With the Premier League dominating headlines, and after a year of closed stadiums, the Vanarama National League was being left behind. Ahead of the new season, we needed to break beyond the VNL’s loyal but small fan base.

After some new celebrity owners took over one of its clubs, we spotted the perfect opportunity to give the VNL some glitz and glamour. By anonymously erecting a huge Hollywood-style sign, the VNL sparked a nationwide whodunnit worthy of any blockbuster drama. The end result was widespread coverage for Vanarama and record match attendances for the new season.

The Vanarama National League (VNL) is the lowest tier of professional football in England. The pandemic hit the league hard as stadiums closed, meaning no fans and no revenue. With the new season approaching, the VNL was in desperate need of some attention to ensure fans returned.

During the cancellations of VNL games, the Premier League had enjoyed a “record-breaking season” with 40% of the UK tuning into the action. The thousands of more casual fans who provided the bulk of the VNL’s audience had gone elsewhere.

As part of our longer-term strategy to create standout moments in football culture that challenged the dominance of the Premier League, we needed a show-stopping idea that would go beyond just loyal VNL fans and connect with the wider football community. And in the process, remind them when the new season started to guarantee the VNL came back with a bang.

After 18 months of seemingly limitless Premier League coverage, fixtures like Chesterfield vs Wealdstone were never going to generate news coverage. We needed to find something that would make a splash and gain disproportionate media attention.

Our opportunity arose when tinseltown duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over at Wrexham FC, the longest-serving club in the Vanarama National League.

Given their reputation for marketing mischief, we saw an opportunity to create a star-studded whodunnit that would capture the imagination of the national media.

So, we hit on an audacious idea. In the middle of a summer’s night, six days ahead of the first VNL fixtures, we sent four men and a pile of metal up Bersham Bank, the famous slag heap overlooking the town of Wrexham, and erected a giant 10-metre high Hollywood-style sign saying WREXHAM.

With Ryan Reynolds due to begin filming a documentary in the area, and the sign being clearly visible from the nearby motorway, we knew that the mysterious new local attraction would drive curiosity and discussion, catching the eye of the media.

We also knew the highly visible location would guarantee a steady stream of organic social assets for the media to use across channels.

So our strategy was to initially stay quiet, letting the local community, the media, and football fans speculate over who might be responsible.

Then with the nation gripped by our Hollywood whodunnit, we would fan the flames from the sidelines, adding extra points of interest to the story. When the time was right and interest at its highest, we would reveal that the culprits were the Vanarama National League, reminding the nation’s football fans that the new season was just around the corner.

On day one, the media arrived at the sign as planned to interview selfie-hunting locals and figure out who was responsible. Naturally, speculation centred around Ryan Reynolds. But after he tweeted “I wish I’d thought of that”, journalists were left stumped.

Before the big reveal, we carefully designed ways to keep the plot going. Characters from Wrexham FC and the local council were introduced as the search for the culprit continued. Freshly erected spotlights made sure the sign could be seen at night. Fake security guys kept new tourists in check.

Then it was time for the reveal. On day six, we rolled out a giant banner above the sign saying VANARAMA NATIONAL LEAGUE SEASON PREMIERE AUGUST 21. And every major outlet in the UK had to finish the story for their audience, including a reminder about the new season.

With no media budget, the campaign had a total reach of 570m+ from outlets as varied as The Times, Mail Online and Mashable. This included multiple reports from BBC Breakfast and ITV News, both of which covered the reveal moment live on TV.

Locals loved it too, as the sign drew in tourists from miles around. One local artist even used the sign as the subject for a painting, with the BBC citing it as a reason Wrexham could be crowned City of Culture 2025!

But after a year of no fans and no revenue, the only measure of success that really mattered was getting these fans to come back. Without this, the sign would be nothing but a waste of metal and Vanarama’s sponsorship would be worthless.

At the time of writing, 28 games into the season, the league is thriving. The average match attendance across this season is 38% higher than pre-pandemic, comfortably setting a new all-time attendance record (with data going back to 1984). You might wonder whether football in general has seen this kind of resurgence. However, the Premier League, even with its huge increase in viewership during lockdowns, only have a 6% rise, whilst the EFL are experiencing a 3% fall in average attendance figures.

We had managed to disproportionately bring fans back to the VNL and guarantee a more secure future for its clubs.