The Club’s licensing programme was brought in-house in 2015-16, resulting in a significant uplift in the number and geographical spread of licensees. In line with a more customised global approach across the Club’s activities, City fans in more than 40 countries can now access unique products and merchandise from 85 different licensees.
In July 2015, a dedicated e-commerce platform was launched for supporters in Asia, providing a faster and more localised experience, including dedicated language sites in traditional and simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian and Thai.
In a first for UK football, Manchester City Women were the first City team to wear the 2015-16 kit at their game against Birmingham City on 12 July, a month before the men’s team.
In a humorous Christmas campaign, including a mock photo of a team Christmas dinner, the ever popular City Christmas jumpers were relaunched with an additional feel-good incentive for the 2015 festive period – the Club donated £5 to Cityzens Giving for every jumper sold – amounting to an additional donation of over £40,000.