- Hyundai and Kia will provide transport services and vehicles for the FIFA World Cups™ and other FIFA events
- Hyundai and Kia will be allowed to showcase their vehicles at FIFA events in return
(Geneva, Switzerland) – Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group signed an agreement with FIFA to become one of six elite Official FIFA Partners from 2007 to 2014, who will enjoy the highest level of association with FIFA, including rights to the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup™ and all other FIFA events, exclusive marketing assets, increased media exposure and an affiliation with the governing body’s special events and development initiatives.
As an Official FIFA Partner, Hyundai and Kia will act as FIFA’s Transport Management Provider on a global basis during the eight- year period, providing transport services and vehicles for the FIFA World Cups™ and other FIFA events.
These vehicles are being used by the teams, referees, media representatives, FIFA delegations and members of the organizing committee.
Through its partnership with FIFA, both Hyundai and Kia will be sponsoring not only the FIFA World Cup™‚ in 2010 and 2014 but also other FIFA competitions from 2007 and onwards such as the FIFA World Youth Championships, FIFA Women’s World Cups, as well as new FIFA competitions, including the FIFA Interactive World Cups and FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups. In return for Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group’s commitment to the world’s best-loved game, FIFA will allow Hyundai and Kia to showcase their vehicles at FIFA events, on TV and in newspapers in the capacity as official supplier of vehicles to FIFA.
The sponsorship of football serves as an important marketing platform in Kia’s global strategy. For a relatively young company like Kia, there is all the more urgency to create a global marketing strategy.
Football sponsorship provides the perfect marketing platform which can be leveraged at a global level and help communicate a consistent corporate image that conveys a young, youthful and exiting brand, high quality and safety, impeccable design — all of which are vital to achieve Kia Motors’ goal to become global top brands.
With the strongest link to football, the FIFA Partnership will help to reinforce the commitment of Kia to the sport of football and its consumers — the fans, and encourage their continuous sale and brand improvement in global marketplaces giving renewed impetus to become one of the leading global top brands.
While steady gains in quality, investment in technology development and a renewed focus on customer satisfaction are often cited as the reason for Hyundai and Kia’s worldwide success, the role of sports marketing is often underestimated “In order to raise brand awareness in the minds of consumers, sports sponsorships are perhaps an even more effective marketing tool than advertising in helping break through the clutter of noisy marketing messages of our competitors,” said B.H. Lee, Director in charge of the Global Communication Group for both Hyundai and Kia.
In addition to the FIFA Partnership, Kia also started its own major international sports marketing campaign with the Australian Tennis Open. Successful sponsorship and superb performance had led Kia to engage in various sports marketing activities such as the Davis Cup, Inline Skating, Motorsport and the Asian X-Games to raise its brand image.
