The popularity of sports in Hong Kong and Asia has highlighted the commercial value of sports marketing in the region. If you are interested in forming a sponsorship or partnership with major sports organisations, read on for the top sports marketing firms in Hong Kong.
With sports now being an indispensable part of our society, the increasing visibility of sports teams and individual athletes has contributed to the utilisation of sports marketing to optimise visibility and engage fans. Sports fans are often exposed to specific products or brand names when watching a professional game, some teams even naming their stadiums based on their corporate sponsors, such as the New York Mets’ Citi Field Stadium or Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
It is clear that sports marketing is a unique way of advertising a brand or product, but it also has a specific type of target audience and requires extensive market research. Therefore, it is the role of sports marketers and associated agencies to identify what is best for their clients.
Sports marketing can largely be divided into two categories: marketing sports as a product, whether it be an individual athlete, a team, or a sporting event and marketing a product through sports, which is what most sports marketing agencies offer their clients.
A major advantage of sports marketing for both firms and their clientele is the allowance to use the popularity and loyalty of fans to promote products. Sports teams and associations receive enormous funding from their clients in return for advertising the clients’ products to a wide audience. For example, the English football team Chelsea signed a US$54.4 million per year contract with Three UK, allowing the logo of the mobile network company to be shown on the team’s jersey.
There are numerous services a sports marketer may offer their clients, including event management, sponsorship or partnership arrangements, public relations, athlete management, and digital marketing. After a series of consultation sessions and in-depth research conducted by the marketing company, the client will select the most suitable strategy to begin with.
With the recent expansion of the sports industry in Hong Kong and Asia in general, the commercial value of the region’s sports market has increased rapidly, leading corporations to seek collaboration opportunities with major sporting events. Read on for the top sports marketing firms in Hong Kong.
Top Sports Marketing Firms in Hong Kong
Yello Marketing Sports Agency
Based in Hong Kong, Yello Marketing Sports Agency (Yello) offers a wide range of marketing services concerned with the sports market, from digital marketing to its area of exceptionality, event management. Founded in 2008, Yello successfully expanded the business into Singapore and Shanghai in 2015, showing the company’s ambitious interest in the overall Asian sports industry.
The firm’s major projects in the past include the event management of Hong Kong Tennis Open, sponsorship arrangement of Nike Women’s 10K held in 2015, and localization of Bloomberg Square Mile Relay in Hong Kong and Singapore. Yello’s significant clients include Nike, Coca Cola, Bloomberg, and BMW.
Football Marketing Asia
With football being arguably the most popular sport in Asia today, large corporations are now looking into the continent’s specific sports sector for commercial opportunities. Football Marketing Asia (FMA), is the leading football marketing agency in Asia, and provides services that help identify and satisfy the needs of the Asian football market as well as its clients.
FMA is the exclusive commercial partner of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), one of the six international football confederations governed by FIFA that is responsible for hosting major football competitions in Asia and Australia, including the AFC Asian Cup, the AFC Champions League, and the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup. The sports marketing firm has worked with Continental AG, Credit Saison, and Saudi Arabia’s Neom project, arranging sponsorship and partnership opportunities for the clients.
Rush Sport & Entertainment
Based on their thorough understanding of sport-brand partnerships and sponsorships, Rush Sport & Entertainment (Rush) presents key services of strategic consultancy, rights acquisition, and sponsorship management. Among many within their fields of operation, the agency displays an exclusive expertise in the auto racing market.
Rush’s impressive work in the past includes sponsorship management for Skullcandy with the Force India F1 Team, marketing of Brazilian brand Havaianas in Asia by helping them become a co-sponsor of the Ferrari 458 GT3 driven by Lucas Di Grassi, and facilitating the partnership between IHG and Mahindra Racing through contractual and consultative support.
ActionHouse International
Founded in 2005, ActionHouse International has managed some of the largest sporting events ever hosted in Hong Kong, including the New World Harbour Race, SCHK Marathon, Formula E Hong Kong, and the Guinness World Records.
With Vivian Lee, an Asian Games medalist in swimming, as the founder and the current Managing Director, ActionHouse demonstrates confidence and pride in their services, which includes athlete representation and management, PR communications, and media relations. The firm has worked with some of Hong Kong’s major brands including The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Audi, Swire, and CitiBank.
Vivian Lee from laureus.com
Sporting Republic
As an award-winning event agency, Sporting Republic offers event management, PR consultancy, and media production in the sports marketing sector. Regarding diversity and creativity as core elements of their business, the company guarantees to oversee all aspects of organising and running a sports event.
The International Skyrunning Federation is Sporting Republic’s major client, leading to the agency’s participation in organising numerous vertical running competitions, such as the Vertical World Circuit, SHKP Vertical Run, Vertical Run Beijing at China World Summit Wing, Harukas Skyrun in Japan, and the HCMC Skyrun in Vietnam.
They have also managed other kinds of sporting events, including Race the Runway and the 2019 Hanoi Half Marathon, with well-known clients like Under Armour, Asics, and National Geographic.
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