005. Soooo, What Do You Do Again? Debunking Content Strategy with Suky Stroud.
In this episode of Riserve (the newsletter), we learn what social-first creative minds do all day. And no, it's not just posting on Instagram.
Being given a last-minute ticket to Switzerland-Italy in the sponsors’ section of Olimpia Stadium in Berlin turned out to be the worst gift anybody has ever handed me. Not so much for Italy’s atrocious performance, but because it meant sitting amongst a crowd of occasional watchers with no real interest in either of the national teams on the field. Every 5 minutes or so, somebody was getting up to go and get drinks and food, thus obstructing my view or annoyingly asking me to get up and let them pass through. No cheering, no chants, no tears. What a boring experience.
As I slowly slumped in my seat, feeling defeated and irritated by my nonchalant neighbors, I kept thinking about how much more joyful I normally feel at grassroots games. Sure, the competition may be slower, less tactical, or clumsy at times, but at least the true values and essence of the game are still strongly rooted on the pitch.
As professional football becomes more and more evil and corrupted, hoards of people are looking for alternative ways to celebrate their love for the game. The pandemic accelerated this process, prepping the ground for new clubs and initiatives to bloom. One such is Ex-Girlfriend FC, an LBGTQ+ friendly “football club dedicated to watching their exes sweat”.
In today’s episode, we meet Suky Stroud—a multi-hyphenated social media & content strategist and brain behind that fun tagline.
Guest: Suky Stroud
Discipline: Social Media Strategy
Location: London, UK
Note: Suky helps run and organize a cool local grassroots team for queer women, trans and non-binary, and is an experienced senior social content creator specializing in video and copy.
Hi Suky, welcome to Riserve: a newsletter spotlighting the work of creative talent in the sports industry. Let’s start with a little housekeeping: Where are you from? How old are you and how would you describe what you do to somebody who’s never met you?
I’m originally from Swansea, in Wales. But I’ve lived in London since I was 18. I’m 33 now, which makes it 15 years in the city if you can’t be bothered to do the maths; that makes me officially a Londoner by a rule I’ve just made up.
I would say I’m a bit of a marketing hybrid and have had roles with pretty disparate titles from creative, to content strategist, to social lead, to editorial director.
Ultimately what all that means is helping brands connect with their audiences in digital spaces and coming up with ideas that travel that further than that, too.
When did you first start developing a passion for the game and how has it shaped your life?
Growing up, my passion for football would ebb and flow. I got very into World Cups and Euros every other year but besides that, only occasionally kicked a ball around with the boys in the playground. A family friend with a season ticket took me to watch Swansea City a few times, but it wasn’t until I joined a beginners team on a whim, at big old 29, that it all changed for me. It’s been one of the best choices I’ve made, ever. That community is a huge part of my life now, it seeps through other areas of my life as well—my social life, my cultural references, my view of sport in general, my interests, and my career.
Tell me a bit about your work, how did you get to do what you do today?
I’ve always worked in social media. I started in community management and social in the old school sense—running a brand’s pages, and entertaining the strange people who haunted them in the vain hope they one day they might buy something, or at the very least throw me a cursed Facebook Like.
Those years at the coalface of a supermarket’s Twitter mentions do give you perspective... A too-intimate understanding of your audience—which I still aim for. Thankfully, the work I do has evolved now—it’s more connected to real-life culture, creative, and, we pray, effective. A lot of that is because social media itself has evolved, and the way brands use it has also. There’s more ambition, more buy-in, more possibilities, and if you do your job right, people who actually care about what you’re saying—because you’ve carved your client some purpose, passion, and space for it all to play out.
As somebody who’s been both in-house and freelance, what are some of the best and worst parts of both?
Right now I’m freelance, with the privilege of picking and choosing which briefs I want to work on. When you are in-house or in an agency, there’s a network. You have breadth and depth of resources (if the budget is there), support, and financial stability but taking a paid day off is like a luxury in a truly depressing way. You also have Christmas parties…honestly miss ‘em. But freelance? That’s when you get real freedom! You feel empowered to just do things and be in control of your destiny, but at the same time, you feel the excitement and the terror of not knowing what’s around the corner. Would you rather take a train or ride a rollercoaster? Depends.
I’ve deliberately dabbled in lots of different industries and setups. I’ve learned there’s no perfect gig for me, the grass is always greener, so I just try to work in a way that’s honest and fulfilling to me at the time.
The biggest misconception about content strategists?
That we aren’t creative enough to be creatives. And not strategic enough to be strategists. The truth is we’re pretty good at both, which is kind of rare. That’s the reason I keep my roles flexible—I like to play a little on both sides of the pitch and go with the flow.
A good content strategist should be able to translate navel-gazing brand strategy jargon into something creative, broad, and interesting enough to feel fertile for whoever ends up making the real work, yet structured and insightful enough to keep the strategists happy. On a good day, anyway…
What’s one project you are particularly proud of?
I’m sure people will relate to this. That’s a really hard question and one of the reasons I’ve put off this interview for [recacted] weeks. I’ve not worked on a lot of sports briefs in my career, and I don’t often feel 100% happy with anything I make.
An ambitious multi-year anti-smoking campaign at VICE? Viral Mr Blobby memes for the BBC? Putting my whole strat-ussy into creative positioning decks for Tinder or Patreon?? Sure, enjoyed it. And YET. The only thing I’m genuinely proud of creatively is what I’m doing with Ex-Girlfriend FC.
Because there are no briefs, no restrictions. It’s just me and whatever deranged nonsense comes forth from my brain. It’s a big thrill to see what happens when you’re unshackled from three contractual rounds of client amends. Like sending a spontaneous late-night cold email and landing a front-of-shirt sponsorship from a luxury lube brand.
Listen – XG is not huge and I don’t do loads and loads (although, watch this space) but people have heard of us and love our Instagram. And that’s very satisfying. For sure it’s for a very specific audience of football queers who don’t take it too seriously and that’s why there’s such a lot of joy and chaos and creative license. There’s a bigger appetite for that than even I could have predicted.
Tell me about Ex-Girlfriend FC, when it started and why is it important to create spaces as such?
Ex-Girlfriend FC was started by a group of friends in the summer of 2020, fresh out of that first lockdown after everyone had been trapped inside contemplating their life choices, desperate to “touch grass”. I came to the second-ever training.
At the time, and still, it was part of the huge surge of grassroots women and queer football teams starting up across London. There was a really exciting vibe to it all; learning something new, making new friends, going to the pub, flirting… and winning at a sport?!
Playing together in a football team is a really special feeling. I think one that we don’t get much, if at all, as adults. A real sense of belonging that is very joyful and addictive. Not only do you hit those functional benefits—exercise, the outdoors, community—but with our team we sustained this tight bond by expanding quite slowly, which especially for queer people is important…feeling safe and seen.
Which club are you supporting when Ex-Girlfriend isn’t playing?
Contentious subject. As a casual, I do have the luxury of being brand disloyal. Head empty, only vibes. I should support Swansea City, my hometown; it would be a great look for me, however tragically every single one of their vintage shirts is hideous. So that’s out. The next best answer is probably Arsenal, I used to live next to the Emirates and still go to watch the women’s team on the semi-reg, along with perhaps every other lesbian in London?!?!?
My friends and girlfriend are very big Gooners, so when I came out as a West Ham girly (nurture not nature), can you imagine the reaction?… I stand by it. Arsenal, baby, you don’t need me, you’re better off without me.
Something that needs to change in the field of creative football?
A couple of things come to mind. With the growth in grassroots football around the UK—particularly among women, trans, and non-binary people (the number of these teams across England has more than doubled in a few years, according to the FA)—there have been HUGE moves made by brands to capitalize on that.
Barely a week goes by without a new casting person DMs slide, invariably some bank, alcohol, or if you’re lucky, actual sports brand, wanting the happy, cis-passing, slim, and beautiful faces of a women’s team in their commercials. They all seem to go to the same three teams. And yet on the ground, there are dozens of new teams springing up every season, slumming it with no meaningful funding, and no access to affordable pitches to hire because they’ve all been block-booked by men's teams for years. Where’s the representation and support for that? Throw the girlies and gays a bone for once, please. Spread the wealth, put your money where your mouth is, etc…
The second thing, while I’m up on my box, is somewhat related. I would love to see more of this scene in football media in general. Not as a token. I see a lot of extremely cool, music and fashion content and collaborations with professional players, clubs, and fans. Where are the women’s grassroots? This community is incredible, it’s new and fast-growing. It’s football. What a thing to be a part of. I truly love the Mundial-Martine-Rose vibes, but as much as I would love them to, they don’t reflect my experience or the experiences of the football lovers I know. If only.
Your dream project (if any)?
Beyond just all your coolest football briefs, I would love to work with people who want to celebrate this community. To represent us, yes, and then to help us make some positive change to the issues we care about: Trans inclusion in football, diversity (looking at you, England Women), funding and access to facilities for women’s teams, etc.
That doesn’t sound very sexy, but it could be, trust me! Let’s do a vibey grassroots census?! Let’s swap training for a day with Arsenal Women?! Get them down to Clapham Common kicking about on a hellish pitted quagmire with 3 cones and stinky bibs. I don’t know, but let’s do it.
Last but not least, your favorite football memory?
Watching England win the Euros at Wembley, surrounded by my football team. I’m Welsh, and I cried. I was fully dressed as a cowboy, to help you imagine. Stunning!
If you are interested in working with Suky, you can check out more of her work HERE.
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