Standard Chartered defends Liverpool FC sponsorship

 Speaking at this week's Brand Finance Forum 2010 in London, Standard Chartered's group head of corporate affairs Gavin Laws said that the four-year deal remained justifiable, even though Liverpool currently languish in the bottom three of the table.

Laws commented that the deal is playing a 'significant' role in improving brand recognition, in particular in key Asian markets, and said the first year's investment had already been returned through the sheer volume of media exposure.

He pointed to a global audience figure of 131 million for the recent clash between Manchester United and Liverpool, including 58 million viewers in China, as evidence of the reach of the deal.

Earlier this month, the football club was taken over by New England Sport Ventures in a controversial £300m deal which was resolved at the High Court.

Laws quipped it was "almost a shame that [the club] had sorted out the ownership issue, as they're no longer on the front page of the Financial Times".

Standard Chartered launched the sponsorship in tandem with a global ad campaign based around the strapline 'Here for good'.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk.