Saturday, January 12, 2008

Sony Ericsson signs Maria Sharapova in Landmark Off-Court Deal

Melbourne, Australia � 14th January 2008 � Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications has announced today that it has signed an exclusive four year sponsorship agreement with female tennis player, Maria Sharapova, to become the company�s first global brand ambassador.

The stunning and talented Russian, who turns 21 in April this year, will undertake a series of innovative new consumer brand campaigns specifically designed to engage Sony Ericsson�s core target audiences and to utilise Maria away from the tennis court.

Maria will also be working with Sony Ericsson�s design team on a range of products and accessories.

The off-court agreement complements Sony Ericsson�s 6 year $88 million global title sponsorship of the WTA Tour which was signed in January 2005 and is the biggest deal in the history of women�s sport. Sony Ericsson�s commitment to women�s tennis has energised the game by bringing fans closer to the experience and taking the sport to new audiences through cutting edge initiatives like night tennis � a fusion of tennis, fashion, music and dance.

Commenting on today�s announcement, Dee Dutta, Corporate Vice President and Head of Marketing at Sony Ericsson, said: �Now in our seventh year as a company, the brand has evolved significantly and securing a global brand ambassador is a natural progression to take our brand to the next level in an increasingly competitive market place.�

�Maria�s iconic status, determination, dynamism, success and charm match strongly with the Sony Ericsson brand, which prides itself on innovative and cool design with substance.�

�Our alignment with Maria�s global iconic status, combined with our brand expertise and innovative thinking aims to provide something new and something different to our customers around the world.�

Maria Sharapova added, �It is really exciting to be working with a cool brand like Sony Ericsson which has such a strong reputation in the entertainment industry�.

�Even though most people know me as a tennis player, I have so many passions beyond the sport like fashion, music, film and design; which Sony Ericsson and I are going to be exploring together through our partnership.�

No comments:

Post a Comment