National Hockey League MVP and superstar center Evgeni “Geno” Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins is now wearing flavored mouthguards. He joins NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers in signing a multi-year endorsement deal on a global basis with MoGo Sport, which offers a range of flavored mouthguards, including fruit punch, mint and bubble gum. The new partnership was brokered by Malkin's sports management company, Creative Artists Agency and MoGo Sport's marketing agency-of-record, French/West/Vaughan.
Malkin and Kaepernick are now officially "brand ambassadors" for the flavored mouthguard brand, which means that they will be actively involved in MoGo Sport's marketing efforts domestically and internationally, in traditional media and digital/social media. Additionally, they will help raise awareness about the importance of mouthguard protection to youth athletes. Malkin's favorite flavor is lemon, while Kaepernick's is fruit punch, but both athletes are big fans of MoGo Sport's product.
"I have tried many mouthguards but none felt right until MoGo," said Malkin. "The lemon flavor keeps my mouth from getting dry and lets me concentrate on my game instead of being distracted by the uncomfortable, rubbery taste I’ve experienced with other mouthguards."
The mouthguard industry leader is currently Shock Doctor, which has partnered with numerous athletes, including Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana and San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews. MoGo Sport is still considered a start-up, having only launched in early 2011 and officially started distributing product in August of that same year. However, it is already distributed in several thousand retail stores in the United States and in thirteen different foreign markets. The company has also gone through several rounds of angel-led investment of capital, which has allowed it to expand through the partnership with prominent athletes.
"As a start-up, we thought that signing with top notch athletes like Kaepernick and Malkin was important," explained MoGo Sport co-founder Tom Hoey to FORBES. "We have our flavor technology down, but for the long-term, we want MoGo to be viewed as credible product. It was a big coup for MoGo to become aligned with someone of the stature of Colin [Kaepernick], a starting quarterback in the NFL, a great person off the field and someone who is dedicated to excel and exceed at the highest level. Malkin is kind of the same story. He works very hard, has won practically every award possible and is arguably one of the top athletes in the NHL right now."
MoGo Sport will continue to seek other prominent athletes to add to its brand ambassador platform. It singled out football and hockey as two key sports that it wanted to have athlete partnerships with, but is now looking at additional contact sport athletes, as well as non-contact sports where mouthguards are being used, including basketball.
MoGo mouthguards are FDA-compliant, made in the United States and sold at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Modell’s, Hibbett’s, Dunham’s and other fine sporting goods retailers. The company is excited by a recent study, which found that ninety percent of youth athletes chose flavored mouthguards over non-flavored options. The reigning NHL MVP is on board. "The key reason why Malkin wanted to work with MoGo is that he has used mouthguards in the past," said co-founder Bruce Angus to FORBES. "Anyone who has used a mouthguard knows it is not a great experience. There are a lot of complaints about dry, cottonmouth. What we are trying to do is fully change the user experience from a need-to-wear to a want-to-wear."
Darren Heitner is a Partner at Wolfe Law Miami, P.A. in Miami, Florida, Founder of Sports Agent Blog, and Adjunct Professor of Sport Agency Management at Indiana University. Follow him at @DarrenHeitner and learn more about him at http://www.darrenheitner.com.
