P&G ploughs £6m into Premiership deal

Procter & Gamble brand Wash & Go has signed up to be an official partner of the English Premier League, and is ploughing its total TV advertising budget – &£6m – into the deal.

P&G has decided to axe all TV support and has ditched its agency for the brand Leo Burnett. It has hired Premier Sponsorship and Manchester agency Powell Communications to handle the new strategy, which includes major sampling and promotional campaigns.

Wash & Go joins McDonald’s, Visa, Sky Sports and The Daily Telegraph as second-tier sponsors behind Carling. It plans to use the sponsorship to reinforce the brand’s sports image and will use the strapline: “A simply great supporter of football.”

Wash & Go marketing manager Chris Jansen says: “The majority of our consumers are young, active men who spend a lot of time playing and watching sports, particularly football. We need to reach them at these venues – they don’t watch a lot of TV.”

The deal incorporates perimeter boards, the right to use the FA logo on all packaging and access to supporters inside the grounds.

P&G will run a major sampling drive to support the sponsorship, including activity around Premiership grounds. Sampling will be backed by local radio and press drives.

The move is evidence of P&G’s switch into non-broadcast media. It has soared from 24th to fourth in the UK outdoor ad spend league (MW November 18).