Industry Shorts: Ed Sheeran, Mongoose, Weplay, Intel

Music superstar Ed Sheeran has become the new shirt sponsor of League One side Ipswich Town after agreeing an initial one-year deal with his boyhood club.

Sheeran, who is from Suffolk, ended his Divide tour in Ipswich with a four night stint at the town’s Chantry Park in August 2019. He will sponsor both the men’s and women’s team kits. READ MORE

Irish athleisure brand Gym+Coffee has appointed UK-based agency Mongoose to raise awareness of the brand and build on its global community in Europe.

Created in 2017 Gym+Coffee has expanded its reach into the UK with its first store opening in London’s Westfield White City in 2020, with another now open in Manchester’s Trafford Centre. The brand counts celebrities such as Niall Horan and Brian O’Driscoll as investors.

Mongoose will cover PR activities, ranging from store openings to new product launches, taking on the PR brief for the brand.

Performance Marketing agency WePlay has announced two senior hires to its executive leadership team, appointing new heads of Content Marketing and Media Divisions.

Former FA Head of Digital Communications & Editorial Content, Mark Gilbert, joins the agency as Head of Content Marketing, while former IMG, AEGIS Media Group, and OMD executive Ed Richardson has been appointed Head of Media.

The move follows WePlay’s growth in 2020, when the company reported a 110% increase in agency headcount. The expanded Content and Media departments will support the agency’s client portfolio, which includes the likes of AC Milan, ESPN, the European Club Association, FIFA, IRONMAN, and UFC.

Intel will host a virtual esports tournament in the build-up to the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, giving gamers around the world the chance to compete against the world’s best athletes.

The Intel World Open will ‘elevate’ esports for worldwide audiences according to the global technology brand, which is hosting the event as part of its TOP Partnership with the IOC.

Intel is the Official Esports Event Partner of the Games, and the event will feature two of the most recognised esports titles – Street Fighter V: Champion Edition and Rocket League in an online regional tournament. READ MORE

A new documentary featuring Crystal Palace will launch on Amazon Prime Video on 4th June. 

When Eagles Dare charts the Premier League club’s resurgence from financial ruin and administration in 2010, to playing in the 2013 Championship Play-Offs for promotion to the Premier League.

The docuseries aims to tell the story of how Eagles fans ‘saved their club’, as lifelong supporter Steve Parish formed a consortium to prevent it from going out of business. 

Each fifty-minute episode features never-before-seen footage from the 2012/13 season, when the club allowed unprecedented access to a film crew, whilst present day retrospective interviews with all the main figures help bring the story to life.

Sky has added the Peloton App to its Sky Q, offering studio-style workout classes that can be done from home.

Sky Q users can say ‘Peloton’ into their voice remote to open the app, or say ‘let’s get physical’ to open a full suite of fitness content from the likes of YouTube and Spotify.

Thousands of classes across a variety of disciplines will be available on the platform across more than ten categories, including Strength, Yoga, Cardio, Pilates, Barre, and Meditation.

The news comes as Peloton recalled some 125,000 of its new Tread and Tread+ devices because of safety fears, after dozens of injuries were reported, as well as the death of a six-year-old child. 

McLaren Racing has announced a new licensing partnership with British performance eyewear brand SunGod.

The brand will become the Official McLaren F1 Fan Eyewear licensee from the 2021 Formula 1 season, and will release a limited-edition McLaren Racing model of their Renegades and Sierras sunglasses.

Later in the year, SunGod will also launch new ranges with drivers, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.