• DFB Cup - FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 - FIFA World Cup 2014™ - UEFA EURO 2016™

  • Image boost for the company, sales support for dealers

  • Association with football goes back more than 100 years

In June of this year, Continental was an official partner and sponsor of two major sporting events: the 2013 DFB Cup Final on June 1 in Berlin, when FC Bayern Munich met VfB Stuttgart, and the 2013 Confederations Cup final on June 30 between record five-time World Cup winners Brazil and reigning world and European champions Spain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The DFB final in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin is far and away Germany's biggest sporting event of the year, no matter which teams are taking part. Whether it's a battle of the giants or more a case of favorite meets underdog - the interest of the fans and the media is always huge. For years now the cup final has always been a sell-out, and it probably always will be. The match is broadcast by German public TV channel ARD and by Sky to more than 150 countries around the world. This year, pitch-side advertising reminded more than 70,000 spectators in the stadium itself and around 13 million TV viewers in Germany alone of Continental's role as a sponsor, helping them experience the brand as part of an emotionally charged sporting event. Through the deal with the German football association DFB, Continental has secured pitch-side advertising space and ticket allocations for all DFB Cup games since 2010. The company also benefits from a substantial TV presence and is entitled to use the marketing rights in its communications with customers and car drivers.

The cup competition provides a national counterpoint to the major international sporting events that form the bedrock of Continental's marketing and communication strategy - like UEFA EURO 2012™ (Poland and Ukraine), the FIFA 2013 Confederations Cup (Brazil) and the FIFA World Cup 2014™ (also Brazil). Like the contract for the FIFA World Cup 2014™, the deal with the DFB will run at least until 2014, while the current agreement with UEFA continues until 2016. The finals of UEFA EURO 2016™ will be hosted by two-times European champion France, which also happens to be one of Continental's biggest and most important markets in Europe.

Customers more likely to buy what they know

Through its extensive involvement in football sponsorship, the Tires Division's marketing and communications team is able to appeal directly to the hearts and minds of a global target group. "As by far the world's most popular sport, professional football has proved an outstanding central communications platform for us," says Nikolai Setzer, Member of Continental's Executive Board and Head of Tire Division. "Since 1995, we have recorded a steady increase in brand awareness for our premium Continental brand and have fired up the brand image with the powerful emotions from football stadiums around the world."

Tires and football have a lot more in common than it may seem at first sight. Factors that thrill the crowds on the terraces, like impressive technique, perfect control, precision, agility and team spirit, are also mirrored in Continental tires and its corporate culture. This link is also communicated in the company's advertising and surveys reveal that more and more drivers have made the connection too. As a result, Continental's high-profile involvement in football is very popular with tire dealers, because particularly in times of lower purchasing power and rising mobility costs, consumers are more likely to buy brands they know. High awareness of the Continental brand generates dependable and welcome demand for the company's premium-segment products at dealerships.

Sponsorship cascaded through all levels of communication

All the signs are that this momentum will continue. After all, football is today the world's most high-profile sport, and so it also receives far and away the most media attention. According to Continental's own surveys, the company's sponsorship activities reach 100 percent of the core target group. At the same time the company is also profiting from a new trend - the fact that football is winning more and more female fans. This provides access to a target group which in the past has not always been easy for a tire manufacturer to reach. Today Continental's sponsorship activities have long since cascaded through all levels of corporate communications. The association between the brand and football adds vibrancy to Continental's advertising, while point of sale promotional activities bring in more business for dealerships. Prize draws and the www.ContiSoccerWorld.com website, which is devoted exclusively to football and Continental, drive interaction between the manufacturer, dealers and consumers. As a result of this focused and systematic approach, awareness of the premium Continental tire brand has increased in all markets since 2003, in some cases substantially. Remarkably, this is even true in Germany, where brand recognition rates have increased from an already staggering 88 percent to 93 percent. In Europe, the biggest increases, according to market surveys, have happened in Poland and Russia, with brand awareness rising from 45 to 62 and from 30 to 55 percent until 2012 respectively.

Sponsorship activities have also proven a very effective way of leveraging the highly charged emotional atmosphere of football stadiums around the world to energize Continental's brand image and effectively set the brand apart from the competition. According to the experts, instant brand recognition is an asset that competitors find it very difficult, if not impossible, to match. All of this adds up to a sustained competitive advantage and provides the company with a valuable unique selling proposition.

Football has been part of Continental's history for more than 100 years

It's a good thing that professional football has been around for a long time; otherwise Continental might have had to invent it! The company's links with the sport have always been close, right from the start. Even in pre-1900 days the tire manufacturer was already doing a brisk trade in soft-rubber footballs. And when football rapidly gained popularity in Germany in the 1920s, Continental began producing bladders for leather footballs, as well as stitched molded soles for gymnastic and sports shoes. In the same tradition, in 2011, a new world marathon record was set in adidas running shoes with Continental soles made of special rubber compounds that give excellent grip in both dry and wet conditions.

Continental's first venture into football sponsorship dates back to the 1950s, and to the local Hannover 96 football club. At a time when professional sport itself and pitch-side advertising were still unknown, and when shirt advertising was banned, Continental offered Hannover 96 players Werner Müller and Rolf Paetz - both on the team that won the DFB Cup in 1954 - jobs at the Vahrenwald plant. After the cup win, the team photo that appeared in the press was taken on the roof of the Conti building.

But it was in 1995 that football really took off as a tool in Continental's marketing strategy. When UEFA decided to replace the flagging European Cup with the Champions League, Continental was on the team from the word go, as an official partner. Football marketing now assumed a new and unprecedented level of professionalism. As well as being an instant hit with football fans in Europe and around the world, the Champions League also proved superior to any other sporting event in terms of its ability to boost awareness of Continental tires among potential customers and car drivers, so the partnership soon paid off. By the end of the first season, brand awareness in all of the company's core markets was already rising, and to this day the winning equation remains: Continental = football.

One of the leading sponsors in international football

Over recent years, Continental has become one of the leading sponsors in international football. By partnering with FIFA for the 2006 World Cup™ in Germany and the 2010 World Cup™ in South Africa, Continental put itself firmly on the radar of sports fans all over the world. This was followed by sponsorship deals at European level, beginning with UEFA EURO 2012™ in Austria and Switzerland. Now, the ongoing success of its sponsorship program gives Continental further encouragement to stay on the ball in the future. Completing the picture, Continental partners with the men's national teams in Spain and The Netherlands, as well as in France, where sponsorship also includes the women's national team, and in England, where Continental sponsors the FA Women's Super League. In England and the USA sponsorship also extends to the national football associations - The FA and US Soccer. "As all of these commitments show, today at international and regional level alike, it is hard to imagine Continental not being involved in football," says Nikolai Setzer. "Football has a fundamental role to play in society at large - and for our premium Continental brand in particular."

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