How West Ham turned transfer announcements into authentic fan storytelling

The Induction was a content series created to find a more authentic and creative way to introduce new signings to West Ham United during the 2026 summer transfer window. 

We wanted to create a series which supported the club’s objective of re-engaging supporters and building excitement around new signings. This whilst ensuring the content felt distinctly West Ham rather than a generic signing format that could belong to any club.

With 50,000 season tickets sold, despite last season’s relegation to the EFL Championship, we wanted our new signings to immediately build a connection with our fans and gain an immediate understand what it means to represent the club. 

With players arriving from all over the world, including Brazil, Senegal, the Netherlands and Belgium, we wanted to bring them into our world, introducing them to the people, places and characteristics that make West Ham United what it is.

Our community was the starting point. West Ham United is defined by its supporters, its history and the personality of east London, so we built the series around real people, places and genuine connections. Rather than simply telling new players what West Ham means, we wanted them to experience it. 

That meant we featured classic east London venues including G Kelly’s Pie and Mash and West Ham Boxing Club, alongside locations including the Roman Road, Upton Park, the original Thames Ironworks factory and the canals around Hackney Wick.

We also worked with a range of characters, from up-and-coming boxers and taxi drivers to former players, local businesses and familiar club personalities, including our beloved former kitman, Pete Williams. 

Some represented the club’s history, others its local community, while others simply embodied the character and personality of our supporters.

The Induction was produced entirely in-house, from creative thinking through to delivery. That gave us the flexibility to respond to the fast-moving nature of the transfer window while maintaining a clear identity.

A recurring motif throughout the series was the headphones. In every film, the new signing would put them on and listen into their induction, creating a recognisable thread while allowing every story to feel different. The locations and interactions were deliberately natural.

Whether taking a player to G Kelly’s, visiting West Ham Boxing Club or meeting a former player, the focus was on creating genuine moments rather than manufactured challenges or generic social content.

The transfer window also challenged us to think quickly. Divine Mukasa’s signing was a perfect example, when we had to act fast to in the ever-changing conditions of the transfer market. In that instance, we wanted to ensure continuity of the series, so we had Divine’s mum induct him back into the Club he had grown up at. 

It was simple but created one of the most emotionally resonant pieces in the series. Instead of introducing Divine to an unfamiliar part of West Ham United, we explored his existing connection to the club and the significance of returning to a place that had played such an important role in his journey. This highlighted that sometimes the fastest laid plans can in fact have maximum impact. 

Not only did The Induction series lead as video content to announce signings on our social channels, it also helped feed into an immediate wider storytelling moment for our editorial team, from deep dive articles, to utilising the induction theme within a players first interview with the club. 

Across the series, The Induction achieved over 6.2 million views and over 13.2 million impressions across the club’s social channels. Additionally, the series also drove a 140% increase of viewership on the club website in comparison to player signing interviews published during the 2025 summer window. 

Just as important was the huge response from the West Ham family, after every video dropped, we saw an incredibly strong level of positive feedback through comments, messages and wider reactions. That response motivated the team to make each induction better than the last, while encouraging us to keep experimenting with different people, places and stories.

That is ultimately what made The Induction valuable. Player signings are some of the most anticipated moments in a club’s content calendar but can also become repetitive. We wanted to use those moments as an opportunity to tell a story and create a stronger connection between the player, the club and its supporters.

For players arriving from overseas, it offered a way to experience West Ham beyond the training ground. For supporters, it gave them a chance to see new players introduced to familiar faces, places and parts of the community they know and love.

In a content environment where clubs are competing for attention, the opportunity is to make player signing content feel memorable without losing what makes the club unique.

The Induction gave us a way to do that. By combining our community, our history, our locations and our people with the agility of an entirely in-house creative team, we could turn a signing announcement into something more human, more distinctive and, ultimately, more West Ham United.

Liam Boreham is West Ham United creative brand lead