Unicorns of Love play it safe with BILLY BOY partnership

European esports organisation Unicorns of Love (UoL) has agreed on a partnership deal with German condom brand BILLY BOY.

As part of the deal, BILLY BOY will feature on the UoL team jerseys alongside brand activations. The deal will run until the end of 2018.

BILLY BOY was founded in 1990 and is the world’s second largest brand in the condom market with a 20% market share in their home country of Germany.

Johannes Zerger, brand manager at BILLY BOY, commented on the partnership:“At BILLY BOY we are very excited about our ‘first time’ in Esports and cannot think of a more perfect partner than the Unicorns of Love. We had it going on right from the start and something clicked between us and UoL, because the Unicorns are not only the sexiest team in Esports, but we’re also excited to use their influence as a team to jointly educate their fanbase about safer sex and responsibility.”

Unicorns of Love are one of the leading sides in the League of Legends European series. The brand is easily recognisable by its unique name, style and mascot.

Jos Mallant, CEO of Unicorns of Love, had this to say: “It is a great sign that a brand as famous as BILLY BOY is not only on board as our partner in general but also secured a conspicuous logo presence on our sleeves. This partnership is simply a perfect and authentic fit: We will benefit tremendously from BILLY BOY’s market recognition whilst they will actively engage with their relevant target groups. And besides the marketing aspect, we see it as our responsibility to address the sensitive and important topic around safer sex amongst our fans.”

The deal was brokered by Lagardére Sports, the marketing partner of UoL.

Thomas Ottl, Director Esports at Lagardère Sports, added: “This partnership is cheeky, young, dynamic – and fitting! BILLY BOY and the Unicorns share the same casual and at the same time creative communicative approach towards their target groups, which is why we are not only delighted to have brought BILLY BOY on the sleeve of UoL but also cannot wait to get started regarding the planned activation measures.”

Esports Insider says: This is an important deal, educated youth about safe sex and breaking down the walls that make the subject “awkward” to talk about is the reason brands like BILLY BOY have such brash and humour advertising. The esports audience is mostly young adults, the exact group that needs to be exposed to this kind of brand. The brand activations between the two could be interesting, even just handing out condoms at the EULCS would be a smart move.