Sponsors splash Bt1 bn on soccer tours
With Barcelona set to be the last international soccer club - following Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool - to make an off-season trip to Bangkok this year, the two major local beer sponsors, Singha Corp and Thai Beverage, are aiming to be at top o
Local sponsors are expected to spend a total of more than Bt1 billion in bringing the four legendary clubs to make the dreams of their fans come true.
Chatchai Wiratyosin, marketing director for Singha Corp, said yesterday that the brewer spent about Bt400 million on the Manchester United and Chelsea matches in Bangkok.
About 47,000 spectators watched the Man U match against the Singha All Stars and about 45,000 attended the Chelsea and Singha All Stars match, both held at Rajamangala Stadium earlier this month.
“It was worthwhile for the company to promote awareness of our 80th anniversary. We also want to thank them [for boosting] the Singha brand,” he said.
“Not only would the company, but also the whole country benefit from boosting their ‘Thailand’ image via the tournaments made by the world’s top football clubs,” he said.
Sorrakrit Lathitham, senior marketing manager for Thai Beverage Marketing, said about Bt400 million had been spent on the Barcelona trip to Bangkok and the brewer’s “Chang Barcelona Football Phenomenon” campaign.
The campaign, which is the biggest planned for the brand this year, will allow Chang beer to reinforce its leadership in sports marketing.
“Barcelona will play against the Thai national team on August 7 at Rajamangala National Stadium.
“We believe our prominent 2013 football campaign will mark a new phenomenon of happiness that will receive positive customer acceptance and be kept as a good memory for the fans. It is also expected to drive Chang sales over 700 million litres by the end of the year,” he said.
Chang beer has launched an SMS campaign aimed at Thai fans, called “Win 1M Baht with Chang Champions Cup”. Customers with tickets to the big “Chang Champions Cup – Barcelona FC Asian Tour 2013” match are eligible to join the innovative contest by sending in an SMS to be eligible to win gold worth Bt1 million.
“Chang has been top-of-mind among Thai consumers for many years, and we are committed to providing music and sports inspiration to Thai consumers nationwide. On the sports side, Chang has boosted football at all levels including youth, local, national and international by enhancing the talents of Thai youth through the ThaiBev Football Academy, being an official partner of the national team and sponsoring several leading international clubs such as Barcelona and Real Madrid.
“These initiatives have driven Chang to be the top beverage brand among the new generation of consumers, according to the latest findings from IPSOS Thailand,” he added.
