Samsung replaces Panasonic at the Australian Rugby Union

TOP TIER International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsor Samsung has signed a three-and-a-half year deal with the Australian Rugby Union (ARU).

 

The agreement will see Samsung, already a presence in the country with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), provide financial support to the national rugby team (Wallabies) and the FxPro Super Rugby competition in Australia.

 

Frontloaded values the deal at between AUS$1m and AUS$2m per year.

 

According to Arno Lenior, marketing director of Samsung Australia, partnering the ARU represents a shift towards intensifying the brand’s relationship with its customers.

 

The Korean electronics brand will join the third tier of the Wallabies’ sponsor roster – Qantas is the Naming Rights Partner while Castrol and Kooka are Major Partners – and will replace Japan-based Panasonic in the official electronics category.

 

Succeeding Panasonic as electronics partner would suggest the ARU considers the two brands to operate in the same sector. Both companies, however, are TOP sponsors of the IOC with Samsung as the official mobile partner and Panasonic the official electronics partner; theoretically allowing both brands to associate with the Olympic Games without conflicting interests.

 

The reality of course is somewhat different. With global technology brands, such as Samsung and Panasonic, constantly developing and unveiling new products, crossover of sponsorship categories is unavoidable. And on the grandest and most global of stages such crossover is all too apparent, prompting many sports marketers to predict that the IOC TOP programme will cease to exist in its current manifestation in future Olympic cycles.

 

Samsung, however, under contract with the IOC until 2016, will surely be keen to renew beyond its current deal in the knowledge that the 2018 Winter Olympic Games will be staged in the Korean city of Pyeongchang.

 

In what capacity Samsung will associate with the IOC post 2016 remains to be seen, but the impending Games in London, Rio 2016 and a plethora of other global sports properties including Chelsea FC, Maria Sharapova and the IAAF’s Diamond League, should for now be platform a plenty to leverage its ever-expanding product portfolio.

 

By Luke Harman

Follow Luke on Twitter: @lukeharmanSBG