Challenge

Attract new fans and justify the move to a new stadium. Average attendance for the 5 games before our campaign began was 5876 – only a few hundred more than th [removed][removed] eir old ground's capacity. The move to a different town with little rugby tradition, miles away from the fan base, was looking like an expensive mistake. A new business mailing from Huet Aminto, featuring our work for Everton, arrived at the club just as they were discussing how to crank up their marketing game.

Creative thinking

As a top flight club Sale Sharks' games invariably involved world stars – their own and the opposition’s – so the underlying message of our match promotion press ads and flyers was "See the Rugby stars you know from watching internationals on TV. In action in the flesh". Names were named when possible, showcasing the Newcastle match as a duel between Johnny Wilkinson and Charlie Hodgson for example.

Results

The average attendance for the season's seven remaining games rose to 8405, an increase of 2529 or 43%.