A tale of two clubs – how to do comms and how not to
Football is big business. It is also big news.
How to celebrate achievements is the nicer part of sports communications, but how to deal with criticism or a crisis is just as important as far as reputation and engagement are concerned.
This week, we’ve seen examples of both, in stark contrast with each other.
Bayern Munich’s tribute to Harry Kane after his Ballon d’Or victory is an excellent example of how a club can celebrate an individual achievement while reinforcing its own identity and telling a much broader story.
The concept behind the video is beautifully simple. Bayern took 73 footballs, one for every goal Kane scored for club and country during the season, from Munich to London, and distributed them to clubs, communities and characters that helped him on his journey to the top of the game.
Each football represented more than a statistic with Bayern turning Kane’s extraordinary goalscoring record into something physical and using the journey to acknowledge the people, places and pitfalls that shaped the player Kane has become.
Good sports communications often fail when organisations try to place themselves at the centre of somebody else’s achievement.
Bayern avoided that trap by allowing Kane’s story to lead the narrative, recognising that his career did not begin when he arrived in Munich and that Tottenham, his loan clubs, his family and his London roots all contributed to his success.
That generosity makes the tribute feel authentic, while still delivering considerable reputational value for Bayern.
Kane thanked the club during his acceptance speech and spoke of his pride at taking the trophy back to Munich.
Bayern can now position his victory alongside those of Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, demonstrating that its present remains connected to its illustrious past.
The activation also extends the life of the announcement beyond a congratulatory graphic or compilation of goals.
Bayern have also invited supporters to send Kane personal messages and are planning further celebrations at the Allianz Arena, creating several opportunities for fans, commercial partners and media to participate.
The best PR ideas often appear obvious but by connecting the 73 balls an goals with the journey through Kane’s career that ended with one golden ball, Bayern created a simple, emotional and memorable tribute, providing a fitting celebration of Kane while reminding everyone that Bayern helped him reach the summit.
The same level of connunication excellence couldn’t be said for Aston Villa, though.
Jamie Carragher has good takes and bad takes, but his assertion on The Overlap that Manchester United are a bigger club than Aston Villa seemed fair comment.
The debate was regarding the prospect of Villa manager Unai Emery potentially replacing Michael Carrick at Old Trafford, which Carragher compounded by jokingly telling Villa fans who have been giving him pelters to "F off."
In this era of fragmented media, where sports pundits on independent networks are far less guarded, filling shows with expletives, mickey-taking and a level of informality that seemed unimaginable even 20 years ago, is it any surprise that views and content may not need to be as balanced or refined as on traditional media? (and even that has become increasingly debateable).
These new channels, with mainstream pundits enjoying a level of autonomy and bravado not afforded to them in other roles, also attracts big audiences, more clicks, and ultimately more money.
What Carragher said was not outrageous by any means in modern football punditry and, if anything, brings football discourse closer to the level fans operate on and have done for decades.
Carragher later took to X himself and apologised, suggesting his language was “clumsy & wrong.”
That’s fair enough, but it doesn’t warrant such an apology any more than the comments warranted any response from Villa.
Are we to enter an era where any fair football discourse is at risk of litigation if the subject doesn’t approve?
For Villa to announce plans to pursue legal action for such an innocuous comment was at best ill-advised and more damaging to their own reputation than anything Carragher had to say.