How do you create an integrated campaign announcing a new pro sports team without being able to reveal any assets related to the brand? We turned to the home county of the new team for our inspiration. Leveraging San Diego’s diverse culture and unique identity, we sought to unite 3.3 million people by building a campaign around a sub-brand we created that reflected the passion for soccer and drew inspiration from elements throughout 18 cities that comprise San Diego county. Ultimately it led to a campaign tagline in a custom font we created that spread quickly - “Let’s Kick It.” Inclusive, laid back, and soccer inspired, “Let’s Kick It” was seen throughout San Diego county on bulletins, TV spots, digital ads, bilingual transit stations, and across social media as the call to action to any soccer enthusiast looking to become an early adopter and founding member of a club they didn’t even know the name of yet. With an initial goal of 1,000 deposits, and a strong budget to reach this goal, we made the bold recommendation that we could hit this number with less than half of the budget from our RFP… and we far surpassed our goal. Let’s Kick It was a resounding success. We were thrilled to see over 33 million impressions and almost 8,000 deposits in the first 6 weeks of this campaign’s launch. We received $800,000 in earned media and broke a single day MLS merchandise record in under 2 hours with the release of San Diego FC’s brand. Ball Creation -> Font Creation -> Campaign The Chrome Ball Tour, an interactive, county wide campaign that launched at the beginning of 2024 was alluded to from the very beginning of this project and subtly hinted at a key element that would eventually be a part of the brand’s logo. The 18 cities of San Diego county are represented with 18 lines in the logo and on 18 panels on the chrome soccer ball. We went throughout the county and pulled an identity from each city. This informed the creation of the 8 foot tall reflective chrome ball. Each of the cities received its own panel, with its name proudly in a font that represented each city, visualizing the idea that each person in the county was reflected in San Diego FC (the name that was eventually revealed). This ball was a clever feature that sat relatively dormant throughout our 2023 campaign until the brand was revealed in mid-October of 2023. The meaning was then explained and the Chrome Ball Tour was announced - a year long campaign throughout 2024 in which the ball would travel to each of the 18 cities in San Diego county for a unique, city specific event hosted by San Diego FC with the sole purpose to unite the county through a passion for soccer and love for one’s city. Each city nominated an artist, food vendors, musicians, and local businesses to be included in their city’s event. The artwork from the artist turned into capsule collection merchandise and permanently lands a place on a chrome paneled wall at the stadium where San Diego FC will play in 2025. Each city in San Diego is represented and united under this campaign and brand, and San Diegans have been lining up to take a mirror selfie with their citie’s panel. Each city and each citizen excited to be unique, and a part of something bigger that (literally) reflects all of them.