Roll out video series with Chinese influencers.

Southampton FC and TLCBET got a surprise.

Southampton FC, in collaboration with its official partner TLCBET, has created 18 videos titled ‘Journey to The West’ to woo Chinese fans.According to a statement, the videos have garnered 68+ million impressions and 4 million video views across Chinese social media platform Weibo, WeChat and football app Dongqiudi (DQD).

The club used two Chinese influencers who travelled from Beijing to Southampton alongside the club’s filming crew and staff members and created branded content for TLCBET after interacting with local fans they met on the way.

The crew was on road for 14 days, beginning from the Trans-Siberian Railway, which took 6 days in total. They then travelled across Russia, Germany, Holland, France, and England, culminating in Southampton’s home stadium, St. Mary’s, for a home match against Newcastle United.

Chinese sports digital marketing agency, Mailman worked with Southampton FC and TLCBET throughout the trip and invited influencers, provided the filming team, and produced and edited all the videos for publishing.

David Thomas, commercial director, Southampton Football Club, said: “We are delighted with the success of the trip and the opportunity to work with a club partner in China.

“We worked very hard to ensure that we created engaging and interesting content that would resonate well within the Chinese audience. As a club, we always work with our partners to ensure the content is impactful and the figures show that we certainly achieve this during the journey.”