ASN INTERVIEW: THE ICC CHAMPION CUP’S IMPACT ON THE CHINESE & ASIAN MARKETPLACE

Since its launch in 2013 by RSE Ventures, the ICC has been competed for by a stellar line-up, including Real Madrid, Manchester United, Liverpool, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma.

ASN spoke to Ned Negus, Catalyst Media Group’s AVP Sales and Marketing – the Hong Kong based sports marketing firm that is promoting the event in the region – about how the platform is going to impact football sponsorship in China.

ASN: Why are Asian companies and brands attracted to building partnerships with the ICC?

NN: What the RSE Ventures group of companies is doing with the ICC is creating a sporting property that fans really want. There was a market gap – a demand for consistently high quality pre-season tournaments, instead of one-off friendlies, a model that intrinsically delivers more value to fans and of course commercial partners.

Incredible moments, such as 110k fans watching Real Madrid vs Manchester United in Michigan, really grabbed people’s attention. With huge buzz and fantastic coverage, the ICC is building a narrative that brands are really noticing.

Delivering prestigious football clubs such as Real, AC and Inter Milan direct to huge fan bases in Asia is something that brands want to associate with – doing it in the form of a global tournament creates a genuine platform that can be effectively leveraged. It’s a way to create very special stories and experiences for customers that manages to combine genuine engagement in-market with the aspirational allure of the world’s best football clubs.

Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are football mad markets and fantastic commercial hubs – perfect cities to kick-off in China. Our research has also revealed the ICC is predominantly followed by affluent, educated 16-49 year olds, with high disposable income from Tier 1, 2 (and 3) cities in China. This is obviously a target audience that premium brands in Asia are clamouring for – there’s both volume and aspiration.

The other significant aspect of working with the ICC is the long-term relationship we intend to build with host markets and in-turn our sponsors. This will be the third year in North America and we have multi-year hosting agreements with partners in Australia. In that context, we can offer our partners the opportunity to build a legacy with us – something quite rare for international football in China.

Audi and Guinness and have entered multi-year agreements in Australia and North America; while Telstra, one of Australia’s biggest corporates, was on-board very early for the domestic event down under.

ASN: Could you elaborate on the partnership with LeTV?

NN: LeTV are not just a broadcast partner for us – they are key stakeholders in the future success of ICC in China and we’re working with them because of their holistic approach in understanding Chinese audiences as well producing world-class content across various platforms. They are ambitious, passionate, creative and have the strategic nous to attract and resonate with the passion points of our dynamic audience. Critically, they have also built a world-class event operations team.

ASN: What is so different about football sponsorship in non-traditional markets such as the US, Australia and China?

NN: Much of it has to be how in more traditional markets football is perceived as very much a mass-market product, while in the States, Australia and China it has a different value set – diversity, internationalism and affluence. Particularly in Australia and China, football represents an audience that while high in numbers, is educated and very urban. This is first and foremost what attracted a brand such as Audi to the ICC property (ASN: whereas usually they lean towards more obviously premium platforms like golf, sailing and fashion)

ASN: Any future expansion plans into other territories in Asia?

NN: The rapid expansion so far of the ICC speaks for itself I think. Relevent Sports and RSE Ventures, with our assistance, we believe this event brand can grow and do so quickly. Asia-Pacific delivered some of the highest audiences and interest levels globally last year, even before the tournament entered the region. Delivering this year to a very high-standard in China and Australia is the priority, but other markets in the region are certainly on the cards in the future.

For more details and match schedules, log onto http://www.internationalchampionscup.com.