Yokohama Hires WePlay for Social Media Brand Development Following Chelsea Sponsorship

Yokohama, the Japanese tyre company, is looking to digital sports agency WePlay to get a grip online as it aims to capitalise on its sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC.

Yokohama’s five year sponsorship deal with Chelsea FC, which was signed in February, is one of the largest sponsorship deals in the history of English football, so it is understandable why the Japanese brand wants to maximise returns.

Amid speculation of a potential release date, the new kit was unveiled recently during a press conference at Stamford Bridge.

Yokohama is hopeful that the unveiling will mark the beginning of a new relationship between them and the Chelsea FC global fan base.

Making the unknown, known

Yokohama has appointed WePlay, tasking the specialist digital agency with handling the strategy and execution across all of its social channels, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.

Kazu Sekiguchi at Yokohama comments: “Our deal with Chelsea FC is a key part of our plans to raise our global profile and WePlay will be fundamental to our efforts to promote this relationship.

“We knew that engaging Chelsea FC fans on social wouldn’t be something we could just do; we needed a partner who could use their expertise to support us and help us achieve our objectives.

“From our initial discussions, WePlay will do just that and more, and we look forward to seeing how our first forays go down with football fans.”

Luca Massaro, CEO of WePlay, concludes: “A lot of people will be curious to find out more about the company, especially when they see the name Yokohama Tyres sprawled across the front of one of England’s most successful football clubs.

“We’re looking forward to helping Yokohama capitalise on the influx of interest their agreement with last year’s Premier League champions will bring and showing them the full potential of social media.”