Paul Savage Marketing
Operation Promotion
When Grimsby Town missed out on promotion due to a missed penalty, a group of supporters lamented our lack of striking options. “Let’s raise some money to buy a new striker,” we quipped. So we did.
Operation Promotion asked the club's own supporters to back the team directly - could we raise enough money to buy a footballer who could make a difference?
The Mariners Trust launched a crowdfunder asking fans to invest in their own club. We begged and borrowed for money couldn’t buy experiences and pushed on social media - and within a few hours of the 30-day campaign we’d smashed our £30,000 target.
And then came the media - the story was picked up on by national newspapers, football magazines and radio. Over 2,000 different supporters ended up donating over £110,000 which we handed over to the club.
In turn, they bought striker Omar Bogle. Omar scored two goals at Wembley as Operation Promotion became Operation Promoted and the Mariners were back in the Football League.
A lesson in bringing a community together to unite behind their football club and the power of how pulling everyone together can yield amazing results.