The Breton company Malo, famous for its yogurts, is the jersey sponsor of Stade Brestois this season in the Champions League. A boon for the Still group brand, which did not expect such exposure when associating with the football club around forty years ago. The Saint-Malo firm wishes to take advantage of the C1 to increase its notoriety, strengthen its image and open up new horizons abroad.
Seeing its logo on the chest of the co-leaders of the Champions League was not really the original plan. But this is the nice surprise that the Malo company is experiencing at the start of autumn. The Breton brand, renowned for the quality of its yogurts, is the jersey sponsor of Stade Brestois for its first European Cup campaign. A deal negotiated specifically with the Finistère club, of which the Still group firm (founded in 1948 in Saint-Malo) has been a partner for around forty years.
In Ligue 1, Malo and its dairy products have been present for five years only on the away jersey. At home, the Brestois play with the logo of Queguiner Matériaux, a Breton construction materials group.
Un maillot collector
But for their baptism in the Champions League, Éric Roy’s players display the Malo crest on each of their outings via a collector’s tunic created by Adidas.
“We signed a new contract specifically for this Champions League,” Sébastien Floc’h, general manager of Still, told RMC Sport.
“We have completed the usual financial arrangements to have the honor of being on the Stade Brestois jersey in this fantastic competition. It is a new opportunity for us to promote our brand on a larger scale. It gives us access to worlds to which we are not accustomed”, continues the Breton leader.
When it came time to quantify this unexpected deal, the historic partners quickly found common ground. The negotiations were facilitated by the good relations between Gilles Flac’hun, Still’s boss, and Denis Le Saint, the club’s president. Malo agreed to pay in addition almost half of the amount paid per year for Ligue 1. “We have made a significant effort, but it remains measured and punctual”, summarizes the CEO of the Breton company. “Everything is done in a very reasonable and careful manner. There was no madness.”
“Happiness at all levels”
Malo knew FC Brest Armorique (its former name) at the end of the 1980s, with talents like David Ginola, Bernard Lama, Paul Le Guen and Stéphane Guivarc’h. And the brand has never let go of the Pirates, despite a huge downturn in the 1990s and a descent to National 2. Seeing Stade Brestois at the top of the Champions League today is necessarily something special. ‘a little unreal for such a long-time ally.
“There is a lot of pride,” recognizes Sébastien Floc’h.
“Within the group, it creates a lot of happiness at all levels. We are here to experience a collective adventure, with our values. When we do things well, it ends up paying off. It reassures us and makes us optimistic for the rest”, says the CEO.
In L1, Malo displays its brand in different places at the Francis-Le Blé stadium, notably by placing a giant pot of yogurt behind each corner post. But this is not the case at the Roudourou stadium in Guingamp, where Stade Brestois hosts for its C1 matches. Blame it on UEFA regulations, which favor its own sponsors.
Nothing to upset the Ille-et-Vilaine dairy, delighted to be able to benefit from this exceptional exhibition. “We take full advantage of this with our partners, our producers and our customers to organize great moments of conviviality,” summarizes the CEO of Malo. The company’s employees also benefit from advantageous offers to secure places in the most prestigious European competition.
Commercial exchanges planned during Barça-Brest
The stakes of this partnership are multiple for Malo and its yogurts. The first objective is to strengthen the image of the brand, which is displayed in the wake of Brestois on television, on the networks or in the media. “The day after the victory in Salzburg (0-4, October 1, Editor’s note), we had the honor of making the front page of The Teamwith our brand clearly appearing”, relishes the Breton manager, whose three children are fans of the club. “These are things that count in the end. It has a positive impact on our awareness rate, by allowing the public to know who we are and to trust us. That’s what we’re playing on, very clearly.”
The leaders of the Saint-Malo firm also intend to take advantage of their privileged access to the stands to strengthen certain commercial relationships and establish new ones. Starting with the trip to the FC Barcelona den on November 26.
“It’s a very important date,” confirms Séastien Floc’h.
“We are going to prepare it well so that we can capitalize on it in a relevant way,” he explains. “We are going to bring together around fifty people in Barcelona around this poster, with employees, customers or partners. This will be an opportunity to present or remind you what our products are, how we work and convince our partners a little more to trust us.”
The idea will also be to find a gateway to the other side of the Pyrenees, to access areas that are still unexplored. “Spanish distributors will be present. We will be able to share a great sporting moment, discuss our values and try to persuade them to work with us tomorrow. There is a real commercial issue around this match, with the intention of signing contracts with a view to exporting our products to the Spanish territories.”
“We had a lot of requests for the Real reception”
Discussions will undoubtedly continue on January 29 when Real Madrid of Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Jr come to challenge Brest at Roudourou. A golden opportunity for Malo. “We have selected partners who will certainly be flattered that we share this moment with them. They are aware that Stade Brestois could have sold four or five times more tickets for this match. We have had a lot of requests, we cannot couldn’t say yes to everyone, but those who will be there know that they will experience a special moment. It strengthens our bonds of trust, including on a commercial level.
During these two matches against the Liga giants, Sébastien Floc’h does not necessarily expect an exploit from the Ty’Zefs, even if he does not stop himself from dreaming. “For the wink, ‘malo’ means ‘bad’ in Spanish,” he slips, amused. “The Brestois will face Barça and Real with the inscription ‘bad’ on their jerseys and we will laugh when the ‘bad’ ones win.”
The Champions League to “conquer new horizons”
Concerning the impact of Brest’s jersey sponsorship on yogurt sales, it remains difficult to measure, even if Malo has shown increasing results in recent months. Overall, the Still group generates 25% of its turnover from exports, mainly in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Its products are also sold in Northern Europe (England, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium). On the other hand, despite Brest’s two matches against Sturm Graz and Salzburg, no particular movement was noted in Austria, where Malo is not distributed.
“It’s one of the things we could imagine in the future,” breathes the CEO of Still.
“It takes time,” he explains, “but an experience like that of the Champions League can make us want to cross certain boundaries and conquer new horizons.”
In the meantime, no special packaging has been put in place around the performances of Stade Brestois, even if “surprises” are to be expected in the months to come, particularly in the event of qualification in the round of 16. “The day after the overwhelming victory at Red Bull Salzburg, I suggested to the team that we make a Red Bull Malo yogurt,” jokes Sébatien Floc’h. “We’re going to try to do one as a joke. We’re relaxed about it, but I’m not sure Red Bull is as relaxed, so we’re still going to be careful (laughs).”
Brendan Chardonnet “major consumer” of yogurts
Beyond this enchanted parenthesis in C1, the Saint-Malo dairy is delighted to move forward alongside Stade Brestois, with whom it maintains very close links on a daily basis. “We are close to the managers, some are even friends. And we can regularly meet coach Éric Roy and his staff. It’s very pleasant,” says the brand’s general director.
“Among the players, captain Brendan Chardonnet is a big consumer of our products, that really pleases us,” he also reveals.
Malo also supports other clubs in Brittany, such as Stade Rennais, US Saint-Malo (N2) or RC Vannes, promoted this season to the Top 14. The contract with Brest is tacitly renewed each year and there is no There’s no reason for that to change at the moment. With or without the European Cup. “The Champions League is a one-off effect. For the moment, we have not imagined a new budget for this competition next season,” says Sébastien Floc’h. “But we aim to remain faithfully alongside Stade Brestois, to establish ourselves in the landscape of French football, with the certainty that we can write a very bright future.”
