Volvo's largest sponsorship ever sets sail

volvo's largest sponsorship ever sets sail Volvo's largest sponsorship investment ever, the Volvo Ocean Race, sets sails on Sep 23, 2001 when the eight race boats competing leave Southampton, UK. The Volvo Ocean Race is the Grand Prix of ocean races and rated as one of the top seven TV sporting events, worldwide. The race covers 32,700 nautical miles with nine stopovers with finish in Kiel, Germany in June 2002. Investments in sports are a very effective means of communications, which is why Volvo acquired the race from Whitbread in 1998 for about USD 8.5 million. The Volvo Group and Volvo Car Corporation jointly own the sponsorship. The costs for running the race in terms of management and logistics are about USD 20 million and on top of that, investments are made in marketing and PR of about USD 10-15 million. The latter cost will be a re-allocation of already existing budgets to maximise the marketing benefits offered by the Volvo Ocean Race. The total commitment by the Volvo Group and Volvo Cars amounts to approximately USD 35 million, over a period of four years. - The Volvo Ocean Race is an effective support when creating and developing business relationships between the many companies associated with the event. We will integrate the race in our marketing and communication programs and the stopovers will be used for business activities. Our major communication objective is to extend public awareness of the race even further, with the advent of internet and digital technology. This is particularly important as the Volvo Ocean Race is one of the few global sponsorships which carry the brand name in the title, says Leif Johansson, CEO and President of the Volvo Group. - Surveys and trends indicate that many people are attracted to adventure, excitement and environment, and through the Volvo Ocean Race we hope to communicate with many of those. This is also why we have partnered with National Geographic, since we feel that we communicate much the same values. We will also take the opportunity to show concept cars, the company's concept lab and a hands-on safety exhibition, says Hans-Olov Olsson, CEO and President of the Volvo Car Corporation. One of Volvo's objectives in the Volvo Ocean Race is to expand the environmental commitment and to this end, the Volvo Ocean Adventure is created, a free global environmental education program. This web-based program is linked directly to the Volvo Ocean Race since it uses the boats to measure the health of the oceans that they sail across. The purpose of the Volvo Ocean Adventure is to increase environmental awareness and activate young people around the world to show they can make an impact on the environment. September 21, 2001 For more information, contact: Volvo Car Corporation: The Volvo Group: Rebecca Hedlund Jessica Nilsson Tel: +46 31 594119 Tel: +46 31 595856 Email: rebecca.hedlund@volvo.com Email: jnilss35@volvocars.com See also the following websites: www.volvooceanrace.org www.volvooceanadventure.org ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/21/20010921BIT00280/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/21/20010921BIT00280/bit0001.pdf