Global prosthetics company Ottobock expects the organisers of the 2014 Sochi Games to take awareness of the Winter Paralympics to new heights when the Russian city hosts the event in March.
Christin Gunkel, Ottobock’s chief marketing officer, said that London 2012 had raised the bar for the Paralympic Summer Games, and that Sochi 2014 will do everything it can to take the Paralympic Winter Games to the next level.
“The Winter Paralympics is much smaller than the Summer Paralympics, but won’t be anything less than spectacular in Sochi,” she said.
“From our point of view, the Organising Committee has been extremely helpful from the service side of the sponsorship and is working hard to come up with great marketing and activation ideas.”
Ottobock signed as the official technical service provider for athletes competing at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in September 2012.
It is sending 30 technicians from 12 different countries to Sochi – a role that the company first played in South Korea in 1988.
This year, Ottobock is also celebrating is 25th year as a partner of the International Paralympic Committee. Ottobock became a Worldwide Partner to the IPC in 2005 and extended the last deal for four more years during London 2012.
This partnership is separate from the company’s Paralympic Games partnerships, which are made with the respective Organising Committees.
This story is part of a broader article on Ottobock’s sponsorship strategy and processes that is available to subscribers of Sports Sponsorship Insider here: http://www.sportbusiness.com/sponsorship-insider/ottobock-interview-christin-gunkel-ottobock’s-chief-marketing-officer