Specsavers has appointed Strive Sponsorship as its lead partnerships agency following a competitive pitch process.
The appointment sees Strive become the central strategic partner for Specsavers’ sponsorship activity, helping the brand use partnerships effectively to deliver against specific marketing and business objectives across the organisation.
Strive’s remit includes identifying where sponsorship can solve marketing challenges, advising on the right properties to reach target audiences, and building programmes that deliver measurable national and local impact.
The agency’s initial work has already led to Specsavers’ recently announced multi-year partnership with parkrun, designed to help expand participation in the weekly 5km community events among groups currently under-represented in physical activity.
The partnership will focus on identifying and addressing barriers to participation for people with visual impairments, hearing loss, and those experiencing social isolation.
Strive is now working alongside Specsavers’ other agency partners and internal teams to bring the partnership to life, providing strategic direction and operational delivery across rights management, planning, activation, and measurement to maximise both national impact and local store engagement.
Neil Liddle, Brand Partnerships & Sponsorships Lead at Specsavers, said:
“Strive stood out for their ability to combine big-picture strategic thinking with a very practical understanding of how partnerships actually work in the real world.
They reinforced our belief that sponsorship can be far more than a brand awareness tool; it can help solve specific marketing challenges across the business, both nationally and locally.
Just as importantly, they showed they could integrate seamlessly into our existing ecosystem, align stakeholders, and help move forward with clarity and expertise.”
Malph Minns, Managing Director of Strive Sponsorship, said:
“We’re delighted to be working with Specsavers, one of the UK’s most recognisable and creatively admired brands.
Their humour, brand-led thinking, and genuine commitment to improving people’s lives makes then and incredibly exciting client.
Our role is to help ensure sponsorship delivers meaningful impact across the business, while working collaboratively with Specsavers’ existing agencies and teams to maximise the value of every partnership.”
Strive has brought in Eddie May, a seasoned sponsorship and brand strategist, as lead consultant on the Specsavers account. May, who has worked on sponsorship campaigns with a range of leading brands, made an important contribution to Strive’s successful pitch response. He is supported by Sarah Jackson, formerly Partnership Manager for Women’s Super League Football (WSL).
The appointment reinforces Strive’s growing reputation as one of the UK’s leading independent sponsorship consultancies, specialising in partnerships that deliver both brand and commercial impact.
