PowerBar and the World Triathlon Corporation, owners of the Ironman brand, announced an exclusive three-year global sponsorship agreement. The deal designates PowerBar as the Official Global Energy Bar and Energy Gel Sponsor from 2006 through 2008 for all U.S. and international Ironman qualifying events, the Ironman 70.3 series, and the Ford Ironman World Championship.
For PowerBar, the partnership with the WTC marks the company's first international sports marketing deal. This strategic alignment will further Nestle's goal of achieving worldwide leadership in the rapidly growing sport nutrition category. Through the agreement, PowerBar will leverage the international Ironman program as a platform for its sports nutrition education initiatives and will support the sponsorship via advertising, promotions, and sports marketing. Powerbar Performance energy bars and Powerbar Powergel energy gels, endorsed as Official Products of Ironman, will be on-course at more than 40 Ironman events in more than 17 countries each year.
Partners such as Timex, Ford, FosterGrant, Cannondale, and Keys Fitness have made Ironman the number-one user-based sports brand in the world. These partnerships continue to help meet the needs of Ironman athletes as well as the active consumer. The nutritional needs of Ironman athletes are vast, with more than 25,000 units of PowerBar product being consumed on Ironman race day alone. Athletes training for Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events will make PowerBar products a key component of their training regimen, as athletes recognize the importance of training and racing with sports nutrition products that deliver consistent results.
“The new global partnership builds on a terrific relationship we've enjoyed with Ironman for years. It not only allows PowerBar to expand its range of technical sports nutrition resources into new markets, but also officially provides all Ironman athletes with the same critical PowerBar race-day nutrition tools that they've relied on throughout their training,” said Philip Annett, global business head for performance nutrition at Nestle Nutrition. “We look forward to collaborative marketing and education initiatives designed to support the world's top endurance athletes and to expand the sport of triathlon and both our brands to a wider international athletic community.”
