ABN Amro wins sponsorship gold for VOR

by Volvo Ocean Race media on 23 Mar 2007 The Volvo Ocean Race earned a major accolade as the premier sporting event for sponsor value when the Dutch bank ABN AMRO won the Hollis Sponsorship of the Year Trophy at a glittering function in London’s Savoy Hotel on 21 March.

ABN AMRO’s sponsorship of two boats in the 2005-06 race beat off tough competition and matched the bank’s brand values of teamwork, integrity and professionalism, according to the judges of the annual awards.

The judges, who had to assess a record number of entries for this year’s winners in 14 separate categories, added that the real success of the ABN AMRO strategy, and the reason why the bank won the overall award, lay in its detailed execution which was handled by IMG Consulting.

Meeting objectives

'ABN AMRO’s objectives were to raise brand profile, engage employees and develop client relationships,' the judges said. 'As far as we can tell every box was ticked. Media exposure was huge, the brand gains were good and 50 percent of the employees became directly involved in related events and activities.'

ABN AMRO ONE, skippered by New Zealander Mike Sanderson, won the gruelling 31,000 nautical mile race, while her sister boat, ABN AMRO TWO, broke the 24-hour world speed record for a monohull by covering a staggering 563 nautical miles on the leg from Cape Town to Melbourne.

Sander Schuurman, Marketing Manager for Team ABN AMRO in the race, said winning the trophy, which was sponsored by Sky Media, was a great surprise. 'There was very strong competition. We had won a similar prize in the Netherlands but here in the UK the biggest sponsorship companies were presented,' he said.

'The Volvo Ocean Race gave us great exposure both externally and internally. It also provided great motivation for our employees. In addition, it provided great media value and great value for business to business contacts,' Schuurman said, adding that an estimated 35,000 business contacts visited them during the port stopovers. 'These were top-level clients.'

The bank also picked up the European Sponsorship Association’s International Sponsorship Award in one of the categories for which awards were presented at the Hollis banquet which was attended by more than 400 people.

Judging success

The judges in this category said the success of the ABN AMRO campaign was about much more than media exposure. 'Ninety-four per cent of employees were aware of the bank’s participation and fifty percent became directly involved in related events and activities.'

Glenn Bourke, the Volvo Ocean Race CEO, said in congratulating ABN AMRO that the race attracted major corporate sponsors from some of the world’s biggest brands because it provided continuous media exposure over a nine to 10 month period through TV and radio, print media and the internet.

'Research has shown that brand association with this dramatic and challenging event, which uses state-of-the-art technology and design, increases the propensity to purchase among the race audience,' Bourke said.

The Swedish telecommunications giant, Ericsson, which entered a boat in the 2005-06 race was the first to announce its participation in the 2008-09 race which will be going to the Middle East and Asia for the first time on an extended 39,000 nautical mile route which will take it across four continents with at least 11 ports of call.

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/news/article/2007/march/volvowinssponsorship/index.aspx