Manchester City continue to set the bar off the pitch

09 February 2010 | By Adam Fraser

Manchester City are yet to achieve the success that the club's owners, the ruling family of Abu Dhabi, will eventually expect to receive for their investment on the pitch, but off it the club continues to set new standards.

In October last year, Manchester City's website won Sitecore's website of the year award in the leisure and travel section. Manchester City's website was entirely redesigned after the club signed a groundbreaking partnership with Endemol Sport earlier in the year. Meanwhile, 'Welcome to Manchester' posters featuring a picture of Carlos Tevez, signed from the club's rivals Manchester United, received widespread attention.

Now Craig Bellamy is the latest City player to feature in an eye-catching HD viral and poster campaign across Manchester City Centre.

'A special illustration was commissioned of the Welsh international to help build anticipation ahead of City's clash against his former club, Liverpool,' explains the Manchester City website. 'The image was conceived and commissioned by Music and produced by American based illustrator Todd Slater who is renowned for his work on gig posters for some of the biggest names in rock.

'His creation, capturing the spirit of Bellamy, forms part of an innovative marketing campaign that positions iconic players who relish the big match occasions against one of the Big Four teams. In September Emmanuel Adebayor's face in a 12 metre square mural, dominated Halle Square in the Manchester, Arndale.  Then in November the picture of Shaun Wright-Phillips speeding up the four storey wall of the Printworks became the biggest outdoor vinyl ever produced in Europe.'

City's head of marketing, Chris Kay, told the club's website: "We are the heart of the city and our players and fans are the heart of this football club. Like the Adebayor and Shaun Wright-Phillips campaigns we have chosen a player that embodies the spirit and ambition of the club and created a campaign that transcends the boundaries between culture and football. We have raised the bar in Manchester and beyond of how a club can interact with its fans."

Bellamy added: "It's fair to say when I cross the line; I always give it my all. I think the video and posters really capture that."

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