Pressure Mounts On Eliud Kipchoge As Safaricom Offers Him Brand Ambassador
As a gesture of support for Eliud Kipchoge ahead of his INEOS 159 Marathon challenge, Safaricom has made the athlete M-Pesa’s brand ambassador over the next seven days. The full marathon will fly Kenya’s flag even higher once Kipchoge crosses the line before the 2hr standard time.
The M-Pesa logo now rebranded to “Eliud 1:59” represents his first name and the time record under 2hours, meant to make Kipchoge the first-ever athlete to run a full marathon in under 2 hours. This includes a partnership with Kipchoge that will see the world-renowned athlete become M-PESA’s brand ambassador, where he will champion the service’s capability of empowering Kenyans to send and receive money both in the country and across the world.
Safaricom will also provide a free YouTube bundle on the day of Kipchoge’s race. From 8 AM to 4 PM, all customers can stream the race live on their phones at no cost. The bundle will be accessed by dialing *159# upon which a customer will receive a free YouTube bundle, allowing them to stream the entire race at no cost.
Kipchoge is currently the marathon world record holder with a time of 2:01:39 hours, a record he broke in the 2018 Berlin Marathon by 1 minute and 18 seconds, the greatest improvement since 1967. Kipchoge, however, had his first win back in 2003 when he set the world junior race record over 5000m on the track.
According to the INEOS team, Viena, Austria’s capital provides the right climatic and environmental conditions; heat, temperature, precipitation, and wind. However, the marathon date could stretch anytime between the initial day to October 20th. On arrival, Kipchoge began his race-week preparations on the challenge course together with his pacemakers.
Kipchoge’s partnership with Safaricom dates back to 2017 when the company launched its “Twaweza” brand campaign with the marathoner taking the role of brand ambassador.
