Member Article

XO partners with XBOX for this year's Wembley Cup

YouTube channel XO are one of the teams that are participating in this years Wembley Cup on November 25th. This will be the first outing for XO FC, who are the newest team in an event heading into its fourth year.

This year Wembley Cup is ripping up the rules and giving fans what they want to see…an epic tournament featuring YouTube’s most talked about teams, legends and rising stars, and new twists on old rules.

This has already been a huge year for YouTube sports entertainment, with KSI’s fights with Joe Weller and Logan Paul eclipsing the viewing figures of some of boxing’s most highly anticipated fights.

XO + XBOX partnership

XO are delighted to announce a partnership with XBOX that will see the gaming giants feature as the team’s main sponsor. Crucially, this sponsorship goes well beyond a logo on the football kit (even though this one looks particularly cool).

XBOX are powering a four part YouTube series that will document XO FC’s journey to Wembley. From inception, to the final itself this series will be integrating XBOX at every step of the way.

XBOX becomes the facilitator

XO has a knack for integrating brands without interference. Young people are savvier than ever when it comes to advertising. The average digital advert is skipped after 1.3 seconds. Partnerships such as this one allow the creators to give the audience more of what they want.

XO prides itself on being totally transparent with its audience. This unusual level of honesty has really resonated with the fans, who are invested in the journey of the influencers. We’ve entered an age where YouTube subscribers will judge you on your ability to integrate a brand well, and add to their viewing experience.

This partnership positions XBOX as the perfect facilitator for XO FC, as the core values of both brands are brought together in perfect unison.

XO’s creative director on the partnership:

XO’s True Geordie and Laurence Mckenna were the commentary team for both the YouTube boxing matches, and the previous Wembley Cups. This year, they’ll be moving from the commentary box to the pitch. Laurence Mckenna had this to say on the tournament, and partnership with Xbox:

“The Wembley Cup is a great opportunity for us to introduce new friends to the channel and show their strengths and personalities. We’re seen as the underdogs in this tournament so our football is automatically more exciting and mysterious than the other teams. There’s something cool about having that role in the whole thing.”

“If you’d have told my teenage self that Xbox would be sponsoring our football team one day, I would have ignored you because I was playing Xbox. For us this is just the start of the journey, we hope that Xbox come with us along the road.”

“XO has been a chance for us to hang out as friends and do something we are passionate about. Now is the time to take it to the next level and The Wembley Cup is our jump-off point. We’re enjoying the experience and trying to challenge ourselves.”

Comment from XBOX:

“At Xbox, we are very excited about this sponsorship as it aligns the brand with the key passion point of football in an original way”.

“With the launch last year of the Xbox One X and Xbox One S consoles, it is important for us maintain hype and excitement around the ecosystem and, therefore, a media campaign containing YouTube-style events -with innovative content series- is a great win for us”.

“It’s repeatedly been proven that influencer-led content is a great way to develop awareness in an authentic and engaging way. And this year, at Xbox, we were looking for innovative opportunities to reach a more diverse set of audiences. Therefore, the opportunity to sponsor the XO team at the Wembley cup made perfect sense to us”.

“We wish best of luck to the XO team”.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Wimalasundera .