Yadea Vice President talks about the brand’s sports marketing strategies

At a recent sports marketing event in Beijing, a 2018 FIFA World Cup sponsor, the Chinese e-scooter brand, Yadea, gave the audience some background information on their partnership with the 2018 FIFA World Cup and their thoughts on sports sponsorship. 

Liu Tong, the Vice President of Yadea, who also looks after the company’s brand management center and information management center, was the main person responsible for Yadea’s sponsorship at the FIFA World Cup Russia and its relevant marketing. 

According to Liu Tong, the decision to partner with the 2018 FIFA World Cup was basically made in less than an hour after he met with Desports in Shanghai, where he mainly wanted to confirm the truthfulness of Desports collaboration with FIFA. It then took them one month to draw up the contract and the deal was then announced in February 2018. 

The e-scooter sector may not have been so noticeable in sports marketing before Yadea’s partnership with the FIFA World Cup. However, there are approximately 200m e-scooter users in China and an average of 30m new users each year, according to Liu Tong. The two-wheel vehicle is an important alternative choice of transportation in cities for the public, especially in lower tier cities where transportation is limited. 

According to Desports, Yadea achieved significant improvement in sales performance after partnering with the World Cup. In the first quarter of 2018, a traditional weak period of e-scooter sales, Yadea sold 1.05m vehicles which was 59% higher than the same period in 2017. Some cities even had a 400% increase in sales. For the first half of 2018, their revenue increased by 40.8%. 

Liu Tong said that the FIFA World Cup was a key subject in their PR and communication  strategy in 2018, which was different to the pre-World Cup period where they often selected and changed communication subjects and media. This new strategy helps to focus their communication efforts to one subject. 

“Manufacturing companies have to market their products. However, many of the traditional manufacturing companies are quite passive in what kind of marketing choices they can make. They have to choose from a variety of media and marketing choices. How to make a choice is difficult because how can you correctly judge which method is correct and you have a budget.” He said. 

He further expressed that if the effects of sports sponsorship can reach their expectations, they are willing and more inclined to continue to choose this approach, as sports is positive and they also hope to make contributions to positive things, as they and their industry grow. 

“It is a rational process.” 

On the other hand, he hopes that when people recommend their marketing opportunities, they should give a second thought about whether the opportunities fits with the brand’s demand and goals. 

Proofread by Raymond Fitzpatrick