Interview: MediaPro Asia’s MD Takes Us Behind The Scenes Of The 2019 SEA Games

ASN: What are we expecting in terms of sporting content for the 2019 SEA Games?

Lars Heidenreich: We have an unprecedented schedule of 56 sports for the upcoming SEA Games; this is 22 more sports than the last edition, and even includes new ones like underwater hockey! This obviously means we have to cater for over 500 hours of tailor-made content across various platforms such as public broadcasters, cable, pan-regional channels as well as social media. With the changes in how millennials tend to consume sport, we also have teams working on packaging bite-sized content and highlights on Instagram, Twitch and YouTube.

ASN: We have heard there has been interest from the wider Asian market for certain SEA Games events…how has that worked out so far?

LH: Obviously with Tokyo 2020 coming up, Japan is all poised to screen the women’s volleyball, particularly as sports fans want to follow the fortunes of Thailand’s national team. We also have deals with Sina Sports and Tencent to stream swimming and table tennis, two very popular sports in China.

ASN: How has sponsorship for the SEA Games been so far?

LH: We have four different tiers of sponsorship and one for official partnership, in terms of regional sponsors; we have the likes of Pocari Sweat and Grandsport in the Gold and Silver tiers respectively. We also have French multinational company Atos as our official games management system provider and platinum sponsor, the highest tier. Ajinomoto, a sponsor of Tokyo 2020, is the other platinum sponsor for the Games. Being the national carrier, Philippine Airlines are also on board as a gold sponsor. We are still in the midst of wrapping up more deals, as brands should find reaching a regional population of 650m enticing.

ASN: Apart from the pull of that large Southeast Asia population, what are some of the other reasons why brands should partner SEA Games 2019?

LH: Obviously, there is more leeway in sponsorship activation, compared to the Olympics For example, Nippon Paint has creatively reinterpreted the SEA Games logo in the events main base in Clark, Philippines. It’s something the IOC wouldn’t entertain because of their regulations.

This will also be the first SEA Games where virtual advertising will be introduced, another big selling point for brands to craft interactive campaigns on this platform.

The 30^th edition of the biennial SEA Games will be held in the Philippines from November 30 to December 11. For more details, visit https://2019seagames.com/.