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News Letter
www.mitre.com
DEC 2010
Introduction Dear Partner, Welcome to the very latest edition of the Mitre Sports International newsletter, featuring all the news since May from around the world. Apologies that it has taken us so long since the last edition! In the new year we intend to send these much more regularly, so please keep your stories coming into myself or your International Business Development Manager. 2010 has been an exciting year for sport, with the World Cup in South Africa and Commonwealth Games in India, as well all the annual events like 6 Nations Rugby. We wish you all a relaxing holiday and a very happy and prosperous new year.
Kind Regards Nicki Lesirge (Marketing Manager)
This newsletter is not meant for sale, any of the images within this newsletter should not be published elsewhere
MITRE NEWSLETTER
Argentina Another store opens in Argentina Congratulations go out to our partner in Argentina who have opened another flagship store in Argentina. The new store is located in the city of R.Castillo, Buenos Aires. This is the eleventh store SGB SA is opening and the plan is to keep growing.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
El Salvador Mitre and El Salvador extend partnership Mitre and El Salvador Soccer Federation (FESFUT) have announced an extension of their partnership for a further four years, which was first initiated in 2008, seeing Mitre supply the Central American national team with all their kit requirements until after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Director of FESFUT, Rafael Villacorta, explained that Mitre were always the preference after a highly successful first two years and because they behaved well during the selection process. The secretary of FESFUT, Caesar Saldana said ‘Mitre have agreed they will be making an improvement to the quality of fabric, but this is one of the small details’. Managing Director of Mitre, Gary Hibbert said ‘We are delighted to continue our partnership with El Salvador and the long-term extension underlines Mitre’s commitment to support Central and South American football, with the brand also being represented with teams in Columbia, Chile, Argentina and Panama. El Salvador has qualified for the World Cup twice, in 1970 and 1982, and will compete to qualify for the Brazilian World Cup in 2014.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
El Salvador El Salvador Qualify for Rome World Cup Beach Soccer 2011 It was a fantastic tournament for the El Salvador Beach Soccer team, who participated in the Beach Soccer World Cup in Mexico. El Salvador’s group included the countries of Jamaica, Canada and the host, Mexico. This was the third consecutive time in which the national side had qualified for the tournament. The first was in Marseille in 2007 and Dubai in 2008. The highlight of the tournament was the Semi Final match against Costa Rica with the score being 3-3 after extra time with goals from Francisco Velasquez, Takings Hernandez and Agustín Ruiz, the match went to penalties; penalties for El Salvador were scored by Walter and Agustín. The triumph for El Salvador arrived when Jeffren Chavarría failed to score his penalty for Costa Rica and that meant the celebrations could begin. The Final against the hosts Mexico was just as good with the game seeing plenty of goals, El Salvador lost 5-3 but both El Salvador and Mexico have qualified for next years tournament in Rome, Italy.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Colombia Tolima in Final Deportes Tolima joined Once Caldas in the Final of the Liga Postobon after a late winning goal at Santa Fe on Sunday. Santa Fe hosted Tolima in Bogota with the target of earning at least a draw in order to qualify for the Final of Colombia’s top league. The home side missed a number of chances in the first half and allowed Tolima to gain strength after the break. In the 89th minute, Wilder Medina struck the ball over keeper Julio from about 25 meters, to hand the visiting side a spot in the Final and get the celebrations started The first leg of the Final will take place in Tolima’s capital city Ibague on Wednesday 15th December 15th. Four days later, the return leg will be played in Manizales. Good Luck to Tolima in the Final!!
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Denmark Mitre in new collaboration with SønderjyskE 18 months ago they sold their first Mitre football, and already they have made a five year agreement with Sonderjyske Elitesport. SønderjyskE and Initzial, the Danish distributor and licensee for the famous English sports brand, Mitre, have successfully negotiated a new, five-year contract. Under the contract Mitre will supply all of the sportswear for the club and the SønderjyskE teams will be dressed from top to toe in products from the English company. Mitre products will be worn by the following teams, all of which play in the SønderjyskE colours: Men’s football Ice hockey Women’s handball Men’s handball Women’s football
SAS League AL Bank League GuldBageren League 1st. Division 3F League
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Vietnam Preparation underway for Mitre launch in Vietnam Anthony Tang (International Business Development Manager Asia Pacific) was in Vietnam recently to discuss with our licensee the final stages of the Mitre launch in their country. The Mitre/Ebete dual-brand store was being set up, with the official opening expected later this year. (Ebete is our partner’s own brand). This will be the first of several Mitre/Ebete stores planned for major cities in Vietnam in the next couple of years. Samples will be replaced by the new 2011 stock as they start to arrive from factories in the next two months, in time for the official opening. A “Mitre history wall” will be mounted to illustrate the rich heritage of the brand. During Anthony’s visit, he had an opportunity to spend some time with Dong Luc’s design team. Their designers have been hard at work on a range of Mitre lifestyle footwear and apparel. Not only are the designs for the Vietnamese market, they can also represent a great cross-purchasing opportunity for other Mitre partners, especially those in Asia.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Australia & New Zealand Strong rebound for Mitre in Australia & New Zealand We have worked closely with our partners in Australia and New Zealand, Anthony Tang (International Business Development Manager Asia Pacific) visited both countries recently, and witnessed the remarkable job they have done to produce great results in there respective businesses. Areas that have helped drive business was the Tonewalker which is endorsed by the Aerobics Oz Style All-star Ladies, the Mitre toning footwear for woman has sold over 15,000 pairs since the launch in February 2010, also the athletic range has also sold well by leveraging on Mitre athletes such as Mark Schwarzer. An even bigger effort has been made to win back retailers with better support in store merchandising and higher stock level at our licensee’s end to fulfill orders faster.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
UK On-line retailer stocking Mitre products Jersey based on-line retailer Play.com who retail DVDs, CDs, books, gadgets, video games and other electronic products, as well as clothes and accessories will be stocking a number of the Mitre products. The company was founded in 1998 under the name Play247.com, but re-branded as Play.com in 2000. Play.com is the second largest online retailer and will stock a wide range of Mitre products across Football, Netball and Rugby, including balls, bags, accessories, guards, gloves and training equipment.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
UK Mitre’s new partnership with The Consortium Mitre UK have recently entered into a partnership with ‘The Consortium’, the largest independent supplier of education resources in the UK, and for over 30 years they have been providing schools and colleges with all the supplies and services needed to operate on a daily basis whilst teaching the national curriculum. The consortium will stock a wide range of Mitre products across Football, Netball and Rugby, including balls, bags, accessories, guards, gloves and training equipment. We look forward to seeing Mitre products being added to The Consortiums ever growing sports range.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
UK Mitre’s new partnership with ASDA ASDA, part of American retail giants ‘Walmart’ are reinvigorating their sports department with a selection of Mitre Football, Netball and Basketball products. Previously ASDA has stocked a limited range of sports goods and hope to improve their offering to their customers by stocking more reputable items. This new trading relationship will result in Mitre being present in the UK’s top 3 grocery channels, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Mitre launches Global Landing Page As part of Mitre’s global strategy, they have launched a global landing page on their website www.mitre.com The page will allow users of the site to select which language and Country they would like to view the site in. Mitre International hope to work with International partners to grow the territories available through this landing page. The territories that are currently available are Russia, Italy, UK, Ireland, Spain, South America, Australia and Japan.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
England Handball Team winners in Spain In September 2010 The England Mens Handball Team travelled to Valencia, Spain to take part in the EuroPilota Handball Tournament. The team had some fantastic results against Belgium and Italy in the group stages. In the semi-finals they played the reliable and strong Netherlands, but the duo put on a firm performance and decimated the Dutch in straight sets. England were facing the hosts Spain in the Final, this was the biggest game for England in terms of exposure, in front of prime time Live TV and 1000 spectators. The game went to 3 sets with Spain even having match points against England, but England fought back and eventually went on to win the Tournament. It was a phenomenal experience for everyone involved.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
England Netball wins Bronze at the Commonwealth Games The England Netball team were present at the 2010, Commonwealth Games in Delhi. It was a fantastic event with plenty of sports on show. England put on a number of brilliant performances in the group stage and finished 2nd in the group, winning 4 out of 5 games only losing to New Zealand who went on to win Gold. Group Stage Results England 81 – 20 Barbados South Africa 36 – 54 England New Zealand 47 – 41 England England 81 – 33 Cook Islands England 89 – 31 Papua New Guinea Semi Finals Australia 51 – 45 England Bronze Medal England 70 – 47 Jamaica Huge congratulations to everyone involved with the England Netball Team on their Bronze Medal achievement, The England players celebrated their achievement on court, holding a St George flag with “thank you India” written on it.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Mitre Launch Brand New Tensile Microsite Mitre celebrated the launch of its brand new Microsite, fans of all 72 Football League and 12 SPL Clubs were given the chance to win a limited edition Mitre TENSILE football – in their own club colours. The new Microsite is dedicated to the Mitre TENSILE – the official football of the Football League and SPL for the 2010/11 season. The TENSILE is a revolution in football design and technology, comprised of just 10 panels and with over 30% less stitching - optimising power and efficiency, improving airflow and reducing drag. The TENSILE’s graphic design is completely unique; with each of the 72 Football League clubs and 12 SPL Clubs having their own TENSILE matchballs printed in club colours and with their club badge. As well as offering fans the chance to win their club balls, the site includes a background on the unique TENSILE technology, links to see what the players and clubs think of the new ball, along with access to the Mitre Facebook and Twitter feeds. Nicki Lesirge, Marketing Manager for Mitre, commented, “We’re delighted to announce the launch of the TENSILE Microsite. The ball is a revolution in football technology and we’ve already had fantastic feedback from both players and managers. We wanted to give something back to the fans by giving away the club balls, and we hope they’ll continue to engage with their clubs through the Microsite”.
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In the last 2 weeks of the competition a Facebook advert was created to give it that final push to reach a wider audience. The results we received from this was amazing, we had an increase in over 8,000 fans on Facebook, an increase in over 650 followers on Twitter and over 10,000 views and still rising on the Microsite. If you haven’t seen it yet..take a look!! www.whateveryourcolours.com
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
In order to make the Microsite an ever greater success the Football League, SPL and a number of Clubs in the respective leagues were contacted to inform them of the Microsite and how they could help in terms of promoting the Microsite and the competition to their fans, with regular posts and tweets on the clubs official pages and social network pages, the number of fans increased at a very fast rate.
MITRE NEWSLETTER
Mark Schwarzer rewarded for his great year Mark Schwarzer was awarded Football Australia’s Player of the Year and also voted Player of the Year by his fellow players at the Australian Football Awards. Mark’s International Career has spanned over 17 years, and has been a consistent performer for both club and Country. Schwarzer had another fantastic season with Fulham FC where he made a total of 54 appearances which included 37 in the English Premier League, 5 in the FA Cup and a fantastic 12 match run in the Europa League where he helped lead Fulham to the Final against Atletico Madrid. On the international stage, Schwarzer made 10 appearances in the past year and was a key member of the National Team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Mark played every minute of every Australian match during the tournament. Apart from being the Qantas Socceroo with the longest international playing career, Schwarzer also has the third highest number of A-International caps for the team and the most number of clean-sheets of any Australian goalkeeper.
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Intelligent Compression unveiled on the SoccerAM Technology Table Mitre made it onto one of Sky’s most popular television programs in October, SoccerAM which is watched by millions of football fans up and down the country witnessed Mitre’s new innovation make it onto the Tecnology Table, with Max and Helen (presenters) explaining and demonstrating how the Intelligent Compression works. Intelligent COMPRESSION guards provide enhanced protection to the player by spreading the initial impact shock to the outer edges of the guard, before a three stage progressive compression gradually absorbs the rest of the impact: STAGE 1: Initial Impact STAGE 2: Cavity Compression STAGE 3: Structural Compression
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MITRE NEWSLETTER
Facebook & Twitter We currently have over 14,300 fans on Facebook and 1700 followers on Twitter. Recent content added: - Weekly posts on fixtures and getting fans to give us their score predictions. - Whatever Your Colours Competition - creating a ‘Tab’ to go with the Microsite. - England Netball at the Commonwealth Games - giving scores and Match Reports. - Teams from around the world (Banfield, Tolima, Deportivo Cali).
If you have not already joined, please go to: www.facebook.com/mitre
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www.twitter.com/MitreSports
MITRE NEWSLETTER
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