▶ Official sponsorship deals have been reached with the prestigious Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 of the French Football League and Tottenham Hotspur F.C. of the English Premier League.
▶ The partnerships with popular football leagues are expected to help boost Kumho’s brand recognition and its presence in the global tire market.

 Kumho Tire (President & CEO: Lee Han-Seob) signed an agreement today local time to officially sponsor the preeminent football club Olympique Lyonnais from the 2016/2017 season, marking the beginning of the company’s football marketing in France.

 Among those on hand at the signing ceremony held at the club’s newly-built home stadium dubbed Parc Olympique Lyonnais were President & CEO Lee Han-Seob of Kumho Tire CEO Thierry Sauvage of Olympique Lyonnais.

 Started in 1950, the team came out second in Ligue 1 of the French football league last season. The renowned club won the league for seven consecutive years, a first for a club among those in the five major European football leagues, and played at the UEFA Champions League for 12 consecutive years since 2000.

 Kumho Tire is a global tire maker established in 1961 with nine overseas sales subsidiaries and 16 offices worldwide, serving customers in more than 180 countries. Leveraging an R&D network comprised of research centers in Korea, the United States, Germany and China, Kumho has built a technological expertise that underpins its annual production capacity of 69 million tires from nine factories combined including three in Korea, four in China and one in Vietnam and the United States, respectively.

 As an official partner of Olympique Lyonnais, Kumho can display its brand on LED panels, A-boards, match brochures and websites during matches of the regular league and cup competitions that take place at the club’s home stadium. The team’s mascots will wear a tire-shaped backpack designed after Kumho’s products while Kumho can use the club’s logo and the images of its players. The company also plans to invite Olympique Lyonnais players to events and football lessons for customers.

 From 2007 to 2011, Kumho Tire sponsored Manchester United that Korean football star Park Jisung played for at the time in a successful bid to present an image of a young, dynamic company to international football fans. In addition to regular brand promotion, the tire maker hosted a variety of marketing and promotional events in and out of competition venues, which lead to more robust relationships with local customers and global business partners.

 CEO Lee said, “The partnership with Olympique Lyonnais, a prestigious club in the top French football league, will help further boost our brand recognition and name value as a global tire maker not only in Europe but also in the rest of the world.”

 Since its deal with Manchester United, Kumho has sponsored major football clubs in European leagues. It signed a sponsorship deal with EPL’s Tottenham Hotspur yesterday and currently has partnership agreements with Hamburger SV, Hertha BSC and FC Schalke 04 of the Bundesliga as well as Atlético Madrid of the Spanish Primera Liga, as part of its aggressive marketing campaign using European football.