Virgil van Dijk tells of his love of Liverpool in Expedia campaign
The campaign marks the first time the travel company has signed an individual ambassador, with a May installment set to star Jürgen Klopp.
Liverpool FC’s Dutch captain Virgil van Dijk has signed with Expedia to curate a travel guide and feature in a brand campaign film all about his adopted home city.
Titled ‘Finding Liverpool,’ the three-part series gives a glimpse into the football team’s global fan base and how the club, city and communities make Liverpool such a special place to visit. The series features Trent Alexander-Arnold, Wataru Endō, Shanice van de Sanden, Missy Bo Kearns and Fūka Nagano.
Launching throughout April and May, there will also be a special Jürgen Klopp episode coming in next month.
The travel brand is the official travel partner of Liverpool Football Club and has teased that future collaborations could see van Dijk appear in brand advertising campaigns, editorial and social media content, PR activations and brand engagement events for the wider Expedia Group’s house of brands, which includes Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo.
On the partnership, the center-back said: “Travel is a real passion of mine. We visit so many cities through football but don’t get to fully immerse ourselves in them, so any time off I get, I am always looking to head out on an adventure with my friends and family. That’s why I am excited to be partnering with Expedia, as we both believe that we are all made to travel.
“I’m looking forward to being able to inspire travelers to get out there and see the world. Whether that’s visiting my second home, Liverpool, my favorite city of Amsterdam or even Japan, which is my next dream destination to visit.”
The campaign will roll out across paid and owned social channels, along with partner distribution channels and out-of-home activations.
Joe Corcoran, executive creative director at Anomaly London, added: “Lots of brands partner with football clubs but very few cater to the needs of their fans. We wanted to change that,”
“Liverpool Football Club is a huge community and you can ‘find’ Liverpool in almost every part of the world. ‘Finding Liverpool’ is a season-long discovery of why and how people ‘found’ Liverpool, geographically and emotionally, from the perspective of players and fans all over the world. Every way of watching. Every story of support. Every shade of red.”