FMCG’s biggest sponsorships: Maybelline, Mecca Carlton Draught and more

Inside FMCG has compiled a selection of partnerships that have held their ground. They span global sport, national fixtures and local circuits, each one built with a clear sense of placement. Some operate at scale, moving through broadcast, venue and retail simultaneously, and others repeat across seasons until they are absorbed into routine.Beer at the footy, skincare in the athletes’ village, wine in the F1 paddock, vodka in the desert, L’Oréal at the Festival de Cannes. The strongest examples hold position, return to it, extend it or create a legacy. Taken together, the partnerships detailed here demonstrate how FMCG now shows up in public. They are repeated, refined and extended until they become part of the event. Over time, they shape how products are used and how often they are bought.In part two, we look at how Maybelline, Mecca, Chemist Warehouse and Carlton Draught have each made themselves part of the occasion, from the runway and centre court to the AFL season.Maybelline x New York Fashion WeekThe backstage laboratory connecting catwalks and cosmetics counters.Every February and September, the backstage hum of New York Fashion Week becomes a proving ground for product. Since its runway debut in 2009, Maybelline New York has embedded itself within that machinery, initially supporting seven Spring/Summer 2010 shows and expanding across both established and emerging designers.Nearly two decades on, the relationship has matured. “I think beauty has become more important at the shows because people now see how relevant beauty is,” Erin Parsons, Maybelline’s global makeup artist said, as the brand worked across shows from Christian Siriano to Michael Kors, aligning with leading makeup artists and using the runway as a testing ground for new products.Under lights and time pressure, formulations are pushed to perform, with launches often previewed backstage ahead of wider release.“Activating at NYFW strengthens the tie between the brand and fashion,” said Amy Whang, senior vice-president of marketing at L’Oréal-owned Maybelline New York.Maybelline’s presence at NYFW shortens the distance between runway and retail, translating trends into products at scale. It waxes eloquent about accessibility, but the strategy is fixed in fashion culture, accelerating product cycles and anchoring mass beauty at the centre of fashion’s global conversation.Mecca x Australian Open 2026Melbourne heat, show courts and sunscreen that moves with the crowd.In January this year, under the full fervour of a Melbourne summer, Mecca Brands returned to the Australian Open as official beauty partner, placing itself inside one of the most physically demanding environments in global sport.Across Melbourne Park, the brand built a three-storey beauty destination designed to keep pace with the tournament – express touch-ups, skincare education, product moments that sit within the pulse of play. Beyond it, SPF sampling huts and top-up stations extend across the precinct, reaching hundreds of thousands of spectators moving through long days of heat and high UV.This is a Grand Slam played in peak summer, where sunscreen is an absolute necessity. Mecca Cosmetica carries that through the grounds, anchored by its To Save Face SPF50+ Superscreen, a product that already flies off the shelves, with one tube sold every 60 seconds in-store.“We were blown away by the response from fans this year so yes, we had to come back! We wanted to go where no one had gone before and proposed a full beauty partnership – a completely new experience at the AO – something big, ambitious, and a little bit nuts. And they said yes,” Mecca CEO Jo Horgan said.Between matches, in queues, across the outer courts, sunscreen is applied, reapplied and carried through the day. Skincare, therefore, is folded into the nuts and bolts of the event.Carlton Draught x AFLThe playbook that keeps one beer visible from first bounce to final siren.Carlton Draught and The Australian Football League carry a partnership rooted in familiarity. It is a relationship measured over a century, stretching back to the mid-1800s, when both the brewery and the game were developing concurrently in Melbourne.Today, that connection runs through the entire retail cycle. During the AFL season, Carlton Draught cartons are often pushed into front-of-store displays across chains like Dan Murphy’s and BWS, tied to periodic on-pack promotions that have, at times, invited shoppers to nominate their local clubs. In pubs, the same logic continues. Pricing and offers tend to follow the fixture, with venues leaning into game-day bundles, extended peaks and promotional pints.“Millions of footy fans have celebrated some of their favourite sporting moments with a Carlton Draught in hand,” Carlton marketing manager, Jessica Johnson told Inside FMCG. “Carlton Draught’s association with footy is legendary.”Johnson alludes to the idea that the partnership is cultural as much as it is commercial, citing how AFL is the No.1 sporting passion of Carlton drinkers. “It’s also a fundamental part of Aussie culture and connection – mateship, banter, heartbreak and triumph,” Johnson said. “By being present for all the big moments in football, Carlton also becomes entwined with the emotional, cultural and social connection that fans have with the game.”That presence extends beyond broadcast into lived experience. Pop-up pubs outside the MCG during finals, regional club vists and stadium activations. Each one reinforces a pattern already ingrained.The partnership has also widened to include Carlton Dry and mid-strength variants, meeting drinkers where they are while holding the same ground.Carlton Draught is proving to be a brand that moves with the game, season after season, without losing its place in it.Chemist Warehouse x AFLWhere elite performance meets everyday consumer aspiration.Since 2017, Chemist Warehouse has built its partnership with the Australian Football League beginning with the AFLW (AFL Women’s) before extending into the men’s competition a year later.For Chemist Warehouse, the ambition was clear early. “Build trust, relevance and authenticity with everyday Australians,” head of partnerships at Chemist Warehouse, Natasha Kiwi, told Inside FMCG. The AFLW offered a national platform to reposition pharmacy as part of daily life, tied to performance, care and accessibility across communities.It is a partnership that moves through the season. Gather Round, introduced in 2023, concentrates the AFL season into a single weekend in South Australia, with Adelaide as a live site for the game. In April, the round is carried into Adelaide Chemist Warehouse stores through branded takeovers timed to the fixture. In September, the Footy Finals promotion runs nationally, offering customers the chance to win tickets through everyday purchases.“At the heart of our AFL partnership is a very simple principle that great sporting moments should translate into meaningful retail experiences,” Kiwi said.The work extends beyond the visible, through its umpiring programs, Chemist Warehouse is investing more than $1 million over five years into development pathways across AFLW, VFL and community levels. It is a layer that sits beneath the spectacle, tied to participation rather than promotion.“Footy is about passion, connection and community. But enjoying the game all starts with personal wellbeing,” Kiwi said.Originally published in the July edition of Inside FMCG.