Throwback Week
Seattle Sounders FC
Throwback Week Seattle Sounders FC
Creative Director July 2025
Fully integrated in-house campaign
40,000+ fans across two matches
Highest single-match retail units of season
Measurable increase in NPS and CSAT scores
Identify opportunity and push boundaries.
Throwback Week was the first fully in-house creative campaign to unify a kit launch, partnership activations, membership initiatives, cross-channel marketing, and matchday experiences into a single, cohesive moment for Sounders FC.
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Adidas selected Sounders FC as the next Archive Kit club, launching a mid-season third kit supported by a themed footwear drop and extended merchandise capsule. The kit anchored the entire campaign ecosystem.
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Early-season planning aligned ticketing, merchandise, and membership into a 90s-themed promotional framework, including bundled t-shirt ticket offers and exclusive, themed season member gifts to drive urgency and loyalty.
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We designed matchday as an immersive extension of the campaign, activating North Plaza with KEXP programming, skate demonstrations, and cultural storytelling moments that transformed the stadium into a live 90s revival.
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Expanded reach beyond traditional soccer audiences through partnerships with KEXP and local cultural voices, attracting new fan segments while reinforcing core supporter loyalty.
Define the job.
The marketing brief.
Convince Seattle Sports fans, ‘Z’ers to ‘X’ers (but not Boomers unless they’re clappers)
That July 16 and 19 at Lumen Field will be the most fun and alluring night in Seattle this summer
Because we vibe the 90’s HARD! Nostalgia will be hitting an all cylinders. SFC launches the Archive Orca Kit (new 3rd kit). We celebrate the 90’s music that painted culture in plaid. We Skate or Die. We are independent. We Do It Ourselves. Two Nights in 48hrs. All while Playing in the Orca Kit inspired by our 1995 A-League champ predecessors.
The creative brief.
Keep it Full 90s. Let's Rave.
Seattle was the intersection of pop culture in the mid 1990s. Kurt left us, Fraser entertained us, Microsoft connected us, Starbucks fueled us, The real world joined us—and The Kid helped us smile through all of it.
This is an aesthetic—a style that blended the grit of industry, with the excess of success. Seattle was the epicenter of pop-culture. This is the celebration upper-left, this is owning our Archive.
Define the center.
Looking beyond cliché, we found a familiar nostalgia that linked music, skate, and sport into a focussed visual platform to spring from.
Define the feeling.
Era
The Nineties. An era that transform Sounders into a championship club amidst the APSL & A-League. The Orca Kit and Archive Collection remind us of these moments. Moments that helped set the tone & trajectory of the Sounders’ successful history. We have a proud heritage that saturates our palates and colors our future.
Culture
The local skate scene carves out its significance in Seattle’s identity, making its marks across the landscape and history of this city. The past decades record passionate, fanatic crowds gathering to celebrate the boldness and athleticism of individuals that prove to break cultural and physical boundaries.
Movement
This is a visual celebration of movement and progression. Bicycle kicks to kickflips. Handballs to handrails. Fish markets to fisheye lenses. This is speed, air time, and footwork. This is creative expression, shared.
Define the system.
The brand design team developed this toolkit helping to bring clarity to designers and marketers, enabling them to move at the speed of sport. We developed a scalable brand toolkit that brought clarity to designers and marketers, enabling speed without sacrificing cohesion.
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Color
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Patterns
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Throwback Lockups
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Kit Lockups
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Partnership Inclusions
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Treatment
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Retail
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Studio Photography
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Field Photography
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Stylized Photography
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Lifestyle Photography
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Action Photography
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Kit Detail Photography
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Signage
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Game Entertainment
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Email Marketing
Doing the work.
For two weeks, across each channel and venue, we wove a visual story that built a consistent and cohesive narrative for our fans.
In the end.
From concept to execution, the campaign was fully conceived and delivered in-house. We brought in owners and players to participate in a story that linked Seattle’s past with the Sounders of today. And ultimately, in a year of many storylines, we kept our message consistent across all SFC channels while expanding our reach through a new KEXP partnership. We kept it Full 90’s and the Rave lasted weeks. Most importantly…
Fans Showed Up
More than 40,000 fans attended, exceeding projections for July 16 and narrowly missing for July 19.
Fans Spent
Retail revenue surpassed the previous kit launch across the first two matches, with July 16 marking the highest single-match unit sales of the 2026 season.
Fans Left Happy
CSAT rose almost 3 points and NPS increased nearly 6 points versus average matchday score.
Matchday activations and merchandise each rose above trend resulting in almost a 4 point lift.
Credits.
The Team
Ethan Wong
Senior Designer
David Marksbury
Photographer, Designer
Sahid Alpizar
Designer
David Young
Video Director & Motion
Dominic Duarte
Scouting, Production, Editing
My role
Creative Director