To expand its brand value in those countries where cricket is quite popular sports, Chinese handsets maker OPPO has announced global partnership with International Cricket Council (ICC) for the mobile phone category. The partnership will run for 4 years, from the start of 2016 to the end of 2019.
ICC manages the game of cricket worldwide and OPPO’s association with ICC will prove quite beneficail to its brand value. The ICC has on its board 10 full members, 37 associate members and 60 affiliate members, and is responsible to promote the game of cricket in its 100-plus member countries and regions. Wherever the game of cricket has its presence, the brand OPPO will also get recognition in those countries.
The ICC runs a number of high-profile cricket competitions, including the ICC Cricket World Cup, the ICC World Twenty20, the ICC Champions Trophy, the ICC Women’s World Cup, the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup and others. Through the ICC partnership, OPPO will leverage many high profile cricket tournaments hosted by the ICC to present itself through branding and fan engaging opportunities at the matches. This is OPPO’s second big play in the world of sports this year. In May 2015, it announced a 3-year partnership with FC Barcelona.
Commenting on the new partnership, ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “The ICC is delighted to welcome OPPO on board as a Global Partner and we are excited about the opportunity to team up for the next four years. OPPO is one of the market leaders in its field with an impressive worldwide presence, especially in territories where the game of cricket continues to grow and, in a lot of cases, flourish.
“OPPO has strong brand values on innovation and integrity, which are closely aligned with the ICC’s, and we believe that by partnering with OPPO, we can extend cricket’s reach even further. We look forward to working closely with them for the foreseeable future.”
OPPO has been quite aggressive with its smartphones business and has come out with very innovative features on its phones. From the Finder, which set the record for the world’s thinnest smartphone in 2012, to the N3, with the first automated rotating camera in 2014, OPPO has been progressing leaps and bounds with its state-of-the art technologies. OPPO has also pioneered the patented VOOC Flash Charge quick-charging technology, introducing the world to the first-ever high-speed, low-voltage charging mechanism. Allowing users to talk for two hours on just a five-minute charge, VOOC Flash Charge is the industry’s fastest and safest charging technology as claimed by the company.
OPPO is currently selling its phone in over 70 countries by off-line and online modes. OPPO currently operates in Australia, India, the UAE, South Asia, Africa, and many other countries where game of cricket is played quite enthusiastically.
