In the early morning of Aug. 1, slugger Chen Chin-feng (
It was his first public appearance after returning home from the US to prepare for the Olympic Games in Athens.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"The reason we decided to release Chen's first TV commercial now, despite his tight schedule, is that we hope to translate his fans' ... support into a driving force behind him and his teammates to do well in Athens," said Tina Chiang (
Chen is not the only baseball player helping to promote products recently. Companies are eager to be connected with the popular baseball team, whose players attract public attention and make news headlines.
At a press conference earlier this month by President Chain Store Corp (統一超商), three famous baseball players -- Chen Chih-yuan (陳致遠), Peng Cheng-min (彭政閔) and Pan Wei-lun (潘威倫) -- were introduced, amid the loud cheers of about 30 fans gathered there, to unveil the 7-Eleven chain's products to commemorate the baseball team's long-awaited appearance at the Olympic Games.
Rising Sponsorship
Over the past two months, companies such as MasterCard and President Chain have poured resources into sponsoring individuals or sports teams.
Ask these companies why they are doing so and they typically answer that it's a way to show support for the nation's Olympic athletes. But in an increasingly sophisticated sponsorship market, what companies do not say out loud is that they want their names known.
"No one would [invest in] a money-losing business. Companies always look to create the biggest return on investment," said Cheng Chih-fu (
The strategy has become more prevalent this year, with a dozen companies -- including E.Sun Bank (玉山銀行), Mitac International Corp (神達電腦), Taiwan Cellular Corp (台灣大哥大), and Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp (台灣菸酒公司) also showing an interest in using this new strategy to talk to their prospective audiences, according to market insiders.
"Compared with past Olympic Games, we've received more business sponsorships this year," said an official surnamed Hsieh in charge of sports marketing at the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (CTOC, 中華奧會). As the nation's baseball and taekwondo teams appear to stand a good chance of winning medals, some big companies have contacted the CTOC to arrange corporate sponsorships.
The CTOC is the sole sports organization with exclusive powers to organize and field representative delegations from Taiwan at the Olympic Games, the Asian Games and other international sports competitions recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Taiwan's biggest liability in promoting sports activities, however, is its relatively small population and limited government subsidies, which force athletes to rely heavily on corporate sponsorships, said Richard Lin (林宗成), secretary general of the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association (中華棒協). The association was established in 1973 to organize national and international baseball tournaments as well as player training programs.
"We're very happy to see that more and more enterprises are investing to help cultivate sports," Lin said.
But is this testament that the nation's sports marketing is being well played?
"It looks flourishing on the surface, but in reality the development in this field is far from mature," Cheng said.
Lack of Professionals
Compared with the US and Japan, Cheng said, Taiwan still lacks professionals and consulting companies that specialize in sports marketing -- which he views as an art requiring synergy between the sponsor and the targeted athlete or sport, as well as an effective communications strategy to reach the relevant audience.
Sponsorship is both costly and time-consuming, and therefore most corporate sponsorships for the nation's sports tournaments are dealt with by ordinary public relations companies or the sponsor's in-house marketing group, he added.
Foresight Advertising Co (
The Taipei-based advertising company has specialized in sports marketing for two years, and now handles sponsorship arrangements and merchandise designs for the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, which holds much of Taiwan's hope for glory in Athens.
"Everyone in Taiwan loves baseball," said Sarah Lin (林淑如) of Foresight Advertising, adding that this is the main reason they approached the baseball association.
According to Lin, the scope of the market for sports marketing has multiplied in recent years, and the potential business opportunities elicited by the Olympic Games are huge.
While the right corporate sponsorship can strengthen fan support for a business' products, Lin said risks also exist.
"If the sponsored teams do not perform well, product sales might be affected," Lin said.
As a result, most enterprise sponsorship has centered on the baseball team, leaving the players stuck in a busy schedule attending the public relations activities of their sponsors.
Too Commercial?
This has led some critics to say the situation has become excessively commercialized.
"Although sports marketing is mutually beneficial for sports teams and enterprises, sports ethics must be stressed and athletes should not be affected," said Cheng.
He cited the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona as an example of commercial interests overtaking those of the athletes. Some competitions were forced to reschedule so that sponsors could watch live TV broadcasts at home without being affected by time differences. The athletes, meanwhile, had to compete under unfavorable conditions.
Although the sports marketing business is just developing here in Taiwan, Cheng said he has seen some changes since 1994, when he started his sports marketing course.
"I would say that the nation has made notable progress in putting the concept into practice since then," Cheng said. "Academia, industry and the government have all learned to embrace the idea."
The 2003 national games held by the Taipei County Government are a successful example, he said, with company sponsorships topping NT$75 million.
The High School Basketball League, better known as the HBL, has become popular thanks to Nike Taiwan's sponsorship, which began in 1996.
Still, the lack of specialized consulting firms means there are fewer chances for students majoring in the new discipline to sharpen their skills as interns or even full-time workers, according to Cheng.
In recent years, several local companies have realized that an effective sports marketing campaign can help sell their products overseas. Computer-maker Acer Inc, for instance, sponsors the Ferrari racing team for around NT$100 million a year, while BenQ Corp (明基電通) became an official sponsor of the 2004 European Football Championship to enhance its brand image.
Return on Investment
Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) sponsored ONCE Road Team, which won the 2002 Tour de France championship. In return, Giant saw doubled sales of its high-end bicycles priced over US$1,000.
Cheng sees a huge business potential in developing sports marketing. Professional baseball tournaments alone are estimated to create a market worth NT$1 billion a year, according to deputy general manager Lin Chiang (
"In five years, I believe we'll have professional structures operating sports marketing in Taiwan," Cheng said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last