The sports car has allowed the Akron brand to leap from a local circuit to a global highway with elite floodlights. She was born 28 years ago in Guadalajara, Jalisco, and although in some way since then she was linked to the most traditional soccer club in her region, Chivas, it was not until a decade ago that she decided to invest with more strategy than heart in the industry. sporting all the way to the summit with the 2021 WTA Finals, a niche event like tennis that receives exposure across the globe.
Akron is the main ally of the WTA Finals 2021, the most prestigious end-of-year tournament in world women’s tennis. This brand of lubricants, greases, additives and fuels appropriated the naming right and also the name of the main court of the matches within the Pan-American Tennis Center of Zapopan, so every time figures such as Aryna Sabalenka or Barbora Krejcikova step on the staves enter Akron territory.
“Sponsorship costs a lot, yes, it is a few million dollars, but what cost the most was to say yes, to bet on Mexico and the sport regardless of the cost in pesos or dollars for carrying the naming, but what it can unfold in terms of advertising, communication and brand exposure. Without a doubt, we hope that this return on investment will pay us back in that, in brand awareness and that they see in us one more option that for 28 years has been positioned throughout the entire value chain of the energy market ”, he describes to El Economist, Fernando Rodríguez Pria, Akron Marketing Manager.
The manager points out that it was 10 years ago when the brand really began to design marketing strategies with its sports sponsors, going through different organizations, athletes and disciplines, mainly the first division soccer teams of Jalisco, Chivas and Atlas.
Currently, they have eight athletes and four organizations as their ambassadors (as they call their sponsored ones) within the sport: Rogelio ‘Roger’ López in the Nascar Series (motorsport); Eric Ruiz in freestyle motocross; Jaime Munguía in boxing; Johny Salido in free downhill (cycling); Xavier and Diego Lamadrid, drivers of the traditional Carrera Panamericana; Carlos and Álvaro Ortiz, professional golfers; as well as the soccer clubs Chivas (Liga MX) and Atlético Morelia (Liga de Expansión), the Charros de Jalisco of the Liga Mexicana del Pacífico (baseball) and now also the WTA Finals.
“Today they are all very important assets or properties to generate brand awareness, remembrance and ultimately be in the preference of the consumer and our distributors. That gives us a fairly broad coverage of different targets, the brand likes to grow with these ambassadors, we don’t want super stars, Chivas is a separate case that gives us a lot of coverage and massiveness, but with others we like to grow together and in relationships long-term ”, emphasizes Rodríguez Pria.
Akron’s coverage has grown in line with its strategy in the sport. They are currently in the top 5 lubricants in the country with more than 80 distributors and 200 wineries. They have also opened 40 gas stations in seven states: Jalisco, Colima, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Nayarit, Durango and Baja California. But his next goal with international associations, such as the WTA Finals and the Pan American Games in Guadalajara 2011, is to make an international impact.
“Today our main operations are in Mexico, but also in 11 Latin American countries, such as Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru or Bolivia. We want to show ourselves to the world as a group that is committed to big events and is also interested in continuing to grow in other markets. We like to do things gradually and with leaden feet, we already have an important position, we would like to grow and why not think about Europe and Asia later on ”.
Akron’s relationship with the sport is seen as a voice of authority that has gradually escalated from regional to global: “This blow on the table by Akron in relation to its competitors in the WTA Finals has a message that is Of course, to establish ourselves as leaders and protect their area, a bit the strategy that is marking us, also with the Pan American Games, is to become strong in this segment and in some way block the entry of new competitors, this is a phenomenon that is constantly used on the subject of sponsorships, as Banamex did with the Mexican (soccer) team at the time ”, analyzes Armando Escamilla, an expert in marketing and sports sponsorships.
Fernando Rodríguez points out that, in principle, the invitation to be sponsors of tennis in Guadalajara was for a Masters 1000 tournament, which changed in September when it was announced that the Finals were coming to Mexico.
The Akron manager emphasizes that they did not compete with another brand for the naming right since for other years they have had the trust of the organizing committee, led by Gustavo Santoscoy. The relationship will continue in 2022 with the Zapopan Open 250 and they hope to extend it further, based on their analysis of the Mexican tennis market.
“Particularly with the Finals, we seek to transcend internationally and position the brand as an avant-garde group that is willing to enter these types of events and collaborate to bring more to Mexico. We seek to show ourselves to the sports community worldwide as a group that bets on sports and believes in it as a means to make the brand grow, and with our ambassadors and athletes, to be an example for society and young people ”, says Rodríguez Pria .
Akron became the 12th brand to give the naming right to the WTA Finals, a tournament that was born in 1972 but had never been held in Latin America. The position of the lubricants company has caught up with Bank of America, Sony Ericsson, BNP Paribas and Shiseido, among others, originating from Asia, Europe and the United States.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx