|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
SONY ERICSSON CHAMPIONSHIPSNovember 9, 2006Elena DementievaDino OlivettiLarry ScottMADRID, SPAIN LARRY SCOTT: We're going to get started. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We're here for an exciting announcement. The announcement is about the renewal of the relationship between Whirlpool and the WTA Tour, very exciting relationship, one that started in April of 2004 with a campaign of leadership with the world of technology focused on values and a joint market brand? I want to introduce you to Dino Olivetti, who is here in the position of Director of Whirlpool Europe. And to my left, Elena Dementieva, tennis player, who supports day by day our commitment. Thank you to both of you for being here. This relationship started three years ago and emphasizes the use of technology with the Sixth Senses that Whirlpool has put forward and is supporting and all the great parallels between its brand and ours, which is very visible in the advertising that they do. Many of you I hope have seen the great TV commercials airing on Eurosport around Sony Ericsson WTA Tour broadcast, some of the great print advertisments featuring players and Whirlpool technology in tournament programs in Europe and fashion magazines throughout Europe. And one of the important things for women's tennis is not only to have great sponsors and partners but sponsors and partners where it's a great brand fit where they activate it and they do a lot around it. It's one of the things I looked back on the last few years we're most proud of and excited about is how Whirlpool gets engaged in tournaments, gets engaged with the players, does a lot of advertising and promotion around this. They're really cutting edge and leading the way in terms of the way the sponsor can use tennis, and the very glamorous and athletic players that we have. In addition to TV commercials and print ads, Whirlpool is involved in 22 tournaments across Europe. And they've actually invented a whole new look for the umpire's chair and the player benches. They've really helped us bring some consistency in a very high quality and fashionable look to the furniture that we have on the tennis courts, which is in evidence here, and involved in a lot of our markets which we really do appreciate. One of the other things I think is very cutting edge is with Whirlpool, I think we've shown the connection point between sport, a great brand in social responsibility. And I know Dino will talk more about that. So without further ado, let me turn it over to Dino to speak a little more from the Whirlpool perspective. DINO OLIVETTI: Thank you very much for the kind words, and I thank you for being here. As members of the press, thank you for coming to our conference here. I think we're very, very excited about renewing this partnership with the WTA. As Larry said, it's a great brand fit between both brands for us. It's very important to be associated with the right brands and the WTA and the ladies and the tournament, really show what Whirlpool is all about. Whirlpool has, over the years, focused on success and dynamism of our brand and the fact that this brand stands for being fashionable and out there and out front. The women embody a lot of these principles. They focus on their game, they focus on their intuition, as we saw today with the Sixth Sense award. A lot of them have been working hard on their game to achieve perfect results. That's what a lot of our products do. So we've taken advantage of this partnership to sort of build a lot of things together so that we show a lot of these values, as Larry said through our TV commercials, through our presence in our booth, so we can share with consumers what we stand for and what the WTA brand stands for. I think one of the key things is really the work we've done together with Habitat for Humanity, the whole Aces for Homes, which is another key reason we're here is really bringing it together, the players, the WTA and ourselves in supporting a great charity that is out there helping a lot of the people that can't afford good housing. There's over two million people who live in housing which is below poverty level. And a lot of these people are women. 80% of the households to which Habitat donates to own or earn the right to own the homes are led by women. So there's a strong tie there, and so we are very excited to work on this together. And very excited to announce that the Aces for Homes is a very, very successful -- we started this almost a year ago and we said we would put together ten Euros for every ace that was put forward, and we're very happy to announce that today we will be signing a check for 163,000 Euros, thanks to the effort. And there will still be more aces coming on, so we'll probably add a little bit more as we go through this tournament. So I guess wanted to introduce Lucia from Habitat, who will also take the check to join us. Larry, do you have anything else before we give the check? LARRY SCOTT: No. Sign it first. A big check that needs a lot of signatures. (Photos) LUCIA: Thank you very much. That's what I wanted to say. Obviously Habitat for Humanity thinks that poverty housing is unacceptable, and every 24 minutes somewhere we help a habitat home become reality. And this check is helping 45 families in South India that have been affected by the tsunami, and I want to thank you and I want to thank WTA and I particularly want to thank the tennis players who scored those aces. So on behalf of Habitat and on behalf of the people in need, thank you very much. (Applause) LARRY SCOTT: Thank you. Before we'd like to open it up for questions, just let me say a few words about Elena and emphasize how involved the players have gotten over the last few years in supporting not only sponsorship relationships but also charitable activities. I think as the leading global sport for women, players take seriously their role as role models for women and for girls and to associate with great causes like Habitat for Humanity. Obviously our players are very privileged to have enjoyed the life that they enjoy, and to be up to be professional tennis players and to have a positive effect on people below the poverty line and housing, I know it's something that the players take pride in of being part of. This makes everyone feel good about everything we do. We wanted to leave a few minutes for questions for Elena, Dino or myself. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate you being here this afternoon. Enjoy the matches. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|