Scotty3934 5 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Not good news from one of the worlds well known yachting sponsors... The below is translated from a French news site so excuse any grammatical inconsistencies The mutual insurer Groupama intends disengagement of sports sponsorship in sailing and football (Lyon and Marseille), under the economic plan he has committed to improve its financial situation, said today its chief executive Thierry Martel. Present since 1997 alongside Franck Cammas, Groupama intends to retire after the end of the Volvo Ocean Race, the browser just won the fourth stage, Mr. Martel said on the sidelines of the press conference presenting the results. "We will go to the end of the race", to be completed in early July, assured the communications director of Groupama SA, Sylvain Burel, but "the result is more uncertain." As it stands, the partnership between Mr. Cammas and Groupama to run until 2015. As for sponsorship in football, Thierry Martel suggested that the mutual insurer would not seek to renew the partnership that links clubs Olympique Lyonnais and Olympique de Marseille. This contract expires at the end of the 2011-2012 season, said the leader. After a difficult year-end 2011, which resulted in an annual loss of 1.76 billion euros, Groupama has taken several drastic measures to strengthen its solvency. He has started a program to reduce cost of 400 million euros in 2014. This plan includes reducing communication budgets and sponsorship. Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 That's a real shame. But I empathise with them, it's a tough call. Part if the reason will be to avoid policyholders complaining "Why are my insurance premiums going up to fund your sponsorship of sailing....?" etc. It's a tough one to defend in today's tough economic climate. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 So Groupama is an Insurance Company? Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 So Groupama is an Insurance Company? That says it all. Link to post Share on other sites
1paulg 17 Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 They are big in Insurance over quite a few sectors...their aim is to be in the top 10 in Europe...plus have banking services.... Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 So Groupama is an Insurance Company? Yes. A mutual (like AMI) meaning they don't have shareholders but are owned by their policyholders. Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 So Groupama is an Insurance Company? That says it all. Says what? Link to post Share on other sites
OYSTR 1 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 So Groupama is an Insurance Company? That says it all. Says what? The advertising isn't working. But then NZ isn't exactly their target market. Link to post Share on other sites
Fogg 427 Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 That's the problem sponsoring a global event with a local brand. When I worked for IAG (which owns State and NZI insurance) I was approached by a couple of heavyweight names in the NZ sailing scene about sponsoring a global entry, including one well known user on this forum. I would have LOVED to have written them a big cheque to support their campaign but when we did the numbers with the Marketing guys we couldn't make a sensible business case because outside of NZ it was no use for us to parade the names of State or NZI insurance arou d the world. Hence I'm surprised that Groupama have lasted as long as they have - it says a lot about the loyalty of their relationship with Frank Cammas - but all these big sponsorships come to an end eventually. It makes sense for someone like Puma who have a global brand but not a French based insurer. Link to post Share on other sites
1paulg 17 Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 They are in 14 countries...but certainly not global... International business is 30% of their t.o Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.