CHINA SPORTS MARKETING NEWSLETTER
Vol. 1, No. 2-June 25, 2001
TOPICS THIS ISSUE:
- The British are Coming: Premiership Explodes Onto the Chinese Market
- Coming Soon: China's 2nd Annual Changchun International Auto Fair
- Beijing Leading Pack as Race for 2008 Enters Final Lap
- Avaya to Sponsor China 2003 Women's World Cup, Provide Network Solutions
- China Getting Ready for Rugby
The British are Coming: Premiership Explodes Onto the Chinese Market
The world's most popular soccer league - the British Premier League - is attacking the Chinese market. Posing for Pepsi, stars such as David Beckham and Billy Owen are seen larger-than-life on Beijing's buses and billboards. Each afternoon, the capital city's football pitches are usually a sea of red and yellow jerseys - not because soccer youths adorn the prominent colors of the PRC National Team but instead the hues of Manchester United.
With The Premiership's stars reaching icon status and many of the matches being broadcast on local television, team-by-team, the Premiership is trying to reap in profit from its popularity in the world's most populous country.
Leading the way for the Premiership is Leeds United, which has just launched a Chinese language web site in cooperation with Hong Kong-based crazyesoccer.com. Leeds is planning to pull in between US $150,000-300,000 from the web site during the first year and up to US $5 million per year after that. With an estimated fan base of 3 million, the team is planning a tour of China in the future.
Other teams have definitive plans for touring Asia. This summer, Manchester United and Liverpool will play matches in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. Spokesmen for the teams claim that the tour will kick off their new marketing drive in Asia.
For the most part, it seems that The Football Association of the People's Republic of China and the nation's professional soccer league view the encroachment of the British League as a bonus. It is believed that promotion of the Premiership and its stars will increase general support and interest in soccer much like the NBA and Michael Jordan did for basketball and the CBA (China Basketball Association).
The growing interest in the sport in Asia over the last decade or so is part of the reason Japan and South Korea have been granted the right to jointly host the 2002 FIFA World Cup-the first time the world's top soccer contest will be held in Asia.
(Source: ChinaOnline)
Coming Soon: China's 2nd Annual Changchun International Auto Fair
The second annual China Changchun International Auto Fair will be held August 24-29, fair organizers have announced. Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province and the site of the fair, is popularly known as the cradle of China's auto industry and is home to the First Automobile Workers' Group.
The fair will be jointly sponsored by China's Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the Jilin Provincial People's Government and Changchun City Government.
A range of activities is scheduled for the fair, including a forum on different Chinese cities and strategic marketing for auto development in the information age. Mayors of more than 20 Chinese cities, corporate executives of over 50 automobile manufacturers, officials from relevant Chinese central government departments, as well as auto experts and urban construction specialists will be invited to discuss sustainable development in the industry. Major foreign auto makers, including Toyota, General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Benz and Volvo automobiles have decided to attend the forum.
(Source: Xinhua)
Beijing Leading Pack as Race for 2008 Enters Final Lap
On July 13th, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will cast their votes and the world will know who will host the Games of the 2008 Summer Olympiad. Insiders are saying Beijing is the odds-on favorite.
The long list of people and organizations that are trying to block Beijing's bid for humanitarian reasons seems to be matched by a growing list of those who are in support of China's first ever Olympic Games. Most compelling and, indeed, influential to the IOC's vote, is the surprising support of influential people who, at first glance, would seem naturally opposed to China's bid. Most prominent on the list is Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who, during his recent tour of the U.S. proclaimed that "If they (the IOC) feel this event taking place in China would help to change, then I would support it."
Adding to the Dalai Lama's statement is U.S. president Bush's own claim that he would not interfere with Beijing's bid for the games. Also, former Tiananmen Square democracy leader Zhou Duo went on record saying that he supports Beijing's bid and if Beijing were to be selected, it would be beneficial to the people of China.
Few IOC members are prepared to say which city they will back. However, many may be attracted to the political impact they could make by taking the Games to China and the attractiveness of China's vast market to corporate sponsors.
IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who will step down from his post at voting time, is a staunch supporter of Beijing's bid and is doing everything in his power to make sure his last wish becomes a reality.
(Source: The Independent (London) & DAILY MAIL (London)
Avaya to Sponsor China 2003 Women's World Cup, Provide Network Solutions
Avaya, a global leader in corporate networking solutions and services, and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), announced that Avaya has agreed to participate as an official corporate sponsor for the 2003 Women's World Cup championships to be held in China.
Avaya solutions will form the core of a world-class, converged communication network supporting the 2003 Women's World Cup. This agreement marks a broad sports marketing and technology partnership between Avaya and FIFA, in which Avaya becomes an official partner for one of the world's most popular sporting events.
As worldwide sponsor of the 2003 Women's World Cup, Avaya attains the exclusive global category rights of "Official Convergence Communication Provider." For this new sponsorship category, Avaya will provide converged network solutions, which are corporate communications networks that combine voice, data and multimedia over the same network.
Avaya will enable mission-critical communications services and secure data and voice networks for all venues. Also, Avaya solutions will be implemented to facilitate business communication for FIFA leading up to and during the events. For instance, the organizing body will rely on Avaya's customer relationship management solutions and also unified communication solutions -- which combine unified messaging, conferencing and video-conferencing technologies -- to enable its communications internally and externally.
Members of the media from around the world who will cover the event will also use technologies from Avaya. These solutions make it possible for journalists at a specific venue to conduct a videoconference with an editor on the other side of the world. Additionally, media could utilize IP telephones with their computers for simultaneous voice, data, fax and e-mail communications.
In addition to providing corporate networking technology, Avaya receives significant marketing exposure, including two on-field billboards at each World Cup match, in addition to on-screen logo placements, which will be seen by television viewers worldwide. Avaya will also have the opportunity to host guests at technology showcases during World Cup events.
Along with the 2003 Women's World Cup, Avaya will also sponsor and provide like services for the 2002 and 2006 Men's World Cup.
(Source: Origin Universal News Services Ltd.)
China Getting Ready for Rugby
The sports director of Beijing's bid to stage the 2008 Olympics, Lou Dapeng, is doing everything he can to promote the popular Western sport of Rugby in China. It is Lou's ambition not only to bring the Olympics to Beijing but also to succeed in bringing the sport he grew up playing in London to the Olympics. Lou hopes that Rugby's international popularity will increase so that it will be considered for a medal sport by the 2008 Olympics.
Lou has already started the 2-year old China Rugby Union, which is comprised of Club and University teams dotted around the country. He is also president of the Chinese Rugby Association.
As a sign that Chinese Rugby is joining the international scene, the National team has participated in the last several Hong Kong Seven's Championships and the team's captain has recently been signed by the Sydney club, Sunnybank.
(Source: Independent on Sunday (London)
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