Standard Chartered UAE backs future golf champions

The clinics will be held in the run-up to the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship 2007 and leverages the bank's platinum sponsorship of one of the largest sporting event in the UAE capital.

Sixty children from secondary schools and colleges in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain will 'study' with a local golf professional at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club, home to the Championship. The two most promising students from each school will then be invited to a one hour golf clinic with an international golf pro during the 2007 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, which runs from January 18-21.

"A key component of Standard Chartered's corporate social responsibility programme is giving something back to the communities its serves - and assisting the build up to the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and helping youngsters with their game, are prime examples of this," said Jeremy Parrish, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

"Sport, and the desire to excel, have always been close to the heart of Standard Chartered, which is the name behind the largest sporting event in Dubai with the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon - and is involved in one of the largest sporting event in Abu Dhabi. As both are taking place in January, it should be a hectic start to the New Year.

"The schools golf clinic programme is a great way to encourage active local participation in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, and an equally great way to let the stars of tomorrow's golf circuit have an opportunity to shine."

In 2007, Standard Chartered is working with the Championship owners, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, and other tournament sponsors to bring innovative golf-themed activities to the emirate's residents in the run up to the event, as well as to the expected 20,000 spectators. One of these is the Standard Chartered Golf Zone, which will be hosted in the city's Marina Mall in the ten days before the championship.

"Standard Chartered's Golf Zone will give people the opportunity to play golf," said Parrish. "At Marina Mall, there will be two nets in which the public will get lessons from golf pros that we're flying in especially from the UK.

"Then, during the Championship itself, the Golf Zone will move to Abu Dhabi Golf Club, where spectators will not only get a 10-minute lesson from a pro, free of charge, but will also receive, by e-mail, a video of their swing with tips from the pro. It's very probable that the event's stars will also drop in."

"As with all our sponsorships, we regard our involvement in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship as a product to be marketed," said Parrish.

A multi-billion dollar industry worldwide, sports sponsorship is traditionally associated with venue branding and corporate hospitality boxes, with many sponsors reluctant to invest over and above basic sponsorship packages to promote their participation.

But according to Parrish, companies serious about sports sponsorship must be prepared to invest additionally if they are to achieve a worthwhile return.

"It's important to recognise that sponsorship is a product that needs to be marketed in the same way as any other," said Parrish. "This means additional spending, but when it's done intelligently, the return is potentially very great.'

Standard Chartered uses sports events to engage various stakeholders around the world, including marathons in Dubai, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Islamabad, Nairobi and the Falkland Islands, and golf tournaments such as the Malaysian Open and the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship. "Sports sponsorship is an integral part of our marketing programme and we invest a substantial figure in it," said Parrish.

Thanks to an A-list line up of golf stars, including the 2006 champion Chris DiMarco, one of the USA's top 10 golfers, South Africa's Retief Goosen who recently led his Rest of The World Team to victory in the inaugural Goodwill Trophy and European Ryder Cup stars Sergio Garcia and Colin Montgomerie, the European PGA Tour event is expected to attract around 20,000 spectators to the Championship Course and an international TV audience of millions.

"We supported the inaugural Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in 2006, working with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority to bring a world-class event to the emirate, and we were so confident it would quickly establish itself on the Tour that we signed on as sponsors until 2011," said Parrish.

"Ultimately, we want to drive business through our involvement in the event. Abu Dhabi is a key market in this region and there are traditional brand building benefits associated with the sponsorship. It gives us a perfect means of engaging the Abu Dhabi government and our various stakeholders - customers, potential customers and employees - in an environment that's not commercially driven.

"But we are also keen to promote the event in the community, to help develop golf in the UAE at the grass roots level, and to entertain people, adding a bit extra to their experience of the event."