TITLE SPONSOR Bridgestone has been joined by Vodafone and the whiskey brand Seagram’s Imperial Blue as major backers of the inaugural Bridgestone World Series Hockey (WSH) tournament in India.
According to Indian media sources, GroupM ESP, the Mumbai-based consultancy in the business of Entertainment and Sports, worked closely with Bridgestone’s media agency Mindshare to clinch the title sponsorship last month.
The leading players on the Bridgestone side of the deal were Vaibhav Saraf, Bridgestone India’s general manager Marketing & Sales, Anita Kotwani, principal partner – client leadership Mindshare and Vinit Karnik, national director, entertainment, sports & live events with GroupM Esp.
Said Saraf for the title sponsors: “We have a legacy of associating with sports; we have been associating with various sports from ice-hockey to Formula One to MotoGP and rugby in some nations. We started advertising in India last year and tied up with Mumbai Indians to begin with. Mindshare and GroupM ESP recommended WSH as an opportunity to us and helped us understand the media deliveries and valuation of the league."
Yannick Colaco, COO of Nimbus Sport, was their counterpart for the rights holders.
In the official sponsorship category deals announced this week, Kapil Arora, senior VP and country head – Team Vodafone at Ogilvy and Mather Advertising was a strategic advisor on the deal for Vodafone.
Bikram Basu, VP – marketing of Pernod Ricard India, was at the centre of Seagram’s Imperial Blue sponsorship.
The Bridgestone World Series Hockey, a joint initiative between the Indian Hockey Federation and Nimbus Sport, kicked off on February 29, 2012, and will involve 200 leading players – Indian and international – playing in 59 matches for the biggest prize money for a hockey tournament in the world.
By Matthew Glendinning
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @mattglen