Josh Heard – Pacific FC

Josh had recently been awarded the captains armband of Canadian Premier League side Pacific FC. Taking on this new role meant a significant shift in his brand, increased responsibilities, increased exposure, and ultimately new opportunities in branding.

Around the halfway mark of his career, at the peak of his game, Josh is left with a real opportunity to take advantage of his current position and what’s around him and make the second half of his career even better than the first.

Photo of Josh Heard celebrating a goal for Pacific FC in the Canadian Premier League — Image Source: canpl.ca

The Reality

As most of us know, life as a soccer player can actually be pretty modest, despite the way it seems to be portrayed in media. Josh is no exception and this was why he wanted to work with us in the first place.

Let’s be honest here, most soccer players do not want to pay for something to do with business, but that is exactly why we should! How are you going to separate yourself from everyone else?

Josh is one of the wise ones who can see the value in investing in his brand in order to achieve more of his potential presently and in his future beyond footy. As an ex pro myself I wish I was as wise as Josh.

The Goal

Our goal was to add some extra confidence and security around his career by gaining clarity in his messaging and defining his target audience, while leveraging his new role as captain, as well as the resources available to him, to strengthen his relationship and engagement with that audience and begin proactively utilizing his brand for the betterment of himself and his community. In doing so, we were also able to identify possible business relationships to approach and nourish as his next action steps built within his game-plan.

Pacific FC's captain Josh Heard celebrating a goal. — Image Source: northerntribune.ca

Services

Brand Strategy Training Camp
Brand Perception Study
Brand Audit
Social Media Strategy
On-going Consultation

Impact

Clarity & direction in messaging
Newly defined target audience
Updates to social profiles
Active social profiles
Interviews, blog features, social engagement
Value proposition for sponsors
Content schedule & strategy

The Process

While exploring his Origin Story Josh was reminded of why he got involved in footy in the first place, and his deep appreciation for his family who played a major role in him achieving his professional soccer dreams. We dug deeper in to this to uncover more of his core beliefs and values that unconsciously impact his daily decisions both on and off the pitch, and could be leveraged more to increase his brand clarity and value.

Photo of Josh Heard and Stephen Ewashko on Zoom for the Postur Training Camp

Quickly identifying his unique position as a captain of his hometown professional soccer team was one of the values we were able to tie in to his origin story, for example. This was something we were able to prioritize in his brands positioning to help him stand out more in the eyes of his audience.

Further, by owning this more, we were able to come up with possible content ideas he would be able to create in the future, either on his own, or through collaborations with his club or other local businesses.

His consistency, focusing on what he can control, beliefs in always working hard, and emphasis on enjoying the small things in life were a few other key components of his brand we were able to identify and explore deeper.

The Research

This is where it got real juicy. Thanks to our Research Queen Frances Donner we were able to dig up some facts about Josh’s brand and the way that he is perceived by his audience. Frances conducted a brand audit on Josh’s brand focussing in on any publicity he had, interviews, news articles, YouTube videos, including his social media profiles.

With this information we found our gaps between his brands perception and his desired brand identity. One of the key areas that gaps that stood out for Josh was the lack of expression of his love for his family and community. From there we strategized how we can bridge that gap and with what types of media these goals can be achieved.

I think the biggest insight is the disconnect between my brand and my public persona, especially in regard to family & community. Those things are very important to me and my brand, but I haven’t shown it at all!
– Josh Heard

The Results

After 2 months of work, with weekly/biweekly meetings with Josh, we were able to come up with his game-plan for action, focusing on the next five steps:

Update & refresh social profiles.
Implementing the new voice.
Focus on what’s already working.
Creating a schedule & sticking to it.
Using the resources available.

Each of these steps we broke in to three phases to work through. Josh showed up, put in the work, let the walls fall down, and is ready to own his brand, with our team on his side.

The Conclusion

With a newly defined brand persona, factual data, and a strategic game-plan we were able to tap in to the true value of Josh Heard’s brand, learn from what he has already done and set him up for an even more successful second half of his career.

In the months since the completion of our Postur Training Camp Josh has been much more conscious of his branding efforts, struggling to follow the schedule on social media, however active in building business relationships.

Check him out on IG to see some of the new things he’s been doing: @josheard

Do you also want to reach more of your potential during your footy career?

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The Update

We have been consistently checking in with Josh since the training camp as his 2023 season with Pacific FC came to an end. Our goal was to carry the branding momentum that we had built up throughout the off-season and leading into the 2024 season. For many our social media feeds, fan interaction, and any other branding efforts tend to go silent during the off-season, and normally this is the case for Josh as well, however this time it was not the case.

Photo of professional soccer player Josh Heard, holding a lululemon bag.

Josh carried forward with his branding by networking with local events and brands, nurturing these relationships to see what types of opportunities they could provide. He offered two different jersey giveaway’s to engage with some local fans and remain relevant within the community. He met up with the local Lululemon Community Specialist to begin a relationship with their brand, and got some free gear in the process. And of course, in collaboration with PFC, he was a major part of the clubs announcements for returning players and specifically him with remaining as club captain, but also a special mention to an aspect of his brand that is unique… the fact that he is a local from Victoria, and grew up playing footy right there in the same place many of the young local players are right now.

Screenshot of the Pacific FC Instagram featuring Josh Heard.

As the pre-season begins, he’s starting off on high spirits, and he’s forefront of his fans minds, hoping to continue to carry this momentum on into another successful season in the Canadian Premiere League.