The New Saints FC

Targeting a new generation of fans and engaging exisiting communities

The New Saints tasked us with helping to raise the club’s profile both on and off the field of play around the end of the domestic season and ahead of the UEFA Champions League Qualifying Rounds. The aim was to generate support from existing fans and target a new generation of younger, more engaged fans.

The press office and social media brief included supporting the club’s in-house communication team across various social channels, player profiling with team and backroom staff, thought leadership with chairman Mike Harris, and shining a light on the TNS Foundation’s fantastic work in the local community.

The New Saints FC are the Welsh JD Cymru Premier’s only professional side, and with 15 league titles to their name and the record number of European appearances by any Welsh side, they’re a club with a fantastic history rooted in Welsh football.

During our time working together, the club secured the league and cup double, celebrated their 1000th game in the JD Cymru Premier League, becoming only the third Welsh team to achieve this feat, and their Academy was awarded Category A status, the top ranking from FA Wales.

With more media appetite than ever before in the league, higher attendances and increased TV coverage, interest in Wales’s most successful club has continued to grow and so has its profile off the pitch.

Using our knowledge of the sport and contacts across the football industry, we have continually been able to grow The New Saints FC national profile, where previously they weren’t getting the recognition they deserved, as well as solidify relationships with regional media to deliver widespread coverage as we continue to elevate the club’s external media profile.

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Generating national media and elevating a TikTok strategy

Our strategy to generate national media headlines involved placing commentary with chairman Mike Harris on thought-provoking topics impacting Welsh football, namely around the lack of domestic representation in the Wales national squad and why TNS’ s players should be given a pathway to play on the biggest international stage, ensuring wherever possible, The New Saints FC were seen to be at the forefront of those discussions. In addition, we managed interviews with regional and national media profiling the players and their careers to shine a light on the great work the club does through the TNS Foundation in the local community.

Elsewhere, tasked with attracting a younger fanbase and demographic, we elevated TNS’s TikTok strategy by diversifying their social content and offering fans an insight to what happens at TNS on and off the pitch. The aim is to galvanize the fanbase already on the platform and continue to build the following from almost a standing start.

We executed and established an organic, TikTok-first content strategy through a mixture of training footage and behind-the-scenes content with the players, which also created a more personal connection to the audience while tapping into weekly TikTok trends that were relevant and on-brand to achieve quick growth and success on the channel.

More recently, following an integrated approach, we have supported the club in its quest to become the first professional Welsh side to qualify for the group stages of a major European competition. The results speak for themselves with cut-through national broadcast, print and online coverage and record video views achieved on TikTok in the build-up to the club’s defining Champions League Qualifier against Swedish champions BK Hacken.