Gilette Stadium- New England Patriots

Shimmy, a provider of engaging and eco-friendly hand sanitizing systems, has formally announced their partnership with Gillette Stadium, home to the New England Patriots and New England Revolution, establishing the brand as the official hand sanitizer for the venue as well as the popular National Football League (NFL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) teams, respectively. Beginning with the current season, and for the first time at Gillette Stadium, fans, visitors, and employees will have ready access to a sustainable hand sanitizer that smells and feels good, complementing their premium experience and adding to the excitement of in-person events.

"We created Shimmy to make hand sanitizing more enjoyable, easy, and eco-friendly," says Ashley Wayman, founder and CEO of Shimmy. "Our partnership with Gillette Stadium is really a dream come true. We know that the fan experience here is second to none, and being a part of that is really exciting for us."

Meeting the Demand

As part of Kraft Sports and Entertainment, Gillette Stadium prides itself on excellence and hard work throughout every element of the organization including its guests, ensuring they have a memorable experience and also feel safe. One aspect of that guest experience is simple: providing easy access to hand sanitizing stations, which is now expected at most major venues and events (as reflected in a recent Shimmy survey that reported 91 percent of consumers believe it makes a difference to have free product readily available). Gillette Stadium went from having roughly 40 stations throughout the stadium complex prior to COVID-19 to having more than 250 today.

"When you come to an event at Gillette Stadium, it's virtually impossible to not use your hands whether you're eating food, having a drink, or high-fiving your buddies after a big play," said Jason Stone, VP of Site Operations at Gillette Stadium. "Keeping that in mind, we knew we had to find a hand sanitizer partner who would deliver at a high level for our guests. Shimmy was an easy choice for their sustainability, ease of operation and maintenance, and consistent delivery of a premier experience for our premier events here at Gillette Stadium."

Marketing Hygiene

Initially focused on the business-to-consumer (B2C) market, Shimmy moved into the business-to-business (B2B) space as some of the nation's largest businesses quickly expressed an interest in modernizing the way they help their customers disinfect their hands. Sanitizer has traditionally been viewed as a cost center, but Shimmy enables sanitizing systems to be high-value touchpoints and/or clever advertising vehicles. Gillette Stadium's current campaign includes four memorable brand messages: "We're bringing back the high five;" "Germs are unrestricted free agents;" "Ketchup. Mustard. Clean Hands;" and "We saw you pass the sinks."

"We designed the Shimmy experience to be effortless at every level," says Wayman. "We have a no-spill aluminum refill cartridge that holds our plant-based moisturizing sanitizer. The cartridges just pop in and out. From a branding and marketing standpoint, we wanted to enable lots of versatility and flexibility on the messaging. So our faceplate pops on and off with magnets and enables brands to swap out the messaging for different campaigns, seasonal events, or just to keep things fresh and exciting."

Going Green

Organizations like Gillette Stadium are also becoming more invested in sustainability. Shimmy is helping these sustainable-minded organizations live up to their goals and values by being plastic and carbon neutral. To date, usage results at Gillette Stadium have been strong. The Gillette Stadium-Shimmy partnership has already prevented nearly 15,000 single-use plastic bottles from entering the world's oceans and landfills.