A SOCIAL media hashtag that helped draw the eyes of the nation to Sunderland earlier this month, is being revived to mark the first home match of the season.
#WearHere, which saw Sunderland take to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share what they love most about the city, helped get the city trending nationally, and is once again springing back to life, as Sunderland AFC supporters let the world know they are at the Stadium of Light to cheer on the Black Cats in their league match against Norwich City, which kicks off at 3pm.
The campaign is being promoted by Sunderland AFC and fans will be reminded to get involved via the big screens in the stadium and the new Fanzone. The club’s Twitter accounts will also be making sure fans are reminded to use the hashtag to once again propel Sunderland across popular social media channels.
Gary Hutchinson, commercial director at Sunderland AFC, said: “Our fans are among the proudest, loudest and most passionate in the country, and we know they will get behind us and cheer on the team in the digital world, as well as at the Stadium of Light, on Saturday.
“The first home game of the season is always a really exciting occasion and draws huge crowds, so the revival of #WearHere as excitement builds ahead of kick off is a fantastic way of harnessing the great support we have here.”
The original #WearHere campaign was championed by many of the city’s biggest businesses. Seven key companies from the city – Gentoo, Sunderland AFC, Sunderland BID, Sunderland College, Sunderland Live, The Bridges Shopping Centre and the University of Sunderland, collectively known as the Vibrancy Partnership – came together with Sunderland City Council, official media partners Sunderland Echo and Sun FM, and businesses and stakeholders right across the North East to promote the hashtag. Sunderland Now, Spark FM and Sunderland’s NHS Foundation Trust were among the other key supporters.
Hundreds of Mackems and honorary Wearsiders – including high profile supporters of Sunderland mountaineer Alan Hinkes, Coronation Street actress Melanie Hill and broadcaster and culture vulture Lauren Laverne – took to Twitter and other social media platforms to share their passion. Seaburn Beach, St Peter’s Church and the Sunderland International Airshow were among their favourite things about Sunderland.
The campaign took place at 5pm on Friday, July 24 to coincide with the launch of the Sunderland International Airshow and social media tracking reports on the day showed that the hashtag could have made as many as 11 million Twitter timeline appearances between 5 and 6pm.
To see more of the tweets from the day, follow @SunderlandVibe on Twitter.