Championship club Aston Villa has said it used several new digital methods to launch its kit for the forthcoming season. Working alongside digital agency Isobar, the midlands side created a microsite to raise awareness of the kit launch, with the portal only available via QR codes placed in multiple touchpoints across Birmingham City Centre. The site provided an exclusive look at the new kit, allowed for pre-orders, and included information about the new technology used in the manufacturing process. And in keeping with the trend for football clubs to make major announcements and break news via their social media channels, Aston Villa supplemented the microsite with various guerrilla marketing tactics on its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts. Isobar’s eCommerce platform allowed Aston Villa fans to take a 360-degree look at the new kit, as well as walk through the key elements of the shirt, ahead of a season when they will be seeking promotion to the Premier League, following defeat by Fulham in May’s Championship playoff final. The kit itself is described by the club as a creation of a “unique technical kit partnership” with sports website Fanatics and premium menswear brand Luke 1977. Will Radford, head of digital at Aston Villa, said: “With so many exciting elements coming together in the design, as we celebrate our 130-year history and exciting future, the club was keen to look beyond the usual to really uncover the story of the kit. “We have constantly innovated in the digital space, with services such as Billy Bot and the AVFC e-Gaming league, and this new virtual experience is another example of how we continue to engage with our fans in a way that is personal and tailored to them.” Results from this year’s kit launch suggest the digital approach helped boost sales. Aston Villa said the home kit has performed particularly well, with sales in the pre-order window up by 180% on the same period last year. There were 48,000 page views and over 39,000 unique visitors to the microsite, according to the club, with people spending over 3.5 minutes on the pages discovering the kits. Traffic to the website on launch day was reportedly up 58% compared to the equivalent day in 2017.
With the help of digital agency Isobar, Aston Villa has created a microsite, raising awareness of the launch of this season's kit. The portal is only available via QR codes which have been scattered around Birmingham's city centre. A new website will also be launched to allow fans and supporters alike to share their thoughts on the kit with one another through social media.