Chelsea Innovating Off The Pitch With Tactical Brand Collaborations

Following a successful campaign with Duracell in December 2019, Chelsea Football Club has officially launched a new media proposition to enable brands to collaborate with the Club on short-term tactical media campaigns. 

The new offering, which includes access to Chelsea’s players and the Club’s award-winning creative and production teams, gives brands the opportunity to work with the Club to reach a global audience across social, digital and web. 

The proposition recognises the increasing demand from brands for digital assets that reach an audience effectively and against agreed KPIs, supported by the execution of brand studies that measure how campaign engagement is contributing to awareness, purchase consideration or likelihood to recommend.

“Our ability to give brands the opportunity to access our global superstars and create branded content, ideated and produced by our award-winning creative and production teams, positions us as one of the most compelling new media publishers in the industry,” said Gary Twelvetree, Director of Marketing at Chelsea FC.

Last month saw a first execution of the new approach with consumer battery brand Duracell. Content promoting the launch of their new Power Bank product – featuring Mason Mount, Michy Batshuayi and Callum Hudson-Odoi – was published across social channels and supported with extensive display ad and pre-roll presence across the Club’s website and mobile app. 

It resulted in hundreds of thousands of social engagements for the brand and helped Duracell to achieve a significant uplift in Power Bank sales over the course of the week-long campaign. Likelihood to purchase and recommend Duracell, in addition to positive brand sentiment towards the brand, also showed significant increases from both the Chelsea fanbase and general football fans.

The collaboration included content featuring the Power Bank and Chelsea’s first-team players; full distribution throughout the Club’s website, app and social channels; and a thorough evaluation and reporting, demonstrating all KPIs being met and surpassed.

Chris Townsend OBE, Commercial Director at Chelsea FC, added: “Traditional sponsorships are and always will be a hugely effective marketing and commercial solution, and we are truly proud of the group of world-class brands we have partnered with. However, we recognise that brands such as Duracell want to market their products and buy their media in a different way – around new campaigns and at peak sales moments.”

Chelsea’s owned digital channels have a combined reach of more than 200 million Chelsea fans worldwide. The Club has been working with data-driven sports marketing agency Two Circles to redefine the way it packages, values and sells its digital rights, both in standalone media campaigns and as part of a wider club partnership.