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The following is issued on behalf of The Equestrian Company:
More than 300 executives from Hong Kong's business community have shown interest in the Equestrian Marketing Programme in support of the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Events in Hong Kong.
The commercial organisations cover a wide spectrum of businesses and range from small and medium enterprises to large corporations.
They were briefed today (May 22) on the purpose, sponsorship packages and detailed arrangements of the Equestrian Marketing Programme at a seminar entitled "Business Riding High ¡V Exploring Marketing Opportunities in Supporting the Olympic Equestrian Events", organised by Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), The Equestrian Company, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and the Intellectual Property Department of the HKSAR Government.
"This marketing programme in Hong Kong is part of the marketing programme of the Beijing Olympics, and will give financial, technical and service support to the Olympic Equestrian Events in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Olympic Team," Director, Marketing Department of BOCOG, Madame Yuan Bin, explained.
"On the other hand, the programme also aims to give Hong Kong enterprises a platform on which to further build their corporate and product image," she said.
"On top of the Olympic brand, which is one of the world's most well-known icons, the brand of the Beijing Olympics has an added meaning.
"As its slogan goes, the Beijing Olympics will be Green Olympics, High-tech Olympics and People's Olympics, and China is a vibrant economy and its athletes have performed very well in past Olympics and promise to do even better on their own soil," Madame Yuan said.
There are two levels of sponsorship ¡V associate and supporter. Associates are exclusive sponsors in their respective category, while supporters share their exclusivity with no more than two other supporters in the same category.
Sponsors are entitled to have their names and brands associated with the Olympic Equestrian Events, the Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Olympic Team.
Officiating at the launch ceremony of the seminar at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre were Madame Yuan, Vice-President of the Equestrian Committee (Hong Kong) of BOCOG Mr Timothy Fok, Chief Executive Officer of the Olympic Equestrian Company Mr Lam Woon-kwong, Director, Corporate Development, Hong Kong Trade Development Council Mr Christopher Jackson, and Director of Intellectual Property, HKSAR Government Mr Stephen Selby.
"We are delighted and encouraged to see such a good response from the business community to the programme," Mr Fok said. "After all, Olympic sponsorship is a win-win proposition."
At the seminar, Mr Lam briefed the participants on the business opportunities presented by the Olympic Equestrian Events. Deputy Director of the Marketing Department of BOCOG Mr Chen Feng outlined the basic details of the Equestrian Marketing Programme, and Mr Selby gave a briefing on the Government¡¦s measures to protect Olympic intellectual property and the exclusive rights that would be granted to sponsors.
The presentations were followed by a panel briefing on the Equestrian Sponsorship Programme and Licensing Programme by Director of Promotion and Marketing of the Olympic Equestrian Company Mrs Nancy Pang as well as Mr Wu Kaifeng and Ms Diana Zhang of BOCOG's Marketing Department.
Ends/Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:31
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