Wanting to raise awareness for the Xylem brand and inspire change in the public perception of water challenges, Xylem teamed up with SPORTFIVE in 2018, to help the global water technology and services leader identify a partner in the sports industry.
Xylem’s resulting partnership with City Football Group has blossomed ever since, resulting in a number of engaging campaigns and activations.
In this Success Story:
Challenge
SPORTFIVE were set the challenge of identifying an appropriate rightsholder and package in the sporting industry, which would provide Xylem with a global reach and relevance within their sphere.
Building on this, SPORTFIVE set out to develop a partnership strategy which could deliver on brand awareness and a sustainability agenda, as well as delivering partnership activity, from ideation to execution.
Solution
SPORTFIVE recommended a partnership with City Football Group (CFG) based on the group’s ability to reach a mass audience in Xylem’s priority markets, as well as their demonstrable commitment to sustainability and technological innovation.
A rights package spanning Manchester City, Manchester City Women, New York City FC, and then later, with Mumbai City FC and Manchester City Head Coach Pep Guardiola, was identified, providing a unique, global platform with multiple touch points in key markets.
SPORTFIVE managed an initial strategic planning process to define a partnership mission of “challenging water complacency amongst 1 billion people”, from this objective a wider communication strategy was implemented.
Execution
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Identify
Following close collaboration with the client, we set out to identify an appropriate rightsholder and package in the sporting industry, who would provide Xylem with a global reach and relevance within their sphere.
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Broker
A rights package with City Football Group, and later Manchester City Head Coach Pep Guardiola was identified and brokered - providing Xylem with a unique global platform with multiple touch points in key markets.
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Plan
SPORTFIVE managed an initial strategic planning process to define a partnership mission of challenging water complacency amongst 1 billion people. From this objective a wider communication strategy was implemented.
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Activate
This mission and strategy is then brought to life through a series of campaigns and partnership activations - all strategically and creatively supported by SPORTFIVE
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Develop
Through active and close collaboration with Xylem and CFG, we ensure that the partnership framework continues to develop with the client’s mission of driving sustainability awareness and behaviour change at the forefront.
Outcome
The partnership launched with striking, sharable campaigns to generate awareness of global water issues and Xylem’s role in elevating water within the climate change agenda. Campaigns like Closer Than You Think & The End of Football, highlighted water challenges and depicted the reality of a world without water.
As the partnership matured, SPORTFIVE has actively supported Xylem’s evolving ambition to leverage the CFG platform to foster sustainability awareness and behaviour change. A refined evaluation framework, audience profile and campaign tactics were implemented as overall focus shifted from awareness to education and action.
In 2022 SPORTFIVE supported Xylem in negotiating a 4-year extension of the partnership with CFG and continues to manage the activation and delivery of all rights.
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Headline campaigns
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Interactions with the Xylem brand worldwide
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Increase in water action
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What's in it for you?
Some of the world’s biggest organisations, from almost every industry, rely on partnerships in sports to help grow their brand. Sport’s truly universal appeal, coupled with its ability to bring together people from all walks of life, make it the perfect platform for businesses to communicate through.
End-to-end activation
Through building a partnership based on shared values, SPORTFIVE have helped Xylem and City Football Group craft a solution which has benefitted both parties. From identifying the partnership and helping to conceptualise its strategy, to activating, developing and bringing campaigns to life, our work has helped bring Xylem’s mission to the forefront for football fans around the globe.
As the world’s leading global sports marketing agency, SPORTFIVE works alongside the biggest brands to activate their partnerships in sports. This has seen us help the likes of LEGO Group, KitKat, ASOS and Mitsubishi to create meaningful activations that resonate with their audience.
