Is personal care and laundry partnership a first?

One has to admire the ingenuity of the marketing team at Manchester United in terms of thinking up new forms of sponsorship. A personal care and laundry partnership is a new one on me. At any rate is not as inappropriate as the Greek amateur team that responded to the financial crisis by obtaining sponsorship from two local brothels.

One has to admire the ingenuity of the marketing team at Manchester United in terms of thinking up new forms of sponsorship. A personal care and laundry partnership is a new one on me. At any rate is not as inappropriate as the Greek amateur team that responded to the financial crisis by obtaining sponsorship from two local brothels.

Unilever and Manchester United have today announced the signing of a three-year regional partnership in South East Asia. The new agreement will see Unilever become the club’s Official Personal Care and Laundry Partner in nine countries including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The deal will now see a number of Unilever’s personal care and laundry products such as Clear, Omo and Rexona carry the Manchester United crest in the region.

There is a commercial rationale behind this as far as Unilever are concerned. They are very dependent on emerging markets and they have been hit by a recent slump in sales there as these economies have faltered.

Meanwhile, I am wondering if my non-league club should team up with our local launderette. Having the washing machine in our vice-presidents’ lounge is quite an inconvenience.