Come Play at the Singapore Sports Hub 19August 24, 2014 thesundaytimes

PROJECT EDITOR Lim Yann Ling CONTRIBUTORS David McMahon, Jamie Ee Wen Wei, Jessica Leow, Panchalee Thakur ART AND DESIGN Kimmie Tan, Sara Tan PHOTOGRAPHER Chong Jun Liang EDITOR Lee Kim Chew CHIEF SUB-EDITOR Uma Venkatraman ART DIRECTOR Chris Tan ADMIN MANAGER Zain Afridi ADVERTISING SALES Rix Low (9620-1365), Lina Tan (9620-1355) For reproduction of articles or reprints of photographs, call SPH's Information Resource Centre: 6319-5508 or 6319-5726. E-mail feedback to spu@sph.com.sg

Bringing people together

Panchalee Thakur

ON THE Inaugural International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on April 28 this year, International Olympic Com-mittee president Thomas Bach said: “Sport can change the world, but it cannot change the world alone. When placing sport at the service of humankind, we need and we want partnerships with other players in society.”

Singapore Sports Hub partnerships are a step in this direction, forging alliances with corporates with a view to bringing value to both the sponsors and the general public through sports.

As the exclusive commercial partner of the Singapore Sports Hub, World Sport Group (WSG) has brought in a number of sponsors for the venue, providing unique branding opportunities for these companies.

Says Mr Andrew Georgiou, the chief exec-utive officer of WSG: “Sport has the unique ability to be a unifying force. It brings people together, transcending all socio-economic and demographic factors – across race, age, gender, financial status. It allows people, clubs and nations, who may not otherwise have an opportunity to engage with one an-other, a chance to do so on the sporting field. It allows people from different political, ideo-logical or religious backgrounds a unique op-portunity to share a common language and

a common passion.” The local sports ecosystem gets a boost

with corporate funding as it goes towards building community interest and involve-ment in sports from the grassroots level.

Corporate sponsorship of sports is an ef-fective way to multiply these benefits.

“Corporate partnerships lead to better programming, which results in the com-munity being able to enjoy higher calibre sporting events. Sports Hub’s world-class fa-cilities enable Singapore to attract premier sporting events like the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global,” says Mr Georgiou.

In October, Singapore will become the first Asia-Pacific city to host the WTA Finals. The prestigious tournament will showcase Singapore to audiences around the world and boost tourism.

“Sports Hub gives sponsors the oppor-tunity to actively engage their customers, prospects and the community, and en-hance their brand equity in the process,” says Mr Georgiou.

“As a result of these incredible oppor-tunities, we are seeing an unprecedented amount of local support for this world-class project – at least 30 per cent of Sports Hub’s sponsors are leading home-grown brands like OCBC Bank, Great Eastern, Tiger Beer and StarHub, who are contributing their

time, effort and resources to advancing sport in Singapore.”

Value beyond commerceOCBC Bank is the premier founding part-ner, with naming rights for the indoor swimming pool area, the OCBC Aquatic Centre, and the multi-purpose sports hall, OCBC Arena, the Bank of Singapore Lounge and OCBC Lounge in the Na-tional Stadium, the OCBC Premier Suite lounge in the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and OCBC Square, a canopy in front of the MRT station.

On how these sponsorships tie in with the brand, Ms Koh Ching Ching, head of Group Corporate Communications, OCBC Bank, says: “OCBC Bank has been a strong supporter of local sports through cycling and entertainment acts.

“Our strong community ties make it natural for us to support this iconic Sin-gapore project. This partnership with the OCBC Group is geared towards benefiting the Singapore community, helping Sports Hub fund grassroots activities organised at the Singapore Sports Hub as well as in-ternational events that would appeal to our citizens and international visitors.”

Tiger Beer, Great Eastern and StarHub are the founding partners at the Sports Hub that have branding rights at the Na-

tional Stadium.Mr Rene de Monchy, head of Market-

ing, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore, says: “As one of the most iconic brands in Singapore, almost synonymous with our national identity, it was a natural pro-gression for Tiger Beer to be part of the country’s milestone with the landmark opening of the Sports Hub.

“Where the Sports Hub plays into the nation’s continuous pursuit of world-class infrastructure for its residents, Tiger Beer’s deep-seated heritage and history of sup-port for sports in Singapore puts both the icons at the forefront of the country’s sporting spirit.”

Great Eastern, which has been regular-ly associated with sports in Singapore, has extended the traditional role of an insur-ance company to work towards a healthy community.

Mr Colin Chan, chief marketing offic-er, Great Eastern Life, says: “Our support for sports is integral to Great Eastern’s DNA. Our partnership with the iconic

Singapore Sports Hub adds an exhila-rating new dimension to our Live Great programme offerings and is an excellent platform for us to further promote the important message of healthy living as well as bring Singaporeans together from every walk of life.”

It takes a good sporting infrastructure to promote a sporting culture in a country and through public-private partnerships, this latest icon of Singapore is set to bring communities together.

“The concept of the Singapore Sports Hub is very different from other sporting facilities around the world. Most arenas of this scale are usually built in preparation for a major event, such as the Bird’s Nest Stadium for the Olympics in Beijing.

“But the Singapore Sports Hub was designed and built with the community in mind. We want the Sports Hub to be a focal point where the local and regional community can engage in sports, lifestyle and entertainment activities,” says Mr Georgiou.

The concept of the Singapore

Sports Hub is very different from other sporting facilities around the world. Most arenas of this scale are usually built in preparation for a major event, such as the Bird’s Nest Stadium for the Olympics in Beijing. But the Singapore Sports Hub was designed and built with the community in mind. We want the Sports Hub to be a focal point where the local and regional community can engage in sports, lifestyle and entertainment activities. — Mr Andrew Georgiou,chief executive officer, World Sport Group

The iconic hub is a focal point of sports and entertainment for the whole community

Bringing people togetherBringing people togetherThe iconic hub is a focal point of sports and entertainment for the whole community

The iconic hub is a focal point of sports and entertainment for the whole community