By Andrew Warshaw
July 4 – The battle for brand supremacy in Asia has been stepped up with Manchester City announcing they have struck a two-year regional deal with Thailand’s fast-growing est Cola company which will become the Abu Dhabi-owned club’s official soft drinks partner in the country.
City’s chief commercial & operating officer Tom Glick told the club’s official website: “est Cola is a young dynamic brand with huge potential. The scale and speed of their success demonstrates Thailand’s appetite for brands that are not only innovative, but ambitious also.”
Under the deal, est Cola have filmed a TV advert with City players that will be aired on TVs in homes across the country’s 69 million strong population.
Dhitivute Bulsook, President of Sermsuk Public Company Limited (owner of est Cola), said: “est Cola look forward to working in partnership with Manchester City, in order to not only drive brand growth within the international carbonated soft drinks industry, but also domestically among Thai consumers. Through collaboration and innovation, both brands are poised to expand their customer and fan bases nationally, delivering the cool-est and most comprehensive football experience for Thai consumers to enjoy.”
Clubs are increasingly launching multi-lingual versions of their websites and City have confirmed that they will soon launch a Thai version of theirs to try and pull in even more fans. “Thailand is a huge market for the Club, which is why we’re delighted to soon be launching a Thai version of the Manchester City website,” said Glick. ” Set to go live in July, the new website will satisfy the demand from City’s millions of fans from around the country to be able to view the latest news and content in Thai.”