Midea
Sponsorship Strategy
As part of Midea's 'Global Sponsorship Strategy 2020-2023' - besides the Global Manchester City Partnership which is providing the brand with a massive global + fast(est) growing fanbase - I opted to 'strengthen' our 2 key regions in Brazil + APAC with an additional, locally very relevant + accessible (local B2B + B2C hospitality) partnership deal.
Therefore, in 2019 we also signed an:
Midea &
AFF Suzuki Cup 2020
AFF stands for ASEAN Football Federation and the AFF Suzuki Cup for the AFF's Football Championship - a biennial international competition contested to determine the sub-continental champion of Southeast Asia.
Midea's partnership – a first-of-its-kind for the brand in SouthEast Asia – provided the home appliances giant with an opportunity to engage with millions of football fans in the region.
Midea aimed to tap the unrivalled popularity of the region’s largest football event to raise its 'Brand Awareness' + grow its 'Market Share' in SouthEast Asia through a holistic sponsorship strategy that embraces the true spirit of sports – fans from all walks of life coming together to support their national players, who are local heroes in their own rights.
Here the/my Official Press Release
🦠 COVID
...hit the planning!
The 2020 AFF Championship (officially AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF).
The final tournament was originally scheduled to run from 23 November to 31 December 2020 with the Final in Vietnam - the defending champion.
However the tournament was postponed and rescheduled at least twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tournament was first rescheduled to run from:
- 11 April to 08 May 2021
...with a firm intention to stage the Championship in its full format – played on a home + away basis across the qualifying nations in SouthEast Asia, however had later to be pushed backed further to
- 05 December 2021 to 01 January 2022
...with Singapore later been chosen for host this tournament in a centralized venue.
Challenge = Opportunity
Being already experienced 'Crisis Managers' and having turned the Manchester City Sponsorship with the #MideaHomeChallenge into a successful + award-winning activation during the global health crisis...
...also working closely with the AFF organizers we tried to turn the situation into an 'Opportunity':
Despite the undeniably difficult situation globally + 'especially' in the APAC region = footballs fans + football players where 'craving' for football content + for any possible 'glimpse' of 'normality' + 'happiness' in their lives...
TikTok
Challenge
Among multiple activations, especially across Social Media channels, our Midea TikTok Challenge was an award-winning + light-hearted + brand engaging success:
@midea_malaysia JOIN the #MideaHomeChallenge HAVE fun & SHARE your video! #AFFSUZUKICUP #MakeYourselfAtHome #OfficialSponsorOfAFFSuzukiCup2020 #HomeOfTheBest
@midea_indonesia Yuk ikutan #MideaHomeChallenge dan share video kamu sekarang ya! Nikmati pertandingan #AFFSUZUKICUP dan #MakeYourseIfAtHome dengan #Midea
#HomeOfTheBest
KOLs + Legends
Moments of the Day
...finally during the tournament, we used the umbrella idea 'Best Moments of the Day' (which is actually stolen from our Manchester City #MideaWorldClass campaign) to connect the best AFF Suzuki Cup scenes to our Midea products:
- Cleanest Tackler = Washing Machine
- Freshest Keeper = Refrigerator
- Air Dominator = Air Fryer
- Versatile Playmaker = Microwave Oven
- Coolest Distributor = Air-Conditioner
- Brilliant Finisher = Dishwasher
with some simple post copy:
Enjoy the #AFFSuzukiCup2020 and #MakeYourselfAtHome with (y)our #Midea home appliances
#Vietnam 🐲 Vs #Thailand 🐘
#AFFSuzukiCup + #Midea
#HomeoftheBest
🥇#WorldsNo1AirTreatmentBrand
🥇#WorldsNo1SmallCookingAppliancesBrand
🥇#WorldsNo1AirCoolersBrand
🥇#WorldsNo1RiceCookersBrand
🥇#WorldsNo1CoolingFansBrand
⚽️#OfficialSponsorOfAFFSuzukiCup2020
...see the Instagram post below:
❗️Important Side Note:
- The MideaGlobal IG channel (I use below) is more a 'Global Showcase' channel with 'Global Hero Products' + English Tagline + English Copy, while...
- our respective Midea country IG channels are the one 'boosting' the post to fans + potential consumers