The 2010 Shanghai Expo organizers signed an agreement with Coca-Cola yesterday, making the soft drinks giant the exclusive sponsor of beverages at the international event.
By inking the deal with the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, Coca-Cola becomes the seventh global partner of the Expo and the only multinational sponsoring the four largest international events in the country in the coming years.
The other events include the 2007 Shanghai Special Olympics, and the 2008 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics.
The company is said to be in talks to build a pavilion at the Expo.
"As the leading beverage company in China and globally, Coca-Cola is well placed to undertake the huge task of providing beverages to the estimated 70 million visitors to Shanghai during the World Expo," Doug Jackson, president of Coca-Cola China, said at yesterday's signing ceremony.
"The 2010 Shanghai Expo will be a great platform to showcase our company's future to the global community when we gather in Shanghai to celebrate a 'Better City, Better Life'," he added, referring to the Expo's theme.
The latest sponsorship deal took a year of negotiations before seeing fruition. Coca-Cola, with a sales network covering about 200 nations and regions, endorses a list of the biggest names in sports and pledged to make the Expo a "most memorable" event and a "great success" from its opening on May 1, 2010.
The marketing campaigns and partnerships of the Shanghai Expo are expected to help cover some of the 30 billion yuan ($4 billion) the event will cost.
The city intends to have 10 to 12 global partners for the Expo. Organizers have secured six global partners - China Mobile, China Telecom, China Eastern Airlines, the Bank of Communications, Siemens, the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and its partner General Motors.
Shanghai Vice-Mayor Yang Xiong said of the latest deal yesterday: "We are sure that the company will live up to the expectations and provide strong support to the Expo with its well-known brand, technology, marketing networks and experiences in large public events."
In return for its involvement, Coca-Cola is entitled to benefits that include marketing itself as the Expo's partner, the use of media platforms owned by the Expo to promote itself, and picking a site at the Expo garden for a corporate pavilion.
Source: China Daily
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