Everton and technical partner hummel’s More Then Eleven 2020/21 kit launch campaign, which spotlighted the strong bond between the Blues and their diverse worldwide fanbase, has taken the top prize at the UK Sponsorship Awards.
Everton and hummel won the Sports Partnerships - Football – Social Impact category for their 2020/21 first, second and third kit launches – the first collaboration between Everton and their new technical partner.
As the world faced the pandemic, and football was dealing with its impact, the More Than Eleven campaign focussed on the relationship between Everton – The People’s Club – and its worldwide community whose role is vital to the Club’s success.
Each kit launch aimed to celebrate and embrace the diversity within the club’s passionate fanbase and promote equality and inclusion for all – and saw members of Everton in the Community’s disability programme become the lead models for the record-breaking seafoam and charcoal third kit.
The home kit built on the emotional connection between the fans and Club, charting how the game has changed, enduring icons, and how Evertonians show strength in unity. Former Everton player Thomas Gravesen, also a hummel ambassador, featured in the launch video talking from personal experience about Evertonians and the Club’s sense of passion and family.
To watch the ‘More Than Eleven’ 2020/21 Home kit launch click here.
The away kit celebrated Everton’s famous amber and blue away kits of the 1960s and 70s and those fans who enjoy away days, while the longstanding ties between hummel and Everton were also reflected with references to the white hummel boots worn by Alan Ball in the 1970 title season.
hummel’s teaser video showed the Goodison Park ‘Holy Trinity’ statue (Howard Kendall, Colin Harvey and Alan Ball) bathed in an amber light, and the kit was unveiled with a video using vintage footage of the teams of the 1960s and 1970s in an amber kit alongside contemporary footage of fans around the world.
To watch the ‘More Than Eleven’ 2020/21 Away Kit launch click here.
The Third kit launch delivered a first for football – a ground-breaking non-player led kit which saw six players from Everton in the Community’s Disability Programmes become the lead models for the campaign, appearing in all retail, creative and in-store materials – and showcasing hummel’s commitment to investing in Everton in the Community.
The launch also celebrated the 20thanniversary of Everton in the Community’s Disability programmes, and saw hummel pledge to invest directly into Everton’s disability projects, including leading a year-long education and training initiative that will see 20 Everton in the Community participants join the Stage One Coaching Programme, opening up opportunities for future employment as disability coaches. Fans from across the world took to social media to praise the Club’s inclusivity.
To watch the ‘More Than Eleven’ 2020/21 Third Kit launch click here.
More than Eleven created a wave of support and excitement online with fans praising the new kit designs and the people-focussed campaign – leading to the Club’s three most successful kits of all time.
The 2020/21 home kit is now the Club’s fastest-selling Everton kit and holds the highest-ever one day sales record, the amber and blue away kit is the number 1 highest-selling away kit in the Club’s history and the seafoam and charcoal third kit gave Everton their highest ever first day sales for a third kit.
