Japanese car maker Nissan has appointed the London office of global public relations company Ketchum to activate its top-tier sponsorship of football’s Uefa Champions League European club competition.
Nissan agreed a four-year global partnership with Uefa in April, which is effective from the 2014-15 season through to the 2017-18 campaign. Nissan replaced Ford in the automotive category, with the latter having served as a top-tier partner of the Champions League since its launch as a re-branded version of the European Cup for the 1992-93 season.
As an official partner, Nissan benefits from a range of rights across games, pre-match training sessions, press conferences, content and media and hospitality engagements.
Bastien Schupp, vice-president of marketing at Nissan Europe, told marketing news website the Drum: “Europe’s most prestigious football competition will be an important platform for Nissan, and our aim is to show fans the excitement of both football and our cars. We chose to work with Ketchum London because of their capability beyond owned media and their partnering approach.”
Nissan’s sporting portfolio includes deals with the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Great Britain and Mexican Olympic teams, the Canadian Football League gridiron competition and Nissan GT-R brand ambassador Usain Bolt. Heineken, Gazprom, MasterCard, Sony PlayStation and UniCredit sit alongside Nissan as top-tier partners of the Champions League.