Manchester City of the English Premier League — one of the world’s most revered sports franchises — was executing a global tour to showcase its unprecedented seven championship trophies and build its fan base.  ManCity selected Atlanta as the tour’s single U.S. stop, and needed to attract and engage soccer fans in the metro area.

Rather than set the club apart from the relatively new soccer franchises in the United States, the WM team encouraged City to engage all facets of the sport in Atlanta, building trust by showcasing how interest in soccer united all fans.

Earned media was the primary promotional vehicle for driving interest.  The team engaged in a tailored media relations campaign around a series of meaningful interactions with various “pockets” of the soccer community — from youth programs like Atlanta’s Soccer in the Streets, to ex-pat English Premiere League fans or followers of Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United.  Every stop along the tour was a moment to showcase the club’s success and deliver encouragement from team ambassador and MLS veteran Sean Wright-Philips. Content from each appearance was shared on the club’s owned, internationally-popular social channels.

In just three weeks, the team booked more than 10 stories spanning CNN International, local network affiliates, leading soccer sites and podcasts and print outlets in the Atlanta metro area.  Resulting coverage portrayed ManCity as spreading goodwill among the sport’s Atlanta followers, driving interest in our counterparts “across the pond.” The audience reach was more than 166 million to support the tour.