Is TCL Skewing Towards Global Sporting Properties & Stars?

The endorsement will see the world’s the most expensive footballer, who has already scored 24 goals this season for his French club Paris St.Germain, star in TCL commercials across both traditional and digital platforms.

The footballer will also collaborate with TCL on a series of charity-focused initiatives. The deal is the latest personal endorsement signed by Neymar, who teamed up with mobile technology company Digible in January to launch a new app, building on his agreements last year with Brazilian coffee brand Pilao and domestic smartphone manufacturer Quantum.

“I am thrilled to be partnering with TCL,” said Neymar. “It was an easy decision for me. I share similar values with TCL – the constant pursuit of excellence and great results in every game and I’m excited to work closely with TCL and support the company’s efforts to bring the global sports community together through football.”

Despite TCL withdrawing two-high profile sponsorships in the Asian sponsorship market in Q417 —the PBA Philippine Cup and ESPN’s branded content series Inspiring Bonding Moments— the brand has been in the ascendancy for Q118, recording a peak of US$2.5m in deals.

This deal follows the pattern created by the likes of Tencent (WeChat) x Messi, Kobe Bryant x Ele.me and many other deals where Chinese brands are using world-leading athletes to gain local credibility and overseas awareness.

The difference in this partnership is that it is erring on ambush marketing for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. While other Chinese brands have signed up as official partners – e.g. Yadea’s announcement during the week – TCL is not. That said, this campaign has kicked off well ahead of the July tournament to avoid too much proximity to the event; plus any brand using sponsorship rights parallel to the event (i.e. Neymar) in the tournament’s geographic and media footprint will be scrutinised by FIFA’s intellectual property watchdogs and shut down if there is an infringement. So far, TCL are playing ball and bravo for breaking out of a relatively quiet period.