Don’t think. Know.

In 2018, Manchester City won the Premier League title.

The fans were obviously ecstatic.

And the sponsors were overjoyed too.

One sponsor — Etisalat — planned to do something to celebrate the win.

It was a chance to show they understood football passion.

That they weren’t like other brands jumping on the bandwagon.

A golden opportunity to build a relationship with the fans.

So, they made a film showing City fans celebrating the title together.

Singing, chanting, hugging one another.

A true show of the passionate City community celebrating as one.

And Etisalat being at the heart of it.

Because they totally get what it means to fans.

All in all, a complete winner for the brand.

They posted it online.

Soon enough the fans responded.

But they weren’t happy.

They were furious.

And they turned on Etisalat with venom.

This didn’t make sense.

Etisalat had put the fans first.

They’d made them the heroes of the celebration.

You can almost understand Etisalat’s confusion.

They had put the fans first.

Or at least they had put an idea of the fans first.

I stand on the terraces of my local football team every week.

I know what real fans look like.

What songs they sing.

How they react when their team wins.

What football means to them.

This film showed none of that.

This film showed what Etisalat thought the fans were like.

What they thought the title meant to them.

They made up a half-hearted, painfully cringe worthy chant.

They got actors dressed as fans to sing it and robotically celebrate together.

They completely misrepresented the entire City fandom.

All the while telling them — we totally understand what this means to you.

No wonder City fans flicked them the middle finger.

Etisalat took everything the fans stood for and made a mockery of it.

Because they didn’t actually have a clue what the title meant to real fans.

They hadn’t bothered to spend time researching and finding out.

It’s safe to say the fans won’t be forming a queue to join the network.

Moral of the story?

Make damn sure you know your audience inside out.

If you don’t you’re in grave danger of alienating them.

The very people you want to buy your brand.

And that’s a tactic certain not to win a title.

Here’s the film. Or more, here’s how not to do it. 

Same audience. But with solid research. 

At Kireli, we are the purpose-driven branding and communication studio designed to help start-ups, nonprofits, charities and B corps unlock their full potential. If that sounds like the ethos of your start-up, nonprofit, charity and B corp, and you’re looking for a creative agency that also believes in doing good, get in touch. Let’s see how we can make the world a better place together – hei@kireli.studio