AND THE NEW APPOINTED BY TECNO MOBILE TO ACTIVATE ITS BIGGEST EVER YEAR OF PARTNERSHIP WITH PREMIER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS MANCHESTER CITY

AND THE NEW have made their first venture into Premier League football, being appointed as TECNO Mobile’s marketing agency to activate their partnership with Manchester City.

TECNO Mobile, international mobile handset leader and Global Official Handset Partner to City, have used the partnership as a platform to connect and engage passionate fans worldwide through a love of football since 2016.

Now, as the partnership enters a new era, AND THE NEW have been chosen to take the partnership to the next level throughout the 2021/22 season.

Starting with a world-first digital marketing campaign in football that utilises cutting-edge web-based augmented reality technology, AND THE NEW will help TECNO to take take its global markets and football fans closer to the current Premier League champions than ever before.

The campaign, which will run across January and February this year, will allow users to enter the virtual world of Manchester City through their built-in smartphone camera – accessible via via QR code or URL and without the added requirement of downloading an app – to uncover a host of exciting content, innovative functionalities and brand engagement opportunities.

Within the experience, audiences will live and breathe what it’s like to become Manchester City’s latest transfer arrival, as they browse and interact with the club’s environment in unprecedented ways.

Courtesy of advanced augmented reality integrations, fans will be able to place an Etihad Stadium AR filter in any physical location upon entry, before proceeding to explore City’s home and nearby City Football Academy training campus in navigable 360° UX, cross paths with first-team players in their natural surroundings, sign their new contract and utilise personalisation features such as selecting their squad number.

In addition, AND THE NEW will create a custom developed 3D penalty shootout game, which will see take part in a unique mobile spot-kick challenge. Through shareable score functionality, audiences can then post their results across social media using the campaign hashtag to enter into a competition to win an all-expenses-paid VIP trip to a Manchester City Premier League game - with 14 lucky winners from across core TECNO markets qualifying for the prize.

Running concurrently with the augmented reality experience will be an integrated campaign across TECNO Mobile’s organic and paid digital platforms that provides daily touchpoints with the experience, including exclusive illustrated mobile wallpapers, multi-strand video content and further competitions, driving significant campaign traffic and engagement.

With the ability to reach international audiences in the tens of millions and using augmented reality to drive more authentic dwell time and engagement, AND THE NEW will aim to produce TECNO Mobile’s most successful sports marketing campaign to date.

Dan Connor, AND THE NEW’s Co-Founder and Digital and Content Director, said: “We were so excited when TECNO Mobile approached us asking if we could propose something that had never been done before in global football. That’s our kind of brief!

“We put a lot of time into creating an idea that would truly move the needle for TECNO – and we think we’ve landed on a concept that will set them apart from anything that’s been done across Premier League and international sports partnerships before.

"We're delighted to be working with a brand that want to go bigger, bolder and do things differently. Keep your eyes peeled throughout the first few months of 2022 to see what we've got in store!”

In addition to the augmented reality and ongoing partnership campaigns, AND THE NEW will assist TECNO Mobile across a range of other areas, such as sponsorship consulting, digital content strategy and D2C sales campaigns.