Editor responsible under press law: Continental/Divison Tires Alexander Bahlmann Head of Media & Public Relations PLT Buettnerstraße 25 | 30165 Hanover ContiTireNews Phone: +49 511 938-2615 E-Mail: [email protected] Author: Klaus Engelhart For the online version please click here: #5 /July 2013 u English version u German version Football sponsorship activities boost global brand awareness for Continental qqDFB Cup – FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 – FIFA World Cup 2014™ – UEFA EURO 2016™ qqImage boost for the company, sales support for dealers qqAssociation with football goes back more than 100 years In June of this year, Continental was an official partner and sponsor of two major sporting events: the 2013 DFB Cup Final on June 1 in Berlin, when FC Bayern Munich met VfB Stuttgart, and the 2013 Confederations Cup final on June 30 between record five-time World Cup winners Brazil and reigning world and European champions Spain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The DFB final in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin is far and away Germany’s biggest sporting event of the year, no matter which teams are taking part. Whether it’s a battle of the giants or more a case of favorite meets underdog – the interest of the fans and the media is always huge. For years now the cup final has always been a sell-out, and it probably always will be. The match is broadcast by German public TV channel ARD and by Sky to more than 150 countries around the world. This year, pitch-side advertising reminded more than 70,000 spectators in the stadium itself and around 13 million TV viewers in Germany alone of Continental’s role as a sponsor, helping them experience the brand as part of an emotionally charged sporting event. Through the deal with the German football association DFB, Continental has secured pitch-side advertising space and ticket allocations for all DFB Cup games since 2010. The company also benefits from a substan- tial TV presence and is entitled to use the marketing rights in its communications with customers and car drivers. FC Bayern Munich won 3:2 versus VfB Stuttgart in the 2013 DFB Cup Final ContiTireNews 2 #5/2013 The cup competition provides a national counterpoint to the Today Continental’s sponsorship activities have long since major international sporting events that form the bedrock of cascaded through all levels of corporate communications. The Continental’s marketing and communication strategy – like association between the brand and football adds vibrancy to UEFA EURO 2012™ (Poland and Ukraine), the FIFA 2013 Continental’s advertising, while point of sale promotional acti- Confederations Cup (Brazil) and the FIFA World Cup 2014™ vities bring in more business for dealerships. Prize draws and (also Brazil). Like the contract for the FIFA World Cup 2014, the the www.ContiSoccerWorld.com website, which is devoted deal with the DFB will run at least until 2014, while the current exclusively to football and Continental, drive interaction bet- agreement with UEFA continues until 2016. The finals of UEFA ween the manufacturer, dealers and consumers. As a result of EURO 2016™ will be hosted by two-times European champion this focused and systematic approach, awareness of the pre- France, which also happens to be one of Continental’s biggest mium Continental tire brand has increased in all markets since and most important markets in Europe. 2003, in some cases substantially. Remarkably, this is even true in Germany, where brand recognition rates have increased from Customers more likely to buy what they know an already staggering 88 percent to 93 percent. In Europe, the biggest increases, according to market surveys, have happened Through its extensive involvement in football sponsorship, the in Poland and Russia, with brand awareness rising from 45 to 62 Tires Division’s marketing and communications team is able and from 30 to 55 until 2012 percent respectively. to appeal directly to the hearts and minds of a global target group. “As by far the world’s most popular sport, professional Sponsorship activities have also proven a very effective way of football has proved an outstanding central communications leveraging the highly charged emotional atmosphere of football platform for us,” says Nikolai Setzer, Member of Continental’s stadiums around the world to energize Continental’s brand Executive Board and Head of Tire Division. “Since 1995, we image and effectively set the brand apart from the competi- have recorded a steady increase in brand awareness for our tion. According to the experts, instant brand recognition is an premium Continental brand and have fired up the brand image asset that competitors find it very difficult, if not impossible, to with the powerful emotions from football stadiums around the match. All of this adds up to a sustained competitive advan- world.” tage and provides the company with a valuable unique selling Nikolai Setzer, Member of the Continental Executive Board and Head of the Tire Division proposition. Tires and football have a lot more in common than it may seem at first sight. Factors that thrill the crowds on the terraces, like Football has been part of Continental’s history for impressive technique, perfect control, precision, agility and more than 100 years team spirit, are also mirrored in Continental tires and its corpo- Sponsorship cascaded through all levels of rate culture. This link is also communicated in the company’s communication It’s a good thing that professional football has been around for advertising and surveys reveal that more and more drivers a long time; otherwise Continental might have had to invent it! have made the connection too. As a result, Continental’s high- All the signs are that this momentum will continue. After all, The company’s links with the sport have always been close, profile involvement in football is very popular with tire dealers, football is today the world’s most high-profile sport, and so it right from the start. Even in pre-1900 days the tire manufac- because particularly in times of lower purchasing power and also receives far and away the most media attention. Accor- turer was already doing a brisk trade in soft-rubber footballs. rising mobility costs, consumers are more likely to buy brands ding to Continental’s own surveys, the company’s sponsorship And when football rapidly gained popularity in Germany in they know. High awareness of the Continental brand gene- activities reach 100 percent of the core target group. At the the 1920s, Continental began producing bladders for leather rates dependable and welcome demand for the company’s same time the company is also profiting from a new trend – the footballs, as well as stitched molded soles for gymnastic and premium-segment products at dealerships. fact that football is winning more and more female fans. This sports shoes. In the same tradition, in 2011, a new world ma- provides access to a target group which in the past has not rathon record was set in adidas running shoes with Continental always been easy for a tire manufacturer to reach. soles made of special rubber compounds that give excellent grip in both dry and wet conditions. ContiTireNews 3 #5/2013 Record World Champion Brazil walked over the current World Champion Spain in the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 final with 3:0 Neymar, who scored four goals and gave three assists in the tournament, won the Gold Ball award as the best player Continental’s first venture into football sponsorship dates the Champions League also proved superior to any other 2012™ in Austria and Switzerland. Now, the ongoing success back to the 1950s, and to the local Hannover 96 football sporting event in terms of its ability to boost awareness of of its sponsorship program gives Continental further encou- club. At a time when professional sport itself and pitch-side Continental tires among potential customers and car drivers, ragement to stay on the ball in the future. Completing the advertising were still unknown, and when shirt advertising so the partnership soon paid off. By the end of the first picture, Continental partners with the men’s national teams was banned, Continental offered Hannover 96 players Werner season, brand awareness in all of the company’s core markets in Spain and The Netherlands, as well as in France, where Müller and Rolf Paetz – both on the team that won the DFB was already rising, and to this day the winning equation sponsorship also includes the women’s national team, and in Cup in 1954 – jobs at the Vahrenwald plant. After the cup win, remains: Continental = football. England, where Continental sponsors the FA Women’s Super the team photo that appeared in the press was taken on the League. In England and the USA sponsorship also extends roof of the Conti building. One of the leading sponsors in international to the national football associations – The FA and US Soccer. football “As all of these commitments show, today at international But it was in 1995 that football really took off as a tool in and regional level alike, it is hard to imagine Continental not Continental’s marketing strategy. When UEFA decided to Over recent years, Continental has become one of the leading being involved in football,” says Nikolai Setzer. “Football has replace the flagging European Cup with the Champions sponsors in international football. By partnering with FIFA for a fundamental role to play in society at large – and for our League, Continental was on the team from the word go, as an the 2006 World Cup™ in Germany and the 2010 World Cup™ premium Continental brand in particular.” official partner. Football marketing now assumed a new and in South Africa, Continental put itself firmly on the radar of unprecedented level of professionalism.