this is pulled off with up-to-the-minute camera work, a Black Sabbath soundtrack, and some surprisingly competent acting skills, putting it up there with any of the best adverts produced this year.

Why now?

From a pragmatic perspective, pre-season is an apt time for a bit of well-tuned football club branding, given that such an exercise could be viewed as frivolous and distracting mid-season (especially if the club’s on-the-pitch results aren’t hitting the same level of excellence!).

There’s also a notable difference in tone to both Chelsea and Villa’s offerings, given the polarising fan sentiment on the terraces. Chelsea wisely opts for a serious ‘back to business’ aesthetic, given its lacklustre season. The Birmingham club, meanwhile, has earned its right to a cheekier, more fun-loving flex given the jubilant mood on the ground as a result of gaining its first Champions League spot since the 1980s (1982 to be precise, when they won what was then called the European Cup).

From a brand perspective, it’s surprising that more production effort hasn’t been put into creating similar football club image makeovers: particularly given that you can hardly think of organisations more ripe for passionate fan sentiment than local sporting teams!

The success of both of these ads - not to mention the financial investment - is also testament to another cultural macro trend: the continued power of high-quality, mainstream advertising in an increasingly fractured media landscape.

In a world where hype is widely and willingly spread by social media communities, getting your central brand messaging right seems to matter more than ever.