LV=
2023 marked LV=’s third year as Official Partner of Men’s and Women’s Test Cricket, and there can’t be many better ways to go out than with Ashes Test Matches. To mark it, we helped LV= create and produce the ‘Urn It’ content series, which follows four England stars, including double-centurion and history maker Tammy Beaumont, as they geared up for a momentous double Ashes.
The team was also on-site activating at each of the six LV= Insurance Ashes Test Match venues across the country, which offered fans the chance to take an AR photo with England Test players and the official trophy. Away from the field of play, LV=’s Funds4Runs initiative continued to raise much needed money for the game, with star bowler Sophie Ecclestone visiting Gedling Colliery Cricket Club to put on a bowling masterclass ahead of the historic Women’s Ashes Test.
CSM also delivered a collaboration between influencers Cricket District and LV= to demonstrate the brand’s support for the game from grass roots to elite. A video of England Men’s record-breaking pair of Stuart Broad & James Anderson bowling at two village cricketers has now received more than 2.2m views on YouTube alone. Read a full rundown of LV=’s work here.
Radox & Laithwaites Wine
Complimenting the ECB’s existing partners were two new sponsors, who we were delighted to help bring on board this summer. Unilever brand Radox was the first to announce an Official Partnership covering the Men’s, Women’s and Disability England teams. We helped bring that partnership to life with a campaign focusing on the summer’s “most refreshing” moments.
Laithwaites Wines – the UK’s leading home delivery wine merchant, also came together with the ECB as the Official Wine Partner of England Cricket in a deal we brokered. The brand leveraged the partnership to celebrate “Vintage Moments” in English and Welsh cricket.
To mark the launch of the partnership, we organized a range of media interviews with CSM client, legendary fast bowler and part-time wine connoisseur, Stuart Broad. You can read one of those, here.
Marmite, The Barmy Army and Stuart Broad
What’s an Ashes series without a bit of friendly rivalry? On the eve of the series, we brought Marmite together with English cricket’s unofficial 12th man, The Barmy Army, and Stuart Broad with the aim of providing added support for the team from the terraces. Broad, Australia’s arch nemesis and the man they love to hate, acted as brand ambassador, helping spread the Marmite gospel even further this summer. Marmite, in turn, left no stone unturned in their attempt to help him.
To mark the partnership, we put together a launch video featuring the fictitious ‘Head of Marmite’ working alongside the newly christened “Marmy Army” to compose a song for Broad, which rung around the grounds throughout the series.
And when Broad brought the curtain down on his career with that most fairy-tale finish, we couldn’t help but leap at the opportunity for one last bit of tongue-in-cheek reactive content.
KP Snacks
With the early English summer defined by a gripping double Ashes series, all eyes turned to The Hundred in August. To mark the occasion, we helped Official Team Partner of the tournament, KP Snacks, launch an initiative to fund 100 new community non-turf cricket pitches over the next three years. Thirty-five pitches will be installed and ready to use and play on this year, with the remaining completed over the next two years.
Teaming up with the ECB, the initiative aims to give people across the country more opportunities to play cricket than ever before – part of the brand’s commitment to give back to local communities and encourage more people to get active through the sport.
Ollie Pope x The R&A
Cricket may have stolen the headlines, but it was also a big summer of golf in the UK, and we leveraged the opportunity to bring our client, Ollie Pope, together with leading UK presenter, Dan Walker, as the first guest on his new ‘Dan Walker Meets…’ mini-series.
Filmed in the lead up to the AIG Women’s Open, which came to Walton Heath in August, the pair chatted the Ashes, England’s top five golfers and much more over a few friendly holes of golf. Ollie even managed to put a ball within ten feet of the hole using his cricket bat! You can watch that here.
Sure
We also worked together with Sure, a fellow partner of the Hundred, on its Non-Stop 72 Hour Challenge, featuring top players taking on various cricket-based drills.
Tymal Mills, Kirstie Gordon, Zak Crawley and Sam Billings all took part, including challenges that saw who could pad up the quickest, and who was most accurate when it came to knocking down deodorant cans when batting and bowling. You can watch one of those episodes, here.
CSM Live
It’s also been an incredibly busy two months for our CSM Live team, too, who have been on the road servicing matches at the LV= Insurance Men’s Ashes Series, the Metro Bank Women’s Ashes Series and The Hundred, come rain or shine. Throughout the Ashes, the team developed and installed opening ceremonies, match day flags, and concourse branding. In addition, all printed in-bowl sponsor branding and staging at the end of the series.
There was little time to rest, as the Hundred was up and running just one week later, and our team once again provided all branding and event dressing across all venues in the tournament. The tiers were decorated with each team’s vibrant colours, ensuring each venue stood out with its bright colour scheme and family-friendly atmosphere. In addition, the team also ensured the commercial branding requirements for the new Presenting Partner, Compare The Market, were met and those of the existing Hundred partners.
