Dentsu Sports Asia ties up with Olympic Council of Malaysia

MALAYSIA - Dentsu Sports Asia (DSA), a subsidiary of Dentsu Inc, has signed a four-year tie-up with the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) that will enable the global sports marketing agency to exclusively market and acquire sponsors for Malaysia’s National Olympic Committee.

DSA was also recently appointed as co-exclusive sponsorship agency for the 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Kuala Lumpur, where DSA resides within Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) Malaysia’s group of agencies.

The agency said that the OCM partnership further strengthens its presence in the region, building up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Dentsu has been appointed to advise and assist the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee on the formulation of the Games marketing plan and commercial strategies, as well as provide support on sponsorship sales, servicing and the licensing programme.

In a statement, Kunihito Morimura, president and CEO of Dentsu Sports Asia expressed pleasure at working with the OCM, to forge mutually beneficial partnerships not only leading towards the next Olympics in 2020 but also the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games in 2018.

“As long-time supporters of sports, DSA is privileged and excited to continue contributing to this growth especially in Malaysia,” he added.

Imran ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja’afar, president of OCM, described the partnership as a “milestone” for the council.

“We are confident that this partnership will take OCM to greater heights as a dynamic body at the forefront of Malaysian sports and in the right direction towards securing better sponsorships, with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in mind,” he said at the signing ceremony.

Also present at the signing were Mohamad Norza Zakaria, deputy president of OCM, Nicky Lim, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Malaysia and Stuart Ramalingam, VP of DSA and head of DSA’s Malaysian office, who will be steering the sponsorship marketing duties.

Ramalingam said the agency looks forward to bridging OCM with commercial partners and ultimately unlocking the value that sponsorships bring to the local sports industry.

“It is a great honour to be able to collaborate with them now to further assist them in escalating the profile of our athletes and the various sports in the country in the lead-up to the next Olympic Games in four years,” he added.

Lim said that DSA’s strategic collaboration with DAN in Malaysia places the network in a “unique position where sports marketing converges with all other communication services across the group.”

“This will enable DSA to leverage the strength of our network’s pool of clients and brands in facilitating their sponsorship marketing duties,” he added.