Business

Saturday July 18, 2009

Stretching the ad dollar


DESPITE the current global economic situation, savvy marketers realise the effectiveness of sports marketing in weathering the slowdown in sales and financial storm.

There are brands continuing with their investment in sports marketing globally through advertising and sponsorship to make their brands more prominent during the crisis. Telco brands are active in sports marketing and Maxis is one of them.

The company is involved in on-air sponsorship for the English Premier League match broadcasts, and has been very successful in building an association with sports.

Maxis Communications Bhd branding and communications general manager Allan Khoo says the company creatively uses whatever opportunities to build on that association or buzz that comes with on-air sports programmes through its commercials or sponsorships.

“How we ‘stretch’ our sports marketing message across the customer segments to make our brand message resonate can be a marketing challenge,” he says.

The F1 logo is seen on an Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix sponsor Etihad’s plane.

Having said that, marketers should bring their messages to life by utilising both the conventional and new media channels to inject freshness, excitement and engagement.

“Brands should find an opportunity to engage with customers and build that affinity via sponsorships or marketing campaigns.

“For instance, football has a big following in this country and how we leverage on it with more customer engagement will speak a lot about the brand,” he says.

Khoo says sports partnerships should also be in line with the common values that both the brand and the sponsorship property carry, and should be relevant to customers.

“The rule of thumb is to have the right fit, and when their strengths complement each other, the impact will be greater,” he says.

As a brand of industrial and auto lubricants, Castrol has faith in the power of sports sponsorship for its sports marketing strategy. It is the official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Football is not the only sport on Castrol’s portfolio of sponsorships. The company has been involved in innovative sponsorships for over 100 years, being one of the pioneers of motorsports sponsorships.

The brand’s official sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is the largest sponsorship of any kind in Castrol’s long history.

Etihad is another brand that is active in sports marketing. The company is a sponsor for Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team, Chelsea Football Club and Manchester City Football Club.

For above-the-line advertising, it is quite hard for Etihad to advertise all the time in the countries that it operates in, especially with a large network of more than 50 countries.

As a result, sports sponsorship becomes a good way to stretch its advertising and promotional budget and project the Etihad brand effectively.

For instance, Etihad will be the official sponsor and host of the inaugural Etihad – Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix in November this year. The sport, which is watched by more than 350 million people worldwide, will greatly improve its brand image.

The company has also gone into markets where it sees strong segments and which it believes have association with sports that can boost the brand recognition for Etihad Airways.

These sports sponsorships are taken into the community and school programmes, as well as youth programmes.

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