Tag Archives: sport

Peppa Pig supports Team GB at Tokyo Olympics in new campaign as children’s ambassador

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Hasbro has detailed a new collaboration with Team GB in the UK that will see Peppa Pig join the British Olympic team as a special children’s ambassador to get kids excited for the summer Olympics in Tokyo. The event has been rescheduled from 2020 to 2021, a move that was forced by the world’s lockdown measures.

Big Inspiration for Little Piggies is a new campaign designed to get the nation’s kids moving and into the spirit of the Olympics – set to be one of the most watched sporting events of the year next year – by cheering on their favourite national athletes.

The campaign will be underpinned by a roster of live events, retail activations, digital content, and bespoke merchandise.

“With a year to go until the Olympics there couldn’t be a better time to inspire young kids and their families to get active,” said Hasbro’s Marianne James, VP EMEA consumer products. “Our Big Inspiration for Little Piggies campaign is a great opportunity to tap into the enormous interest surrounding the Olympics to both support the Team GB athletes and nurture a lifelong love of sports in the younger generation that will leave a lasting legacy.”

Partners are already lining up to produce exclusive new consumer products across categories including toys, apparel and accessories, stationery, home gifting and publishing.

The campaign will span multiple touchpoints with a brand-new bespoke style guide featuring innovative new designs that put Peppa and all her friends right into the action with unique sporting outfits and active wear to inspire a range of Team GB licensed merchandise for children, placing the preschool brand in good company with Team GB’s official mascot, Pride The Lion.

New branded content is also being developed across digital channels that will harness the popularity of Peppa Pig and Team GB by encouraging children and families to take advantage of the global sporting event and promote an active, healthy lifestyle.

Throughout summer 2021, Hasbro will be readying a packed calendar of interactive marketing activities that will see Peppa Pig model her very own Team GB kit at various events across the country, sports-related meet-and-greets, experiential displays, retail activations and fun competitions hosted at multiple locations.

The collaboration will kick off with a digital presence in Team GB’s inspired community campaign I Am Team GB from 23rd – 30th July to capitalise on the should-have-been Olympic buzz, and get kids enthusiastic about getting active with Peppa Pig.

British cycling brand Le Col launches new collection with Eurosport amid growth in UK engagement

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The premium British cycling brand, Le Col has partnered with the European home of cycling, Eurosport to launch a new Le Col x Eurosport collection that draws on the colours, sights and sounds of the pr-peloton and buzz of a race day atmosphere.

Consisting of a jersey, gilet and bib shorts, and available in both men and women’s cuts, the collection is equipped with Le Col’s renowned Italian fabrics and fit that helps riders push themselves faster and further.

Late last year, Le Col, announced it had been chosen as the technical kit partner for Bahrain McLaren the brand’s first time supplying its expertise at the World Tour level. Le Col has also been partners with Eurosport since 2018, supplying branded shirts to Eurosport presenters and commentators for the season.

Le Col founder and former GB pro rider, Yanto Barker, said: “We are thrilled to launch this collaboration with Eurosport and further support our cycling audience with this special kit. When I was a young pro, watching some of the most iconic cycling races on Eurosport helped inspire my career, so it’s been a pleasure to design this performance orientated core collection with them.”

The launch arrives at a time in which British cycling is seeing some its biggest numbers in terms of consumer engagement. According to data from GlobalData, 1.3 million UK consumers have now bought a bike since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

“As much of the UK works from home – 51.0 per cent of the working population in early June – consumers have saved on travel costs and many have found themselves with more time to exercise and no gym open to visit, making a new bike an appealing option,” said Sofie Willmott, lead analyst at GlobalData.

Retailers have benefited from the surge in demand, with 21.7 per cent buying their bike from Halfords, boosting the retailer’s overall performance, followed by 15.4 per cent purchasing from Evans.

Willmott added: “Although the bike market will see a spike in demand this year boosted by the lockdown, there is further opportunity for retailers to benefit in the future as current bike owners may choose to upgrade now they have reignited their interest in cycling. In addition, with 72.4% of current home workers expecting to do so more often post-crisis, there will be stark changes to pre-COVID commuting habits with public transport likely to remain unappealing and many consumers turning to bikes for some journeys.”

Myprotein teams with Warner Bros for special Justice League Hero Protein

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The worlds of comic book heroes and fitness fanatics have collided, thanks to a new collaboration between Warner Bros and the global fitness brand, Myprotein, for the launch of a limited edition Justice League Hero Protein.

Launched on February 24th, the Myprotein Justice League Hero Protein is a specially formulated tropical flavoured protein powder available in a 250g pouch, with an RRP of £6.99, a 1kg tub RRP £19.99 and a Myprotein Justice League shaker for £8.99.

A special bundle launched including the 250g pouch, shaker and t-shirt, all created exclusively for the Myprotein brand – a sports and lifestyle division of The Hut Group – for a retail price of £24.99. This has already sold out in the UK and across Europe.

Matt Moulding, founder and CEO of The Hut Group, told Licensing.biz “This is a strategic partnership between two heavy-weight, global brands which has allowed us both to develop a value partnership and target new audiences.

“Myprotein is a leader in innovation in its field, so what better timing to put this to the test with Warner Bros. The offering has had very positive interest from customers already, even ahead of the launch, so we are looking forward to seeing the results.”

“They are sure to fly out of stock, but don’t fear, this is just one of three big launches planned for the new dream team of Myprotein and Warner Brothers this year….so watch this space,” concluded The Hut Group.

Fédération Française de Rugby names IMG its global licensing agent

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Fédération Française de Rugby, the governing body for rugby union in France, has appointed IMG as its exclusive global licensing representative in a multi-year deal that will take the partnership through to 2024.

Under the new deal, IMG will develop a licensing programme using the recently rebranded France Rugby logo and identity, while looking to take the brand to new global audiences.

IMG will work to grow the existing business and extend FFR into new categories through fan merchandise, sporting accessories and iconic rugby related products for men, women, and children.

Bernard Laporte, president, FFR, commented: “We are pleased to be working with IMG to develop an ambitious licensing programme for FFR during the next four years. For decades now, our research has shown that French citizens believe rugby embodies strong values of solidarity, conviviality and respect.

“With France hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023, there is a strong opportunity for us to extend our product offering for rugby fans both domestically and internationally.”

Mickael Andreo, vice president of licensing, IMG, added: “The Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, the first ever held in Asia, was an outstanding success. The sport is currently in a great place, and with France now preparing to host the competition in 2023, we feel very privileged to work with the FFR – one of the most prestigious and respected National teams in the world.

“We believe there is a lot to build and are looking forward to taking this opportunity to the market.”

Rugby is one of the most popular sports in France, with 23 million people aged 15 and older following the sport. During the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, 19 million French fans followed their national team’s progress and, on average, France national team games attract more than five million TV viewers.

The deal strengthens IMG’s position in the rugby sector, with the agency having recently delivered a record-breaking licensing programme for Rugby World Cup 2019 and continuing its licensing efforts for the 2023 tournament in France.

Disney and UEFA team up to encourage young girls into football with Playmakers campaign

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Disney has teamed with the UEFA to develop a ground-breaking football programme that uses the studio’s penchant for storytelling to encourage more young girls into football with the initiative it has called, Playmakers.

Inspired by academic research that has demonstrated the positive role of storytelling in helping children take up sport,  Playmakers also aims to increase the proportion of girls meeting the World Health Organisation’s minimum standards for physical activity.

Targeting five to eight year-old girls not currently playing football, seven UEFA national associations –Scotland, Norway, Belgium, Poland, Austria, Romania, and Serbia – will roll out the Playmakers campaign through schools, clubs and local communities, with more associations expected to introduce the programme later in the year.

Each of Playmaker’s ten initial training sessions follow the narrative of Disney and Pixar’s billion dollar global box office smash hit, Incredibles 2. Equipped with footballs, bibs and cones, trained coaches encourage participants to play the roles of popular characters, such as Elastigirl, Violet, Mr Incredible and Dash, bringing the film’s action scenes to life through movement, teamwork and imagination.

“If you’re going to teach football through the power of storytelling and play, you have to do it with the best stories and characters in the world, and Disney is the perfect partner for this,” said Nadine Kessler, UEFA Head of Women’s Football.

“By taking that Disney magic, and implementing the first-ever pan-European girls’ grassroots football programme, we will give any girl the best possible opportunity to fall in love with football.”

As Playmakers rolls out across Europe, new Disney storytelling will be added to the programme.

Early sessions will see the Playmakers programme focus on building girls’ confidence in their movement, encouraging creative thinking and communicating easily with their friends. Later sessions introduce girls to basic football skills.

Kessler added: “We want girls to have the same feeling and be encouraged to create their own game and make their own decisions. This is exactly what this programme is about – creating an environment for all girls to flourish and develop, whether that be fundamental movement skills, football basics or life skills and values.

“We truly believe that this unique programme can be the spark for a more active generation of football-loving girls.”

At the centre of the Playmakers’ campaign will be a play-based learning programme developed following a literary review from Leeds’ Beckett University in England. Commissioned by UEFA, the review assessed academic research into what motivates young girls to participate in sports, identifying best practice coaching methods to create a safe learning environment.

The programme is also the result of a knowledge-transfer partnership with the English Football Association who is currently running the Shooting Stars programme in partnership with Disney.

Playmakers represents a first step toward achieving one of the main goals of  UEFA’s own Time for Action mission statement, in which UEFA Women’s Football aims to double girls’ and women’s participation in football by 2024.

“It is UEFA’s duty as European football’s governing body to empower girls to play the game,” added UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, “Through this partnership with Disney, we will open up football to an audience not yet engaged with our sport.”

On top of this, it is across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), that Disney has a long-standing Healthy Living Commitment, using its storytelling to get families more active and working to educate and inspire children about healthy eating.

This has led to a variety of partnerships on inspirational campaigns, such as Public Health England’s 10 Minute Shake Up, which inspired two million kids to get active and register more than 100 million extra minutes of physical activity.

In Poland, Disney launched its #GetMovingWithDisneyJunior initiative, a campaign spearheaded by local sporting champions, which reached more than 30,000 youngsters. The campaign involved the creation of more than 30 films, which featured children exercising alongside Disney Junior characters.

Nicole Morse, Disney EMEA’s vice president of integrated marketing, said: “This brilliant Playmakers initiative is another great example of Disney’s long-term commitment to help future generations lead healthier lifestyles.

“By using our much-loved characters and stories as a force for good, we can really make a difference and inspire families and children to be more active. So we’re very proud that by partnering with UEFA on the first pan-European girls football programme, we will encourage more and more girls across the region to get active, build their confidence and participate in playing football, all in an environment that has been specifically designed for them.”