MOVA names Essendon AFLW stars as brand ambassadors

MOVA has named Essendon AFLW players Bonnie Toogood and Georgia Nanscawen as brand ambassadors, extending its partnership with Essendon across the club's women's program.

The consumer technology brand also used an event at Essendon's headquarters to unveil its Z70 Ultra Roller robot vacuum in Australia for the first time. The product will retail from AUD $2,999 through major Australian retailers and the company's local website, depending on colour variant.

Toogood and Nanscawen join Essendon AFL players Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish in MOVA's ambassador line-up, giving the brand representatives across both the men's and women's squads at the Melbourne club.

Earlier this year, MOVA became Essendon's Official Home Cleaning Appliance, Outdoor Lawnmowing and Personal Care Products Partner. It has now added a role as co-major partner of the club's AFLW program, deepening a sponsorship it is using to raise its profile in Australia.

The event at the NEC Hangar brought together the company's Australian leadership, Essendon AFLW players and trade guests. Toogood and Nanscawen presented MOVA with a personalised Bombers guernsey before a demonstration of the company's home robotics range.

The expanded deal comes as women's football in Australia continues to draw larger audiences. MOVA pointed to AFLW attendance surpassing one million fans, alongside rising participation in girls' football.

Bonnie Toogood is one of the AFLW's most prominent players and Essendon's inaugural AFLW captain. During her career, she has earned multiple AFLW All-Australian selections and club best and fairest awards.

Nanscawen has built a profile across more than one sport. Alongside her AFLW career, she represented Australia in hockey, including at the London Olympic Games, and returned from an ACL injury before winning the 2024 AFLW Best and Fairest Award.

MOVA has been expanding its product range in Australia across home robotics and personal care. Its relationship with Essendon has become a central part of that retail push as it seeks broader recognition among local consumers.

Product launch

The Z70 Ultra Roller sits in the robotic cleaning segment and combines vacuuming with roller mopping. The machine uses continuous fresh-water roller mopping through HydroForce technology and has 36,000Pa suction, along with carpet protection, obstacle crossing and self-maintenance features.

MOVA positioned the product around convenience for busy households and used elite sport as part of that message at the Essendon event. The demonstration was intended to link the sponsorship with products designed for domestic use rather than sport itself.

Nancy Zhang, MOVA Country Manager, ANZ, linked the ambassador announcement with the local debut of the device. "Today is an exciting milestone for MOVA because it brings together our biggest product launch in Australia to date with the continued growth of our partnership with Essendon Football Club. What attracted us to Essendon wasn't simply the opportunity to sponsor a football club. We saw an organisation committed to high-performance, leadership and pursuit of excellence. Those are exactly the same principles that drive our teams as we develop the next generation of intelligent home robotics," said Nancy Zhang, MOVA Country Manager, ANZ.

She also described the significance of adding AFLW players to the roster. "We were incredibly proud to welcome Zach Merrett and Darcy Parish as our first Australian brand ambassadors, and today we're equally excited to welcome Bonnie Toogood and Georgia Nanscawen to the MOVA family. Together, they represent the very best of Essendon Football Club and demonstrate our commitment to recognising excellence equally across both our AFL and AFLW partnerships," Zhang said.

Zhang also drew a comparison between elite sporting preparation and product development. "Just as Essendon continually invests in elite coaching, sports science, performance analysis, technology and high-performance environments to give its athletes every competitive advantage, every MOVA product is the result of extensive research, engineering and testing to deliver smarter performance for consumers. In many ways, that's no different to the way elite sporting organisations prepare their athletes. Both are driven by a relentless pursuit of precision and performance."

Player backing

Toogood said the agreement carried weight beyond a standard endorsement arrangement. "I'm proud to partner with a company that's making such a genuine investment in women's football. Seeing MOVA support our AFLW program alongside the AFL team sends a really positive message about where the game is heading and shows they value elite athletes equally," Toogood said.

Nanscawen said the products had become part of her routine. "Training, recovery and preparation don't leave a lot of spare time, so it's great having technology that genuinely helps around the house.

"It's fantastic to represent a brand that's investing in women's sport at such an exciting time for the AFLW. Partnerships like this help our competition continue to grow while recognising the professionalism and commitment of female athletes," Nanscawen said.