Hankook ramps up football sponsorship for 2011/12

Hankook has announced plans to add sponsorship deals with football teams in the UK, France and Sweden to its 2011/2012 marketing strategy. Amongst other things, Hankook will now embark on an advertising campaign utilising hoardings at football stadiums belonging to teams such as Sunderland. This means the tyre firm will be present in the German Bundesliga, the English Premier League, Ligue 1 in France, Serie A in Italy, Primera Division in Spain as well as the Russian Premjer-Liga altogether.

In addition to this Hankook will also support the following five Champions League participants in the forthcoming season: Borussia Dortmund (reigning German Champion), German runner-up Bayer Leverkusen, the seven-time French Champion Olympique Lyon and the seven-time Champions League-winner AC Milan (Italy) as well as the Russian Cup winner CSKA Moscow. Furthermore Hankook will expand its activities and will also be involved with the Swedish football market as the advertising partner of clubs IFK Göteborg, GAIS Göteborg and Djurgarden IF forward.

“Hankook has seen a steady and sustainable growth over the past couple of years, especially in the European markets. We are taking that into account not only by expanding our production capacities, for example the considerable expansion of our high-end European manufacturing-site, but also with a significant intensification of our marketing activities especially in our European key markets.” explains Jin-Wook Choi, Hankook Tire Executive Vice President and chief operation officer Hankook Tire Europe.

According to the company, football sponsorship and advertising activities in Europe secure Hankook’s visibility in a premium sporting environment that “perfectly matches the emotionalism and dynamic of the tyre manufacturer’s sporty young brand.” The company will make a first time appearance this season with prominent perimeter and display advertising in the biggest German football stadium in Germany’s capital Berlin, the home stadium of Bundesliga new contender Hertha BSC, offering seats for up to 75,000 visitors, as well as, among others, the English “Stadium of Light”, home of the Sunderland AFC.

As Champion Partner of the reigning German Champion BVB and new partner of the Russian Cup winner CSKA Moscow, Hankook will additionally show strong presence in the clubs’ home stadiums through commercial breaks, as well as at press conferences, interviews and through participating in fan promotions on the clubs’ websites. In addition the company’s top customers and partners can look forward to exclusive invitations to VIP areas and lounges in the stadiums of Borussia Dortmund in Germany, the Italian clubs AC Milan, SS Lazio Rom and US Palermo as well as FC Valencia in Spain and the Russian club CSKA Moscow.

“Our football engagement is an important part of our marketing communications, particularly with the living, breathing emotionality of this sport in mind which perfectly matches our company’s philosophy “Driving Emotion”.  Football is one of the most popular sports in Europe and is exceptionally well suited to effectively reach out to our important target groups and increase our brand awareness. With this we are also aiming to support our retail partners” says Hee-Se Ahn, vice president marketing and sales Hankook Tire Europe.

“We are very pleased that with the reigning German Champion BVB, the Russian Cup winner CSKA Moscow as well as with several more European top-class football clubs we were able to partner with teams that not only convince through their superior performance but also, as some of the most popular representatives of their sport, are winning hearts all over the world. It’s them who make football a perfect brand ambassador for us and we wish each and every one of them the best of luck for the upcoming season.”

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