NY Derby: NYCFC x DMA United : Art and Illustration : Soccer Bible

With the first New York derby between the Red Bulls and NYCFC approaching, we take a look at some of the work creative agency DMA United have been involved in for the city's latest major player.

Starting a football club from scratch, no easy challenge when you're instantly enrolled into the top flight of the respective region. DMA United are a New York based creative agency that the creators of NYCFC enlisted the help of. We spoke to the team at the agency to find out a little more about the projects show above.

How did this project come about and what was the brief?

"NYCFC’s parent company in UK started a conversation with us a year in advance of their first season. How do we break through the crowded NY sports market and create our own culture. A year later with a new marketing director on staff, we were asked to submit ideas along with several other agencies. The brief in short was again, how do we feel authentic to this community, this city, and how do we break through in a crowded sports market with the focus on the tagline: Welcome To The Club."

"Our strategy was that we are not just selling soccer, we are selling NYC soccer. The campaign has to have a local voice, has to resonate with the local audience in a way that feels like no other city. And beyond the team launch, we have to introduce the audience to the star players, our heroes: Villa, Mix..."



"Our creative solutions (only a few have been materialized thus far, we are holding others for later this season and season 2) focused on NY centric ideas and activities. For the launch, working with a local street artist / graffiti artist to make this team, and make this campaign, our own. The street graffiti scene that came from NY is an art form and a voice that although has migrated to other parts of the world, really feels organic and homegrown to NYC."

"Mirroring NYC's 5 Boros and the 5 sided pentagon on the NYCFC seal referring to those Boros, we tapped graffiti legend Meres, founder and creative mind behind 5 Pointz. The alignment was perfect. Meres’s first task was to create a graffiti style type treatment, using the 5 letters of NYCFC to each represent one Boro. The result set the direction for rest of campaign. The agitated street style graffiti was combined with crisp black and white photographs of the players: our heroes,living in a NYC landscape."



Have you seen / heard reaction from the public on the campaign?

"As we had hoped, the NY voice / graffiti style we implemented has become ubiquitous with the team. Attend any home game and you’ll notice how the style has infiltrated every means of communication."

It must be exciting watching a fresh brand that people are already passionate about, come to life - can you sense that excitement around NYCFC?

"Although we are the second MLS team in NY, we are the first NYC MLS team. That excitement and passion for the world’s aport being played in NYC is unlike anything we have seen for a new brand."

"The MLS and football in the U.S. is in a good place, with each club really fighting for attention. Obviously there are 2 MLS teams in New York, what do you think of the competition between the two clubs."

"This weekend’s game, being the first time they meet, the rivalry is about to begin. Red Bulls however have had years time to play together and jell as a team, NYCFC is in its early stages, so we’ll need some time to be on even footing. But just as you have the choice between Giants and Jets, Mets and Yankees, Rangers and Islanders, Knicks and Nets, we’ll have our favorites, but when it comes down to a NY team vs a non-NY team, the choice is clear. NYC, NYC, NYC!"

Are you guys football fans? Can you see the game growing in popularity?

"It feels very much like a generational movement. American millennials are less separated by their counter parts internationally, mainly due to technology. The one sport we all have in common is soccer, it is inevitable that we will speak soccer to each other. The world cup proved that, the fans in the stadium prove that, the future will prove that."

Looking ahead, do you have more football inspired projects on the way?

"We are finding a lot of interaction between sports and other categories. We are not specifically a sports agency, our agency mainly works on fashion and beauty projects and I think it says a lot that in the last year we are working with NYCFC, the NBA, Russell Westbrook and Giancarlo Stanton. They all want integration and interaction with entertainment, style and culture, we sit in the center of that poly-cultural conversation."

Thanks very much to the team at DMA United for sharing their work with us. 

Who are you supporting in the NY derby? Let us know in the comments below.