Business Perspective: Promoting business through sports

According to newspapers, KCB Mountain Gorilla Rally this year was more organised with the local motor sport governing body, Rwanda Automobile Club using modern tracking system that is used in world rally championships to track all the participants during the event. Thanks to Maurice Toroitich, the CEO of KCB Rwanda, Mountain Gorilla Rally has now put Rwanda on the map in the world of Safari Rally. Apart from the fact that KCB Rwanda promoted and sponsored this event, it also managed to pull visitors to come to Rwanda to watch this interesting event. Many big corporates and companies alike have not embraced the culture of sport marketing. You will find that many sporting teams or even individuals need to be sponsored to take part in local and international events, but have failed to get any sponsors because few companies know about sports marketing. Perhaps someone may be reading this article and wondering what sport marketing is all about. Well, this is the use of sporting events, sporting teams and individual athletes to promote various products or services in any given company. In many cases, the companies use different channels such as sponsorships of teams or individuals or even pay for television and radio airtime during live broadcasts of sports events such as football or rugby. Let’s take the example of KCB Rwanda, the fans that came in from Kenya and Uganda and are account holders with KCB bank in their respective countries, did not have to carry cash because they can easily do withdrawals from Kigali, without exposing themselves to the dangers of carrying lots of cash around. In fact three of my friends who came in from Kenya, decided that they were going to shift banks because of the advantages offered by KCB. All this was made known to them through this sporting event of the Mountain Gorilla Rally.Companies can also be involved in sports by placing advertisement on sporting venues, street marketing of sports- which considers sports marketing through billboards on the street and also through urban elements like maintaining street lights and sidewalks; also through promotions and publicity during major worldwide sporting events such as the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, World Cup, and even the Olympic Games. The perfect example of sports marketing is like the Arsenal Club being sponsored by Emirates, that is why the jerseys for the players are always printed Emirates at the front, and this has made Emirates become one of the most famous and preferred airlines today. Today, many international companies do sport marketing because they have realised the benefits that come with sport marketing, in fact business in the Community recognises that sustainable community investment must be integrated into the core operations of a company and provide measurable benefits - for communities, as well as for businesses. Companies should also use sport marketing and sponsor teams or individual athletes to enhance their reputation and associate their brand and corporate values with clubs or athletes who will reflect their vision. As a matter of fact, a company does not have to go and sponsor a big club which is already known, but they can as well start with the teams at the grassroots level which have not been able to go anywhere or do anything because they lack the support they need. Truth be told, many fans today would like to see the companies they work in or their bankers associate themselves in any sporting event that is going on. If your company has not sponsored any team or individuals in the sporting event, this is the time for sport marketing. Thumbs up for Mr.Maurice Toroitich for putting Rwanda on the map through KCB Mountain Gorilla Rally. kayitesius@yahoo.com