Mars Chocolate this week announced a five-year sponsorship deal with the English national team and the Football Association.

The deal will see the Three Lions crest featured on Mars bar packaging from January, and the brand become official confectionery supplier for Wembley Stadium from August 2010 until July 2014.

Mars Chocolate will also play a leading role in supporting the FA’s Get into Football campaign, which encourages over 18-year-olds to get involved in the sport. Support for the deal includes a TV campaign which kicked off this week.

The partnership represented a “very forward-looking investment” for Mars and would make it more relevant to modern consumers, said Fiona Dawson, MD of Mars Chocolate. “This is the biggest announcement the Mars brand has ever made in the UK,” she said. “We’re huge football fans ourselves so we can’t wait to get behind the England team in South Africa next year and beyond.”

The company is hoping its latest initiative will help reverse sliding sales, which over the past year have fallen 4% to £48m [IRI].

“When you look over a period of time at Mars, sales vary, but it goes from strength to strength and we have seen it thrive,” said Dawson. “We wouldn’t be investing without being confident in it.”

Last month, the FA agreed a four-year sponsorship deal with Carlsberg.

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