In July 2023, Peloton Interactive announced its partnership with Liverpool Football Club. Commenting on the new partnership, Charles Quartey, Senior Director of International Marketing for fitness brand said, “Peloton delivers an unparalleled fitness experience with thousands of classes across different fitness disciplines, expert instruction, and great music. The collaboration with Liverpool FC gives us an opportunity to introduce more people to the range of content Peloton offers.”

Nothing extraordinary about the initial partnership announcement. It makes sense, of course. In fact, where does your mind go when you think about brand ambassadors in football? The players, right? 

From Beckham to Messi and Zidane, sports brands have always been associated with some of the biggest names on the football field.

Remember Adidas’ ‘Impossible Is Nothing’ ads? Strategist Julian Cole takes us through their ten best below: 

And Pepsi has become synonymous with football and summer. They’ve gifted us with some of the most iconic commercials of the last 30 years. The ones you don’t skip. 

Remember Pepsi’s “Medieval Fight” with Beckham, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Totti?

But, today, Peloton Interactive has done something different. They've just announced their partnership with Liverpool Football Club manager, Jürgen Klopp. Klopp is twinned with excellent leadership, commitment and endurance. In an interview for his club he said, "I try everything to be as successful as possible. I live 100 per cent for the boys, with the boys, what we do for the club. I think that’s leadership in the first case.”

At the weekend we saw this commitment in action. He expressed, "We played in the most difficult circumstance I've ever had," referring to the cruel kidnapping of Luiz Diaz’s parents in his native Colombia. Speaking to Sky Sports Klopp said, "The best thing we could do for our brother was that we win the game and distract him a little bit maybe, all the rest was super special in the most negative understanding…But it's not about us, it's about 'Lucho' and his family, and we all pray and hope that everything will be fine…the only thing we could do today was fight for their brother - and that's what they did."

Bravo to Peloton for getting this together - a great evolution of their partnership with the club.

And what we find most refreshing is their video is shot with Jürgen speaking entirely in his first language, German. A really nice touch.

Watch it here: 

The campaign was created by M&C Saatchi Berlin and produced by Markenfilm Hamburg GmbH. Credit also to Jannis Klausch, Simona Schapiro, Sina Jahnke, Christian "Kidde" Schuck, Garsztecki Sandra, Lorenz Marcus

And Mike Jaeggle & Constantin Bourmer for collaboration in getting this partnership launched.

Also, Peloton Interactive colleagues involved in getting this over the line: Julana Chondrasch, 🇺🇦Charles Quartey, Kezia B.,Tim Kay, Ulrich Lützenkirchen, Carol Sebben