At the start of the summer season and coinciding with the Lord’s test match between England and Ireland, Laithwaites began leveraging its new status as the Official Wine Partner of England Cricket through an integrated marketing programme which included a partnership with broadcaster Sky Sports.
Earlier in May, Laithwaites and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced a multi-year England Cricket partnership, and to bring the tie-up to life the wine brand co-sponsored Sky Sports cricket coverage.
The campaign kicked off on 1 June around the England v Ireland test match which was played ahead of the summer Ashes Series showpiece against Australia which will run from 16 June to 31 July at five grounds (Edgbaston, Emirates Old Trafford, Headingly, Lords and The Kia Oval in four UK cities (Birmingham, Leeds, London and Manchester).
Created by creative and production agency cain&abelDDB and independent media agency Medialab (with PR by Mike Worldwide), the activation runs across multiple platforms and touchpoints and aims to bring wine and cricket together and to showcase exclusive benefits and offers to England cricket fans and drive sales around international matches through the summer.
The campaign includes a range of assets across Sky Sports’ cricket coverage as well as an integrated digital campaign using Sky’s AdVance technology led by a series of idents that celebrate cricketing moments, plus bespoke cricket illustrations.
The cricket activation programme also encompasses Laithwaites’ current 360-degree mainstream, multi-channel campaign which launched at the end of April and saw the wine company champion its commitment to winemaking and celebrate its journey to deliver quality wine.
This was spearheaded by a hero spot titled ‘We Stop At Nothing To Bring You Great Wine’.
“We are thrilled to partner with England Cricket, especially in such a landmark summer,” outlined Laithwaites Wine Marketing Director Matt Knight. “This relationship comes at such an exciting time for English cricket and gives us the perfect opportunity to reach out to wine lovers across the country, and to introduce them to great wines from around the world.”
Laithwaites Head of Brand James Morrison added: ‘What a partnership! Absolutely delighted to be joining forces with England Cricket and Sky Sports. At such an exciting time for England Cricket, it’s a perfect time to reach out and quench the thirst of wine lovers across the country.”
Karin Seymour, Director of Client and Marketing at Sky, said, “We’re thrilled to have Laithwaites Wines join us for an epic summer of sport as co-sponsor of The Ashes. As the ECB’s Official Wine Partner, extending their partnership with Sky Sports’ broadcast and digital platforms, is the perfect pairing for engaging new and existing customers.”
“It’s been great to get to grips with this new initiative, straight off the bat of the recent TV ad and a fantastic partnership is already developing,” Said cain&abelDDB Managing Partner Mike Turnbull. “But then again, when you bring together Laithwaites Wine and cricket, what’s not to love.”
Medialab Executive Director Steve Parker commented: “This is an outstanding example of client, creative team, broadcaster and media agency collaborating at pace and with clarity to deliver contextually brilliant brand messaging for Laithwaites to support such an iconic Test series.”
Comment
2023’s busy summer of cricket marketing campaigns in the UK actually began back in September 2022 with the ECB’s ‘Ashes, Two Ashes’ ticket sales drive.
Other notable recent wine brand cricket campaigns range from Jacob’s Creek’s 20223 ICC ‘A Drop Worth Sharing’ initiative and its 2021 ‘Break Of Play’ campaign, plus former ECB wine partner Hardy’s ‘The Rules’ and the same brand’s Ashes campaigns in 2017 (see case study) and 2015 (see case study).
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