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SMS to Steer Asian Motorsport
Sports Marketing Surveys (SMS) in Singapore has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Motorsport Asia to provide marketing research and analysis of next year's Asian Festival of Speed (AFOS) motorsport event.
AFOS comprises the FIA-sanctioned Asian Touring Car Championship, Formula BMW Asia and the Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia. The festival runs annually from March to November, visiting Malaysia, Thailand, China, Korea, Japan and Macau. Motorsport Asia, which aims to develop Asian motorsport, owns the commercial and intellectual rights to AFOS and all terrestrial and satellite TV rights of AFOS worldwide.
Ben Heyhoe-Flint, MD of SMS in Singapore told DRNO that AFOS has never undertaken any independent research, and that 'brands were finding it difficult to justify a sponsorship investment without knowledge of what the AFOS platform offered'.
To remedy this, SMS will use its Magellan automated image recognition software to monitor AFOS TV coverage. This will enable it to provide brands with an advertising equivalency value of their exposure across the AFOS events.
The company will also conduct a market-by-market consumer analysis throughout AFOS, collecting information about the average Asian motorsports fan. This will include looking at their consumption of motorsports, sponsor recall, and perception of Asian motorsports versus global motorsports. Over the next month, SMS will be measuring brand values in press clippings for this year's AFOS races, so that AFOS is armed with information for the 2006 season.
David Sonenscher, CEO of Motorsport Asia, says motorsport in the region has 'finally come of age', with an increase in interest and involvement in AFOS from automotive manufacturers, teams and sponsors. Heyhoe-Flint agrees: 'Every so often you uncover a hidden gem in the world of sponsorship - more often in Asia as the industry grows exponentially. AFOS is one of those gems that has been in the shadows for too long.' He believes the new research programme will bring the festival into the spotlight.
Sports Marketing Surveys is headquartered in the UK, and has offices in Japan, Korea and Singapore. The company's web site is at www.sportsmarketingsurveys.com . More information about the festival is online at www.afos.com.my
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