Ally Bank is the founding partner and front-of-kit-sponsor of the Charlotte FC — the newest soccer team to come to Charlotte.

There was a lot of excitement and anticipation about the team, so when the inaugural CLTFC season was delayed, fans became increasingly restless for any type of news. Our partners at MKTG Sports reached out and asked for help. Their social listening revealed that speculation on the kit design was one of the biggest drivers of organic conversation amongst fans.This included Fans creating custom mock-ups, sleutheing for updates and more.The anticipation for the kit was intense, and we knew we had an opportunity to make this the most innovative and buzzworthy kit reveals MLS has ever seen..

Our challenge was to create a fan-centric narrative that leveraged the mystery and anticipation surrounding the kit launch and bring it to life through a multi-week 360° activation campaign. A campaign that put Ally at the center of one of the biggest local cultural moments of the year.

“The inaugural Charlotte FC kit has been locked away, kept safe in the Ally Vault until the official reveal on December 9^th. Your mission….find the kit and retrieve it undetected”.

Through a combination of OOH, social, digital and guerilla tactics, the Ally & Charlotte FC Kit Reveal campaign completely reimagined one of the most high-profile yet underleveraged moments in all of sports marketing – a team’s inaugural jersey unveil.

We began with a week-long OOH marketing blitz throughout the Carolinas.Billboards, businesses and even the Charlotte Douglas International Airport airport featured creative with a blank white jersey and QR code.Users were asked to “scan to reveal the new kit in augmented reality”. Simultaneously, a paid social campaign and mysterious hype videos began appearing on CLTFC/Ally channel.

When users scanned the code, it took them to a micro-site with a countdown timer ticking towards the launch dateFrom here, they pre-registered for the Ally Vault Experience and entered a sweepstakes to win the new kit.

On the day of the kit launch, we debuted the Ally Vault Experience as part of an exclusive launch party for season-ticket holders and Ally employees.The event featured player appearances, fireworks, premium items and Ally-branded interactives – with our “Vault” as the centerpiece.An influencer campaign, Snap Chat lens and coordinated PR push helped drive visibility beyond the on-site event.

At the reveal moment, our OOH “flipped.” Digital billboards now showed the new jersey and functionality changed for our AR enabled OOH. After 7pm on launch day, when fans scanned the QR code , it triggered a mobile A/R experience where they could virtually “try on” the new kit.This functionality, as well as our various media elements, helped sustain our brand presence for multiple weeks.