Ketchum First Across the Line to Support 2010 Asian Games

katy.cheng@knprhk.com   


Hong Kong, July 6, 2009 - Ketchum Greater China, the Asia Pacific division of the top-10 global public relations agency and a unit of Omnicom Group, today announced it has been appointed to provide international PR and media communications support for the Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou in 2010. The agency was awarded the contract by the Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (GAGOC), the municipal government body responsible for the event, after a competitive pitch.

 

Held every four years, the 16th Asian Games opens in Guangzhou on Nov. 12, 2010, bringing together 10,000 athletes from 45 countries taking part in 42 sports. Themed “Thrilling Games, Harmonious Asia,” the Guangzhou 2010 Games are set to become the largest in Asian Games history. The previous Games were held in Doha, Qatar, in 2006.

 

The PR support will be coordinated out of Ketchum’s Guangzhou and Hong Kong offices and led by Chris Liu, partner and chief business officer, Greater China, and supported by Joe Tong, director, Ketchum Guangzhou. The 18-month program starts July 1, 2009, and includes strategic communications planning for international markets, overseas media relations, media monitoring and issues and crisis management. Local media will be handled by GAGOC. Over 10,000 journalists are expected to descend on Guangzhou to cover the event.

 

“This is a fantastic win for Ketchum illustrating the strengths and capabilities of our Greater China teams as well as our global network reach and established expertise in sports communication on many recent Olympic milestones,” said Kenneth Chu, partner and CEO, Ketchum Greater China. Ketchum provided support to sponsors and organizers of the Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, as well as the Salt Lake City 2002 and Turin 2006 Winter Olympics.

 

“The 2010 Asian Games offers a unique opportunity for China’s major southern hub city to present itself on the international stage. There are many challenges to this task: educating people outside of Greater China about this economically vibrant provincial capital city that has been for centuries China’s first window on foreign trade and of modern economic reform since the 1970s; reaching out impactfully to such a diverse audience; and tackling significant competition for media mileage from other global events taking place in the same year such as the World Expo in Shanghai and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. We are confident, however, that we have the proven strategic and executional prowess to make the campaign a success,” Chu said.

 

A communications innovator, Ketchum ranks among the largest global communications consultancies and leads the industry in the U.K. and continental Europe as Ketchum Pleon. With five global practices – Brand Marketing, Corporate, Healthcare, Food and Nutrition, and Technology – and specialty capabilities that include Access Communications (high- and consumer-tech PR www.accesspr.com), Concentric Communications (experiential marketing, events and meetings), MMG (clinical trial recruitment), Ketchum Global Research Network, Ketchum Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and Stromberg Consulting (change management and workplace communications), Ketchum leverages its marketing and corporate communication expertise to build brands and reputations for clients. In 2009, Advertising Age named Ketchum to its annual “Ones to Watch” Agency A-List, noting the agency’s long-standing client partnerships, digital and disruptive media expertise, and CSR and sustainability programming. For more information on Ketchum, a unit of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC), visit www.ketchum.com.