Multicultural Player Led MLS & Home Depot ‘Summer of Soccer' Celebrates Partnership Extension

Mid June saw Major League Soccer (MLS) and The Home Depot roll out a collaborative summer brand campaign which highlights the league’s multi-cultural stars and the home improvement company’s home appliance product innovation from LG Electronics.

The digital campaign launch also celebrates the announcement of The Home Depot’s multi-year partnership extension with the league which runs through the end of the 2022 season and which sees it become a partner of the 2019 Campeones Cup

A strong stable of MLS soccer stars front a new series of spots promoting The Home Depot’s line of products.

These include 2017 MLS MVP Diego Valeri of the Portland Timbers, Diego Rossi, the 21-year-old star of LAFC and the Uruguayan National Team, Chicago Fire and German National Team icon Bastian Schweinsteiger and 22-year-old Daniel Salloi, the standout striker for Sporting Kansas City, as well as Dom Dwyer (Orlando City SC), Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Danny Hoesen (San Jose Earthquakes), and Adama Diomande (LAFC).

“The Home Depot’s ‘Summer of Soccer’ brand campaign is a great example of how The Home Depot authentically incorporates MLS stars into their marketing to provide fun and immersive experiences, like tailgate parties, to fans,” said MLS Senior Vice President of Partnership Marketing Jen Cramer.

“The Home Depot has been a long-term and valued partner of MLS. We are delighted to expand our partnership and look forward to working with them for many years to come.”

“Through this partnership, we’ve had the opportunity to host millions of soccer fans at tailgates and experiential events. We look forward to continuing to engage with this fan base,” added Drew Keenan, Senior Director of Media Planning and Buying at The Home Depot.

Comment:

A focus on multiculturalism has been a strong creative thread throughout much of the recent MLS marketing: for example, the league’s own ‘Our Soccer’ campaign promoting the new 2019 season showcased the league’s multicultural make up and appeal (see case study).

So this campaign suggests that there is plenty of joined up thinking and two-way communication going on between the MLS and its sponsors.

While only three MLS play in orange jerseys, but orange appears in all the MLS stadiums around the country – Home Depot orange,that is – due to the brand’s role as the league’s exclusive home improvement retailer since 2008.

The recently announced multi-year partnership extension sees that status and that colour extended in the league through the end of the 2022 season.

MLS has thrived since the original partnership was penned more than a decade ago.

In fact, since The Home Depot became a sponsoring partner of the MLS, the league has grown from 14 teams to 24.

The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer with 2,289 retail stores in the US, Canada and Mexico, has been a sponsor of the Mexican Men’s National Team since 2003 and of MLS since back in 2008.

As part of the renewed and extended tie-up, The Home Depot becomes the exclusive home improvement retailer of the MLS and the Mexican National Team and it has expanded rights as a 2019 partner of Campeones Cup.

The Home Depot is also a sponsor of its hometown team Atlanta United.

Links:

The Home Depot

https://www.homedepot.com/

http://blog.homedepot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/homedepot

https://twitter.com/HomeDepot

http://pinterest.com/homedepot/

http://www.youtube.com/user/homedepot

MLS

https://www.youtube.com/user/mls

http://mlssoccer.com