8 MGCC PERSPECTIVES MAY JUN 2018 COVER STORY the world during pre season where they have the opportunity to directly interact with their fans In 2017 Bayern Munich visited China and Singapore Borussia Dortmund travelled to Japan and China while Schalke 04 also played friendly games in China and Eintracht Frankurt toured through the US For the many fans abroad it is a unique opportunity to see their idols up and close Jaiz Anuar Yeop Johari President of the FC Bayern Munich Fan Club Malaysia first fell in love with football when watching the World Cup in 1986 as a 9 year old and became a fan of the Bavarians when the club visited Malaysia for a mini tournament during the opening of Stadium Shah Alam He has been an avid supporter of FC Bayern Munich since The members of the fan club regularly watch Bundesliga games together and take part in friendly tournaments In 2017 I participated in the FC Bayern International Fanclub Tournament which took place in Singapore and was part of the International Champions Cup the 41 year old said when asked about the highlight of his life as Bayern Munich fan My team finished in 3rd place and we had the chance to engage with FC Bayern legends such as Giovanne Elber Miroslav Klose Raimond Aumann Hasan Salihamidzic and even Uli Hoeness For Jaiz the Bundesliga holds a bigger appeal than the EPL the Spanish La Liga or the Italian Serie A The Bundesliga offers an interesting and fast style of football he explained It also doesn t shy away from giving young players and young coaches the opportunity to compete For example we can see Kai Havertz of Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 18 playing high level football At the same time there are Domenico Tedesco of Schalke 04 and Hoffenheim s Julian Nagelsmann two dynamic young coaches in charge of top clubs of the Bundesliga However travelling around the world to promote German football and the Bundesliga is not completely free from criticism Ralph Hasenhüttl coach of RB Leipzig said last year that too much was expected of the players of some Bundesliga clubs on their marketing tours abroad this accusation however was quickly brushed aside by Bayern Munich CEO Karl Heinz Rummenigge I find his comments cynical and divisive he said during the club s visit to Singapore last year Clubs that went on tour to Asia or the US performed a service in terms of Bundesliga TV marketing It s all about solidarity We achieved our goal to visit our Asian fans and bring them closer to our team he added More than that we were able to strengthen our economic and political ties on this side of the world After the all German Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and Germany s victory at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil one year later the interest in the Bundesliga experienced another surge Additionally FOX Sports Asia an Asian cable sports network owned by FOX Networks Group now shows Bundesliga games every weekend reaching millions of fans in Malaysia Indonesia and other Asian territories To further tap into the Asian market Bayern Munich opened an office in Shanghai China and Borussia Dortmund in Singapore Suresh Letchmanan Managing Director of BVB Asia Pacific Pte Ltd said that the club chose Singapore as location for its hub in Asia because it serves as a gateway to embark into Southeast Asia China India Japan Korea and even Australia Additionally some of the club s main partners and sponsors such as Evonik and Puma have their Asian Pacific offices in Singapore as well According to Letchmanan the primary objective of the office in Singapore is to raise the club s brand and visibility in Asia Other activities include increasing the fan base growing the merchandise business to have more black and yellow shirts in stores working closely with the media and positioning ourselves as well as creating awareness through various media platforms via PR activities and activation campaigns like bringing players legends and the team on tours to Asia and lastly to secure and acquire new sponsorships and partnerships he added It would be easy to assume that the rivalry between FC Bayern and BVB is also carried over to market penetration in Asia However this is not the case as Letchmanan knows Football has an underlining draw for companies A lot of clubs have secured partnerships and business deals in SEA and there are lots of opportunities here Suresh Letchmanan Managing Director BVB Asia Pacific Pte Ltd

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